Nia looked up at Anna and panted, her breath misting in the cold air.
“You’re a good girl, Nia,” Anna said.
The dog swished her tail.
“Do you see him?” Max asked, as the train hissed to a stop.
Anna scanned the passengers seated next to the carriage windows. “Not yet.”
The carriage doors opened and passengers, a blend of civilians and soldiers, descended upon the landing.
Anna stood on her toes, but was unable to see through the growing crowd of people. She left Max and Nia, and then wriggled through the throng, like a spawning salmon fighting a current. But within a few minutes, the passengers filtered out of the station, leaving the landing empty except for Anna, Max, and Nia.
Anna’s shoulder muscles tightened. “He’s not here,” she called to Max.
“Forward,” Max said to Nia. They walked toward Anna. He tapped his cane over the ground. “Halt.”
Nia stopped.
“I’m sure he is fine,” Max said. “It’s not unusual for train schedules, especially routes to and from the front, to be delayed.”
“Ja,” Anna said reluctantly.
“Are you all right?”
“I’m disappointed,” Anna said, deciding not to include her uneasiness of reuniting with Bruno.I’m going mad. We’re engaged, and I should be overjoyed to see him.
“I’m sorry,” Max said. He extended his elbow. “Let’s go. We’ll celebrate tomorrow, when Bruno is home.”
“Danke.” Anna clasped Max’s arm, and she walked with him and Nia out of the train station.
Over the past few nights, Anna had prepared the house for Bruno’s arrival. She’d scrubbed the floors, cleaned the windows, and washed the sheets. To spruce up the kitchen, she placed old wildflowers—which had been hanging upside down to dry on a hook in Norbie’s workshop since last summer—in a ceramic vase on the table. Unlike Bruno’s last visit, when he’d resided in a local boardinghouse while they courted, Norbie insisted that Bruno stay with them. However, hervaterexpected that Bruno would take his room, and that he would sleep in his workshop. “You will share a bed on your wedding night,” Norbie had said, unfolding a cot beside a workbench. She admired, as well as appreciated, her father’s etiquette, especially since he likely deduced that she’d already been intimate with Bruno, given the amount of time she’d spent in his boarding room during his last military leave.
She had planned to give up her virginity when she was married, but things changed when she met Bruno. He was charming, attentive, and made her feel comfortable. Eventually, she accepted his invitation to meet him at his boardinghouse room, where he confided in Anna about his fear of returning to the fight, and his desire for emotional support and intimacy. Anna’s heart ached for him. As a nurse, she’d heard many stories of soldiers making appeals to their girlfriend or fiancée for sexual relations. The war had placed enormous strain on men at the front, as well as women who were struggling to survive at home, and traditional sexual norms, Anna believed, were beginning to decay. Regardless, she politely declined Bruno’s request on the basis that they should wait until they were wed. But as days passed, and his time to return to the fight drew near, she accepted his invitation.
We’re engaged to be married,Anna had rationalized, slipping into his bed.I want us to experience being together should something dreadful happen to him at the front.For Anna, the sexual intercourse was awkward, and it was more painful than pleasurable.What I’ve done cannot be undone, she’d thought curled next to him. Although she didn’t regret her decision, she hoped that the next time that she and Bruno would be intimate would be on their wedding night.
Norbie’s sleeping arrangements for Bruno’s visit weren’t ideal, but she assumed that Bruno would be amenable to hervater’s request. However, with her guide dog obligations, she was relieved to know that she wouldn’t have to sacrifice time away from Max and Nia to be with Bruno. It was crucial, Anna believed, for her to remain focused on her training responsibilities, especially since Fleck now had other shepherds that could replace Nia. Last week, the dogs that had contracted canine infectious tracheobronchitis returned to the group, thanks to Emmi’s herbal remedies to reduce their coughing and expedite their recovery. Anna was happy to see all of the dogs, healthy and wagging their tails, back at school, despite her fear that she and Nia could be replaced at any moment by another trainer and shepherd. But, to her astonishment, Fleck continued to allow them to work with Max. Although Fleck hadn’t committed to permanently assigning Nia to Max, Anna believed that the pair would remain together as long asshedidn’t make a mess of things. Hour by hour, and day by day, she trained them on obstacle avoidance, traffic work, navigation of unpaved country roads, traffic crossings, and space training to ensure that Nia was providing enough room for Max’s height and width. Anna followed Fleck’s directions to precise execution, and she was determined—more than ever—for Max to graduate and take Nia home.
Training, however, had been complicated by the winter weather, which remained unseasonably cold. The temperature rarely rose about freezing, and piles of snow and ice covered the sidewalks, making navigation hazardous for the veterans and their shepherds. Therefore, Fleck had modified the schedule to work partially indoors at theRathaus(town hall) and St. Lambert’s Church. But unlike Waldemar, who’d refused to permit Max to enter a Lutheran place of worship, Fleck had not raised the issue of Max being a Jew. Anna was delighted for Max to explore the castle-like church, and to experience the smell of the ancient timbers and echoes of their voices in its vast space. And Max seemed exceptionally proud when he and Nia climbed the colossal clock tower, despite him having to stop to catch his breath, to place his hands to the giant ticking timepiece that Norbie kept in working order.
Although things were progressing well at the guide dog school, that was not the case for Oldenburg’s food supply. The shipments of rations, which consisted mainly of turnips and black bread laced with sawdust, were infrequent at best. The citizens of Oldenburg had turned haggard with dark, sunken eyes and protruding cheekbones. There were rumors that people, particularly the elderly and very young, were dying of starvation. And based on Emmi’s interaction with a hospital nurse—who spoke of emaciated patients, too far gone to digest mashed turnip and broth, dying in their beds—she believed that the stories were true. The meager rations they received were not enough to keep them nourished. And if it wasn’t for Max sharing his military-provided lunches, as well as Fleck giving her another sack of turnips, Anna would not have the strength to train.
Anna, Max, and Nia arrived home from the train station long after sunset. Cold and hungry, they entered the kitchen, where Norbie was preparing dinner.
“Bruno wasn’t on the train,” Anna said, taking off her coat.
“I’m sorry.” Norbie removed a pan from the stove, and then hugged her. “The trains are about as dependable as my confounded grandfather clock.”
She squeezed him.
“He’ll arrive on the morning train,” Norbie said.
“Ja,” she said, feeling appreciative for his reassurance.
He released her and smiled. “I made turnip cutlets. We’ll save one for Bruno.”
“Danke,” she said.
