Masaryk Station (John Russell) Read Online Free PDF

their conversation, a dark frown on his face. Russell had actually explained it all in a recent letter—the Russians, having interpreted the American Marshall Plan as a declaration of hostilities, were busy battening down every hatch they could, including the cinematic ones.
    Another group called Volker away, and Eva seemed to breathe a sigh of relief. But instead of returning to the subject of Sonja, she asked Effi what she was working on.
    ‘Another film with Ernst Dufring. I agree that the Soviets are becoming less open, but they haven’t stopped people like him making thoughtful films. Not yet, at least.’
    ‘What’s this one about?’
    ‘It’s the history of a family, and one woman in particular—Anna Hofmann. The film’s named after her. She starts off as a serving girl in an officer’s family around the turn of the century, has a family of her own, loses her husband and son, and ends up making a dress for her granddaughter’s graduation—they’re the only two left. But it’s not depressing, not really. And it asks a lot of questions.’
    ‘And who do you play?’
    ‘The woman in middle age. It’s not a big part, but it’s a good one. Anna Jesek wrote the screenplay, and some of the lines are heavenly. What about you?’
    ‘Oh, nothing at the moment. No one’s making period dramas—I guess the Nazis made too many—and films set in the last few years are pretty easy to clothe—any old rags will do.’
    ‘I suppose so.’
    ‘So what’s next?’
    ‘No idea. I’ve got an audition at the American radio station—they’re planning a serial about ordinary Berliners which sounds interesting. And DEFA have offered me a film which doesn’t, although I haven’t seen the script yet.’
    ‘Will the Russians be happy to let you go?’ Eva wondered.
    ‘They don’t own me.’
    ‘No, but they can make life difficult for people.’
    ‘Well, if they do, I just might take an extended holiday. I need to spend more time with my daughter anyway.’
    ‘I didn’t know you had one.’
    ‘We adopted Rosa after the war. Both her parents had been killed.’
    ‘How old is she?’
    ‘Eleven and a half.’
    ‘A difficult age.’ Eva opened her mouth to say something else, closed it, and then took the plunge. ‘Look, I don’t want to talk about it here, but the Russians were making life difficult for Sonja, and Ijust have to tell someone what I know. Could we meet for a coffee or something? I know you’re busy, but …’
    ‘Of course. But why me? I hardly knew her.’
    Eva smiled. ‘I don’t know. I’ve always thought you were more sensible than most actors.’
    A back-handed compliment if ever she’d heard one, Effi thought an hour or so later, as she waited for the tram to carry her back across town. But a coffee with Eva would be pleasant enough. She wondered if the woman had had an affair with Sonja, and what secrets she had to tell. Nothing dangerous, she hoped.
    There was no point in worrying about possible problems in the future when she had enough on her plate already. Rosa might be almost twelve, but she could act anything from age six to sixteen. Most of the friends Rosa had made in their neighbourhood were a lot older, and though none of them seemed like bad children, some were definitely on the wild side, with no obvious signs of parental control. At school, where her marks remained high, Rosa’s friends seemed mostly the same age as she was.
    Effi’s sister, who looked after Rosa when Effi worked early or late, insisted there was nothing to worry about, and she was usually right about such things. But these days Zarah’s attention was so focused on her new American lover that she wouldn’t have noticed a visit from Hitler. And bringing Rosa back to Berlin had always felt risky to Effi as the girl had lost both her parents here.
    By this time the number of people waiting for the tram exceeded its capacity, but the only alternative was a six-mile walk. Two Soviet soldiers were standing