The Undertaking Read Online Free PDF Page A

stranger?’
    ‘I really like her.’
    ‘Oh, thank God. Your father’s home.’
    His father put his satchel on the counter as he always did,and hugged his son. Mrs Faber talked quietly to her husband.
    ‘It’s a stunt, Peter,’ he said. ‘A Nazi breeding stunt.’
    ‘It’s a deal, Father. Nothing more. And it’s worked out. You’ll really like her.’
    Mr Faber picked up the tray and carried it into the living room, followed by Mrs Faber holding the coffee pot and their son carrying a plate of still-warm shortbread. Katharina stood as they walked in, saluted, and reached out her hand. His parents shook it, but sat down before their guest.
    ‘Katharina lives in Berlin,’ he said. ‘I think that I’ll move there after the war.’
    Mr Faber’s two large, soft hands rose to his face, hovered momentarily in front of his eyes, but moved on through his hair.
    ‘Your job is here, Peter. Your life. Your career. What would you do in Berlin?’
    ‘Katharina’s father will help find me a job. He has contacts. Good political ones.’
    ‘You don’t need the help of politicians to be a good teacher, Peter,’ said Mr Faber.
    ‘I might not teach any more. Not conventionally, anyway.’
    Mr Faber’s derisive laugh startled even his wife.
    ‘All teaching is conventional, Peter. That’s how it works.’
    ‘It’ll be different from classroom teaching. I’ll be teaching the nation.’
    ‘About what?’
    ‘I don’t know. Germany. Its future.’
    His father sat back into his chair, silent as he drank his coffee.
    ‘Excuse me, young lady – I’m sorry I don’t even know your name,’ said Mr Faber.
    ‘Katharina. Katharina Spinell.’
    ‘Miss Spinell, my son—’
    ‘Mrs Faber, Father. Mrs Faber.’
    ‘Katharina. My son appears to have lost his way. It can happen. War can challenge the mind as vigorously as it can the body.’
    ‘I don’t think that applies here, Father.’
    ‘Since he was a child, Peter has wanted to be a teacher, to work in the same school as his father and grandfather.’
    ‘That has all changed now,’ said Peter, kissing his wife’s hand.
    ‘I don’t see why. Did something happen, Peter?’
    ‘I’m married, Father. I have a different life ahead.’
    ‘I married, Peter, and it changed nothing.’
    ‘My wife is very beautiful.’
    ‘And your mother wasn’t?’
    The train back was almost empty, so she stretched across the seat and placed her head on his lap. He draped his coat over her and stroked her hair until she fell asleep. When they reached Berlin, he nuzzled at her ear, whispering her awake.
    Her mother had kept dinner for them, potato and vegetable soup, which they ate in the kitchen until her father came home.
    ‘Where’s your mother?’
    ‘Bed.’
    ‘Fine. You may go, too, Katharina. I need your husband tonight.’
    ‘What for?’ said Katharina.
    ‘Dr Weinart wants him.’
    Faber jumped into the back of a truck filled with men in brown uniform. They passed a uniform to him. It was too short, but hepulled it on anyway and sat as silently as the other men. The truck stopped at the top of a wide tree-lined street and the men got out, the doctor emerging from the front cab. He shook Faber’s hand.
    ‘Thank you for joining us, Mr Faber.’
    ‘Thank you.’
    ‘You take that house over there. Number seventy-one.’
    ‘What do I do with it?’
    ‘Just get in.’
    Faber went, knocked at the door and pushed the doorbell. He received no reply, and returned to Dr Weinart.
    ‘There’s nobody home.’
    ‘They’re in there, Faber.’
    ‘Yes, Sir.’
    He lifted the brass knocker and slammed it heavily against the door. He shouted through the keyhole, but the house inside remained still.
    ‘Maybe they’ve gone out, Dr Weinart.’
    ‘There’s nowhere for them to go, Faber.’
    ‘We could come back later.’
    The doctor snorted.
    ‘Get in there, Faber.’
    ‘How?’
    ‘Jesus Christ, you’re a soldier, aren’t you?’
    ‘Not this kind of soldier.’
    ‘Move, or