SS
Bremen
had set sail with everyone they loved on it. The three of them were pensive on the
trip home, and never said a word. The only sound was Marianne blowing her nose discreetly
from time to time, and then she put her head on her father’s shoulder, and exhausted
from the emotions of the day, she fell asleep, with her handkerchief still in her
hand. They had all cried rivers that day.
Nick wanted to check on the horses again after they set sail, and he tried to convince
Lucas to come with him, but he wanted to explore the ship, so his father let him.
Toby was sitting in their cabin, looking destroyed, and too upset to do anything.
His eyes were rimmed with red from crying.
“We’ll be back,” Nick said gently, and Toby nodded, to be polite, but he didn’t believe
him. They were outlaws and outcasts in Germany now, displaced persons who had no right
to occupy their own home. They had been banished like common murderers and thieves.
And the stamp on their passports said “Deported,” although they hadn’t been and had
left of their own accord. And there was a red J stamped on their passports now as
well, for “Jew,”
“Jude.”
They werepolitical refugees, and their German citizenship had been canceled as Jews.
When Nick got back from the horses, Toby was gone, and Lucas was visiting the elegant
swimming pool and the kennels. There was a smoking room, a lounge, and a famous ballroom
as well. He had said he wanted to see the dogs, and Nick strolled quietly along the
deck, and stood at the rail looking out to sea. He had noticed several pretty women
when they boarded, but he had no interest in pursuing them. All he could think of
was the world they had just lost. The elegant ship was the last vestige of it. Lucas
didn’t understand that, and Toby grasped it to some extent, but Nick fully realized
what was happening to them and just how painful it would be. The fact that they were
joining a circus in a foreign country was even stranger, and hard to fathom or imagine
what it would be like. He didn’t even want to think about it now, as he stood looking
out to sea with his heart full of Alex, and his father. Nick hadn’t felt so bereft
and devastated since his wife and daughter died. He stood at the rail until he got
too cold, and then went back to his cabin, and lay on the bed for a while, hoping
to sleep. When he couldn’t, he went below to visit the horses again. He picked up
one of the brushes Alex had given them, and began currying Pluto, as the stallion
turned toward him with a pleased look.
“Good boy,” Nick said, patting his snowy neck, and continuing to brush him. All of
the horses were tethered on short lead lines to secure them so they wouldn’t get hurt,
and they’d have to do without exercise for several days. Nick just hoped that the
sea wouldn’t get rough, so they wouldn’t be injured. He didn’t want to lose any of
them before they even arrived. He had brought a loaded pistol with him, in case he
had to put one of them down. It had been Alex’s suggestion, and he hoped he wouldn’t
have to use it. Particularly for theLipizzaners—they were precious cargo on the ship, and Nick’s ticket to a new life.
He stayed with the horses for a long time, and then went back on deck, where he ran
into his boys playing shuffleboard and talking to two young girls. Nick smiled when
he saw them. Toby looked happier than when they’d set sail, and Lucas ecstatic, wielding
the shuffleboard paddle that was taller than he was, and trying to impress the girls,
who giggled at what he said. They were closer to his age than to Toby’s, and eventually
they scampered off, and Lucas lost interest in the game, and came to where his father
was sitting in a deck chair with a blanket, to tell him what he’d been doing. And
from the sound of it, he’d been everywhere on the ship, in first class, since the
lower decks weren’t
Bremen
had set sail with everyone they loved on it. The three of them were pensive on the
trip home, and never said a word. The only sound was Marianne blowing her nose discreetly
from time to time, and then she put her head on her father’s shoulder, and exhausted
from the emotions of the day, she fell asleep, with her handkerchief still in her
hand. They had all cried rivers that day.
Nick wanted to check on the horses again after they set sail, and he tried to convince
Lucas to come with him, but he wanted to explore the ship, so his father let him.
Toby was sitting in their cabin, looking destroyed, and too upset to do anything.
His eyes were rimmed with red from crying.
“We’ll be back,” Nick said gently, and Toby nodded, to be polite, but he didn’t believe
him. They were outlaws and outcasts in Germany now, displaced persons who had no right
to occupy their own home. They had been banished like common murderers and thieves.
And the stamp on their passports said “Deported,” although they hadn’t been and had
left of their own accord. And there was a red J stamped on their passports now as
well, for “Jew,”
“Jude.”
They werepolitical refugees, and their German citizenship had been canceled as Jews.
When Nick got back from the horses, Toby was gone, and Lucas was visiting the elegant
swimming pool and the kennels. There was a smoking room, a lounge, and a famous ballroom
as well. He had said he wanted to see the dogs, and Nick strolled quietly along the
deck, and stood at the rail looking out to sea. He had noticed several pretty women
when they boarded, but he had no interest in pursuing them. All he could think of
was the world they had just lost. The elegant ship was the last vestige of it. Lucas
didn’t understand that, and Toby grasped it to some extent, but Nick fully realized
what was happening to them and just how painful it would be. The fact that they were
joining a circus in a foreign country was even stranger, and hard to fathom or imagine
what it would be like. He didn’t even want to think about it now, as he stood looking
out to sea with his heart full of Alex, and his father. Nick hadn’t felt so bereft
and devastated since his wife and daughter died. He stood at the rail until he got
too cold, and then went back to his cabin, and lay on the bed for a while, hoping
to sleep. When he couldn’t, he went below to visit the horses again. He picked up
one of the brushes Alex had given them, and began currying Pluto, as the stallion
turned toward him with a pleased look.
“Good boy,” Nick said, patting his snowy neck, and continuing to brush him. All of
the horses were tethered on short lead lines to secure them so they wouldn’t get hurt,
and they’d have to do without exercise for several days. Nick just hoped that the
sea wouldn’t get rough, so they wouldn’t be injured. He didn’t want to lose any of
them before they even arrived. He had brought a loaded pistol with him, in case he
had to put one of them down. It had been Alex’s suggestion, and he hoped he wouldn’t
have to use it. Particularly for theLipizzaners—they were precious cargo on the ship, and Nick’s ticket to a new life.
He stayed with the horses for a long time, and then went back on deck, where he ran
into his boys playing shuffleboard and talking to two young girls. Nick smiled when
he saw them. Toby looked happier than when they’d set sail, and Lucas ecstatic, wielding
the shuffleboard paddle that was taller than he was, and trying to impress the girls,
who giggled at what he said. They were closer to his age than to Toby’s, and eventually
they scampered off, and Lucas lost interest in the game, and came to where his father
was sitting in a deck chair with a blanket, to tell him what he’d been doing. And
from the sound of it, he’d been everywhere on the ship, in first class, since the
lower decks weren’t
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