The Forbidden Six

June 5th, 1944

The days that Werner, Augustine, and Otto had been home were a bliss. It was like they were thirteen again and had no worries in the world. It was like the war had never happened. Every day was perfect and nothing wrong could ever go wrong as long as her friends stayed in Kassel.

That morning, Liese went down to the basement to talk to Pieter. She moved the Nazi flag she used to hide the door and knocked using her special knock. She cracked the door open and peeked in. Pieter greeted her with a heartfelt smile.

"Good morning, Elise," he said with a small nod of his head.

She returned the smile. She plopped down upon his bed and began to speak about the party she was going to throw for Werner on his birthday. For her sake, Pieter amiably listened for a few minutes; he didn't want her to think that he didn't care that she was so happy.

"Liese," he slowly began. She looked at him, curious. He took a deep breath and carefully avoided her eyes. "I have a bad feeling about Werner. Something about him has changed and I don't like it. Please...just be careful."

She laughed a one note, hollow, laugh. "What are you talking about? Everything's fine, honey."

He nodded and now it was his turn to chuckle. "Ja. I– ja." He raked his hand through his long unruly hair and he shook his head. Of course Liese wouldn't believe him. She was too starry eyed about Werner, Otto, and Augustine being back home. "I don't know what I was thinking. I must just be paranoid."

She cheerily bade him adieu and hurried to Werner's house. She rang his doorbell and impatiently waited for him to open the front door. He appeared in all his blond haired glory and she grinned in spite of herself. He smirked.

"How are you?" Liese asked.

"So much better now that I'm here with you."

He stepped out onto his porch and shut the door behind him. He put his hands into his pockets and started to walk. Liese followed him, intrigued. He took a turn and she immediately knew that they were going to their tree. The walk was almost subconscious for them.

"How is it being back?" she wondered.

He turned his eyes to the sky. "It's really nice. It's much more enjoyable than war. I actually get good food here. " He chuckled and his eyes grew far away for a moment.

Liese nervously cleared her throat. She looked around at the leafy green trees for a moment. A magpie noisily flew over.

With a decided breath, she said, "What do you think of Pieter?"

He blinked, his eyebrows raised. He tilted his head a bit to the right. "What kind of question is that?" He kicked a small rock across the pavement.

She pressed her lips together and looked down. "You're right," she softly said.

"Of course I am," he replied with a laugh.

She felt Werner's hand slip into her own and she lightly smiled. They walked to the tree, happily chattering, pretending that the previous question had never happened.

***

Mena and Otto went out to lunch. The two of them sat in a pleasant restaurant and Mena looked around. White tablecloths were everywhere and small chandeliers hung from the ceiling. Waiters walked around in casual suits. She had never been able to eat at this certain place because she never had the money.

Mena and Otto were seated and Otto pulled out her chair for her. She thanked him and sat. She adjusted her brown felt bucket hat. She was not dressed for this event. As she picked up the menu, she saw a few Nazi officers seated at a table near theirs. After a moment of surveying the menu, she set it down and looked at Otto.