The Wooden Nickel

by Alisha Paige

  The phone in the hallway rang three times before she rose to get it. Where was her mother? Maybe she was still outside, retrieving the laundry from the line. Louise set her sewing aside and glanced out the window. Annalisa was sitting on the porch playing jacks with Hero, their golden retriever, lying at her side.

  “I’m coming, I’m coming,” Louise said as she walked slowly down the hall.

  “Hello?” The line crackled. It was a horrible connection.

  “Louise, is that you?”

  Was that Lily? All the way from Berlin?

  “Lily?”

  “Yes! It’s me! Are you sitting down?”

  “No, should I be?” More crackling and popping. It sounded like Lily was breathing awfully hard and Louise suddenly wondered if the hospital had been bombed, too.

  “Lily, are you okay? How is Hank?”

  Louise could only hear more popping and then a whirring noise before Lily’s voice came back on. “We’re fine, Louise. Just fine.”

  Louise breathed a sigh of relief. “Are you coming home?”

  The line popped twice before she answered and it sounded as if she were hollering through a tunnel. “No, you’re coming to Berlin.”

  “What?” Had she heard her right? What on earth was Miss Lily talking about now?

  “Oh, Louise!”

  Lily was practically sobbing. “What’s wrong, Lily? Why do you need me to come to Berlin?”

  Lily had never asked Louise for anything. She was much too proud. She sounded much too desperate.

  “I don’t need you to come to Berlin, little sister, but Cliff does!”

  Her heart stopped. What did she say? Did she hear her right? Louise was too afraid to ask her now. The line sizzled and Louise wondered if her own body was making it crack and pop like that.

  “Louise, did you hear me? Louise? Are you still there?”

  Louise managed a small squeak. “I’m here.”

  “Did you hear me?”

  “Say it again,” Louise replied, in a half whisper.

  “What? I can’t hear you! Speak up!”

  Tears began flowing down her cheeks. She was much too afraid to ask and now she understood the anxiety in Lily’s voice. It was pure joy. Joy for her.

  Louise practically screamed in a high voice. She wanted Lily to hear her loud and clear. “Did you say something about my husband?”

  “Yes, yes! Louise, he’s here. Thank God! He’s here, in Berlin! He’s in the hospital here.”

  “Are you sure it’s him?”

  “Yes, of course I’m sure!”

  “Is he alright?”

  “Oh, sister, he’s been through hell, but he’s going to live. He’s been in a camp all this time. He looks like half of himself, but we’re gonna get him well.”

  Louise sobbed and held the phone so tight against her face that it began to hurt, but she didn’t care.

  “Can I talk to him?”

  “Not yet. He’s sleeping. I called you as soon as I could. We found him today. When he’s able to walk to the phone, I’ll have him call you.”

  “Have you spoken to him?”

  “No, not yet.”

  Louise’s heart sank. “Are you sure, Lily? Are you sure it’s him? It’s been so long.”

  The phone fizzled and popped five times before Lily came back on.

  “It’s him, Louise. I’m sure of it and so is Hank. Hank is with him now, waiting for him to wake up.”

  “How do you know?” Louise could hardly believe her ears. She pinched her thigh with her other hand and she still hadn’t woken up. It must be real.

  “I didn’t recognize him, Louise.”

  Louise’s heart sank further and she fell into a heap on the floor, still clutching the phone to her face, tears streaming down her cheeks and dropping onto her chest. She listened to the phone pop and thought she heard Lily again, far away, at the end of the hollow tunnel.

  “But, Louise, I know it’s him.” Did she say she knew it was him? But how?

  Four more loud pops and one long sizzle. “I gave him a bath, Louise and I tried to wash his hand. He wouldn’t open it.”

  Louise’s heart began to beat uncontrollably. She thought she might faint right there in the hallway. More popping and fizzling. She thought she might go mad, but the sounds were a lifeline of hope to her and she listened desperately for Lily to continue.

  “The doctor had to open his hand for me.”

  “Why?” Louise asked in between sobs. What’s wrong with his hand? Is he crippled now?

  “He wouldn’t let go of it, Louise!”

