CHAPTER 17 - OLDENBURG, GERMANY—DECEMBER 8, 1916 #2
Anna guided his hand to the harness. With Nia between them, they walked onto the course.
Eyes of the trainers fell upon them. She felt like a stagehand who’d been asked to fill in at the last minute for the leading role of an opera.
Her heartbeat pounded in her eardrums. She squeezed the handle of Nia’s harness to keep her hand from shaking.
“Don’t worry,” Max said, as if he could sense her nervousness. “You’ll do great.”
“What makes you so sure?” she asked.
“I’ve worked with every trainer and shepherd at this school.” He nudged her with his elbow. “If I’m honest, you and Nia are the finest duo here.”
Anna’s confidence swelled.
For the next few hours, the trainers worked with the veterans and their dogs.
Anna ignored glares from Waldemar and focused on aiding Max and Nia.
She dreaded that Fleck might bark orders to perform a task that she was unfamiliar with, but she was relieved to find that she knew most of them.
And for the drills that she hadn’t observed, such as maneuvering over a series of uneven log barriers that was recently constructed, Max helped her along by describing what the other trainers had done.
By afternoon, Nia began to favor her right front paw and, soon after, she began to limp.
Fleck’s glances grew more frequent. Her fear mushroomed.
She prayed for Nia to have the stamina to continue working, and that they wouldn’t be dismissed.
Hour after hour, they labored on the course until Fleck glanced at his wristwatch and blew his whistle, signaling the end of the day’s training.
Max rubbed Nia’s back. “Well done.”
Nia raised her chin and peered at him.
Anna exhaled, her breath misting in the frigid air. She ruffled Nia’s ears. “You made it.”
* * *
The walk home from school took longer than usual.
Nia’s pace was slow due to her tender paw, which had been aggravated by prolonged exposure to the frozen ground.
But the limp in her gait didn’t seem to dampen the dog’s spirits, considering that she wagged her tail on the way to town.
Anna had planned to join Emmi to check on the ill dogs that were recovering at the ambulance dog shelter, but Emmi insisted that she go alone.
“It’s on the way to my apartment,” Emmi said. “I’ll take care of them tonight.”
“Are you sure?” Anna asked.
Emmi nodded. “Go home and get warm. You, Max, and Nia have been working outside for most of the day. Besides, you must be excited to tell Norbie about getting a chance to train.”
“I am,” Anna said. “But it’s temporary. Fleck will have Nia and me removed from the course as soon as the other shepherds are well.”
“Perhaps,” Emmi said. “But as much as I enjoy working with you, I’m counting on you and Nia to remain on the training course.”
“I’ll try not to disappoint you,” Anna said.
Emmi grinned. “I still expect to see you at seven a.m. Your new role does not provide a reprieve from chopping feed and picking up dog piles.”
Anna chuckled.
“Max,” Emmi said. “Please take your trainer and guide dog home.”
“Will do.” Max patted Nia’s side.
Emmi turned and walked away.
“Forward,” Max said to Nia. She padded ahead, guiding him around a mound of shoveled snow.
Anna glanced to Max. A dusting of frost covered his cap. “Thank you for sticking up for me. If it wasn’t for your endorsement, Fleck would not have permitted Nia or me to work with you.”
“You’re welcome,” he said. “But I didn’t do it out of pity.”
“Waldemar?”
“Nein, although it’s nice to have a break from working with him. You’re as good or better than the other trainers, and you’re far more pleasant to work with.” He tapped his cane over cobblestone. “You and Nia deserve a chance to train.”
“You sound like my vater.”
“I’ll take that as a compliment, assuming you are not referring to Norbie’s singing.”
She smiled, her cheeks feeling numb from the cold air. “Working with Nia, the best dog in all of Deutschland, makes me look good.”
He gave a tug on the harness handle. “Halt.”
Nia stopped, raised her right front paw, and panted.
“Why are we stopping?” Anna asked.
He turned to her. “You’re not giving yourself enough credit. Nia is an incredible guide dog, but you have a gift, Anna.”
