Girl with the Red Balloon (The Balloonmakers)

by Katherine Locke

  I hoped the Judenrat, the Jewish council that ran the ghetto, froze to death. I hoped my father did not. Though I was younger and thinner than him, Mama and I found one of my old shirts that fit him. We dressed him where he sat, and Mama only made noises of agreement when he expressed his concerns about the lack of a mezuzah. We cling to strange things when we no longer believe we’ll see the sun.

  Chapter Fourteen

  A BODY IN THE STREET

  East Berlin, German Democratic Republic, April 1988

  Ellie

  I felt parts of me waking up that I hadn’t known existed. Recklessness, when I should have been afraid. Courage, when I should have been wary. Once, I’d considered myself even and balanced. Now the only feelings that surged through me like pulses of electricity were extremes. My mood rose and fell, but it was highest when I was out of the house.

  I wanted that high more than anything. Maybe even sometimes more than I wanted to go home. Home had never felt like this. I didn’t tell Mitzi or Kai this though, because I didn’t want the balloon makers to stop looking for a way home for me. And because the guilt gnawed away at my courage, at my recklessness. I was reckless in a place where they couldn’t risk being anything less than cautious.

  When I decided to sneak out of the apartment, it felt like a betrayal. My German is strong, I told myself, as I borrowed one of the warm keys off the hook in the front hallway. I won’t get caught. But the Volkspolizei and the Stasi were not the only ones I worried about catching me. I heard Kai asking Mitzi about whether she had been approached by a man with a python tattoo on his arm and an infinity symbol on his right wrist.

  Mitzi had said, “Don’t be a fool, Kai. He’s an informant. He couldn’t be real. I’ve been doing this longer than you. I’ve never heard of Zerberus approaching a Runner.”

  “I didn’t tell him about the balloon Ellie and I saw.”

  “Probably for the best,” Mitzi said after a pause. “He really thinks the balloons are being tampered with?”

  When I asked Kai, he told me eavesdropping was rude. It was easier to bribe Mitzi into spilling the beans. While I French-braided her hair, she caught me up on all the gossip. I didn’t understand why Kai didn’t tell the Zerberus what he knew, but I didn’t like the idea of someone who scared Mitzi and Kai. I hadn’t even known that was possible. They flaunted their Stasi code names, the police who lingered outside the windows, the suspicion of their neighbors. But here, suddenly, their wariness had me on high alert.

  My desperation to feel and move won over my desire to remain within the bolded lines of the rules in this world. One evening, I found myself putting on my coat, hat, scarf, and mittens before walking out the front door after Kai. I didn’t see any soldiers or policemen around the street, and definitely no scary guys with python tattoos, so I said a quick prayer of thanks to cover my bases and set off in the damp spring night to follow him wherever he was going.

  For me alone, East Berlin was as frightening, aloof, and wary as it appeared from the window—with an added dose of foreboding. I thought I was breathing too noisily, so I rewrapped my scarf around my mouth, trying to muffle the sound. I crossed under streetlights and my shadow split into two figures. My heart leaped and jumped around like I’d gone for a run. I turned, looking over my shoulder frequently.

  When Kai stopped, I took advantage of the opportunity to catch my breath. I had no clue where I was. We’d moved into an area far from the house and the entrance to the workshop, my two reference points. I knew we were moving away from the wall, which didn’t make sense to me since the rooftop was literally against the wall. I chewed on my lower lip beneath the scarf, wondering if I was going to be able to get home. Home. Kai knocked on a plain dark door. It opened and as he stepped inside, Mitzi’s teal hair caught in the light of the hall.

  At that point, I realized how insane this idea was. I’d followed someone I’d known two months across a city I didn’t know at all for no reason other than to do something that didn’t involve sitting still. The strangest thing was how lonely standing four blocks away from your only friends could be. My desire to be closer was a dark ache that lurched in my stomach.

  “Ellie Baum,” said a soft voice behind me.

  I spun around, stepping away from the wall and into the light of the streetlights. A woman dressed in a long black cloak and with her dark hair swept back in a tight ponytail followed me into the light. “My name is Aurora. You don’t need to be afraid. I’m one of the balloon makers.”