  Five short pops. “Of what? What was in his hand?”

  “Your wooden nickel, Louise! Your wooden nickel!”

  A low cry came from Louise’s throat and she laid her head on the wooden floor, thanking God for his life.

  “Louise, Louise! Are you okay?”

  Louise nodded frantically as the line sizzled long and low. “I’m on my way, Lily!”

  “When?”

  “Tonight!” The line popped again.

  “I love you, Louise.”

  Louise’s heart swelled at her sister’s voice so far away. “I love you too, Lily. Give Cliff my love. Tell him I’m on my way.”

  “Gladly, sis! Goodbye.”

  “Goodbye.” Louise lay there in a heap, still clutching the phone and thanking God over and over as she mentally filed the second she heard the news under a delicious lavender hue, found only in spring meadows. She couldn’t believe it. She heard the back screen door slam shut and she sat up to wipe her tears away. Annalisa walked into the hallway and stopped suddenly.

  “Mommy, are you okay? Did you fall?”

  Louise shook her head and held her arm out to their daughter. “Oh, I’m fine, baby. Come here, darling. I have some wonderful news!”

  Nine

  Louise handed the cab driver a wad of German bills and shrugged. She had no idea how much cab fare would cost and no idea which marks to hand him. He smiled at her and took the money owed him. Louise handed him another bill for a tip and he smiled even bigger. Even if she had just paid him twice the cab fare, she didn’t care. In a few moments, she would be reunited with her husband for the first time in seven years. As she stepped out of the cab and walked into the hospital, she straightened her cream colored skirt and smoothed her shaking hands over her baby blue sweater, sighing deeply.

  She read the German words for hospital. All the talk of the war had been brought home to her now in more ways than one. So much had happened in the last few years. She had a child now and it had changed her world. And now her very own sister was nursing the sick and dying, three thousand miles from home. And despite the amazing distance, Lily had run into Hank and now they were engaged. And then, miracle of miracles, Cliff had come back into their lives. Just like that. Out of the blue, just when she’d nearly given up hope on him ever returning and she felt ever so guilty for it. Practically everyone had written him off as dead and here he was, lying in a hospital bed.

  Walking through the wide doors of the hospital, she passed dozens and dozens of wounded soldiers lining the hallways in chairs, either reading or chatting with one another. She noticed two men by the window playing checkers on a wooden crate that doubled as a table.

  She had arrived several hours earlier than expected and had no idea where Lily might be at this hour or if she was at work at all. She knew she had a small apartment a few blocks away and the address was scribbled on an envelope in her purse, but she didn’t bother looking for Lily. Somewhere in this building was Cliff.

  She saw a nurse speaking to a man in a wheelchair. The nurse bent over and handed the man a small cup containing pills, then handed him a paper cup of water. Louise watched as the nurse laughed at something he had said. After a moment, the wounded soldier noticed her staring and said something to the nurse. The nurse stood and turned smiling.

  “Are you looking for someone, Miss?” the nurse asked.

  Louise cleared her throat, h
er heart pounding so hard that she was sure they both heard. “Yes, I am,” Louise managed to say.

  The nurse raised her thin eyebrows in question. “Oh? A soldier?”

  “Not exactly, no. He’s a journalist.”

  “His name, Miss?”

  “Oh, oh, um, I’m so sorry. His name is Cliff. Cliff Emberton.”

  Instantly, the young nurse’s face lit up. “You must be Louise!”

  Wow, the woman knew her name and seemed to be expecting her.

  “Lily’s still not in this morning. She comes in at eight. Oh, you’re early,” the nurse replied as she glanced down at her watch.

  Louise smiled nervously and wrung her gloved hands. “Is that okay? My driver took my bags to the hotel, but I just couldn’t wait.”

  “Of course it’s alright. You and your husband are sort of celebrities around here,” she explained as she led her down the hall.

  The nurse waved to the men she tended to as she passed them, many of them just waking up, wheeling out of their rooms or hobbling about on crutches, clothed in hospital gowns. They were all so young, most of them mere boys, looking like they could be fresh out of high school. Cliff was much older than many of the soldiers. He was twenty eight now.

