Diana and the Three Behrs

by Fleeta Cunningham

  The small woman seemed to blossom under Papa Behr’s kindly gaze. “Ja, I have a nice room, second floor, very pretty, and clean as kitten whiskers. You come now? We’ll get you all moved in. Trinka will be making up beds and will have no trouble making a nice one for you.”

  Diana saw the looks exchanged between father and son. Successful negotiation, it said.

  “We’ll drive her over as soon as we finish here, ma’am.” Adler had a hint of a smile at the corner of his mouth. “Kind of you to help us out.”

  ****

  The room was cozy, and as Frau Hepple promised, “clean as kitten whiskers,” with a sunny corner window that looked down over the little town, fresh white curtains that rippled in the morning breeze, and a wrought iron bed covered in a quilt of pieced sunflowers. The gay yellow and gold prints gave the room an inviting glow. A white rocking chair in the corner tempted one to sit and relax in the bright room. Trinka, the good hausfrau’s pretty niece, brought up Diana’s bags, showed her the shining bathroom, and with a brilliant smile, left her to unpack.

  This is the first room I’ve ever had to myself. Pam and I have always been together. She’d probably think this one is old-fashioned and poky, but it feels like a place where people have been happy.

  Diana set about unpacking and briskly put her things into the big wardrobe, filling the drawers to one side with underthings and nightwear, and hanging frocks and suits in the other. She wrinkled her nose at the reflection in the vanity mirror of her travel-weary suit and took a soft voile dress from the hanger. Past time to change for something fresher and a little cooler, she decided. The light peach dress with its plaid collar and cuffs felt much better. With a quick flip of a comb through her short wavy hair, Diana was ready to explore the town. Glancing down at the street from the tall corner windows of her room, she didn’t think her trek would take too long. From her room she could see a gray-and-white church at one end of the street. At the other end was the train station where she’d arrived earlier. In between, along what was obviously the main street, she saw a drug store, a number of small shops, a newspaper office, a feed-and-grain store, Bindler’s Hall where she’d had breakfast, and at the corner, where another street crossed the main avenue, the bank—Adler’s bank, she supposed. It didn’t seem likely Pfeiffer was large enough to support two financial centers. Across from the bank was what probably passed for an office building in the small town. She could see a lawyer’s shingle and an accountant’s sign swaying in the light summer breeze.

  I’ll go out and get acquainted with the place. See what I can learn on my own. Somehow I don’t think Adler Behr is going to have much time for my enterprise, so I may as well make a start on my own. Papa Behr may be a different story, though. He seemed genuinely interested in the project. He may be too involved with that adorable little girl to have any time. Wonderful the way they’ve taken on raising that child. She reconsidered that idea. No, it’s more likely their women will be raising her. The men will just spoil her and then hand her back to the wife and grandmother. I never thought about Adler being married, but I suppose he is. He wouldn’t be likely to bring Elizabeth home to raise by himself, no matter how adorable she is. Papa Behr must be seventy, at least. He may be a devoted grandpa, but I’ll bet he never thought about the washing and ironing that goes with keeping a busy child in fresh dresses and bloomers.

  Diana skipped lightly down the stairs and into the flower-filled parlor where Frau Hepple and a calico cat filled an armchair. She was stitching two bits of print fabric, one red and one blue, into a circle of rainbow colors.

  “Going out?” She looked up, her half-glasses slipping down her nose. “Mind you’re back for supper. Schnitzel with red cabbage and potatoes tonight.”

  After the late breakfast she’d had at Bindler’s with the Behrs, Diana doubted she’d ever be hungry again. “I don’t think I’ll be out long. It’s too hot to walk far. I just want to see what the town looks like.”

  “Cold lemonade at Bindler’s later, if you’re thirsty.” Frau Hepple went back to her piece work. “Or Katja and I will be on the back porch with something a bit stronger before supper.” She pushed her glasses back and winked. “My papa was a brewmeister, and it seems a shame to let a fine family recipe just gather dust. And we have the well house for cooling.”