  I’d heard her name enough that I relaxed, but only a fraction. She was a Schöpfer. She had made the balloon that Garrick used. My balloon. The broken one. I whispered, “I know I’m not supposed to be out. But—”

  “I imagine you’re tired of being dragged around like a small child.” She tilted her head a little bit. In the night, the only way she stood out from the shadows was her purple scarf tucked into a black coat long enough to brush the streets. She looked past me. “I’ve been worried about the balloons.”

  “Because of the people who died,” I guessed.

  She inclined her head just enough that I read it as a yes. “I want to make sure that their Passenger goes safely tonight. I am rather attached to him, you see.”

  Just then, Kai and Mitzi emerged with an old man between them. Mitzi handed the man a cane, and they exchanged a few words. My heart clenched as he turned, looked upward at the house, and blew it a kiss. He slipped and staggered on the wet streets. Mitzi held him up by an elbow. Kai reached inside the house and took hold of a red balloon. He shut the door behind him forcefully, glanced up and down the street, and then the three of them turned and headed back up the street in the direction of the wall. Another Passenger then. This one frail. I wondered how they picked the Passengers. I thought about asking Aurora, but she gestured for me to follow her so I tucked the question away in my mind.

  We wove our way through the city, spilling through archways and narrow wandering streets and wide boulevards. The houses around us changed from older homes with small gardens to large apartment complexes built by the GDR government.

  At the apartment complex by the wall, Kai unlocked the door and pulled the red balloon into the stairwell I knew well. They were sending the Passenger from the same rooftop where we stood so many nights. Mitzi helped the Passenger through the doorway. He looked older than my grandfather. I wondered if he had fought for or against the Nazis, and then I tried to crush that thought from my mind.

  “You should go,” Aurora said gently. “Before Kai and Mitzi see you on their return.”

  “Can you see the balloon?” I asked curiously.

  She nodded. “But sometimes, I still like to see the light on the other side of the wall. Sometimes, even I do not trust my own eyes and my own magic.”

  “Do you think I was foolish to take a risk like this?”

  Aurora paused and looked at me. “We take the risks we need to take, Ellie Baum. We all need to feel free. I’ll keep your secret.”

  I whispered my thanks and then turned around, orienting myself. The guard tower was around the corner, and though my papers were a comforting presence in my coat, I didn’t really want to run into that sort of trouble. I began to walk back on the street, largely ignored by the people around me, and I liked that anonymity. Sneaking out and passing as an East German on the street sent a powerful thrill through my veins. I shivered again. I wished I’d stayed and walked home with the others. Or at least asked Aurora to walk me home.

  The streets were unnaturally still by the wall, and I held my breath as I cut across the street and down an alley toward the street where I lived. I could hear the tram in the distance and the rumble of cars idling at the light on our corner. Feel my heartbeat in my palms. Almost home. Almost safe.

  I tripped and stumbled, hitting the ground. I rolled over, grimacing and rubbing my knees, and stared at the boot that I’d tripped over. A boot. Attached to a leg. Attached to a body. I clapped my hand over my mouth, trying not to scream, as I
scrambled to my feet. My hands shook violently, vibrating against my face as I wiped at sudden tears in my eyes. My breath rattled in my chest. The alley remained empty, but I tried calling for help anyway.

  “Hallo? Hilf mir!” My voice echoed off the damp buildings. Not a single light turned on. No one appeared at the ends of the street. I stepped closer to the body, masked in shadows. I nudged the foot with my foot. Probably some drunk—but the foot felt stiff, and the body didn’t stir.

  “Oh my G-d, oh my G-d, oh my G-d,” I whispered to myself. I dropped my hands to my sides and shook them out hard. “You can do this, Ellie. Okay, just check for a pulse.”

  I crouched by the body, by a limp, pale hand sticking out of a dark jacket sleeve. Sobbing, I turned over the cold, stiff hand with my thumb and forefinger, my other hand clapped over my mouth. The hand opened slightly as I turned it, and I barely stopped the scream from escaping my mouth when a cell phone tumbled out of the person’s hand.

