Pegasus: A Novel by Danielle Steel Read Free Book Online

terror in Toby’s eyes told her it might just be true, unless he had misread the seriousness
     of the situation and thought it was worse than it really was. She hoped so. “Does
     my father know?” she asked him.
    “I don’t know. Papa didn’t tell me,” Toby answered, and as though they had conjured
     him up, her father walked into the room. Marta had told Alex they were in his study,
     and she appeared shortly afterward with a tea tray for him. He helped himself to a
     cup of tea, and looked at both children with a serious expression.
    “What’s going on here, you two?” He wasn’t sure if they’d had an argument, or if Toby
     had told her the news, if Toby even knew it himself yet. Nick had said he wouldn’t
     tell his boys until he was sure where they were going, and he wasn’t yet. Nick had
     told Alex that himself.
    “We’re leaving,” Toby said sadly, and told him the same story hehad told Marianne minutes before. Alex nodded, and they could both see he already
     knew.
    “Your father told me a few days ago,” he said quietly. “That is very, very bad news,
     for all of us,” he said. And the way he said it told Marianne that it was true, and
     tears filled her eyes immediately.
    “How is that possible, Papa?” she asked him in a choked voice. “Why are they sending
     Jews to labor camps? And the von Bingens aren’t Jewish.”
    “Nick and the boys are part Jewish, it turns out. And apparently that’s all the Reich
     needs to hear. They have been slowly banishing them from our society for the past
     five years. They seem to want all Jews isolated from the rest of us, or out of Germany,
     or confined in camps if possible. Toby’s right, they have to leave. And very soon
     too. His father and grandfather are working very hard on it.” He had sent off several
     letters himself, but had no responses yet. “I’m very sorry, Toby. I’m sure your father
     will find a solution. It’s just hard not knowing where it will be.”
    “Can we go to visit them?” Marianne asked quietly. It was the worst news she’d had
     since her father told her that Toby’s mother and sister died five years before. She
     remembered it perfectly. She had been very fond of Toby’s mother, and very sad when
     she died, and equally so about his little sister.
    “It depends where they are,” Alex said honestly, “but we’ll certainly try.” Marianne
     and Toby exchanged a look then, which said everything they felt about being separated.
     Toby couldn’t bear the thought of yet another important loss in his life, not only
     his dearest friends but his home too. And he didn’t want to leave his grandfather
     behind, but he and Toby’s father had said that his grandfather had to stay. They didn’t
     want to leave their ancestral seat unattendedwith all the upheaval going on, even if the schloss was far from any city. It was
     hard to say what would happen now.
    They talked for a long time, and Marta brought them more hot chocolate and tea, and
     some freshly baked biscuits. It made Marianne suddenly realize that her friends might
     not be living this way anymore, and she was grateful that she and her father didn’t
     have to leave too. And after a while, Alex offered to drive Toby home, but he said
     he’d be fine on his bicycle and left a few minutes later, after kissing Marianne on
     the cheek. She thought of him more than ever like a little brother when he did it,
     and not the man he wanted to be.
    “That’s an awful story, Papa,” she said sadly, still unable to believe that it was
     true. She was shocked by everything she’d heard that afternoon. It was truly inconceivable.
    “Yes, it is. I don’t know what they’re going to do. It’s not so easy to pull a job
     out of a hat, and a whole new life, in a matter of weeks. It takes time to organize,
     and that’s the one thing they don’t have.”
    “And if they get sent to a camp?” she asked, holding her breath.
    “They’ll have to be very