“Does anybody own it?” Kitty shrugged. “Seems to me it’s just abandoned. Like that ruined house where you got the tiles for the stables.”
“I don’t think anyone would come asking questions,” Delphine said. “In all the time we’ve been here, I don’t think any of us has ever encountered another human being in those woods.”
“Well, I suppose it could work, in the short term.” Martha was picturing the little house among the trees. Having Stefan so close would be the perfect solution. But it would require considerable diplomacy on her part. If the DPs felt that he was getting special treatment—that he was being allowed to live in a way denied to any of them—because there was something going on . . .
“The short term is all any of us can plan for.” Delphine’s voice cut across her thoughts. “No one knows how much longer we’ll be here for.”
“Things have to change soon,” Kitty said. “Charlie says there’s a protest movement underway in the States. All kinds of people are speaking out, saying what a disgrace it is that the government is moving so slowly.”
“Do you think that’s what Stefan is hoping for, long term, to get to America?” Delphine glanced at Martha. There was a hint of a smile in the look she gave—a well-meaning smile, no doubt—but it triggered a horrible possibility in Martha’s mind: that Stefan had come back to Seidenmühle with the sole intention of emigrating to the States, with her as his passport out of Germany. He would know that short of a sudden U-turn by President Truman, marriage to a US citizen was his only way into America. And she had never told him she was still married to Arnie. Was that why he had been so desperate to get a letter to her the moment he knew that his wife was dead?
She despised herself for harboring such thoughts. The heartache and the sense of loss he conveyed were entirely genuine; she was certain of that. There was something else as well—an act that spoke volumes in defense of his character: he had taken on the care of an orphaned child. And he had done it despite being in the desperate position of having to sell the few possessions he had left just to get out of Poland. It was a selfless decision that echoed the qualities that had drawn Martha to him from the outset. Nothing he had done while living at Seidenmühle had been anything other than decent.
“I don’t know what he’s hoping for.” Martha couldn’t look Delphine in the eye. If he had come back because of his feelings for her, she needed to step back, take a breath, allow him the time he needed to grieve.
CHAPTER 28
Martha went in person to ask Major McMahon to give Stefan a job. As she had anticipated, he wasn’t thrilled to learn that a DP who had been repatriated had come back.
“His wife is dead and his home and business were destroyed,” she said. “His child was living in a convent. You can understand why he might want a fresh start.”
“He should have gone to Silesia.” The major grunted. “Plenty of opportunity for a fresh start there.”
“But I thought that was only for people who came from the Russian side of the line; he’s from Warsaw, so he wouldn’t qualify.”
“Maybe not. But it’s not something we want to encourage—people drifting back like ghosts. They’ll be spreading stories that’ll put others off going.”
“With respect, I think Radio Moscow is doing a good job of that already. And Mr. Dombrowski isn’t mixing with people in the camp; he’s building himself a cabin in the forest.”
“You say he speaks good German?”
“He was my right-hand man when I first came here. I couldn’t have negotiated with the mayor’s office without him.”
“Well, we could use him.” The major rubbed his chin. “But there’d better not be any more DPs coming back. If anyone else comes banging on the gates, you send ’em packing—got that?”
Delphine opened one eye as Martha tiptoed past her bed. It was light outside, but she guessed that it was only about six o’clock. Martha had always been an early riser, but the past couple of weeks, she had been creeping out of the cabin at least an hour before anyone else was up. Most mornings, Delphine would be woken by the chug of the car’s engine as it headed back into camp. That was her signal to get up. It meant that Martha had collected Stefan and the girls, dropped him at the base, and was bringing Lubya and Halina back for breakfast.
“It’s only until he gets a car,” Martha had said on the day Stefan started his job. “He’s looking for something he can fix up—and as soon as he gets paid, he’ll be able to do it.” She’d worn the same matter-of-fact expression she always adopted when she spoke of him, doing her best to create the illusion that all she cared about was giving him a helping hand. Delphine could see that she was only trying to protect herself. But she wished Martha would talk to her instead of pretending everything was okay.