  A cell phone. Another time traveler. Someone from my time. I covered my face and took a deep breath. Ellie. Focus. Breathe. I inhaled slowly, and let the breath out slowly. My legs shook, so I rocked onto my knees. I turned over the phone. The screen still lit up, but it didn’t find any service. Duh. No satellites. I swallowed and checked the text messages, looking at the date. Not the same year as me. Three years before I even came to Berlin and saw the red balloon. But another time traveler for sure. And for some reason, this one didn’t survive.

  “I have to get Kai. I’ll be back,” I promised the corpse. I stood up, feeling dizzy, and slipped the phone into my pocket. I turned to walk up the alley, and stopped dead in my tracks.

  A tall, broad-shouldered man walked toward me, shrouded in shadow, but I could see his shaved head and the tattoos going up his neck and down his arms. The python tattoo. The infinity tattoo. The Zer-whatever-that-word-was guy. The one Kai and Mitzi were talking about. I opened my mouth to scream, but the man held up a finger and said quickly in perfect English, “Don’t scream, please, Ellie. I am here to help.”

  He made no move to hurt me, frozen as I was, just beelined for the body. He pressed his fingers into the dark, I supposed by the throat, and waited. He sighed deeply. “Dead.”

  “I just found him like that,” I squeaked in German.

  “You’re not in trouble,” he murmured, standing up and looking around the alley. “Go home, Ellie. I’ll take care of this. You shouldn’t be here if the police come by. Go home.”

  “He died,” I said softly. “But I lived.”

  He sighed. “You did. Go home, Ellie. Tell Kai what happened when he gets home. He knows how to find me.”

  “But he’s from the future,” I said, looking at the body. “So he just dies here? He is just a missing person that’ll never be found?”

  “How would you like me to inform your police?” His cool tone chilled me straight to my bones.

  I flinched. “Who are you?”

  “My name is Felix Kohn,” he said, crouching by the body again. “I work for the Zerberus, but I expect you knew that. We’re the watchdog group for the Councils who use magic balloons to help people escape from places where human rights violations are occurring. Normally, I take care of people like Kai’s sister who are considered very valuable because of their talents. But I’ve been assigned here because of your balloon.”

  “Where’s his balloon?” I asked, looking around the alley.

  Felix’s eyebrows raised, and his eyes flickered up to me. “That is a very good question. But that is my job, Ellie, not yours. Go home. Stay safe. Tell Kai and Mitzi what happened.”

  I nodded, backed up a few steps, then spun, running home as fast as I could. I didn’t care if I attracted any attention. I shut the door hard behind me and sank to the floor, shaking like mad. Only then did I realize I still had the second time traveler’s cell phone in my pocket. I hung up my jacket and curled up on the couch, pulling a blanket around my shoulders. Tucking my knees up to my chin, I waited for Kai and Mitzi to come home.

  I tried to make paper doves, but I failed. We were short on paper, so I smoothed out my attempts again and again until there were no creases on the page.

  Mostly, I waited and tried not to cry.

  Kai and Mitzi stomped into the house a few hours later, laughing and joking in German that I couldn’t translate. They both stopped in the doorway of the living room, staring at me. Mitzi murmured something to Kai and disappeared into the kitchen. I heard her filling a kettle for tea. Kai slowly pulled off his coat and scarf, watching me with unsure eyes. He sank down onto the couch next to me, leaning his elbow on the back.

  “You look like you’ve seen a ghost,” he said, and his eyes flickered around the room. Like there’d be a visible ghost to explain my condition.

  “I…” I swallowed and closed my eyes against the tears swelling up in them. My fists came up to my face again.

  “Ellie,” Kai whispered and scooted closer to me. His hands closed over mine, and he tried to tug my fists off my cheeks. “Ellie, was ist los? What’s wrong? Please.”

  “There was a body,” I finally managed to say. My voice sounded weird in my ears. “In the streets. I followed you. There was a body. Then Felix came.”

  “Breathe,” Kai ordered me. “Ellie, you have to breathe.” I took a deep breath, and he relaxed a bit. “Start again, Ellie. You followed us tonight. Okay. Where was the body? What body? Why was Felix there?”

  “There was another time traveler,” I said, lifting my chin to look at his eyes through the space between my shaking arms. “This one was dead.”