She looked at him. A glimmer of light from a gas streetlamp flickered over his stubbled face.
“This afternoon on the obstacle course,” he said, “I kept thinking about all the good you and the school are doing for battle-blinded soldiers. You’re not merely pairing them with a shepherd to give them companionship and independence—you’re restoring their lives and giving them hope.”
Tears welled in her eyes.
“I can tell that you want to be trainer; I feel your passion for guide dogs each time you work with me and Nia. And I believe Emmi is right—you must strive to remain a trainer.”
“It’s Fleck’s decision, not mine,” she said.
“You’re right,” he said. “But even if Fleck decides to remove you from your substitute role, you must never give up on your dream.”
Anna wiped her eyes with her sleeve. He’s lost so much, yet he’s encouraging me to pursue my aspirations.
“How about a pact?” he asked, extending a gloved hand. “I’ll do my best to graduate from guide dog school, and you do everything in your power to remain a trainer.”
“Agreed.” She shook his hand.
Nia raised her snout, her eyes peering back at them.
Anna released his hand and patted Nia. “You’re in this pact, too, Nia. I’m expecting you to show Fleck that you’re worthy of being a guide dog.” And someday you’ll be assigned to Max.
Arriving at home, Anna—despite being chilled, tired, and hungry—was excited to tell her vater about the day. They entered Norbie’s workshop, void of light except for a glow coming from under a crack in the back door.
“Vater!” Anna called.
“Outside,” he said, his voice muffled.
Anna opened the back door. In the garden, a small snow-covered space that was surrounded by a brick wall, Norbie was on his hands and knees. Beside him was a lantern, spade, and hand trowel. Ice beads clung to his beard.
“What are you doing?” she asked.
“Digging for food.” Norbie attempted to stand and grimaced.
Anna dashed to him and helped him to his feet.
Nia led Max into the garden.
“Why?” Anna asked, dusting snow from his clothing.
Norbie, his eyes filled with sadness, looked at Anna. “I went to pick up our rations and was told that they were out of food.”
Oh, God. “How long?”
“They don’t know,” Norbie said. “I’ll try again tomorrow.
But in the meantime, we only have a couple turnips for us to eat.
” He glanced to a row of leafy stalks, which were partially covered in snow.
“I was saving the winter leeks to separate and replant in the spring, but I decided to dig them up for us to eat. The ground is frozen. It took me over an hour to collect a couple of meager plants.”
Anna clasped his hands. “You’re shivering, and you have icicles in your whiskers. Let’s go inside.”
“I’ll be a little while longer,” Norbie said. “I barely have enough for a watery soup.”
“I’ll do it,” Max said, stepping forward. He removed his gloves, reached into his pocket, and handed Anna a small package wrapped in newspaper.
She lifted a corner of the paper, exposing a hunk of bread and a field sausage. Her heart sank. “You can’t keep giving us your lunch.”
“The military gives me more than I need.” He turned toward Norbie. “My time in the trenches has turned me into a skilled digger. How many do you need?”
“Danke, my boy.” Norbie patted Max on the shoulder. “A few more would be splendid.” He led Max to a row of winter leeks, handed him the garden tools, and then went into the house.
Anna paused, watching Max hack away at the frozen ground with a garden trowel.
The winter was unseasonably cold, as if Mother Nature was bestowing her wrath in response to the war that ravaged her Earth.
A shiver ran down her spine. What if there are no rations available tomorrow, or the day after that?
The dormant leek bulbs in their miniscule urban garden would not be enough to augment their depleted rations.
Her excitement to tell Vater about her day vanished, replaced with a fear of not having enough food to survive the winter.
“Take Nia inside,” Max said, scraping at frozen soil. “I can find my way upstairs.”
“All right.” Anna clasped Nia’s harness and led her inside.
In the kitchen, Anna removed Nia’s harness and bundled her in a blanket.
She attempted to check her paws, but the dog playfully rolled in the blanket, as if she were drying herself after a bath.
Assured that Nia’s sore paw was not causing her too much distress, Anna lit the wood stove and prepared a bowl of lukewarm water for Norbie to thaw his numb fingers, and a pot of boiling water to make soup.