  Lily had warned Louise about his appearance, but how could she not recognize her own husband? His face had haunted her dreams night after night and it was forever etched in her memory, but then again, they were only kids back then. So much time had passed. The nurse stopped at the end of the hall and Louise found herself staring at a piece of paper taped to the door that read Emberton, C.

  “He’s in there.” The nurse motioned for her to enter, but Louise just stood there, staring at the name.

  “You can go in. He’s not up, but I’m following strict orders. He told me to let you in his room at any hour.”

  Louise let out a breath. “He did?”

  The nice nurse nodded. How young she looked and near the same age as Louise herself when Cliff left for Austria. “Oh, he certainly did. He made it quite clear to everyone on staff here.”

  Only a door separated them now and for a moment, Louise wished that Annalisa could walk inside to meet her father, but everyone felt like it would be best to leave her with Grandma and Grandpa. There would be plenty of time to catch up when Daddy came home.

  “Thank you so much,” Louise added as she placed one gloved hand on the wooden door and began to push, ever so slowly, not wanting to wake her sleeping prince.

  “Sure. Louise?” the nurse asked.

  “Yes?”

  “We’re so happy that he was found.”

  “Thank you, so am I.”

  Louise walked inside the room and stood near the door as her eyes adjusted to the dark. She could see his foot sticking out of the covers as she approached and heard him moan just a bit in his sleep. Standing over his bed, Louise took his hand in hers. It felt cold and she rubbed it, gently warming it with her gloved hands. He stirred and turned his sleeping face toward her. She restrained a gasp as tears sprang to her eyes. Was that Cliff lying there? His face was etched with sharp cheek bones and a strong jaw line that looked like him only a tiny bit.

  Had this been a horrible mistake? She pulled the covers down. He was shirtless. Surely she would recognize his body. His chest was sunken and nearly hallow. Every single rib showed and his arms, oh God, his arms. They were twigs and Cliff had been so big and strong with large, muscular arms that held her so tight. Just by first glance, Louise knew that she outweighed him by at least twenty pounds. She still wasn’t totally convinced. He was completely bald, but there were those adorable freckles she loved so much and her favorite one that sat just beneath the far corner of his right eye.

  It was him.

  Her Cliff was alive after all. She had seen it for herself, but she never expected him to be so emaciated.

  His wedding ring was gone, but she wasn’t surprised. She was sure the Germans stole it from him. At least they hadn’t taken his life. Tears fell from her cheeks onto his arm as she kissed his hand. Her sniffles gave way to sobs as she shook uncontrollably. She had waited so long and here he was. She was touching him and kissing him and just then he opened his eyes and looked at her. Sunlight was beginning to filter through the dingy curtains. There were those coppery eyes of his, blazing right back at her and then that smile that shot straight through to her heart. He still had those amazing teeth and now his smile seemed even larger to her, as if it were defying death. That gigantic smile on the face of a skeleton, barely alive and coming back to life.

  Louise cried out to him, not sure of what she’d say as he pulled her to him. She could feel the bone in his arm. She was afraid she would crush him as he reached for her face and kissed her on the lips and touched her hair. She felt like heaven to him and a part of him thought that maybe he did die. Was she really here? He could smell her skin and wanted to bury himself in it.

  “Let me look at you, darling,” Cliff whispered as sunshine crossed her face, illuminating her blue eyes. She wore bright red lipstick and looked so grown up to him, very much like a mother now.

  “Beautiful,” was all he could manage to say as he covered her with kisses again and again. He was surprisingly strong and it made Louise feel a bit better about his condition. Louise touched his face and he kissed her palm.

  “Oh, darling, you’re so thin.”

  Cliff’s eyes darkened as he nodded. “I’m alive.”

  Louise didn’t know what to say. She knew he had seen dreadful things and was afraid to ask about them or if she even should. “How do you feel?”

  “Better every day. I’m getting stronger and stronger.”

  “Lily has been taking good care of you?”

  “The best,” he replied with a wide grin.

