“You talk funny,” Zofia said.
Ari turned red. “Do I? I guess I do. I just think it's funny something so far away could scare people.”
“It is scary.”
“I suppose it scares me too. It's only visible from the southern hemisphere. You know what that means?”
Zofia shook her head, her thumb falling predictably into her mouth.
“It means we're a long way from home.”
Lucja shivered. A long way from home indeed.
When her father moved to join them, she slipped away and climbed the ladder to the wheelhouse. It was cold up top, but the sea was a beautiful thing. As she stepped to the rails, the water below looked almost inviting.
“You want to be careful there. If you fell overboard, you'd freeze to death before we could grab you.”
Startled, Lucja turned to see Lieutenant Dietrich approaching from the wheelhouse door. He removed his hat, revealing a flat, if not unattractive brown military cut. Whether he did this because of the wind or because he was addressing a young lady, she didn't know.
“You startled me.”
“My apologies. It was not my intent.” He put his hands on the rails. “I just wanted to make sure you weren't going to fall. Most people don't realize how dangerous it is up here with the boat rocking.”
“What do you care?”
“I know you'll find this hard to believe, Miss Kaminski, but I would like to see you arrive to our destination intact. It is very important you do.”
“What do you mean 'important?' Why are we so damned important?”
Harald was silent for a long moment, then said, “Your father is a very special man. He was trying to leave the country at a time when he was greatly needed, and that made my superiors angry.”
“He's not special. He hasn't been able to work for three years. When he meets new people, he doesn't even tell them his real name, like he's ashamed of it. You call that 'special?'”
Harald looked at her knuckles, bone-white where they gripped the metal. “None of this was my doing, Miss Kaminski. I suspect that if my superiors knew just how special he was at an earlier time, you would not have been subjected to this. I could be wrong, but I think arrangements would have been made sooner.”
“Arrangements for what?”
“Until we arrive, I'm afraid that's still confidential. But believe me when I tell you that I am sorry for this. As long as your father cooperates, you have nothing to worry about. You, or your mother.”
“And what do you want him to do?”
“There are others like him where we are going, other men with a special kind of knowledge. We think Dominik is the key to uniting their talents. If he does this thing for us, your family will be rewarded. You have my word on that.”
Lucja looked at him uncertainly.
“Life aboard a ship is hard for everyone. The sailors don't have it any better. They are confined to small, cramped spaces to sleep, and when they are not sleeping, they perform dangerous jobs that require back-breaking endurance. Even though you are confined, you are free from such chores.” Harald considered, then reached into his soldier's jacket and withdrew a man's billfold. From it, he took a small photograph and handed it to her.
It was a picture of a young woman, fair-skinned and quite comely. There was an expression of bliss on her face that looked utterly foreign under the present circumstances. Lucja briefly and cruelly thought of tossing it over the railing. Instead, she handed it back. “She's lovely.”
Harald nodded. “Perhaps too lovely. She has many other suitors who would take my place. We'll be apart these months, and like you, I had no choice in the matter. So you see, I'm depending on your father also. Once he is finished, I can get back to my life and my fiance. Until then, we are apart, just as you are from your mother and your friends.”
“Aren't soldiers always moving around?”
“To some extent, yes. But in times of peace, it's much easier to stay in one place. I'm used to traveling by car, but it is still difficult.”
“Can you drive?” Lucja asked. She'd only been in a car a few times in her life, as her parents did not own one.
“No. When you're as important as I am, you have people to do that for you.” He winked at her, then removed his hands from the rail and rubbed them together. “I'm off to my other duties, Miss Kaminski. It was nice to chat. If you need anything, you can let me know.”
She hesitated, then blurted, “You should call me Lucja. There's no need for 'Miss Kaminski.' That's for my mother, not me.”
“All right,” he said, smiling and then turning again.
“Wait!” She grabbed a hold of his sleeve. For a moment, she was wracked with indecision. The lieutenant was not her friend — she wasn't foolish enough to believe that — but if he really did want to show her kindness, the opportunity could not be missed. “I do need something from you. That is, if you're willing to help.”
“Yes?”
“Well,” Lucja said, her facing turning scarlet, “I know I must look very young to you, but I am of age. By that I mean… well this is terribly embarrassing… I have certain needs being on board a ship for an extended period of time. They are of a delicate nature.”
Harald flushed, but in a way, this made her feel better. His reaction was not one of amusement. “Yes?” he said again.
“I'm sure that a ship full of men does not have all the sanitary items a woman needs, but I need something. Tonight,” she added with some force, “and I would beg your discretion. Telling you this is very difficult.” She looked up at the moon, hoping that he would interpret her meaning.
“I understand. I have to apologize, as that's not even something I considered. You're right thinking there are no womanly goods on board. I could likely get you a handful of shirts and cut them into strips. Would that be sufficient?”
“If there's nothing else. It's better than the papers you left in the pantry.”
“Very well. I'll meet you back here before you return to your room. All right?”
She nodded, beginning to feel, for the first time, that the night may not end in disaster. Of all the people on board who could have taken her secret, she would have thought this man one of the least likely.
Harald returned his hat to his head and walked off. Lucja prayed he would be true to his word, and that if he did take a few shirts for her, that he wouldn't be noticed. If she managed to keep her dignity through all this, it would be a miracle. She looked over the railing again, down into the black water lapping at the side of the ship. The water suddenly looked cold and uninviting, and she wanted very badly to get back to the main deck.
2
Dominik observed all this from the bow of the ship, being careful not to stare when he could help it. He couldn't quite make out what they were saying, but he didn't like the tone of the conversation. Dietrich was a dangerous man, and if one of his tricks was to somehow endear himself to his daughters, that would make him all the more so.
“Put me down, Papa!” Zofia cried. He had been holding her up on his shoulders, letting her walk the tightrope. He and Maggie had taken her to see the Sarrasani Circus at the post-Olympics performance in Berlin two years before, and for a time, she had been obsessed. She would pretend to be one of the little tightrope walkers in a pink costume, practicing most sincerely whenever he picked her up. She had given up the fantasy more than a year ago, but here, in the wake of Maggie's disappearance, she had regressed. Dominik wasn't sure if it was a good thing or not.
“Put me down!”
When he did, she kissed him. Young babe or grown woman, she would always be his darling.
“Drink, pantry man?”