CHAPTER 26 - OLDENBURG, GERMANY—JANUARY 24, 1917
Anna darted down the stairs to the workshop, void of light. “Max!” she cried, kneeling and extending her arms. She felt a lick to her hand from Nia, and then located Max, his body face-down on the floor.
Oh, God! Her heart pounded against her rib cage. “Max, can you hear me?”
Nia whimpered.
She examined him for injuries by gently running her hands over his spine, neck, and head. “Max,” she said, her voice quavering.
He groaned.
“Can you talk?”
“Ja,” he wheezed.
Nia’s tail whipped back and forth, striking Anna’s side.
Anna felt him attempt to get up. “Wait. Are you hurt?”
“My mouth tastes like copper,” he said. “I might have a bloody nose.”
“Any other pain?”
“Nein.”
Thank God. “Let’s rest a moment.” Anna helped him to a sitting position on the floor, then she sat behind him with her legs straddled. “Lean back.”
Max rested his back to her chest. He labored to remove a handkerchief from his pocket, then wiped his nose. “I’m all right. It’s merely a nose bleed.”
Anna drew a jagged breath and exhaled. She wrapped her arms around him, feeling his diaphragm rise and fall. “You could have broken you neck.” Hot tears pooled in her eyes.
“I didn’t,” he said.
Nia curled onto their feet, as if she felt the need to protect them.
“What happened?” she asked, leaning her cheek to his shoulder.
“As I descended the stairs, I became light-headed. I must have missed a step and stumbled.”
“Have you become dizzy before?”
“Nein.”
“How much did you eat today?”
“Enough.”
“Are you eating any of your military lunch?”
“A little.”
Anna’s heart ached. “You can’t be giving us all of your food. You’re training all day, and you need every morsel they give you to keep your strength.”
“You need extra nourishment, too,” Max said.
“But I’m smaller than you.”
“Ja, but you and Norbie need more than turnips and occasional pieces of black bread,” he said. “We’re in this together. Remember?”
She wanted to argue with him, but instead she tightened her arms around him. “You nearly frightened me to death.”
“I’m sorry.” He placed a palm over her hand.
She nuzzled to him.
Floorboards squeaked from above them, and a light flickered in the stairwell.
“Anna, Max!” Norbie, wearing his bedclothes and a coat, descended the stairs with a cupped hand protecting the flame of a candle. “I heard a clamor. Are you all right?”
Anna felt Max’s hand slip away.
“Ja,” Max said. “I took a tumble down the steps.” He carefully stood, and then helped Anna up from the floor. Candlelight flickered over his face.
Anna took the handkerchief from Max’s hand and dabbed a bit of blood from a nostril. “Your nose doesn’t look broken.”
“Danke,” Max said, retrieving his handkerchief. He turned toward Norbie. “I’m sorry to have awakened you.”
“Not at all, my boy,” Norbie said, placing a hand on Max’s shoulder. “Are you sure that you’re okay?”
Max nodded. He reached his hand and located Nia, then stroked the dog’s head. “None of this was your fault, Nia. You did a good job of helping me find the banister. It was me who was not being careful.”
Nia nuzzled against his leg.
“How about I take you outside?” he said, rubbing the dog’s ears.
“I’ll come with you,” Anna said.
Max shook his head. “I appreciate your offer, but soon I’ll be on my own. I’m likely to have many tumbles and mishaps in my future, and it’s probably best if Nia and I learn to work through them on our own.”
“All right,” Anna said, the truth stinging her.
“Danke for your help, Anna,” Max said. “And Norbie, I appreciate you coming to check on me.”
“You’re welcome,” Norbie said.
Max clasped Nia’s harness, and together they exited through the door leading to the garden.
A blast of frigid wind prickled Anna’s skin.
Her heart prodded her to wait for him to return and climb the stairs, but her brain understood that Max was right—it was best to allow him to recover from his accident on his own.
Reluctantly, she scaled the two flights of steps with Norbie, where they said a second good night and went to their separate rooms. She dressed for bed, adding an old wool sweater to help keep her warm, and then crawled under several layers of blankets.
Minutes later, the shuffle of boots and the patter of paws grew in the hallway, followed by the creak of a door.
Thank goodness. Anna, her veins still flooded with adrenaline, whispered two prayers: one for Bruno and another for Max.
But long after she’d gone to bed, she remained awake, reliving Max’s fall and the fear—of him being injured or worse—that had shaken her core.
Three days passed, and Bruno had not arrived in Oldenburg, nor had Anna received a letter or telegram to inform her of his whereabouts.
