Mercer Street (American Journey Book 2)

by John A. Heldt

  "I see why you do this often," Ella said. "This is relaxing."

  "It's especially relaxing when the sidewalk is free of ice," Elizabeth said.

  Ella laughed.

  "I agree."

  Elizabeth gazed at Ella for a moment as the two moved slowly on a sidewalk that divided the campus from the busy street. She admired her young friend's graceful demeanor and wondered why she had not noticed it before. Ella seemed more like a princess strolling through a palace grounds than a young mother pushing a carriage.

  "Can I ask you a stupid question?" Elizabeth asked.

  Ella smiled.

  "You can ask me anything."

  "Do you like being a mother?"

  "I do," Ella said. "Why do you ask?"

  "I don't know. I guess I'm just curious," Elizabeth said. "You're a woman who could have done many things in life. Yet you chose to be a wife and a mother."

  Ella paused before responding.

  "I chose to be a wife because I met a wonderful man," Ella said. "I chose to be a mother because I consider motherhood to be my calling. If I do nothing else but raise kind, thoughtful, and considerate children, I will consider my life's mission complete."

  Elizabeth felt waves of regret as she heard the words. She regretted everything she had ever done to cause this woman pain and wondered what, if anything, she could do to make amends. Then she reminded herself she couldn't do a thing.

  She was a time traveler who had a contractual obligation to leave the world as it was and not as she wanted it to be. She had no right to alter history, even on a micro level, to assuage her guilt, find new meaning, or make her peace with a troubled past.

  "That's a beautiful sentiment, Ella. All wives and mothers should be so eloquent."

  "Did you not feel the same when you started out?" Ella asked.

  Elizabeth smiled.

  "I did. I approached marriage and family a little differently than you, but I had the same goals in mind. I wanted to be the best wife and mother I could be."

  "Was your husband a good man?"

  "He was," Elizabeth said. "He was a very good man. Cal was smart and warm and generous. He was the kind of man I think you and Erich would have liked."

  "That is nice to hear. I wish I could have met him."

  You will, Mama. You will.

  Elizabeth pondered a reply but decided to move on to other things when she saw a friend standing on his porch. She had not seen the Old Man in more than a month. She waved as he tipped his hat to the party of three and wandered back into his house.

  "Do you know who that is?" Elizabeth asked.

  Ella nodded.

  "I do. I met him last month at a reception for new faculty members," Ella said as she handed Lizzie a rattle. "I found him to be charming and engaging."

  "Most people do," Elizabeth said. She laughed. "I certainly do."

  The women walked in silence until they reached the end of the sidewalk and the turnaround point. They crossed Mercer Street, lifted the stroller onto the other sidewalk, and started back toward their houses. When they passed the home of a prominent Princeton theologian, they resumed their conversation.

  "Thank you for attending Mass with us on Sunday," Ella said. "I know it must have been difficult for you to step outside your religious tradition."

  "It wasn't difficult at all," Elizabeth said. "I was raised a Catholic."

  "Is that so?"

  Elizabeth nodded.

  "I converted to Lutheranism when I married Cal."

  "That explains at lot," Ella said. "You seemed very much at ease in the church."

  "That's because I was," Elizabeth said. "I found much to embrace and admire. The two churches are not all that dissimilar."

  "You are broadminded."

  Elizabeth laughed sadly.

  "Amanda might take issue with that statement, but I think it's true. I favor common bonds over differences."

  "Are you and Amanda at odds over something?" Ella asked.

  Elizabeth nodded and sighed.

  "We had a falling out last week over a boy she's been dating. The young man is the son of the German diplomat who spoke here last month."

  "Is he a good man?"

  "I don't know," Elizabeth said. "I haven't met him. I know only that he is related to a man who represents a regime I deplore."

  Ella stopped and frowned at her companion. Then she directed her eyes forward and resumed pushing a stroller containing a baby who babbled and shook her rattle.

