Beneath the Dover Sky

by Murray Pura

  “Pray convey my best wishes, my lord. That is marvelous news. May I ask after your granddaughter’s name?”

  “Cecilia. Cecila Printemp. A bit of poetry in that, eh?”

  “It’s wonderful, my lord. Isn’t ‘printemp’ French for spring?”

  “It is. There is a story behind that. My son’s first wife, Christelle, was from France, you will recall…”

  “Of course.”

  “Well, she was great friends with Caroline. Before her death, she asked if my son and Caroline might not marry and create a family. It took a while, but that is precisely what came about, and it has turned out splendidly.”

  “Ah.”

  “Cecilia has the fairest hair and the bluest eyes I’ve ever seen, Longbottom. The black-and-white photographs don’t do her justice, really not, I say. Someone should go about looking into manufacturing color film.”

  “I believe there are projects afoot, my lord, even in these hard times, in Europe and in the United States. Should I look into an investment on your behalf?”

  “Do that, yes! Do that. It may be shares can be had at a reasonable price at this time in the development. Certainly color photography is something I would like a hand in bringing to the world. Even if it is only to help grandfathers show off the God-given beauty of their grandchildren.”

  “Not a small thing, surely.”

  “Indeed not! Most certainly not.”

  My dearest Catherine,

  Your father and I congratulate you and Albrecht on your announcement. A child is due to arrive! What a fine way to cheer up a dreary February of rain and clouds. How God has blessed us with grandchildren of late—Patricia Claire to Robbie and Shannon in Jerusalem in September in ’28, Colm Alexander to Edward and Charlotte in January of ’29, beautiful Cecilia to Kipp and Caroline just this past October, and now you tell us we are to have yet another grandchild in August 1930! A grand way to start the decade off.

  I haven’t been to Germany since that tour of the Rhine several summers ago when you and Albrecht wed at Hartmann Castle much to everyone’s surprise and delight. It is time for another visit, especially now that you are with child. I shall certainly not wait until August. I want to see you as soon as possible. It has been far too long. Naturally I look forward to seeing Sean Albert. He’s seven years old this Easter, imagine that! And I look forward to seeing dear Libby as well. It really has been ages.

  Father cannot come. He and Edward are both on the Opposition benches now and challenging the Labor government for every inch of ground. Lord Buchanan baits them without mercy. What a to-do whenever Edward and that man lock horns. How long the present situation shall last is anyone’s guess, but for now the two Danforths are sequestered at Westminster and sharing their flat in London. It does make me smile to think of that—as if they were a pair of bachelors.

  I shall arrive at Tubingen by rail just before Easter then. Skitt will accompany me. Yes, Skitt. Old Harrison can play the butler and see to Dover Sky’s needs. A maid from Ashton Park will come too. Do you remember Margaret? I hope I shall not put you out too much, but it is past time I saw the Teutonic side of the family (as your father calls you all).

  God bless. I am counting the days.

  Mum

  Tubingen, Germany

  “Ah! There you all are!” Lady Preston smiled as brightly as she could as she took first Catherine and then Libby into her arms on the platform at the train station. “My girls! How I have missed you!”

  “And we you, Mother,” said Catherine, hugging her back.

  “You are coming along quite nicely, I see,” Elizabeth said, looking at Catherine’s bulging abdomen.

  Catherine rubbed her hand over her stomach. “I am. Plenty of kicks too.”

  “Wonderful.”

  “Hullo, Skitt,” said Catherine. “It’s been a few years, hasn’t it?”

  He bowed his head as he held Lady Preston’s luggage. “You look well, m’lady.”

  “Thank you. Do you remember Jane’s maid, Montgomery?”

  A short slender woman with flashing black eyes dressed in a long, dark coat smiled at him. “Hullo, Skitt. How have things been at Dover Sky?”

  “Never a dull moment, Lucy.”

  “Please. No one uses that name. I like it when people call me Montgomery. I think it sounds very distinguished.”

  “Montgomery it is then. This is Margaret, maid to Lady Preston.”

  Montgomery extended her hand to the orange-haired young woman. “How do you do, Margaret?”