Both Norbie and Max had reassured her that the journeys of soldiers from the front were often met with delays, and that Bruno would eventually arrive.
But with the passing of time, her worry spiraled.
To distract her mind, she buried herself in guide dog training and each evening she stayed up late, until she could no longer keep her eyes open, transposing Max’s composition.
In addition to consuming herself with work, Anna strived to make certain Max was getting added nourishment to prevent more episodes of fatigue.
Because Max remained intent on sharing his military rations with her and Norbie, Anna resorted to stealthy methods of altering portion sizes.
At meals, she gave Max the biggest turnip cutlet or an extra ladle of leek soup.
But when Max insisted on helping her carry their plates of food to the table, he’d discovered—by examining slices of black bread with his fingers—that he was receiving a larger portion of food.
Therefore, she’d resorted to slicing Max’s black bread at twice the thickness as the others, then compressing his slice with her hand to create equal depth.
Same size but twice the density. He’ll get a bit more nourishment, even though the bread contains wood pulp.
Her attempts to battle Max’s weariness by giving him more food had worked.
For the past few days, despite grueling obstacle course training and canvassing many kilometers of cobblestone streets in the cold, he hadn’t had another incident of dizziness, although he did, at times, require moments to catch his breath.
“Gas, you know,” he’d often say to Anna while pausing to suck in air.
It wasn’t unusual for the veterans to have ailments in addition to their blindness.
In fact, many of the veterans in class had other afflictions, including a man who tottered when he walked due to embedded shrapnel in his leg, and another veteran who required training on the opposite side of his guide dog due to nerve damage in his left arm.
And Anna was disheartened to think that the veterans, even after they’d regained their independence through a guide dog, would still be battling maladies long after the war was over.
At the end of a tedious day of training, Anna, Max, and Nia walked to the station and waited for the evening train to arrive. And like the days before, the passengers exited the carriages and mingled out of the station, leaving the trio alone.
An ache grew in Anna’s stomach. “I’m worried that something bad has happened.”
“He’s fine,” Max said, stepping to her with Nia.
“How do you know?”
Max paused, as if he was carefully choosing his words. “Our military is proficient with promptly notifying families of unfortunate events. Bruno’s parents would have informed you if something had happened.”
She drew a deep breath.
“Also, the military often changes dates of one’s leave on short notice. He’s probably already written you a letter to inform you of when he’ll be home.”
“I hope so,” she said. She hooked her arm around his elbow. “Let’s go.”
They left the train station and walked home. Reaching the front door to Norbie’s workshop, they stomped snow off their boots, and then entered. Anna locked the door and turned to go upstairs, but a savory aroma caused her to freeze.
Nia, her nostrils twitching, raised her snout toward the ceiling.
“Oh, my,” Anna gasped. “What’s that wonderful smell?”
Max sniffed, then smiled. “Norbie’s frying sausage.”
Oh, my! Food has reached the city! She imagined foreign supply ships breaking through the British naval blockade. Her eyes flooded with tears. She shook away her thoughts and dashed upstairs to the kitchen, where Norbie was stirring a skillet of sausage and onions.
“You acquired meat!” Anna said. “How did you get it?”
Norbie, holding a wooden spoon, approached her and grinned. “Bruno.”
Anna’s eyes widened.
“Hallo, Anna,” a deep voice said.
Anna’s breath stalled in her lungs. She turned and saw him, dressed in his military uniform and standing in the living room. Her body trembled. “Bruno!”
Bruno swept her into his arms and hugged her.
She squeezed him, feeling the bristles of his mustache tickle her neck.
He kissed her, and then wiped tears from her cheeks.
“Thank God, you’re home,” she said, placing her hands against the breast of his tunic.
“My leave was set back a couple of days,” he said. “I didn’t have the means to contact you. I hope my absence didn’t cause you distress.”
Anna sniffed back tears. “You’re here now, and that’s all that matters.”
Max and Nia entered the kitchen.
Anna slid her hands from Bruno’s chest. “This is Max.”
“It’s nice to meet you,” Max said, extending his hand.
Bruno glanced at Max’s blank, staring eyes, and then shook his hand. “You too.”
“And this is Nia,” Anna said, stroking Nia’s fur. “She’s a guide dog and, hopefully, she’ll go home with Max after training.”
“She will,” Norbie chimed in.
Bruno tentatively approached the dog.
“It’s all right,” Anna said. “You can pet her.”
Bruno gave Nia a pat on the head, and then slid his hands into his front pockets.
“Anna is an incredible trainer,” Max said. “She’s the best in the group.”
Anna smiled.