  Diana smothered a small chuckle. My landlady has her own little brewery. And doesn’t mind sharing with her guests. Take that, Prohibition!

  The walk down the board sidewalks was cooler on one side of the street, the side shaded by long, overhanging awnings blocking sun from shop windows. Diana strolled along, noticing the streets of Pfeiffer were well paved with faded brick, flowers bloomed in orderly window boxes and planters along the way, and the town was remarkably clean and tidy. A good number of horses and wagons still rolled through town, on their way to or from area farms, she supposed, but the major part of the light traffic was powered by engines, not animals. Streetlights, electric not gas, suggested the town was progressive and prosperous. Diana liked what she saw, and if her short skirt and hair and her high-heeled shoes weren’t the norm, no one gave her a reproachful look.

  On a whim, she paused at the bank. A sign posted in the window read, “No non-interest bearing and uninsured depositors have ever lost a single dollar deposited in this bank. And never will. Erlich Behr.”

  Diana had to smile. The notice sounded exactly like the white-haired senior Behr, reassuring, kindly, and confident. She pushed the door open and stepped inside. The few customers went about their business without noticing her. Two waited at the tellers’ windows; another was sitting at a table in the corner, writing out some document he occasionally paused to re-read. Two women, one in a sunbonnet, stood chatting amiably in the center of the floor. To one side Diana noticed an office door with “President’s Office” printed in gold letters across the frosted glass. She crossed the polished floor and opened the door.

  If she’d expected to find a secretary—a male one, of course—inside guarding the bank president’s privacy, she was surprised. Adler Behr himself sat alone in the room, his face grim with determination, as he pounded, with two fingers, the small keyboard of a typewriter. Under his breath he was muttering words that Diana was certain she wasn’t meant to hear. As if sensing her presence, Adler looked up.

  “How in blazes did you learn to use this infernal machine?” He ripped the sheet of paper from the carriage, wadded it, and tossed it into a wastebasket where at least a dozen others had landed.

  Diana bit back the urge to laugh. “I was fortunate enough to take courses and had teachers who made learning easy.”

  “When I returned, I discovered Papa, in my absence, had equipped our loan officer and myself with the latest gadget. He loves machinery, like that new car of his, and thinks the rest of the world should follow suit.” He pointed at a stack of letters on one side of the desk. “I could have written those out by hand and had them in the mail two hours ago, but I thought I’d try this thing out. Thought maybe the print would be easier to read than my scribble. Figured I could at least do better than my loan officer, who hasn’t stopped swearing since I came through the door.” He glared at the offending machine. “Obviously I didn’t have any luck with it either.”

  A teasing idea formed in Diana’s mind. “You do remember that, before I was working for Trey’s professors, I taught typewriting to young ladies? In a week or so, I could show you, and whatever staff you think would benefit, how to make use of that machine. It takes time to develop accuracy and practice to become proficient, but it will speed up your correspondence. I could at least get you or your employees competent. Since Papa Behr bought them, you might as well get some benefit from them.”

  Adler looked at his hands, large hands in keeping with his height, and shook his head. “These fingers were never meant to dance around over tiny buttons like that.” He pushed the machine aside. “Not a skill I have any desire to learn either.” He stood up. “My loan officer might be of a diffe
rent mind. And one of the tellers was noodling around over the thing when I came in. He might be interested.” He stopped. “But, of course, I don’t know how they’d do, taking instruction from a woman. That might be a roadblock.”

  Diana folded her arms and stared back at him, trying to keep the annoyance out of her face and her voice. “If you were lost on an unfamiliar road and a woman happened by who could set you straight, would you just keep wandering and not ask directions because she was female?” Diana turned to go. “I suppose, now that I think about it, you probably would. Never mind. When you see Papa Behr, tell him that I’m settled in, looking forward to meeting anyone he thinks can help Dr. El, and will be sharing a cold beer on the back porch with my landlady this evening if he has anything to tell me.”

