Copper Star Part 20

"Aunt Martha, would you mind taking William upstairs while Louisa and I talk to this gentleman?" Robert sounded calm but looked troubled.

The man looked straight at me. "Are you Louisa Schmetterling?"

I nodded.

"Do-you-understand-English?" he asked, as if I had a hearing problem.

"Yes," I answered. My mouth felt dry.

"I'm a field officer for the INS."

I glanced at Robert, puzzled.

"Immigration and Naturalization Services," he explained.

The officer pulled out some papers from his briefcase. "Ma'am, it has been brought to our attention that you might be in this country under false pretenses. You have until Monday morning to prove that you are here legally. There's a hearing scheduled on Monday for your internment at Crystal City, Texas. We will return for you at 10 a.m. on Monday for the hearing."

He handed me the papers. "And I'm compelled to warn you that if you flee, you will be cla.s.sified as a fugitive and arrested when found. Also, the Reverend will be considered an accomplice and charged accordingly. Do you understand what we're telling you?"

I was stunned. Robert reached over and took my hand.

"What kind of proof do you need?" asked Robert.

"Legal doc.u.mentation," he answered.

Of which I had none.

The officer saw the panic in my eyes. "Don't you fret, Ma'am. Crystal City isn't a bad place. Think of it as a vacation paid for by the U.S. Government. It's just until this war ends. That'll be soon. It's just government policy to not take any chances with possible domestic disloyalty."

"Why Texas? Why not the internment camp in Phoenix? Pagogo Park?" Robert asked.

"Pagogo Park is only for male POWs. Crystal City has families living there. She'll make lots of new friends," he added.

The absurdity of that comment gave me a moment to pull myself together. Robert walked the officer to the door. Then he returned and stood next to me. Still stunned, we watched his car disappear through the parlor window.

Finally, Robert turned to me. "Mueller did this. I still can't understand how he knew who you were, that your pa.s.sport was false." Then his eyes lit up. "Unless...unless he got into my lock box at the bank! Louisa, what time is it?"

I thought back to the clock in the kitchen. I had looked at it, nervously, when I heard the officer knock on the door. "Around half past three."

"I'm going to run to the bank and check the contents of my lock box. I'll be back as soon as I can, but I have to wait until Mueller is out of the bank. I don't want to make him suspicious. Louisa, please try not to worry." He brushed my cheek with his hand.

Miss Gordon, who had been listening all along, raced out of the front door onto the porch as Robert bolted down the steps. "Robert! Do something! We can't let her go."

Robert didn't return for hours. I tried to not worry; I tried to pray until I could find peace. I prayed about it, left the matter entirely in G.o.d's hand, trusted Him to control the outcome, then I grabbed it back to worry all over again. I felt the same fear that a siren elicits at night-a fear I had hoped to leave behind in Germany.

It wasn't that being interned troubled me. On my long and lonely train ride, zigzagging from New York to Arizona, I had pa.s.sed internment camps of j.a.panese Americans in some of the western mountain states and asked the train conductor about them.

He explained that President Roosevelt had signed Executive Order 9066, ordering all j.a.panese Americans, who had been living on the west or east coast, to relocate to these camps. It was obvious the conductor was pleased with the President's decision.

As I pa.s.sed the camps, I didn't think the camps looked very threatening. Still, it gave me a chill to see them. I knew they weren't like prisons. Workers came and went through the day; the camps offered schools and activities. But I worried about Herr Mueller's connections. I had met many Muellers in my Resistance Work. Upstanding citizens with a secret, evil life.

I wondered what lay ahead of me. I felt desperate for a specific message from G.o.d as I thumbed through my Bible. "Whither shall I go from thy spirit? or whither shall I flee from thy presence? If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there: if I make my bed in h.e.l.l, behold, thou art there. If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea; even there shall thy hand lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me." Reminded of those ancient words of King David from the book of Psalms gave me some consolation.

Finally, Robert came in through the front door after Miss Gordon had gone upstairs to give William a bath. I was grateful for the timing; it gave us the opportunity to talk alone. "Your pa.s.sport is gone. So is Ruth's ring and some stock certificates. Mueller has emptied out my box." He sank down on the davenport and motioned for me to sit down next to him.