  "I see," Ella said matter-of-factly.

  "Do you think I'm judging him unfairly?" Elizabeth asked.

  "I cannot answer that question. I don't know the young man."

  Elizabeth looked at her friend.

  "Yet I sense you have an opinion on the matter."

  Ella smiled.

  "I do."

  "Please tell me then," Elizabeth said. "Please tell me your thoughts."

  Ella sighed.

  "All right. I will. When the Nazis moved into Austria last year, they did more than annex a nation. They divided families and neighborhoods," Ella said. "They forced otherwise fair and open-minded citizens, people with little interest in political matters, to choose sides and take rigid stands. They forced them to judge. In a matter of weeks, neighbors became strangers and friends became enemies. Erich and I left Vienna because we did not want to be a part of such a society. We wanted to live and raise our children in a country where people were judged by who they are and not what they are."

  "So you think I should give him a chance?" Elizabeth asked.

  Ella nodded.

  "I think you should get to know him before drawing any conclusions. Many of our dearest friends in Vienna chose to accept rather than oppose the Anschluss. Erich and I strongly objected to their apathy and indifference, but we did not let our political differences interfere with friendships we had enjoyed for years."

  Elizabeth wanted to take issue with Ella's accommodating position. She wanted to tell her neighbor that anyone who was indifferent toward a regime that started a catastrophic war and slaughtered millions of innocent people was as much to blame as the Nazis themselves.

  She wanted to tell Ella all that and more but knew she could not. She could not because the worst abuses of the Nazi regime had not yet occurred.

  As someone who was bound to keep knowledge of the future to herself, Elizabeth was as much a prisoner as those who had been prevented from speaking their minds against mindless actions. So she sighed, kept her opinions to herself, and offered words of praise to a mother she had never cherished more.

  "It appears we are broadminded on different things," Elizabeth said. She laughed. "I see beauty in other religious traditions. You see beauty in people you oppose."

  Ella stopped pushing the carriage and paused before responding to the comment. She took Elizabeth's hand and smiled warmly.

  "Give the boy a chance," Ella said. "Get to know him. Find out who he is and what is in his heart before you make any more judgments. You will be glad you did."

  Elizabeth smiled as her eyes began to water.

  "You're right. Thank you."

  "Thank you for what?"

  "Thank you for setting an old woman straight," Elizabeth said. She sighed. "Thank you for speaking to me like a mother."

  CHAPTER 42: AMANDA

  Grovers Mill, New Jersey – Friday, March 3, 1939

  Amanda laughed as she released the screen door and heard it slam shut. She had opened the door at least a dozen times, but she had yet to get used to its steel-trap-like snap.

  "You really ought to fix that door," Amanda said. She followed Dot Gale through her front porch and into her house. "It might take off someone's arm someday."

  Dot giggled.

  "What makes you think it hasn't?" Dot asked. "My grandma hates that door so much that she enters through the back when no one's around to hold it open."

  "Are you serious?" Amanda asked.

  "I'm serious."

  Amanda sm
iled and shook her head. She didn't know if Dot was joking, but she didn't care. She loved hearing these anecdotes about life on the farm.

  Amanda followed Dot into the living room, hung her coat on a freestanding rack, and then drifted to a window on the sunny east side. The window offered a splendid view of a grove of leafless trees that, in a few months, would be a thriving apple orchard.

  She enjoyed the sight for a moment and then joined Dot on a corduroy couch. The sofa faced a long black coffee table and a stone fireplace in the center of the room.

  Amanda settled into her seat and admired the room as Dot set up coffee for two. With a three-foot-high Zenith console radio, a Shaker hutch, striped wallpaper, and two magazine racks filled with issues of LIFE and the Saturday Evening Post, the living room of Frank and Doris Gale looked like a setting for a Norman Rockwell painting.