  Adler came from behind the desk, his long stride covering the room. “Wait, Diana, I didn’t realize how that sounded.” He caught her hand. “What I meant was, I wasn’t certain how the men would react to you, and I didn’t want them to say something offensive. They’ve never worked in an office where there were women present. They might get…ideas.”

  Diana laughed aloud. “Adler, do you actually think in the years I’ve been working, even with the male of the species from time to time, I’ve never heard a blue joke or had a man make an unwarranted offer? I can assure you, no one does it more than once, but it has happened.” She looked over at the pile of letters waiting on his desk. “Why don’t you ask those gentlemen who might benefit from a little training to step in here. I’ll give them a demonstration of what can be done with the modern office machine, and at the same time, I’ll clear up that mare’s nest on your desk so you can go home to your family before dark. If your people are interested, we can discuss the idea more. Is that fair?” As she was making the offer, Diana realized that, for the first time, Adler Behr had called her by her first name. She’d done the same to him.

  “More than fair,” he agreed. “Though it doesn’t seem quite right for you to copy all those letters, given my scratchy handwriting.”

  “I have seen worse, I’m sure.” She approached the desk and glanced over the papers scattered across it. “Just sort out the ones you need done immediately, and let me take care of them.”

  He thumbed through the piles, pulled out five handwritten sheets, and handed them over. “These need to be taken care of today.” He opened a desk drawer and pulled out a stack of stationery and envelopes. “Will this be enough?”

  “Unless you have massive letters there, it’s plenty.” She put her handbag on the desk, pulled out the chair, sat, and rolled a page into the machine. “Go find your likely victims and bring them in. I think, if they’re conscientious and want to make things easier for themselves, they’ll be excited about what they can learn, even from a woman.”

  Stacking the handwritten pages to one side, Diana scanned the first lines and began turning the blotted and scratched-through draft into a proper letter. She was barely aware of Adler leaving and paid no attention when he returned with three men following him. She felt their presence as they clustered around the desk, but didn’t look up. Engrossed in making a perfect product, she kept her gaze on Adler’s original letter and let her fingers fly across the keyboard. As she finished the first page, she heard a collective intake of breath.

  “How do you do that?”

  “You’re not even looking at the keyboard.”

  “Did you see how fast she made that thing go?”

  Diana whipped the envelope through the machine, putting the address in place, then passed both the letter and its cover to Adler. He handed it to the other men standing with him.

  “Gentlemen, Miss Woods is an instructor at a school for professional secretaries. She’s here on another assignment, but she’s offered to help us master this new equipment. As you can see, it’s possible to turn out much better correspondence more quickly if you can become adept with it. If you are interested, and I think you should think seriously before turning down the opportunity, I’ll arrange with Miss Woods for your instruction. It will be on your own time, of course, and at Miss Woods’ convenience, but the bank will pay for the instruction.”

  “On our own time, Adler? After bank hours?”

  “I don’t know, Adler. I have the farm, too. It takes a lot of time. How long would we be tied up?”

  Adler held up both hands to halt the questions. “I don’t have specifics, fellows. Perhaps Miss Woods can explain more.”

  “An hour, three afternoons a week, I believe, would be about right for actual instruction. Probably a month to master the basic skills.” Diana stretched her fingers, showing the roughened tips of her fingers. “The primary requirement for mastering the procedures is practice. You’d have to practice on the machine, on your own, anytime you can get an opportunity. Accuracy and speed only come when you master the keyboard so the actions become automatic. I don’t look at the keys because my fingers know where they are. It’s habitual to strike certain letters with the correct finger. You can learn typewriting if you want to, just as you learned other aspects of the banking business.” She spun another sheet of paper into the carriage and began copying another letter. “Mr. Behr, you’ll let me know what you and these gentlemen decide? While you discuss it, I’ll finish copying these letters for you.”

  She returned to her work, paying no attention to the men peering over her shoulder and examining the sheets as they rolled out of the typewriter. Fortunately the letters were not long and the language was not complicated. She wasn’t sure she could have carried out the performance with such speed if she’d had to work from more complex material. The last letter complete and in Adler’s possession, she picked up her bag and prepared to leave.