  Margaret took the hand. “Very well, thanks, Miss Montgomery. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

  Lady Preston spotted Sean standing back a ways looking a bit awkward in his dark suit and tie. “Sean Albert Hartmann! How handsome you are! Come, give your grandmother from England a hug and a kiss, my dear!” Sean smiled and came forward, dutifully putting his arms around Lady Preston.

  “Willkommen,” he greeted.

  “Why, thank you. Danke schön, isn’t it?” She hugged him again. “You are getting so tall. What are they feeding you?”

  “Schnitzel.” He grinned. “And beer.”

  “Beer? I should hope not!” She looked over his shoulder at two tall girls. “And who do we have here?”

  Jane stepped up and kissed Lady Preston on the cheek. “Hullo, Grandmother. It’s so nice to see you again. I hope your journey was pleasant.”

  “Thank you.” Lady Preston put a hand on each of Jane’s shoulders and pecked her on the cheek. “Except for the waves in the Channel, everything was splendid. Who is this beautiful girl with you?”

  “Grandmother Elizabeth, this is my very good friend, Eva.”

  “Eva. Such a lovely name.”

  “She is Baron von Isenburg’s daughter, Grandmother.”

  “The baron’s? Of course! Eva, your father is an old and dear friend of the family. Come, let me give you a hug.” Eva dutifully let the older woman put her arms around her. Lady Preston held the girl at arm’s length after the hug and gazed at her. “Eva von Isenburg. How tall and straight you are—as straight as your father. And how becoming your blonde hair and blue eyes are.”

  “Thank you.”

  “I must take you shopping. There are so many things I should like to buy the daughter of Baron von Isenburg.” She glanced at Jane. “And you too. I must take the pair of you Easter shopping tomorrow or the day after. What do you say to that?”

  Jane smiled. “I’d like that, Grandmother Elizabeth.”

  Eva nodded. “Jane and I know the best shops, Lady Preston. It would be a delight.”

  “Oh no, no Lady Preston, Eva. Grandmother Elizabeth will do for you as well. All right?”

  Eva bowed her head. Even under the dark tone of her skin everyone could see the blush spreading over her face. “As you wish. It is an honor.”

  “I’m sorry, Libby.”

  “For what?”

  “She doesn’t mean anything by it. Mum is just set in her ways.”

  “Is that what it is? Suppose she had snubbed Sean like that? Would you still be so forgiving?”

  Catherine sighed and placed her hands on Libby’s shoulders from behind. “Perhaps not.”

  Libby bit on her thumbnail and looked down through the window in her bedroom to the street rippling with cars and trucks and wagons. “Oh, Eva, how beautiful you are! Oh, Eva, how tall and straight you are! Oh, Eva, how I’d love to take you Easter shopping. Oh, Eva, you must call me Grandmother Elizabeth.”

  “I know.”

  “The old bat.”

  “Hush.”

  “I wish she would turn around and go back to England. I’d pay for the cab to the train station out of my own pocket.”

  “I think she’s settling in for several weeks, Lib. She loves being with the baron.”

  “And with your husband, the German prince.”

  “Shh.”

  “And with your son, and with the baron’s daughter, and even with Montgomery, Jane’s maid, for heaven’s sake. But Ja
ne? Ah, well…Jane, you can come shopping with Eva and I…if you wish, Jane.”

  “Bear up as best you can. Everyone else treats Jane like gold. The baron is everything Mum is not when it comes to your daughter. He’s with Jane constantly. Mum is in and out of our lives like the wind from the Channel.”

  “Jane feels the rejection keenly.”

  “I know she does, and I’m sorry. But Mum’s only a small part of our family tree. Just a branch, really.”

  Libby continued to bite at her thumbnail. “Just a grandmother.”

  “Perhaps we should have Mr. and Mrs. Woodhaven over here. Extend an invitation.”

  Libby shrugged. “They’re wonderful people, but they can’t hop over to Germany on a ship in half a day like Mum can. They’d visit once, have their long ocean voyage, and disappear again for a few years. Jane is thirteen this June, Catherine. She needs a grandmother now. A real one.”

  Catherine rubbed her sister’s back. “Perhaps the baron can have a talk with Mum.”

  “He wrote her once about Jane. She claimed she treated all her grandchildren the same and adored Jane. She told him I had the problem, not her.”