  Amanda laughed to herself when she saw the radio, which had been the focus of the Gale family's attention on the evening of October 30. Frank, Doris, Dot, and Grandma Marie had listened intently as excited announcers described a Martian "invasion" of their neighborhood.

  "Where are your folks?" Amanda asked.

  "They went to Trenton for the day," Dot said.

  "Where's your grandma?"

  "She's playing canasta with the blue-hairs at the church."

  Amanda laughed.

  "So we have the place to ourselves?"

  "We do," Dot said.

  "Let me guess. You want to talk."

  "Of course I want to talk! I haven't seen you in two weeks, Amanda. That's like four months in dog years."

  "We're not dogs, Dot."

  "You get my point. We have some serious catching up to do."

  Amanda couldn't disagree. They had done a lot since Dot had left New Jersey on February 17. She had flown to Los Angeles to spend twelve days with Roy Maine.

  Amanda watched with indifference as Dot lifted a stainless steel pot and poured steaming-hot coffee into two porcelain cups. She watched with amusement as Dot added a generous shot of whiskey to each cup and slid one of the cups in front of her guest.

  "I see you made breakfast," Amanda said with a smile.

  "I made a Jersey Brunch. Now let's drink and talk."

  "What shall we talk about?"

  "Let's start with Mr. Wonderful," Dot said. "Is he still floating your boat?"

  "We're still together, if that's what you mean."

  "The only reason I ask is because you seemed a bit frazzled when I left for California."

  Amanda sighed.

  "I still am."

  "Are things better between you and your grandma?" Dot asked.

  Amanda nodded.

  "They are. We're talking now. She still doesn't like the idea of me dating a German, but she understands what I see in Kurt and why I won't give him up."

  "Have Elizabeth and Kurt met?"

  Amanda shook her head.

  "No. I'm working on it though. I want to take them to lunch next week. I want Grandma to see that Kurt is a decent, thoughtful American man and not a Hitler Youth trying to indoctrinate me or get me into bed."

  Dot raised a brow.

  "I assume that means you two are still just kissing at the door."

  "Yes," Amanda said. "We're still just kissing at the door … and on benches and under trees and in front of city hall."

  Dot laughed.

  "You're shameless."

  "I'm practical."

  Dot grinned.

  "So be less practical. There's nothing wrong with a torrid love affair."

  "I suppose," Amanda said. "I'm just wary about jumping in too deep. We still plan to leave by the end of the summer. There's no point in starting a relationship I can't finish."

  "Who says you can't finish it?" Dot asked.

  Professor Geoffrey Bell.

  "I do," Amanda said. "We're from two very different places. It would never work."

  "You're from Chicago, Amanda, not Pluto. I'm sure that if you really wanted to make it work with Kurt, you could."

  "I don't know. We'll see," Amanda said. "What about you? Did you have a sinful time in Southern California?"

  "I had a pleasant visit with my fiancé," Dot said smugly.

  "How pleasant?"

  Dot giggled.

  "Let's just say I was careful."

  "Dot!"

  "Well, June is a long way off," Dot said. "I'm getting impatient."

  Amanda shook her head.

  "I still can't believe your folks let you go. Most parents don't approve of premarital activity."

  Dot laughed.

  "Mine don't either. They didn't send me to California to stay with Roy. They sent me there to stay with my aunt. She lives in Pasadena."

  Amanda smiled.

  "You think of everything, don't you?"

  Dot grinned.

  "I try."

  Amanda sipped her coffee. She could already feel the whiskey. She tried to imagine what Dot was like in college and then decided she didn't really want to know. Some mysteries were best kept buried. So she thought of something else.

  "Did you say something about June?" Amanda asked.

  "I did."

  "I thought you and Roy hadn't set a date."

  "We hadn't," Dot said. She beamed. "But we have now."

  "Oh, that's so exciting!"

  "We're getting married June 24 in Princeton. Roy starts his next leave on June 20."

  Amanda hugged her friend.

  "I'm so happy for you. I know how much you've hated putting your life on hold."

