SURVIVING
Chapter Three
Three days later, Jack, Rose, and Emma Jean
stepped off the train in Eau Claire. It had been a long and tiring journey, and
they couldn’t wait to get off the road and perhaps sleep in a real bed, not in
a bunker car. Emma led Jack and Rose to the exit, where the Dawson family was
awaiting their arrival. Everyone was eager to greet the only son of the eldest
Dawson boy. Ready to welcome him home and accept his fiancée with open arms.
"Jack." Emma touched his arm. She
needed to warn him before he came face to face with the family. She felt guilty
for not telling them herself, but she couldn’t think of a way to break it to
them over the phone.
"Yes?" Jack turned, his blue eyes
brightened with curiosity.
"They don’t know, Jack. They don’t know
about Uncle Lucas. I couldn’t bear to tell them over the phone, especially
Granny and Grampy."
"Emma." Jack groaned. "Do you
know what this means?"
"A whole bunch of questions. I’m sorry,
Jack. Really I am…"
Jack sighed, tightening his grasp on Rose’s
hand, reminding himself that he had her, and as long as she was by his side, he
could do anything. "It’s okay. I can handle it." He leaned over and
whispered to Rose. "Don’t leave me."
"Wild horses can’t drag me away."
Rose squeezed his hand in reassurance. "Ready?"
"Never been more ready in my life."
Jack grinned. "Let’s go."
Together, the trio stepped out of the train
station and into the waiting arms of Jack’s family. Rose kept a tight hold of
Jack’s hands as he was embraced by one relative after another. She listened at
the exclamations of how tall he had grown and how much he had looked like his
father. Not one word as of yet about his father’s whereabouts. So far, so good.
"And who is this?" An elderly woman
with kind blue eyes that matched Jack’s exactly smiled at Rose.
"Why, this must be the fiancée Emma told
us about." An elderly man with Jack’s build smiled widely. "Why, she
is a pretty one, Jack. You did well for yourself. I bet your father is proud of
you!"
"I hope so." Jack weakly smiled as
his grandparents embraced Rose, accepting her with open arms.
"Welcome to America, honey." His
grandmother smiled. "We’re Jack’s grandparents, Myrtle and Henry Dawson.
But just call us Granny and Grampy like the rest of the children do. You’ll be
one of us soon enough, I imagine."
"Okay…Granny and Grampy." Rose
nervously smiled, not used to using those names with anyone, much less with
people she already knew.
"Come. Let’s get you two home and fed.
We got a big feast waiting for you." Myrtle ushered the small group away
from the train station to a truck that would take them to the Dawson farm.
*****
Rose and Jack cuddled together on the couch
in the living room. Well-fed and surrounded by family who all were busy telling
stories of Jack’s father and other family members. Rose’s eyes were just about
to drift closed as her head leaned back on Jack’s shoulder, when finally the
question they both had been dreading was asked.
"So, tell us what Lucas is doing with
himself now’a days and why he and his lovely wife didn’t join you two
lovebirds?" Henry puffed away on his pipe.
"Uh…" Jack looked at Rose as if
begging her for help, but Rose didn’t know what to tell him to say, so he
looked back and swallowed, tightly grasping her hand in his, praying that he
didn’t break down in tears again. "About Father…he…well…you know about
what’s going on over in Germany. Right? About Adolph Hitler and his Third
Reich?"
"Of course. Who hasn’t?" Jack’s
cousin, Nathaniel, shrugged.
"Well…Father…you would be so proud of
him…I know I am. He was a part of the resistance. He risked his life to save
thousands of Jews and others that were targets of the Nazis."
"Oh, my." Myrtle’s hand flew to her
mouth, tears of pride gleaming in his eyes. "What a noble gesture…"
"Lucas always did have a good head on
his shoulders and a heart to match." Henry nodded.
Jack smiled at the praise that was heaped on
his father. He was so happy that he wasn’t the only one that loved and
remembered him. "Well…about five years ago…after we returned from visiting
with you…Father disappeared. No trace of him was found. No letter, no telephone
calls. Nothing. Mother had refused to contact you. I would have…but…I was going
through a very difficult period at the time." Jack’s hold on Rose’s hand
tightened as he continued. "Well…recently…I found out that he was murdered
by the Nazis over his work. All that’s left of him now is in this shoe box that
was delivered to me before Rose and I fled."
Emma took out the shoebox and set it on the
table. The silence that filled that room was deafening. One could hear a pin
drop. Finally, Nathaniel got to his feet, his blue eyes blazing.
"Those Nazi bastards! I’m going to kill
them! One by one! I’m running down to the registration office right now and
signing up for the war!"
"No, you will not, Nathaniel
Dawson!" Myrtle’s voice was strong and determined, her grief barely
contained. "You will stay here with the rest of us and make sure that
everything’s taken care of! The last thing this family needs is another death!
Now, sit down!"
"Yes, ma’am." The young man quietly
sat back down, his eyes still burning with anger.
"What…what did your mother have to say
about all of this? I’m surprised that she didn’t accompany you on this
trip." Henry sat forward, his voice conveying his sorrow.
"My mother…she could probably care less
about what happened to my father. She’s too busy becoming the perfect wife of a
Nazi officer."
"What?" Myrtle gasped.
"She’s taken up with a Nazi. That’s why
I ran away. Why I’m here now. I couldn’t bear to see her dishonor my father’s
memory like that."
"I knew I didn’t like that woman."
Myrtle snorted. "Rose…what about you? What was your reason for running
away?"
Rose lowered her eyes, not sure how they
would feel about their grandson marrying a girl with Jewish blood. "My
mother was going to make me marry a Nazi. If I didn’t…she was going to have me
sent to a concentration camp."
"Why would she do that?" Nathaniel
asked, confused. Rose didn’t look like someone that the Nazis would target,
unless she, too, was part of the resistance over in Europe.
"Because my father was a Jew. If the
Nazis had found out…I’d be sent away like all the others. But thanks to Jack,
that didn’t happen. He’s saved me. In every way a person can be saved."
She smiled lovingly at her fiancé, who just blushed at the praise.
"Hey, you saved me, too. Remember, it
was you who broke that lamp over my mother’s husband’s head when he tried to
once again beat me into submission." Jack forgot that he hadn’t mentioned
that part to his family and groaned when he heard the gasps of outrage.
"Why, you hadn’t mentioned that
part." Myrtle crossed her arms angrily. "Where was your mother during
all this?"
"In the next room. Ignoring what was
happening." Jack sighed.
"How many times did he beat you,
Jack?" His grandfather was a bit calmer. It wouldn’t do to get the boy all
worked up. He had been through enough already.
"Well, actually only once. Rose and a
couple of friends of mine took me in. I grew worried about their welfare, so I
returned. Rose arrived just in time to stop him from beating me again. We ran
away to a man that worked with my father in the resistance. He bought us
tickets to America, and now…after having to go save Rose from her mother and
the Nazis…here we are." He smiled, hoping to lighten the atmosphere.
"My. That was an adventure." Myrtle
shook her head. "And I bet you two are as sleepy as bears in winter. Let
me go make up your rooms and we’ll talk again in the morning."
"Yes, Granny." Jack smiled, taking
Rose’s hand and following the older woman upstairs. For once, in a very long
time, he felt like he was home. Home with his family and the woman he loved.
From here on out, the future looked bright.