Hope at Dawn Read Online Free PDF Page B

weather and spring planting until someone latched on to Friedrick’s coat sleeve. He glanced down, knowing it was eighteen-year-old Maria Schmitt, before he saw those violet eyes and dark, fluttering lashes.
    “Hello, Friedrick.” Her mouth curved in a coy smile, in spite of the devastating blow they’d all received today.
    “Morning, Maria.”
    “Are we going dancing this weekend?”
    He searched his mind for yet another excuse—he hadn’t taken her to a dance hall since the mob had shown up. Still, it might do him good to get away for a while. Dancing would give him something else to think about besides how his family was going to survive on so little.
    “All right.” His acceptance was laced with more resignation than joy, but Maria didn’t seem to notice. “I’ll pick you up at six on Friday.”
    “Good. I was beginning to think you were avoiding me.” She hooked her arm through his. “Will your family keep coming to church, even with the sermons in English?”
    “I don’t know if Elsa will want to, but I think we should.”
    “I hope you will,” she said softly as though imparting a secret. “The church’s spring social would be such a bore without you.” She gave an indignant shake of her head, making the dark curls around her face sway. “Did you hear that my mother—with my help, of course—is planning the whole thing?”
    She prattled on about the details of the upcoming event—the baseball game, the dance, the music. Friedrick didn’t have the heart to stop her. Let her find a bit of happiness where she could.
    He liked Maria well enough. She was the only girl in the congregation near his own age who wasn’t married or had a beau overseas. Maria clearly hoped to be among the former, based on the not-so-subtle hints from her and her mother. Friedrick couldn’t imagine marrying anytime soon, though. He had nothing to offer a wife but a crowded house, a dying father-in-law, and no extra money.
    The couple ahead of him bade the pastor farewell. Friedrick gently pried his arm from Maria’s grip and stepped forward with purpose. “I must talk to Pastor Schwarz now. I’ll see you Friday, Maria.”
    “Friedrick,” the pastor said, gripping his hand. “What do you make of the announcement?”
    “I think we’ll lose many good people.”
    Pastor Schwarz lowered his hand to his side, his eyes taking in the still crowded room. “I fear you are right.”
    “Can I help in some way?”
    The pastor clapped his hand on Friedrick’s shoulder. “People look to you, Friedrick. If you continue to bring your family, I think others will follow.”
    “I will,” he said without hesitation.
    Elsa would take some convincing. More than any of them, she loved singing and praying in German. She’d told him more than once that doing so helped her feel close to her aunt and grandmother still living in Germany.
    “Did you hear if the vigilance committee visited anyone else?” he asked the pastor.
    Pastor Schwarz nodded. “At least twenty other families. They all bought bonds.” His face reflected his compassion. “Like you, they have little left over.”
    “Is that what we must do, Pastor? Stand by and let them…” Friedrick lowered his voice. “Let them rob us of our savings and our language, just to prove we are loyal Americans?”
    Pastor Schwarz looked past him toward the nearest window, but the man’s wistful gaze suggested he wasn’t seeing the houses across the street or the bare trees. “I miss the forests the most,” he said, his voice soft, reflective. “I can still remember the great trees near our home in Germany. My mother’s family still lives there.” He glanced at Friedrick, anguish in his gray eyes. “My boy Johann may be fighting his own relatives at the front lines.”
    Mention of the war caused familiar guilt to nibble at Friedrick. If he were a solider in France, would he be fighting his German relations like Johann? Would his family be any safer in his absence?
    The