  “Where’s Hank?” Louise asked. She half expected him to be there when she got in. Lily said that he would hardly leave Cliff’s side.

  “I’m not sure. He usually walks Lily to work. He’ll be along shortly, I gather.”

  Louise fished in her purse and retrieved a photo. She smiled at the sweet face surrounded by curls and handed it to him. Cliff already knew who it was before he saw it. His gaunt features twisted into a combination of love and pain and regret for all the lost years. “There’s Daddy’s angel. I love you, baby. I’m coming home,” he whispered.

  Louise covered her face with her gloved hands and wept openly, for Cliff’s life and for the years they had all lost. She cried grateful tears.

  Tears seven years in the making.

  Cliff laid the picture aside and reached for something in a small drawer at his bedside. He took Louise’s gloved hand and opened it with long, bony fingers. Instantly, she was transported back to 1933, during the dust bowl of the Great Depression when she took a wooden nickel from a young hobo boy. He placed it in her hand and closed her fingers over it and both of them cried as he held tightly to her closed fist. How many nights had he ran his finger over that old buffalo, holding onto hope and the dream that one day, he’d place it back in her hand again? His dream had come true and if he died tomorrow, at least he had one last day with her by his side.

  The wooden nickel tingled within her palm and now she knew the dream she’d had was an honest to God premonition. This tiny sliver of wood was so precious to her. The magic it held was born of their love and though it held no real powers, it was a symbol to them both. Of life, of hope and of the undying love that wove itself through their lives, transcending through years and miles and miles of misery.

  ~ * ~

  “I now pronounce you man and wife,” the preacher boomed, loud enough for two hundred friends and family to hear.

  Hank pulled back the long, wispy veil and kissed Lily long and hard on the lips as the organ began to play. Cliff stood in as Hank’s best man and looked beyond Lily at his wife who stood as her matron of honor. Standing next to his wife was the most angelic child he’d ever seen and the spitting image of her mother. He winked at his daughter and she blushed.
She still wasn’t used to him yet, but they had grown miraculously closer over the past six months since he’d returned home.

  Cliff looked more and more like his old self lately. His hair was coming back thicker than ever and was at least half an inch now. He had gained a good fifty pounds and his teeth had regained their strength as well, anchoring themselves back into the roots. He had been so afraid that he would lose them, but he kept telling himself that at least he was alive and home, surrounded by family. He didn’t tell anyone, but he was mostly afraid of losing his smile. Louise had always said it was her favorite thing about him. Though he knew she would love him anyways and he could have dental work, somehow it would mean that the Nazi’s took one more thing away from him.

  He had seen so much pain and death. It almost seemed like a dream or as if he watched it on film. He even dreamed about the war in black and white, though all his dreams of Louise were in color. It was hard to believe that it had even happened at all and for now, he only told bits and pieces to Hank. Most of it was too disturbing to tell Louise, though she’d asked how he managed to stay alive and halfway sane. He gave her the watered down version, knowing the details, particularly of the children would haunt her to tears.

  Hank led Lily back down the aisle amid cheers and smiles from the crowd and suddenly there she was standing before him and it seemed just like a miracle to him, even six months later. She took his arm and Annalisa took her other hand as Cliff led his family back down the aisle, amid more cheers and clapping. Cliff was sure the crowd grew louder as he walked his bride and child back down the aisle. Maybe he’d gotten married instead and it had all been a bad dream, but he knew that he had become a sort of town celebrity overnight.

  Bill had written the story himself about his long lost son-in-law and had ran a photo of Louise, Cliff and Annalisa on the front page, two days after the end of the war. As jubilant as the end of the war seemed to all Americans, most were mourning the loss of someone. Either a son or a brother, a husband or a father. The country had lost so much since Pearl Harbor. Families considered themselves lucky if their soldiers came home at all and Cliff couldn’t help but feel guilty that he had survived and though he was never drafted, he felt as though he’d fought his own war. He would have liked to fight side by side with Hank, but it wasn’t meant to be. War atrocities were just beginning to surface and as bad as they were, none of the news reports even came close to revealing the true war crimes that Cliff had witnessed firsthand.