White Daisies

Chapter 20

September 19th, 1941

"Fix your posture, Astrid," I instruct my student. She immediately sits up straighter and uncrosses her legs. I gently adjust the hand that holds the neck of her violin.

"There you go," I smile. "Now remember, arch your pinkie so that the bow stays parallel between the fingerboard and the bridge."

Crossing her eyes to watch her bow move, she goes back to playing the scales that she had been practicing. Her movements are still choppy and unbalanced. Each note is raw and slightly out of tune. Every so often, the high-pitched squeal of the horsehair against the string makes my teeth hurt. Nonetheless, she's improving with every lesson.

After a few minutes, I look at the clock that sits on top of the mantle in her family's living room.

"Alright, Astrid, I believe our time is almost up." I take her music book and circle a few melodies for her to work on. "I can tell that you've been practicing! If you keep it up, you'll be better than me in no time."

She beams. She lurches forward to hug me, and I feel my heart warm inside of my chest.

Letting her go, I walk into the kitchen. Mrs. Fey smiles at me and pulls out her wallet to pay me. Counting the money, she gushes at me. "Thank you so much, Ana! Astrid loves playing. You're a huge inspiration to her. I'm so glad your mother recommended you. And me? I don't have to worry about a nine-year-old running around my house all day." She laughs as she takes a drink of her martini.

I laugh uncomfortably in return. "It's no issue, Mrs. Fey. I'm glad she's taken so well to lessons." 

She hands me the money. "Same time next week?"

I smile. "Of course, Mrs. Fey."

Giving Astrid one last goodbye, I leave their house to head towards City Hall Square. When I arrive a few minutes later, Eva is already there waiting. She sits on her bicycle, one leg stretched out to keep herself balanced. I turn my head to look at tall clock tower across the street, its face dimly lit by a light that sits at its base.

8:50

Frances shows up not too long after I do. We nod at each other in greeting but don't say much. My knee bounces anxiously, and my eyes scan for who we might be meeting. There are a few people that walk past us, but not as many as I expected. For a Friday night in Copenhagen, the sidewalk isn't very crowded. While the lack of witnesses made it a perfect place to meet, something could go wrong very fast. Anxiety churns in my stomach. Maybe this was a mistake, after all.

"Who are we looking for?" Frances finally asks.

"I don't know, but they're five minutes late," Eva answers while looking at the clock tower.

"Let's just be patient," I encourage. However, when fifteen more minutes pass uneventful, they begin to get restless.

Frances crosses her arms. "I'm leaving. This was a waste of our time."

Eva slips the leaflet out of her purse. "Is this the right place?"

"This is it. It was just a setup." Frances insists.

As I'm looking around, something catches the corner of my eye. A dark figure sits by himself at a table outside of a closed cafe. His long legs are crossed, a fedora pulled over to conceal his face. My feet begin to instinctively walk towards him.

"Ana, where are you going?" Frances calls out. "Ana? Ana!"

I pull out the vacant chair in front of him and sit down. He looks up to reveal his dark eyes and long brown hair. "It's nice to see you again, Ms. Clemensen."