  “I see. Well, I’ll pray with you, if that helps.”

  “Certainly, it helps. For a few minutes. Then it’s back to the real world.”

  “Lib—”

  “Honestly, Catherine, I have prayed up and down and all around. Mum’s still the same year after year. She considers Eva von Isenburg more family than her own granddaughter. She bent over backwards on the marriages of her children and even felt she bent too far. Now she refuses to bend an inch regarding a granddaughter just because she has Oriental blood in her veins. And that is that. Not even God can budge her. I’ve done everything but wear a hair shirt and lie on a bed of nails to get His help. If you want to pray with me, go ahead, but it’s not going to change anything. I’m stuck with Lady High-and-Mighty Preston as a grandmother for my child.”

  Libby suddenly turned to face her sister, tears coursing down her cheeks, her blue eyes shot through with fire. “And if I want to marry Commander Terrence Fordyce, I’m going to marry him. If you don’t like it you can lump it. I’m tired of going through all this turmoil alone.”

  Lady Preston stepped out of the hat boutique and linked an arm through Eva’s. “The yellow hat with the small blue flowers was absolutely perfect for you. It brings out the colors in your eyes and your hair.”

  “Thank you, Grandmother Elizabeth. It is, yes, a lovely hat but so expensive. You are spending too much on me.”

  “Nonsense. It’s Easter. We celebrate Jesus Christ’s resurrection.” She glanced at Jane, who was walking by her side but a few steps back as they headed down the crowded sidewalk. “Don’t you agree, Jane?”

  “Certainly, Grandmother.”

  “You mustn’t fret. We’ve found the right dresses for Eva and the perfect hat, and we will soon do the same for you.”

  “It’s all right. I just like being with you and Eva.”

  “Trust me, Jane. The right dress is in a window somewhere. If not today then tomorrow.”

  “Oh!” Eva tugged Lady Preston towards the shops. “Now we are seeing these young men in Tubingen. Give them plenty of room, Grandmother, please. They are always spoiling for a fight.”

  “Who do you mean, dear?”

  “The men with the brown shirts and armbands. Don’t stare at them. Just look in the shop windows.” Eva looked at Jane. “Get out of their path, Jane. Come and look at this toy train running through the Alps. Hurry!”

  But the six young men were already upon them, taking up half the sidewalk as they strode through the crowds. People stepped into the street to avoid them. One brownshirt spotted Jane as she moved away.

  “Look at this!” he called to his friends. “Can you believe it? One of these creatures is on our sidewalk!”

  The other five men glared at Jane.

  “A China dog is not fit to stand where we stand!”

  “What are you doing desecrating German soil, China dog?”

  “Get out of our country! Germany is for Germans only!”

  “Ja, ja, Germany is for purebloods only! No filth bloods, no mongrel bloods!”

  One of the men grabbed Jane by the arm and swung her into a lamppost. There was a loud crack as Jane hit her head. She cried out, and the same young man punched her in the stomach. “Shut up, China dog!”

  Another brownshirt seized Jane’s long, dark hair and pulled until in her pain she struck out at him. She screamed, and he laughed and jerked so hard blood sprang out along her hairline.

  “What are you doing! What are you doing!” Lady Preston ran towards Jane and the six men, pushing them aside and slapping at their arms. “Let her go! Do you hear me? Let her go!”

  They laughed and shoved Lady Preston back against the building.

  One of them sneered at Eva. “Hey, little beauty, tell your mother to stay out of this or we’ll use her skull for an ashtray.”

  Eva’s eyes were dark-blue slits. “You really are pigs.”

  His face darkened. “Be careful or we will smack you into a wall and ruin your pretty face.”

  Lady Preston struck out at them with her hands and shopping bags. “Get away from Jane! Leave her alone!”

  The one with his fingers twisted in Jane’s hair gave her another sharp yank and Jane fell to her knees.

  “Please stop! Please stop,” Jane cried through her sobs.

  “Police!” Lady Preston threw herself at the one who had Jane by the hair. She pummeled him with her fists, not caring when the shopping bags ripped open and the contents spilled onto the cement. “Someone help! Help!”

