“Do you think we can afford it?” Kitty said.
“I’ve got dollars,” Charlie replied. “I reckon they’ll go a long way in a place like this.”
The driver simply nodded when Kitty gave their destination. Charlie didn’t need to wave money under his nose—apparently his uniform was proof enough of their ability to pay.
The streets they drove through were very empty. In the glare of the headlights, she saw that Vienna was a smashed, ruined city. Steel rods hung like stalactites from the nonexistent roofs of houses; rusty girders were thrusting like bones through the piles of rubble that lay on almost every street.
The taxi came to a stop at a roadblock.
“This must be where we cross into the American zone,” Charlie whispered.
Kitty could just about make out the Stars and Stripes badge on the cap of the man who leaned down to peer into the taxi. They didn’t have to show their passes. A few minutes later, the headlights glanced off something she recognized: a huge, prancing horse—one of the great statues that graced the ring of avenues surrounding the inner city. As the taxi wound its way toward the hotel, she spotted the chariots and the eagles, followed by the Titans—the towering, muscled figures supporting the corners of the Hofburg palace. It gave her a glimmer of comfort to see that not everything had been destroyed.
The Hotel Regina was in a street that had sustained less damage than most. An American GI stood on sentry duty outside the entrance. Kitty felt self-conscious as she showed her papers. She could tell by the look on the guard’s face that he thought she was a girl Charlie had picked up for the night.
The hotel was a building that would once have been the residence of one of Vienna’s wealthier families. The elegant baroque interior was at odds with the military personnel who now occupied the place. Kitty waited in the lobby while Charlie went to speak to more uniformed men. He returned with two keys.
“How about we drop our bags and go find something to eat?” He rubbed the heel of his hand against his jaw. “Guess I could use a shave. Shall we meet back here in, say, half an hour?”
Their rooms were on the top floor—where servants would have resided in the building’s glory days. The furnishings were basic, but to Kitty it was unimaginable luxury to have a room all to herself.
She pictured Charlie, probably stripped to the waist, shaving in the small square of mirror above the basin in the corner of the room. There was no denying the worm of desire that image brought to the surface. She wondered if he was thinking about her. It had occurred to Kitty that he might try to pull some stunt—tell her there was only one room available that they would have to share. Now she felt ashamed for having thought it. Whatever else was on his mind, it was clear that he cared enough to not try to manipulate the situation to his advantage.
In the morning, Kitty got dressed quickly. It had been hard to sleep, knowing what lay ahead. Charlie had advised her to wear her uniform rather than the civilian clothes she’d put on for dinner last night—he said it would make it easier to get through the checkpoints.
“Ready to go?” He squeezed her arm as he emerged from his room. “Got your papers?”
She nodded. She had everything, including the laissez-passer of the four powers, which Charlie had obtained for her when they checked into the hotel—a document that allowed nonmilitary personnel to move freely through all the zones of Vienna.
It was a good half hour’s walk from the Hotel Regina to the rim of the Russian zone, and it would take at least another half hour to reach the street where Clara lived.
“Are you hungry?” Charlie said, as they stepped around a pile of shattered bricks and broken glass that spilled across the pavement into the road.
“Not really.” Kitty had been waiting so long for this day. All she could think about was finding Clara—and what news she might have for her. Charlie had managed to get hamburgers for them last night, but she’d been too worked up to eat more than a few bites.
“I think you should try and get something down,” he said. “You can’t walk miles on an empty stomach.”
“You get something. I’ll have a bite of it.”
“Promise?”
She raised her hand in a mock salute. “Yes, Sergeant, I promise.”
As they turned the corner, she let out a gasp of dismay.
“What is it?”
“Over there.” She pointed to the enormous blackened spire of Saint Stephen’s, stretching across the sky like a scar. Tears pricked her eyes as she took in the damage the war had inflicted on the once-beautiful cathedral.