CHAPTER 15 - OLDENBURG, GERMANY—DECEMBER 4, 1916 #2
Norbie grinned. “I do believe my daughter is jealous of my singing.” He selected a disc, placed it on a gramophone, and lowered the tone arm.
The needle scratched over the disc, and a reedy, organ-like sound of an accordion filled the air.
Max turned an ear toward the gramophone.
A choir of children, singing an upbeat melody, joined the accordion accompaniment.
A children’s song, Max thought, surprised by Norbie’s choice of music. Despite his ears unable to detect the high notes, he soon recognized the tune about a boy who journeys into the world and returns as a man to his family. “I sang this song in kindergarten.”
“Me too,” Anna said.
“‘H?nschen klein,’” Norbie said. “It’s a masterpiece.” He tapped his foot to the beat of the music and sang the lyrics in a vibrato tenor voice, which was flat and out of tune.
Max smiled, admiring Norbie’s uninhibited enthusiasm.
Anna nudged Max with her elbow and lowered her voice. “Surprised?”
“Ja,” he said.
Norbie lifted the needle from the disc. “Join me.”
“I don’t remember the words,” Max said.
“You’ll learn them quickly, my boy,” he said. “Anna?”
She nodded, reluctantly.
He lowered the needle.
Max listened to Norbie and Anna sing. Unlike her vater, Anna’s soprano voice was pure and with perfect pitch, like a finely tuned violin.
Nia’s tail thumped the floor.
“Sing,” Anna said to Max.
Max breathed the words. A memory of playing the piano and singing along with his military comrades flashed in his head.
Their celebration with schnapps and song had pacified their pain.
And like his friends, Norbie and Anna were using music to provide a temporary reprieve from the war.
Millions of soldiers had been killed or maimed.
Food shortages had placed civilians on the brink of starvation.
There were only reasons for Germans to mourn, Max believed.
But despite a turbulent world and hunger gnawing at their bellies, Norbie and Anna had mustered the fortitude to carry on.
For the moment, Max’s mind drifted from the war, Wilhelmina, and his blindness.
A swell of fervor rose in his chest, and he sang the final verse.
“Bravo!” Norbie said, clapping his hands. He raised the tone arm on the gramophone but left the disc spinning.
Nia raised her head and yawned.
“I don’t sing that bad,” Norbie said, patting the dog.
Anna shifted in her seat. “You might be a tad flat.”
“Nonsense.” Norbie stepped to the piano and tapped a key, which produced a sharp, twangy resonance. “La-la-laaaa,” he sang, adjusting the pitch of his voice. “Maybe I’m a little off.”
Anna chuckled.
Nia squinted her eyes.
“Max,” Norbie said. “What do you think?”
“I like your singing,” Max said, not wanting to hurt his feelings. “You perform with gusto.”
Norbie beamed, and then put on another recording.
For the evening, German folk music resounded from the gramophone. Norbie sang. Anna, Max, and Nia listened.
Norbie stretched his arms, and then turned off the gramophone. “That was fun. But I’m getting tired.”
Anna stood and kissed him on the cheek. “I’ll take Nia outside before I go to bed.”
“Okay,” Norbie said. “Sleep well, Max.”
“You too,” Max said, standing from the sofa.
Norbie patted Nia, and then climbed the stairs. His footsteps faded and a door clacked shut.
“You have a wonderful vater,” Max said.
“Danke.”
“I think he enjoyed singing that children’s song the most.”
“Ja. My mutter sang ‘H?nschen klein’ to me when I was a small child. He plays that phonograph when he misses her.”
Max clasped his hands. “Do you mind if I ask how she died?”
“Cancer.” She sat on the sofa and patted the space next to her.
He sat.
“Mutter died when I was five. She’d been sick for over a year.”
“I’m sorry.”
“She was far too young.” She glanced to the piano. “Her illness didn’t stop her from doing what she loved. Some of my fondest memories include sitting on her lap as she sang and played the piano. She had a beautiful voice.”
