Armageddon_ A Novel of Berlin - Leon Uris [286]
She and Mrs. Smith shopped together and she was allowed to join certain family outings, and after a while they even gossiped together. It was strange, this nice way the Americans treated each other. It was how an officer like Scott and a man from the ranks like Nick could share a brotherly love.
Hilde remembered her shock the first time she saw Colonel Loveless chase his wife through the garden calling, “Me Tarzan, you Jane.”
And she remembered standing in the hallway in the morning listening at their bedroom door when Tony and Lynn jumped into bed with them and they all wrestled.
At first Hilde resented Ami laughter. Sure, the Amis could laugh ... they were not hungry. Their cities were not in ruins, but they laughed as much about themselves and their own failings as anything else.
In the rigid adherence to reverence for her father Hilde remembered little laughter and little warmth for anyone but Ernestine. She had never known a German man who did not take himself seriously. Perhaps, she wrote to Ernestine, the Americans deserve laughter.
Judy knocked on Hilde’s door the next morning as she sat before the mirror brushing her long, thick brown hair. Mrs. Loveless muttered something envious.
“Hilde, Colonel Loveless has managed to get three days off starting Saturday. We would like to get away, just anywhere. He hasn’t seen a thing of Germany except air bases.”
“I hope he isn’t called back to his office like the last time you tried to get away.”
“Never can tell.”
“Everything here will be fine.”
“By the way, it will be all right to entertain Captain Davidson here while we’re gone.”
“I don’t know if we will be seeing each other again.”
“Little fight?”
Hilde shook her head.
“Oh, I’m sorry, Hilde.”
She set the brush down and felt a need to speak to Mrs. Loveless. “In German we have a word. He is filled with Wanderlust ... he is a rover.”
Judy lit a cigarette and sat on the edge of the bed. “A lot of people who care for each other see that life rewards in different ways. We say in America, half a loaf is better than none. Hilde, may I speak to you frankly?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“When I interviewed Mrs. Smith about hiring you, she was quite frank with me. As you know by their letters and gifts, they care for you very much. So do I. So, I talk as a friend. Mrs. Smith told me, one thing you will notice about Hildegaard ... she never laughs. And she said ... I don’t think Hildegaard has ever laughed from the day she was born. I don’t think she knows how.”
Hilde was surprised by the truth of the discovery.
“Scott Davidson makes you laugh. You are a happy woman when he enters the room. In the end, this might have to be worth a few tears.”
Shortly after Scott arrived in Germany he accepted a Permanent Change of Station status. The definition of Temporary Duty on the Airlift was vague and taking Permanent Station in Germany meant a lot of privileges. Anyhow, Scott didn’t really give a damn where he was stationed.
Hiram Stonebraker brought the first changes of his ways. As a chief pilot of an Air Wing he found himself constantly fretting about housing for his crews, their fatigue, the ground-controlled approach landings in the steep glide paths over crowded cities, a beacon which gave off a weak signal, and a number of other things he didn’t give a damn about before. And then came Hildegaard Falkenstein.
Stan Kitchek was glad about Hilde. He was a purist. He had a nice girl back in Seattle and would have her till hell froze over. He was riddled with guilt when he needed another woman.
Nick didn’t get to do so much bumming around with Scott after Hilde came into the picture, but he was crazy about her. Scott had a judgment day coming all his life and Hilde was the first girl Nick knew with the stuff to pull it off. She showed it by not giving in.
The Air Force and Army had set up low-cost holidays in requisitioned German resorts in Bavaria. Scott’s leave was overdue. He had flown nearly a hundred flights to Berlin, but his own growing sense of duty kept him at his desk.
Stan and