Hungry Spirits [Spirits 04] Read Online Free PDF

thought I detected a German accent from one of the women. You ought to be glad the police are interested.”
    I glared at my beloved. “I thought so, too. Johnny said a couple of them were Belgian, but I think at least one of them’s German.”
    “ Ah.” Billy scooped up more macaroni.
    “ I don’t think a German lady would be taken in here, in the United States,” said Pa thoughtfully. “We just fought a war with Germany.”
    “ My thoughts exactly,” I said, smiling at Pa.
    “ Not,” Pa said, “that the poor women had anything to do with the war.”
    Bother. My family members were all so reasonable. “I suppose not,” I grumbled.
    “ A very few Germans have managed to get into the United States illegally,” said Sam.
    “ Illegally?” I’d never heard of such a thing. I’d always thought of deeds such as murder, kidnapping and theft as illegal. It never occurred to me that countries might have laws governing who could and who couldn’t cross their borders. Which was silly of me, really, since I’d read about the Chinese Exclusion Act and stuff like that in school.
    “ Yeah. Only people with valid work permits, a sponsor and a job are supposed to enter the United States. The government is especially particular about Germans. We’re taking in some of the Russian-Germans and a few Belgian-Germans, but they aren’t allowing many German-Germans to enter.”
    I stared at him, undoubtedly rudely, for a few seconds. “I didn’t know there were such things as Russian-Germans and Belgian-Germans.”
    Billy enlightened me. “Oh, sure. Lots of folks, especially Jews, tried to get out of Germany before the war and during it. It’s even worse there now, what with all the damage from the bombs. The war ruined crops and farmlands as well as cities, and thousands of people are attempting to start their lives over someplace else. Someplace that hasn’t been ruined by the war, I mean.”
    “ Well, surely Flanders and France were hurt worse than most places, weren’t they?”
    “ That accounts for the Belgian immigrants,” muttered Sam. “Although not too many have made it as far as the USA. I’m sure you’ve read about what a mess Russia is these days, what with that revolution they had over there right after the war and all.”
    “ Are we not letting Russians in either?” I was beginning to think we Americans were rather snobbish. “Weren’t the Russians our allies in the war?”
    Again Sam shrugged. I wished I could heave a brussels sprout at him—speaking of things Belgian. “We’re letting quite a few Russians in.”
    “ Oh.” I felt a little better about American kindness of heart. “But what’s this about Jews?” I knew Jews had been persecuted for centuries, if not millennia, because of their religion—Christians were mad at them because Jews killed Jesus, but I figured Jesus was a Jew, too, so I didn’t buy that argument—but I’d never thought about such things in this modern day and age.
    Sam waved his hand in a careless gesture. “We allow some Jews in. We really don’t have much of an immigration problem here. Not in Southern California, anyway. Our immigration policies are so strict that most people can’t get in. Those who can get in enter via Ellis Island in New York City.”
    “ That’s right,” I said thoughtfully. “You must have met a lot of immigrants when you lived in New York.”
    He nodded, not looking especially happy about his experience with immigrants. He might have been thinking of the Bolsheviks or the Anarchists like Sacco and Vanzetti. That got me to thinking again, which can be a dangerous thing. “Are all immigrants radicals like those Italian guys who blew up the bank?”
    Billy choked slightly. I realized he was laughing and knew I’d said something stupid. Again. “They didn’t blow up a bank, Daisy. They shot a couple of payroll guards.”
    “ Oh. Well, that’s just as bad, isn’t it?”
    “ Absolutely.” I could tell my husband was trying