“I am,” she said. “You’ll likely be graduating in a couple of weeks. Do you think we can finish it before you leave?”
“I think so,” he said, a timbre of melancholy in his voice.
Anna sat at the piano next to Max. With staff paper and pencil in hand, she transcribed his piece while Nia slept under their bench. Bar by bar, she recorded the notes. Her mind gradually drifted away from Bruno, his family, and war atrocities. A calmness spread through her body, suppressing the sorrow in her chest. They worked for hours, drafting the musical composition, and she wished that the piano suite would never end.
CHAPTER31
OLDENBURG, GERMANY—FEBRUARY13, 1917
Max, guided by Nia, kicked snow from his boots and entered the school barn, where Fleck had called a meeting with the trainers and veterans. After a morning of obstacle work with Nia—absent Anna, who observed from the sidelines with the other trainers—his feet were nearly numb and his lungs ached from the cold air. He made his way to the woodstove, tapping his cane over the ground.
“Halt,” Max said, giving a tug on the harness.
Nia stopped, and then sat after Max gave the command.
Max listened to the chatter of men, including Fleck and Waldemar, who were discussing plans to send the veterans to town for the afternoon. He removed his leather gloves and extended his hands toward the heat radiating from the stove. A subtle, sweet smell of burning birch firewood penetrated his nose. As he rubbed his palms together, he felt a soft touch to his arm.Anna.
“You did well on the obstacle course,” Anna whispered, as if she didn’t want the others to hear.
“Danke,” he said.
“Fleck commented that you and Nia performed the best of all the groups.”
Max patted the dog’s head. “Gutjob, Nia.”
Nia raised her snout and swished her tail.
“That’s not all,” Anna said, giving him a nudge with her elbow. “Waldemar was there when Fleck gave the compliment. I’d give anything for you to see the expression on his face.”
Max smiled. But proving his and Nia’s competence to Waldemar wasn’t the only thing that gave him satisfaction. It was the radiant timbre of Anna’s voice.You’re regaining your spirit.
In the two weeks since Bruno left Oldenburg, Anna had gradually begun to shed her grief. She’d been devastated by the most horrible of circumstances, yet she pushed on, day by day, with training him and Nia. Even in the evenings, when they were both tired and hungry, she’d insisted that they carry on with transcribing his piano suite. Anna, Max believed, was the strongest person he’d ever met, and although she had a long journey of healing ahead of her, it was clear that she was on a path to regaining happiness in her life.
“Attention!” Fleck called, stepping to the center of the barn.
Chatter dwindled. Trainers and veterans, along with their guide dogs, gathered around their supervisor.
Fleck stroked his mustache and scanned the group, as if he was making sure everyone was accounted for. “This afternoon, veterans will train alone in town with their dogs. They’ll be joined by their trainers as far as the town hall. From there, each veteran and their dog will travel to an assigned landmark to explore. You’ll return to the town hall to meet up with your trainer at the end of the day.”
Fleck is weaning us away from our instructors and forcing us to be independent, Max thought. Although he was excited to explore the town with Nia, he was disappointed that Anna would not be joining them for much of the afternoon.
Fleck lifted his clipboard and began reading the names of the veterans and their assigned landmark, and when he reached the bottom of the list, he said, “Max, hospital grounds.”
Anna leaned to Max and whispered, “You’re lucky. It has a large garden to the rear of the building.”
I wish you were coming with me, he thought.
Fleck tucked his clipboard under an armpit, lit a cigarette, and said, “I have another announcement.” He drew a deep drag. “I’ve decided on a date for graduation.”
Max wrinkled his forehead.
“The twentieth day of February.”
He placed his hand on Nia’s head. A wave of joy flooded him, and then washed away like a retreating tide.Only a week left with Anna.
Fleck puffed his cigarette. “Dismissed.”
Max clasped Nia’s harness and they exited the barn with Anna. The groups spread out and began walking toward town, but the crunch of approaching footsteps in the snow compelled Max and Anna to stop.