"I went to see Judge Pryor. I showed him the internment orders. He said they're legitimate. He said we can appeal the papers, but it would take a long time. He said you could also seek political asylum, but again, in both cases, you would have to go to the internment camp and start the proceedings there."

I took a deep breath. I had expected something like that. Herr Mueller exacted reparation for rebuffing him. "I'm not afraid of going to the camp. It's all right, Robert. I'm ready. Dietrich often said that being safe and being at peace is not the same thing."

"Wait, Louisa. You need to hear this. Judge Pryor called his nephew in Was.h.i.+ngton. The one that works for the federal government."

I nodded.

"Well, apparently, Crystal City is not just an internment camp. It's a camp run by the Justice Department. It's used for hostage exchange. With Germany. The United States agrees to exchange valuable individuals for American citizens held in Germany. If you're right about Mueller, then it's likely the German government will want you back. Probably to be used as evidence against Dietrich. And who knows what they'll do with you when they're done."

He paused. "Even the judge's nephew couldn't help us. He told the judge that when the Justice Department is involved with hostage exchange, there aren't many loopholes."

Those icy fingers of fear reached into my heart again. Ironic that I should leave Germany to be safe, only to land in a town with an individual who had the power and connections to send me back. I knew Herr Mueller was shrewd, but I hadn't antic.i.p.ated such a clever trap.

An entirely legal one.

Robert stood up and walked to the fireplace. He took a deep breath, and turned to face me. "But there is one loophole. The judge told me there is still one ironclad way to keep you here. He called it the 'old fas.h.i.+oned way'."

I looked up at him, not understanding.

When our eyes met, he took another deep breath. "Marry me. Tonight. You could become an automatic citizen with proper doc.u.mentation."

For a moment, I was speechless. I covered my cheeks with my hands. Recovering my powers of speech with difficulty, I finally sputtered out, "I can't. I can't do that to you. I can't! No, Robert, the war will be over soon."

He shook his head. "Louisa, listen to me. And don't interrupt me. For once in your life, woman, do not interrupt me." He came over and sat down on the davenport beside me. He was quiet for a moment, his hands clasped together, gathering his words.

Then he said, "Louisa, when I was in seminary with Dietrich and Frank, I knew that they had a pa.s.sion and a conviction that I lacked. I've always been keeping something back. From Ruth, even from G.o.d. I think G.o.d has given me a second chance, to give myself to Him wholly, without reservation."

He raked a hand nervously through his hair. "When I married Ruth, I never even asked G.o.d for His opinion. Look at how that turned out. But for this, for you, I have asked G.o.d what is the right thing to do. That's why I took such a long time getting back tonight. I was praying. Louisa, I believe that He is blessing this decision. I really do. Please say yes, for me as well as for you."

"But what about William? What will he think of marriage? As a joke? As a legal agreement for convenience? The last thing I want to do is to turn his world upside down again. And then, after the war, you end up as a twice-divorced minister. No, Robert. I will not damage your lives like that. Like Ruth did."

"Then don't. I mean, don't leave. Stay here with us. You belong here with us. We need you, Louisa. I need you. William needs you. Even Aunt Martha needs you."

Miss Gordon? That, I doubted.

Robert quickly read the look on my face. "Well, maybe not quite like William and I need you."

Then he gave me that straight-in-the-eyes look of his that always made my stomach flip-flop. "Louisa, I love you. I don't want you to go. Please. Give us a chance."

I searched his eyes as I did that first night I arrived when I told him about my involvement with Resistance Work and asked him if I should stay or go. Tonight they were warm. Trusting. I couldn't believe this was the same man who had met me at the depot station. Then, he was a man who looked beaten down from life. Burdened. But now, his eyes had life and strength inside of them, such resolve.

I turned away from Robert and went to look out the big picture window. I crossed my arms tightly against my stomach. I breathed in and breathed out, trying to find peace. I had learned long ago to read G.o.d's answers to any troubling decision by looking at my heart, my spirit, for a prompting of His peace, but for this issue-remaining in America-I knew I had closed my mind to G.o.d's leading.