  Dot nodded.

  "Life will be better now."

  "Have you started planning?" Amanda asked.

  Dot shook her head.

  "I haven't done anything except reserve the church. My mom is going to handle most of the particulars. She considers my wedding her calling."

  Amanda laughed.

  "I believe that."

  Dot put down her cup and looked at Amanda thoughtfully. She grabbed her hand.

  "I have decided on one thing though," Dot said.

  "What's that?" Amanda asked.

  Dot took a breath.

  "I want you to be in the wedding party. I want you to be a bridesmaid."

  "I would be honored," Amanda said.

  "Can you promise me now that you won't leave town before the wedding?"

  Amanda nodded.

  "I can. I'll be there," Amanda said. She looked at Dot like the sister she never had. "I'll be at your wedding if it's the last thing I do."

  CHAPTER 43: SUSAN

  Princeton, New Jersey – Saturday, March 11, 1939

  Susan looked at Jack, apologized with her eyes, and quickly saw that an apology wasn't necessary. The second she caught his playful smile she realized that he was as comfortable participating in someone else's business as he was in sending ships to sea.

  She hadn't wanted to drag Jack into a family matter, but she hadn't had a choice. Elizabeth had insisted on having at least two allies at her side when she met Kurt Schmidt for the first time.

  Susan rewarded the admiral with a warm smile and then turned her attention to the guest of honor. She had as many questions for the German research assistant as any of the people gathered around her table at Eddy's Cafe, a soup-and-sandwich joint on the north side of town.

  "So tell me about your job, Kurt," Susan said. "What do you do at the Nassau Institute?"

  "I do a lot of things, Mrs. Peterson," Kurt replied. "I write press releases, set up lectures, and run errands for the director, but mostly I assist senior fellows with their research. I gather a lot of information on foreign relations, trade, history, and military affairs."

  Susan saw Jack perk up at the mention of military affairs. She wondered what was going through his head.

  "Do you enjoy the work?"

  "I do. I love working in an environment where knowledge is prized. I love working with people who are much smarter than I am."

  Susan laughed at the self-deprecating comment.
She liked humility and genuine modesty and noticed that Jack did too. He smiled and nodded.

  Susan then glanced at the others and saw differing reactions. Elizabeth scrutinized Kurt with skeptical eyes. Amanda dug in with a look that said: "Mess with my man at your own risk."

  "I'd like to know more about your work in military affairs," Jack said. "What kinds of materials do you peruse when performing research for the fellows?"

  Kurt paused before answering.

  "As you know, Admiral, we have many military-related resources in the Institute's library, including reference books, manuals, and periodicals. I consult some of these materials and works like Jane's Fighting Ships at least a few times a week."

  "I see," Jack said. "I imagine you've learned a lot by reading these works."

  "I have. I've learned a lot by reading all the works. I like learning. I like finishing each day with more knowledge than I started with."

  "Do you get along with your colleagues?" Susan asked.

  "I do," Kurt said. "I work well with everyone, including those who are very demanding."

  Amanda looked at her mother and raised a brow. She obviously saw lunch as a test of sorts for Kurt and believed he was passing with flying colors.

  Susan didn't take the bait. She had come to the cafe to facilitate a civil discussion and learn more about a mysterious young man, not to placate her defiant and sometimes difficult daughter.

  "Amanda says that you grew up in the District of Columbia," Susan said. "That must have been fun. Tell us about it. Tell us about your childhood."

  Kurt sipped some water, gave Amanda a knowing smile, and then looked at her nosy mother with disarming eyes. He clearly understood that Mama Bear wanted more than his resume and knew that the surest way to win her over was to provide it.

  "To be perfectly honest, Mrs. Peterson, my childhood was heavenly. I had a loving family, loyal friends, great schools, and all the opportunities I could ask for. I can't think of a single thing I would change. I already miss Washington."

  "Do you miss Germany?" Elizabeth asked.