The Cuckoo's Cage

Chapter One

The soft tinkering of piano keys echoed throughout the house. Without the children there, it seemed desperately barren; devoid of all joy. Anna hated it when they weren't around. They were the only thing that had truly distracted her. She had tried so hard to fill the past week with activities and chatter... anything to ignore the despair that lingered in the back of her mind. But their parents had whisked them away to town, leaving her alone at the piano. She was avoiding Maria; she'd only press her to talk about it and Anna simply couldn't face it. It's the same reason she ran to hide every time Freddie came to check on her. To talk about it would be admitting the awful, vile truth.

He had abandoned her.

Anna had tried to tell herself that she had suffered worse; that her parents' deaths and Keller's torture had been her lowest moments. She tried to remind herself that she had Elli. Even if she couldn't see her, Anna knew her sister was alive. She should be grateful she was not stuck in the camp herself. But the unbearable pain that racked her entire consciousness could not be quieted. Every morning she awoke to a nauseating swirling in the pit of her stomach; the realisation of her situation beating at her more and more each day. Sitting at the piano now, Anna's fingers stopped. She pulled out the photograph from the pocket of her blouse, staring at the face she most needed right now. Karl stared up at her from the black and white surroundings of his mother's garden, grinning at her as he always did. Every day she had waited for him to call. Yet still she had heard nothing. She was beginning to worry that he too had forgotten her; that to leave her alone was easier than facing the world by her side. It took every ounce of self-restraint to silence that paranoia. As the sound of low heels on the wooden floor grew louder, she stuffed the photo back into her pocket hastily and tried to resume her playing. Maria strode in, leaning on the piano to watch her closely.

"I've got lunch for you," she said softly.

"Thank you," said Anna, not looking up, "but I'm not hungry."

"That's what you said yesterday," sighed Maria, "and the day before that..." There was a pause. "Starving yourself won't bring them back." The harsh reality of her words stopped Anna; her playing ceasing abruptly. She screwed up her face, taking a deep breath.

"Fine!" she relented, following Maria out to the kitchen. They sat down at the large wooden table, Anna not looking up at Maria as she picked at the food on her plate.

"I miss your voice," Maria said suddenly, Anna finally looking up. Maria's face was filled with hurt; her beautiful mouth turned down at the corners. Anna's whole demeanour shifted. She had been so consumed by her own sadness that she hadn't noticed Maria's.

"Maria?" she asked as Maria's eyes filled with tears. "Maria, what's wrong?"

"It's Charles," she said, her hand over her mouth for a moment as if to hold back her sobs. "I got a letter through yesterday. He's missing..."

"Missing?"

"They can't find him... or a body," she said throatily, her eyes meeting Anna's. "I don't know if he's all right... or dead... or in pain..." Her face screwed up tight. Anna surged forward and pulled her close.

"Why didn't you say something sooner?" Anna asked her, searching for a response.

"It wouldn't have changed anything."

"But if you needed me..."

"You're not exactly responsive right now," mumbled Maria. Anna pulled back a little way.

"I'm really sorry," Anna said. "If I'd known you needed me, I'd have listened."

"I know my darling," Maria replied. "At least we can be sad together." Anna smiled weakly at her. There was a pause. "You haven't cried at all since he left," she observed quietly. Anna shrugged.