  Chapter Fifteen

  ZEITREISENDER

  East Berlin, German Democratic Republic, April 1988

  Kai

  Another time traveler. Ellie’s words sank into my gut, a heavy stone dropping into the ocean. I stared at her, at her light-brown hair pulled back into a messy knot, at her tear-swollen blue eyes. Her hands in mine were ice-cold, the kind of clammy cold that came from adrenaline kicks, and her bottom lip trembled. I tried not to think about her sneaking out…That was a whole different conversation. I might be an idiot sometimes, but I wasn’t the type of idiot who’d scold her for leaving the house alone when she just tripped over a body in the alley. I shuddered at the thought. I wouldn’t have wanted to trip over a body, and I’d seen dead people before. What were the chances she had?

  “El,” I said, my voice cracking like a fault line. I pulled at her wrists until she scooted forward, and we wrapped our arms around each other. The sobs snapped from her, and I closed my eyes against the force of her. I whispered something nonsensical, an old Romani rhyme that meant as little to me as it did to Ellie, and ran a hand down her back.

  Mitzi came back into the living room and set down a tray with tea on the coffee table. She sat on the other side of the couch and rubbed Ellie’s back. Mitzi usually couldn’t stand crying people. People crying made her want to cry. She leaned over Ellie’s back so we were sandwiching her between us. I don’t know if we thought we were going to protect her from her sadness or what, but it seemed to help—the lullabies and our pile of sadness on the couch.

  I raised an eyebrow at Mitzi, who nodded her head a little at me. I ran a hand down Ellie’s back to her waist and pressed her backward a bit. She didn’t let go of me. “Ellie, I have to go find Felix and Ashasher.”

  “Please don’t leave,” she whispered into my chest.

  God, I really didn’t want to leave. I didn’t want to leave anyone, honestly, and I didn’t want anyone to leave.

  I pressed my lips against the side of her head. Not exactly a kiss. Definitely not nothing. “I have to go. I’ll be back.”

  I forced myself not to look at her when I slid off the couch and headed for the door again. If I turned around, I might not leave. And if I didn’t leave, too many others wouldn’t leave. If there was a dead time traveler, I had more than one dead body. It meant that Felix, damn him, was right. Ellie’s balloon wasn’t a mistake. Someone was tam
pering with balloons. It might mean that Peter, the old man we sent over today after he was denied permission to join his family in West Berlin, was the Passenger who died for the balloon to cross time. The light had gone on at the church, but I needed to find a way to verify he had survived.

  First, Felix. I checked the café, but there was only a feather sitting on a table. I rubbed my face and stared at it before pocketing it, in case it was one of Ashasher’s feathers. I didn’t know if it was a signal to Felix or to Ashasher, but either way, I didn’t think it should sit there in public. And maybe I wanted it. Ashasher never specifically said that his feathers had magical properties, but they flew around his head and his mood determined their speed. Better to be safe than sorry. So the feather went into my pocket.

  I waited for a few minutes in the cold, but my mind kept spinning back to Peter disappearing with the balloon and Ellie crying on the couch. If I stood at the café any longer at this time of night, I’d attract the wrong type of attention anyway. I bounced on the balls of my feet, trying to think. Ashasher, I thought, he’ll know what to do about a dead time traveler and a Zerberus here making things difficult. Maybe he left the feather for me on purpose. I headed off for the workshop.

  The whole way, I was sure that I was being followed. I tried not to look suspicious by glancing around, but I doubled back on my tracks a few times. No one seemed to notice me, but I couldn’t shake the feeling of being watched. If it was Felix, I didn’t get why he wasn’t stepping up to find me. And if it wasn’t Felix, I didn’t like my chances. After a few laps, I finally went into the tunnels. I couldn’t delay any longer.

  The workshop was quiet. Still. No doves. No balloons. The space felt bigger, emptier, lonelier without the steady buzz of activity. I waited for the walls to fall down around my ears, for people to come crawling out of the ventilation system or whatever else they did when they were hiding. The Schöpfers stayed in rooms attached to the workshop, while we Runners bounced between whatever safe houses weren’t being used. We were disposable. They made sure we knew it. Sabina stayed with them, thank god. She’d do something as irresponsible as Ellie, walking out of the house in the middle of the night for no reason other than feeling bored or wanting to seem exciting. God only knew what went through their heads sometimes.