Marlene Read Online Free PDF

a certain wit. “But the back gate is never locked. The fire marshal told them they must keep it open in case of emergency. Since everyone’s out here . . .” She grinned.
    I crept with her through the nearly empty building to the back gate, which let out onto a muddy path bordering abandoned pasturelands that not long ago had been Schöneberg’s main attraction. Now tenements were rising where potatoes and lettuce had grown—cheap block edifices to housethe population spilling over from Berlin. I recalled what Mademoiselle had told me about her aspirations. Had our experience last night prompted her to toss caution to the winds and leave for the city she’d dubbed “the fastest” in the world?
    The path led to the side street where she’d told me she lived. But as we emerged onto uneven cobbles where stray dogs lolled and puny children squatted, playing with marbles, my heart sank. I hadn’t seen her make her way to her actual building; I had no idea which of these decrepit tenement boardinghouses was hers.
    “Well?” Hilde said. I had to admire her pluck. She hadn’t hesitated a moment, guiding us to our escape without compunction, though she risked punishment as much as I did.
    I blew out an exasperated breath. “She went this way, but . . .” My voice faded as a distant rumble reached us, the sound of marching feet and shouting. I turned in bewilderment to Hilde, who cried out, “It’s begun!”
    She raced down the side street toward the avenue, obliging me to follow. I cast a quick look over my shoulder, hoping the commotion would alert denizens in the buildings, but only the lazy dogs pricked up their ears. Laundry sagged outside windows that no one looked out from.
    I came to a panting halt beside Hilde. Before us, pedestrians crowded on the sidewalks as a horde tromped down the middle of the street, waving banners and flags emblazoned with the kaiser’s black eagle. Most of the demonstrators were youths, with rough hands and shirtsleeves rolled to their elbows, laborers and such from the nearby factories—common riffraff, Mutti would sniff—chanting, “‘Holy flame, glow! Glow and expire not. For the Fatherland we stand, valiant for one man. Gladly fighting for our empire!’”
    “It’s the ‘ Heil dir im Siegerkranz, ’” Hilde shouted in my ear. “See? We’re at war!”
    I couldn’t believe it. As the demonstrators amassed, I saw the ladies with their parasols and little dogs on leashes, the gentlemen in their bowler hats, and the governesses with openmouthed children, applauding and lifting their fists in salute, as though this were some circus come to town.
    “Are they insane?” I said, but no one was listening to me. The chanting had grown deafening, echoing through the avenue and into the cloud-ruffled sky, so that we almost didn’t hear the faint ringing of the school bell.
    Hilde gasped, “They’re letting us out early. Hurry!”
    She hauled me through the crowd, pushing and shoving until we reached the gates, which stood ajar, the girls clustered there to observe the parade with wide eyes, their oversize hair bows quivering as the teachers held them back.
    Frau Becker spotted us. “Hilde, Maria,” she barked. “Get inside this instant.”
    We crammed past the girls and earned a sharp pinch on our respective ears from the teachers. “How dare you slip out?” demanded Frau Becker. “What on earth were you thinking?”
    Hilde slid her eyes at me. They thought we’d gotten out when the gates opened, so I quickly said, “We wanted to see what was happening. We didn’t go far.”
    “You went entirely too far,” retorted Frau Becker. “I shall inform the headmistress. The cheek of you, sneaking out when the world is about to explode.”
    “Explode?” All of a sudden, this alleged war became frighteningly real.
    “Yes. His imperial majesty vows to avenge the archduke Ferdinand of Austria’s assassination. Germany must defend her honor. But never you mind that; war or