Tell me what to do and I will do it, Lord!

I thought of Rosita's comment, that maybe G.o.d needed me here in Copper Springs, more than he needed me in Germany. Robert's voice echoed in my mind: "What makes you so sure your life can't count here?" I gazed out the window at the quirky town, at the odd, sharply angled, red rocky hills behind it, at Robert's church with the peeling paint.

Again, I lifted a silent prayer. Just tell me what to do, and I will do it, Lord. I'm ready to listen. I'm finally ready to listen.

At that precise moment, I knew that, somehow, I did belong here. I no longer had any doubts that G.o.d had plucked me out of Berlin and dropped me here in Copper Springs for His purposes. But it wasn't just about Robert and William needing me. I needed them. They had become my family.

That verse in the Scriptures I had stumbled upon, "G.o.d setteth the solitary in families," that verse was G.o.d's message to me. I'm not sure I would ever be able to fathom why G.o.d had spared my life and not others-others in Germany far more deserving than I, but I knew He had blessed me by bringing me here. And He wanted me to accept his blessing. For the first time in a very long time, I knew, without any doubt, that I was right where I was meant to be. Finally, lightness lifted my soul. All of the tension I had carried for months now, maybe even for years, seeped away.

I turned back to Robert and said, "I would be honored to be your wife."

The ceremony was brief and uneventful. We stood in the judge's living room. The judge's wife, for whom I had made a choir robe in an extra-extra large size, acted as our witness. After a few words, the judge p.r.o.nounced us husband and wife.

Then came an awkward pause. "Well, Robert, if you're too timid to kiss your bride, then I will." He reached out for me, but Robert, thankfully, stopped him. The judge was a kind and wonderful man, avuncular almost, but I did not intend to let him kiss me.

Robert laughed. "Thank you, Judge, but I think I can manage." He turned to me and gently cupped my face in his hands, as he did a few days ago in the kitchen, but this time it wasn't to wipe away tears. He kissed me first on each cheek, then, tenderly, on my lips. It might have been all of the excitement of the day, but my knees felt as quivery as Miss Gordon's green gelatin dessert.

At breakfast the next morning we told Miss Gordon and William we had been married by Judge Pryor. I wasn't quite sure how she would react to this "solution" to my immigration problem.

To my surprise-and delight-she began to dab at her eyes with that dishtowel she always had tucked in her ap.r.o.n. "Well, it's about time somebody did something around here," she said, peering straight at Robert.

Ah relief! Emboldened, I decided I would just start calling her Aunt Martha. I doubted she would ever volunteer such familiarity.

About William's response, I had no doubt. He stood up on his chair and clapped and yelled so loudly I feared he might rouse Chief Cochise from his grave. For a child who had just learned how to communicate, he was making up for lost time in leaps and bounds. Even Dog started jumping and barking in the excitement.

Aunt Martha threw up her dishtowel in mock despair. "Oh, for the love of heaven," she muttered, as she swept out the door to get away from the happy chaos.

I grabbed William, hugged him, and gave him kisses all over his face. I couldn't love a child more. From the corner of my eye, I saw Robert watching us, cup of coffee in his hand, one hip leaning against the counter, his serious grey eyes br.i.m.m.i.n.g with tears.

The next morning was Sunday. At church, I gazed around at faces now familiar to me. At the end of the service, Robert surprised me by asking me to stand up and come up to join him. I walked up to him, a little puzzled. He smiled at me, his eyes rea.s.suring, and took my hand.

Then he turned to the congregation and announced, "I would like to introduce to you my wife, Louisa Gordon."

Like the last time, I wished he had given me notice he was going to introduce me. All eyes turned to me, my cheeks burned, but this time, the elderly man who whistled throughout the hymns started to clap. Then another joined him and another, until the entire congregation stood up and clapped.

I quickly realized there was a reason behind Robert's announcement. He kept his eyes locked on Herr Mueller's face to see him react to the news. As the church ladies crowded around to congratulate me, Herr Mueller grabbed Ernest and slipped out. I watched Robert and saw him give a nod to Judge Pryor, who followed Herr Mueller out.