She chopped the frozen leeks and a turnip and tossed them into the pot.
Thirty minutes later, Max entered the kitchen with a handful of leeks, which she diced and added to the soup.
Dinner was served well after 9:00 p.m., a time when they were usually preparing to go to bed. On the table were bowls of leek soup and a plate with Max’s leftover field sausage and bread.
“It’s good,” Norbie said, tasting his soup.
“It needs cream and potato,” Anna said.
Max took a bite. “I like it. You’re a remarkable cook to make savory soup out of dormant leeks.”
Anna appreciated their efforts to compliment her on the food, but she couldn’t stop thinking about the dwindling food supplies, due to the British naval blockade, and the rumors that many Germans would die from starvation before spring.
Famine has become a weapon. A fusion of hunger and dread gnawed at her stomach.
“Have you told Norbie?” Max asked.
“Nein,” she said, staring at her soup.
“Tell me what?” Norbie asked.
“It’s nothing,” Anna said. “It can wait until tomorrow.”
“Anna and Nia trained with me,” Max said.
A smile spread over Norbie’s face. “That is glorious news.” He leaned to Anna and hugged her. “I’m so proud of you.”
Anna’s angst faded. “Danke.”
“Why didn’t you want to tell me?” Norbie asked.
“I’m worried about us not having enough rations,” she said. “What if the British blockade doesn’t end.”
“Everything, including war and blockades, eventually ends,” Norbie said. “If rations continue to be sparse, I’ll find a way to get us food, even if I have to barter every one of my clocks and timepieces to get us through winter.” Norbie patted her hand. “Now, tell me about your day.”
You always have a way of making terrible things tolerable, Anna thought. She took a bite of soup, bitter and bland, and for the next several minutes she told him about Fleck permitting her and Nia to temporarily train with Max until healthy shepherds became available.
Norbie beamed. “This calls for a celebration.” He stood, opened a china cabinet, and retrieved crystal wineglasses.
“What are you doing?” Anna asked.
“I’m going to pour us drinks for a toast.”
Anna furrowed her brows. “But we don’t have any wine.”
Norbie looked at her. “Do you remember what wine tastes like?”
She nodded, feeling confused.
“Gut.” He poured water from a clay pitcher into the wineglasses. “To Anna, Max, and Nia,” he said, raising his glass. “And their success with guide dog training.”
Anna clinked their glasses and took a sip of water.
“Ah,” Norbie said. “That’s a fine Riesling.”
“Ja,” Max said. “Citrusy and sweet. What year is it?”
Anna smiled.
Norbie pretended to examine a label on the pitcher of water. “1913.”
“A fine year,” Max said.
“Let’s have some sauerbraten and sp?tzle,” Norbie said. He carved the small, shriveled field sausage with a paring knife and placed the bits of meat onto their plates with a thumb-size piece of black bread.
Max sniffed his food. “Smells divine.”
Norbie chewed a bit of dry sausage. “It’s delicious but not quite as tender as my wife, Helga’s, sauerbraten. Her recipe called for the meat to be marinated—in a secret family recipe of wine, herbs, and spices—for seven days.”
A childhood memory of Anna and her mutter pouring pretend tea for dolls flashed in her head.
Max nibbled his bread. “The sp?tzle is mouthwatering, but it’s not quite as tasty as my mutter’s recipe. Her sp?tzle called for a rare variety of nutmeg—grown on a secret spice island—and eggs from hand-fed ostriches.”
Norbie chuckled. “That’s the spirit.”
They’re creating an imaginary dinner to help us feel better. She fought back tears and took a spoonful of soup.
With a bit of encouragement from Norbie, Anna joined the childish make-believe game.
As the meal progressed, they attempted to outdo each other with the usage of delectable words and far-fetched recipes.
Anna forgot about the war, British naval blockade, and threat of starvation.
Long after dinner was finished, they chatted at the table, like a family after a holiday meal.
The scant amount of food had done little to curb the grumble in her belly, but Vater and Max had filled her heart with hope.