“So do you.”
She smiled. “Maybe, if you’re comparing me to Vater’s singing.”
He chuckled.
Nia stood and placed her chin on the sofa between them.
Anna rubbed her snout. “He sings off key, but he doesn’t care. And I enjoy listening to him.”
“With the proper tools, I could tune your piano for you. Of course, I’d need your help with tuning the upper octave keys.”
“Ja,” she said. “That would be lovely.”
Nia nudged Max with her nose, and he ran a hand over her ears.
“I’m really sorry about Wilhelmina’s letter.” Anna took a deep breath. “How are you?”
A dull ache grew in his abdomen. “I’ll be all right.”
“I’m glad that today was better for you.”
A flash of Waldemar’s voice and sour breath filled his head. He nodded.
“How are the trainers treating you?” she asked, as if she could read Max’s thoughts.
“Okay,” he said, not wanting to burden her with his problem.
“Do you have a favorite shepherd?”
“Not yet,” he said.
“Too bad Nia’s paw isn’t healed,” she said.
“Maybe I should defer school and come back when Nia is ready to train with a veteran,” he jested.
“That would be nice. Unfortunately, veterans only have one chance at training. There are hundreds in need of a guide dog.”
If I don’t pass, I’ll be on my own, he thought.
“Well,” Anna said, “we better get some sleep. I’ll be getting you up early again tomorrow to practice with Nia.”
“Why?”
Anna paused, wringing her hands. “I overheard one of the trainers make a disparaging remark.”
An angst grew in his belly. “About me being a Jew?”
“Ja,” she said. “I think he’s the reason you’re boarding with me.”
“Waldemar?”
“How did you know?”
“Let’s just say that he isn’t easy to work with,” Max said.
“Perhaps we should inform Fleck.”
“Nein,” he said. “In the military, little good can come from a Jewish soldier protesting to superiors about anti-Semitic behavior. I expect it to be the same with veterans. Besides, I can handle Waldemar.”
“All right,” Anna said. “But we’re not taking any chances. You’re going to need to be at the top of the class, and that means you’ll need more practice time than the others. Be prepared to wake at five a.m.”
“Okay.” He rubbed Nia, located her collar, and stood. “How about I get a little extra practice by taking Nia outside to do her business?”
Anna smiled. “Downstairs, make a right to the back door leading to the garden. I’ll leave my bedroom door cracked open for her when she comes upstairs.”
Max, guided by Nia, made his way to the stairs. At the threshold he paused. “Danke for your help, and the nice evening. It’s been a long time since I’ve enjoyed listening to music.”
“I’m glad,” she said.
Nia guided Max to the garden, dormant and covered in a layer of fresh fallen snow. The dog padded over the ground. A moment later, Nia nudged his hand, and then guided him inside and upstairs to his bedroom.
Max kneeled and whispered, “Good night, Nia.”
The dog licked his face. She walked, her toenails clicking over the hardwood floor, to Anna’s partially open door and slipped inside.
In his room, Max undressed and crawled into bed.
Wind whistled through a crack in the window frame.
Unable to sleep, his mind stirred with thoughts of training.
He dreaded working with Waldemar, but he needed to withstand the man’s wrath to pass training.
If I’m kicked out, or if Fleck deems me to be an unsuitable match for any of the shepherds, I’ll be alone.
To bury his angst, he turned his thoughts to Anna.
She’s kind, committed to helping the blind, and she refuses to allow me to fail.
I’m fortunate to be boarding with her and Norbie.
He slowly drifted toward sleep with the echo of Anna’s and Norbie’s voices singing “H?nschen klein” in his head.
But he was roused by the sound of scratching.
Opening his door, Nia trotted inside and plopped on the floor next to his bed.
“Does Anna know you’re here?” he whispered.
Her tailed brushed the floor.