After a while, Robert came over to me. "Louisa, we need to go. Please excuse us, ladies."

The judge met us at the house with a grave look on his face. "Robert, you were right. Mueller went straight to the telegraph office and made Ernest open up on a Sunday morning. I waited until after Mueller left the telegraph office and then I went in. Ernest didn't want to talk much, being that he takes that blasted oath of office so seriously, but you can kind of work your way around things and Ernest will let loose. He admitted Mueller had to send a telegram to his ailing father. He wrote it out in German, and Ernest had to send it out in Morse code. Here, Louisa, I wrote it down to see if you could figure anything out."

I read the little piece of paper he held out to me: "Heinrich Mueller." My mind started racing. I looked up at Robert. "I told you. There are too many coincidences."

Judge Pryor looked back and forth between us. "What? What does that mean?"

"The head of the Geheime Staatspolizei is a man named Heinrich Mueller," I explained.

"I'm still not following," he said.

"Geheime Staatspolizei. Gestapo. The secret police."

The judge's eyes went wide with shock.

"If Mueller got into my lock box, don't you think he could have gotten into others?" asked Robert. "And if so, what has he done with the valuables? Could he be sending this town's money and valuables back to Berlin?"

He was thoughtful for a moment. "Judge, do you think you could get into your safety deposit box tomorrow morning? You'd have to wait until Mueller is away from the bank." He rubbed his chin. "Who else could we ask, without stirring up notice? We don't want to tip our hands to Mueller, or create hysteria in the town."

"I think I can get Ernest in on this," said the judge. "I need to question him about other wirings that Mueller might have done, anyway. If he's upset that his safety deposit box is empty, which I have a hunch it will be, he'll start talking."

He stood up to leave.

"Thank you, Judge Pryor, for everything you've done for us," Robert said.

"Robert, if you and Louisa are on to something, then it is this town that will be thanking you."

The next morning, Monday, Robert asked Aunt Martha to take William out so that he wouldn't be home for the INS field officer's appointment with me.

Soon after they left, Judge Pryor knocked on the kitchen door. "I thought you might need a little extra clout."

The sight of that kind face gave me needed courage. I poured him a cup of coffee, hoping he wouldn't notice my trembling hands. The same serious looking man drove up to the parsonage at 10 a.m. sharp. Robert and the judge met with him in the parlor. I stayed in the kitchen. For the first time in my entire life, I was not tempted to eavesdrop. It felt like an eternity, but it really only lasted a few minutes.

"Louisa, please come in," Robert finally called out to me. I walked into the room, and nodded to the officer.

"Ma'am, I just wanted to give you my heartfelt congratulations," said the officer. "My brother married a war bride; she's done him proud. Five kids already and one on the way! Two sets of twins."

I froze. In the turmoil of the last few days, I realized there was a rather sizable topic I had not considered.

The judge walked the officer out to his car, then hurried back inside. "Your guess was spot-on, Robert. I checked this morning before I came over here. My box was empty. Everything's gone. Ernest's box was empty, too. He's adding up the amount of cash Mueller has wired to a specific location. Soon as I get that information, I'll get a warrant written up to search Mueller's office at the bank."

Robert turned to me. "Louisa, go get the ring."

"Good thinking. We can add the charge of battery to the list," said the judge.

"I do think Glenda would be more willing to make charges against Herr Mueller if she thought he was going to be arrested," I said.

"I wonder how long this has been going on," the judge thought aloud.

"It can't be too long," answered Robert. "I put Louisa's pa.s.sport in my safety deposit box just over a year ago. Nothing was missing."

"This is more than missing a.s.sets in the bank," I said. "I suspect Mueller is becoming more daring as Germany is losing the war. My guess is he's getting pressured to send more money." Then I added what I'd been thinking about for a while now. "I think the real reason he came to Copper Springs in the first place, years ago, was to buy the mines and send copper to Germany through Mexico. His wife told me he travels to Mexico every week." I reminded Robert about the convoy of trucks we had seen.

"So you think stealing from the bank has been an afterthought?" Robert asked.