13thJuly 1916
Maximilian Benesch,
You are hereby notified that, as a result of your visual disability, you are required to report to the Schützenhof grounds in Oldenburg for mobility rehabilitation with guide dogs for the war blind at 8:00 AM on 2 December 1916 for a period of no less than eight weeks. Arrangements for your transport will be forthcoming.
Obergefreiter, Frederick Müller
Department of Veteran Affairs Imperial German Army
Oh, God. The government’s solution to my problems is to send me away to train with a dog.He located a box of matches and lit the stove.
“I didn’t know that dogs were used for the blind,” Wilhelmina said.
“Neither did I.” He paused, reflecting on the ambulance, messenger, and scout dogs that he’d seen at the front.
“Maybe the rehabilitation will help you,” she said.
“I don’t want to go,” he said.
“Why?”
“No amount of therapy can fix my eyes, nor my ears.”
“You’ll have no choice in the matter,” she said.
He shrugged.
“I want you to go,” Wilhelmina said. “You need to learn to get around on your own, and a dog might be helpful. At the very least, a dog could provide protection from being attacked and robbed.” She tucked the letter into the envelope and approached him. “I’m unable to be a constant caregiver for you; I’m required to work. Besides, this might be your only chance of receiving rehabilitation.”
A foreboding ache crept into Max’s gut.If I leave, she might not be here when I return home. And if she’s here when I come back from rehabilitation, she might not stay if she feels that a dog can keep me safe.He buried his thoughts, and he refused to admit to himself that he feared being alone.
She placed the letter in his hand, and then went to the washroom and closed the door behind her.
Max’s anguish spiraled. Repairing his fractured relationship with Wilhelmina felt daunting, and he dreaded undergoing any type of government rehabilitation, even one which included the appeal of working with a dog. While he waited for the coffee to percolate, he turned on the gramophone. The piano sonata, absent the high notes, filled Max’s ears. He prayed for the strength to endure his torment, but it never came.
CHAPTER10
OLDENBURG, GERMANY—AUGUST2, 1916
The clang of an alarm clock awakened Anna. She shifted the alarm switch on the back of the clock, silencing the bells. But muted chimes from Norbie’s workshop, two stories below Anna’s room, reverberated through the house. She rubbed sand from her eyes, and then looked to the corner of the room where Nia was curled on the floor.
“Good morning,” Anna said.
Nia’s tail thumped against the wall.
“The guide dog school opens today,” Anna said. “You’re going with me to work.”
Nia raised her head.
“Come,” she said, leaning over her bed.
Nia labored to stand. She limped, favoring her front right paw, and placed her chin on the bed.
Anna patted Nia on the head and received a wet lick to her face. She giggled and ruffled Nia’s ears.You’re getting better.
For the past two weeks, Anna looked after Nia. She washed and dried her paws, swollen and infected, and then applied a homemade garlic antibacterial ointment, which was a recipe from Emmi. During the treatment, Nia didn’t squirm or kick. Other than an occasional sniff or lick at the pungent concoction between her pads and claws, she was a model patient. But it became clear to Anna, when woken in the night by whines and whimpers, that Nia had suffered far more than trench-damaged paws during her service as an ambulance dog on the front.
“You’re safe, and you never have to go back there,” she’d whispered, cuddling Nia on the floor.