  The young man shoved her so hard she fell. “Get out of here, you mad woman! No one is going to help you! No one helps a China dog!” He kicked Jane in the ribs. “All we do with China dogs is kill them!”

  “No vermin allowed in our cities!” another one yelled.

  “Purify Germany!”

  Lady Preston didn’t understand German, but when two other men in brown shirts and swastika armbands joined the first six and began kicking Jane, she hurled herself over Jane’s body so that the toes of the black boots cracked into her sides. “Help us! Help us!” she cried in English. “Someone help us!”

  None of the bystanders made a move to help. Most just walked on, heads down. Some hung back, faces set like stone as they watched. When Eva realized no one in the crowd was going to act, she ran at the eight Nazi youth, shrieking curses in German, pounding them with her fists, and tearing at their faces with her fingernails. Blood streaked their cheeks and foreheads. Flying into a rage, they slapped her as hard as they could, threw her to the sidewalk next to Lady Preston and Jane, and kicked all three women as savagely as possible.

  Lady Preston wrapped her arms tightly over Jane’s head as the blows rained down. “My baby, my poor baby! Oh Jesus, help us! Help us, Jesus!” She reached out a hand to Eva. “Come here, girl. Come here, my poor girl! God, help us! God, God, please help us!”

  Suddenly police whistles blew and officers charged the eight Nazis. Fists smacked into heads and police clubs crunched against legs and arms. Bystanders finally jumped in and beat the Nazis with their walking sticks, umbrellas, and rolled-up newspapers. The brownshirts fled, holding their arms and putting hands to the cuts on their faces, shaking their fists and vowing revenge as they ran down the street and into an alley.

  Lady Preston was weeping. “Jane, my dear. Oh, my poor child. There is so much blood. Say something to me—anything. Please open your mouth and talk. Eva, look at me. Are you going to be all right? Oh God, help us!” Lady Preston focused on the Germans standing around them. “Please help us! We need a doctor and a nurse. These are my granddaughters, and I need help getting them to a hospital. Please have pity and help us.”

  Albrecht and the baron stood stone-faced and stiff as they waited for the doctor to open the door and come out of the hospital room where Lady Preston, Jane, and Eva had been taken. Cath
erine and Libby were in the room with the patients, doctor, and nurses. The sound of a grandfather clock in the waiting room was loud. Montgomery sat on a couch against the wall. She was leaning forward, and dried streaks of tears crisscrossed her handsome face. Margaret sat next to her staring into space. Skitt stood beside the couch, his face a thundercloud. Sean sat several feet away in a chair. He stared straight ahead, barely taking in the framed picture of the Black Forest.

  Finally Libby and Catherine came out of the examination room, followed by the doctor—a young man with coal-black hair and a small, coal-black moustache.

  “Baron von Isenburg, the staff at the hospital cared for the women very well. I only needed to adjust a few of the bandages.” The doctor nodded at Skitt and Montgomery. “I would like to speak with the family privately in my office. Will you two sit with the women and keep an eye on things? All three are heavily sedated and shouldn’t wake till morning.”

  Montgomery shot to her feet. “Of course, doctor.”

  “If you spot any fresh bleeding, call a nurse right away.”

  “We will,” promised Skitt.

  The doctor led the others downstairs, Sean trailing the procession, his face the color of ashes. The doctor ushered everyone into his office. Once they were seated by the fireplace, the doctor paced and told them what the physicians at the hospital had already told them. All three had cracked ribs. In Lady Preston’s case, the injuries were more serious due to her age. Time and rest would heal their wounds. Jane had unfortunately lost some of her hair because it had been pulled out by the roots.

  “As for the wounds inside…time and prayer and the love of family must help with that. I caution that you will have to be patient. Recovery could take a long time. Please avoid any of these Nazi brutes in the future even if you must cross the street. Don’t go near any of their street rallies, not out of curiosity, not out of anger, not for any reason whatsoever. These brownshirts will not go away any time soon. If you must take young Jane out in public, consider having her wear a veil. You might consider getting her out of Germany. Another such attack would be extremely destructive to her spirit. Today the police and a handful of people helped out. Another day no one may help.” He stared at the baron and at Albrecht. “Such is Germany in 1930.”