  “I believe all three of these men recognize the advantage of learning these new tools, Miss Woods. I’ll discuss times and locations with them and get the schedule worked out. May I come by in the morning and tell you what we can do? We’ll want to come to financial terms as well. I certainly want you to be fairly compensated, though I’m not certain what the usual rate would be for something like this.”

  “I’ll look forward to it, Mr. Behr. Now I have a couple of purchases to make before I wander home for Frau Hepple’s dinner. I’ll see you in the morning.” She held her hand out to each of the three men beside him. “A pleasure to meet you. I feel sure you’ll all be excellent typewriters in no time at all.”

  Chapter 12

  Diana found her cheerful landlady on the porch, settled with a mug of dark beer and the portly calico Katje purring in her lap. The cat opened her golden eyes to give Diana a quick look and apparently decided the newcomer was neither a threat nor very interesting. She promptly yawned, tucked her tail over her nose, and went back to sleep.

  Frau Hepple poured a second mug and passed it to Diana. “Here, sit and visit. The rest of my guests won’t be in for supper for an hour. I have everything ready, and there’s just the table to set. We can talk. How do you like our town? Pretty, isn’t it?”

  “Very pretty. I love the flowers beside the shops and the brick streets. They’re colorful, and they seem cooler than the pavement in the city.”

  “Find everything you needed? I see you have a bag.”

  Diana lifted the little white sack. “The drug store. I can’t resist hard candy.” She opened the top to show the bright peppermint sticks and lemon drops inside. “Have one?”

  A chubby hand, reddened by years of housekeeping, dipped into the bag and came out with a peppermint stick. “Always had a weakness for them myself. How did your day go? Do you think you’ll be able to do what you came for?”

  “That remains to be seen, but I may be doing some work at the bank in addition to my assignment from the professors. I hope so, anyway. I wondered what I’d do with myself when I wasn’t working on the material for their paper. I’m used to being busy all day.”

  Frau Hepple sipped from her frosted mug and daintily patted the foam from her lip. “Don’t find idleness all that comfortable myse
lf. Nice to find something to keep you occupied. The Behrs are good men. None better.” She emptied her mug and put it aside. “Don’t know about them raising that child, though. What do two men know about bringing up a little girl?” She poked a stray hairpin back into the crown of white-streaked braids wrapped around her head. “Still, she’s Greta’s child, and I suppose there’d be no one else to take her.”

  “Isn’t there a wife or grandmother in the picture? Someone to be a mother to Elizabeth?”

  “No, no one at all. Erlich’s wife, Adler’s mama, she died back while Adler was off to school. Adler himself never married, not after Ursula. Sweethearts from childhood, that was Adler and Ursula. But he went off to school and Ursula, she wasn’t one to wait for what she wanted. She went off, too. Had one of those box camera things her papa gave her. Showed her pictures to some fella who came through here working for a magazine. He told her he could help her make a name for herself, and next thing anybody knew, she was gone, working for that magazine. That was just before Alder graduated. Guess the army looked pretty good, or better than coming home with his mama gone and his sweetheart God knows where.”

  Well, that might explain his aversion to women working, I suppose, if the one he loved apparently loved her camera more. “Now he and his father have little Elizabeth to care for. Perhaps they’ll both have happier lives with her around.”

  “All the more reason for Adler to quit shutting out every woman he meets and find a wife for himself, seems to me.” Frau Hepple looked at the sun sinking lower in the sky, sending rays through the thick ivy trailing down the side of her porch. “Katje, you and I best get the plates on the table and the pots off the stove. We’ll be hearing the clatter of boots at the door any minute.”

  Diana swallowed the last of her beer, grateful for the cold refreshment. “Can I do something to help? I’m useless in the kitchen, but I could set the table for you.”

  The good lady seemed scandalized by the idea. “Indeed you will not. You sit right here and enjoy the little bit of coolness coming off the river. I’ll see to the dinner.”