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"Sure does," Willi agreed. "I'm as surprised as you are, maybe more so. And once the votes get counted, I can think of some other people who'll be more surprised yet." He mouthed Lothar Prutzma
"Someone else might be surprised, too." Heinrich mouthed the Fuhrer 's name, and Willi nodded. "I don't think he expected Rolf to get so popular so fast."
Willi nodded again, but he said, "Still, the two of them ought to be able to work together. They're going in the same direction. It's not like that other fellow, the one who wants to turn back the clock."
"No, I wouldn't think so. I sure hope not," Heinrich said. "The only thing that worries me is, what happens if the one of them gets jealous of the other?" Yes, not naming names was definitely a good idea. A few months earlier, Heinrich wouldn't have dared to talk about Party rivalries in a public place with or without names. Back in the days when Kurt Haldweim was Fuhrer, he would have been leery about doing it even if private.
As usual, Willi Dorsch had more nerve than he did (of course, Willi hadn't been hauled away from his desk by the Security Police, either). "Buckliger should've run for the Reichstag himself," Willi said. "This way, Stolle will be able to say, 'The Volk chose me, but who chose you?' If elections really do stick, that could matter. It could matter a lot."
"You're right," Heinrich said. Willi might not notice something like his wife making a play for another man, but he missed very little when it came to politics.
And, when Heinrich tried to pay the tab, Willi wouldn't let him. "Next time, fine, but not right after the Security Police let you go. You don't need to show me you're no cheap Jew. I believe it."
"That's nice," Heinrich said. Willi laughed at the irony in his voice. But it held more irony than Willi knew. It was especially nice that Willi thought Heinrich wasn't a Jew when he really was. Had Willi-or anybody else-been truly convinced he was, he wouldn't be full of Japanese food right now. He would have been disposed of, and so would his children.
Willi got to his feet. "Shall we head back?" he said. "I know you're dying to, with all the catching up you've got to do."
Heinrich rose, too. "I don't mind," he said. Willi rolled his eyes and shook his head at such dedication. Heinrich meant it, though. He wasn't dying to get back to the office, but, as he'd thought a moment before, he would have been dying-or dead-if he couldn't go back. Given that stark choice, sitting at a desk and adding up long columns of figures didn't look bad at all.
Alicia Gimpel's class went out to eat their lunches and play on the schoolyard. She was about to walk out with the other boys and girls when her teacher called her name. She stopped. "What is it,Herr Peukert?" she asked.
"You've only been back in school for a couple of days, Alicia," he said. "You don't need to work so very hard to make up all the assignments you missed."
"But I want to get them out of the way!" Alicia exclaimed. "Then I won't have to worry about them any more."
"I'm not going to worry about them now, or not very much,"Herr Peukert said. "You're a good student, and you've shown you can understand the material. That's what really matters." He hesitated, then went on, "And it's not as if you could help being absent, not with what happened to you. I'm glad you're back."
"Thank you,Herr Peukert. I'm glad I'm back, too," Alicia said. "Are you sure it's all right about the work? I don't mind doing it." Like her father, she was glad to have the chance to work.
"Yes, I'm sure." The teacher hesitated again. Finally, nodding to himself, he asked, "Has anyone given you a hard time about…about where you were, and why?"
"No, sir," Alicia answered, which wasn't strictly true. Wolf Priller and a couple of other boys had teased her, but it hadn't been too bad-certainly nothing where she felt she ought to tattle. "But…" Now she was the one who paused.
"But what?"Herr Peukert asked. "The charge made against you was serious, but it was false. Now that it's been shown to be false, people have no business-none-throwing it in your face. Do you understand?"
"Ja, Herr Peukert." Alicia would have let it go at that if her teacher hadn't sounded angry that anybody could still be bothering her. Since he did, though, she added, "It's not me, sir-it's my sister."
"Some of the students in your sister's class are giving her trouble?" Peukert sounded angrier still. "Who is your sister's teacher? We'll deal with this."
Alicia's heart sank. She wished she'd kept her mouth shut. "Francesca's in, uh,Frau Koch's class, sir." She'd almost saidthe Beast's class, but not quite. "The boys and girls aren't giving her any trouble, though. It's…it's Frau Koch." She waited to see if the sky would fall.
"Oh." The word seemed heavy as lead as it came from Herr Peukert's throat. "That's…very unfortunate, Alicia. I'm sorry. I don't know just what to do about that. I don't know if I can do anything about that. Some people…Some people can't be reasonable about some things. It's…too bad when those people get put in charge of others, but sometimes it happens."
"It's not fair. It's not right," Alicia said. "She shouldn't say those things. Daddy'snot a Jew, and that means my sisters and me-and I -aren't Mischlingen." Part of that was true, anyhow. She and Francesca and Roxane weren't Mischlingen. They were full-blooded Jews. Alicia knew what she had to say, though.
Herr Peukert looked troubled. "If you like, Alicia, I will speak to the principal. But I have to tell you, I don't know how much good it will do, or if it will do any good at all. Inside their classrooms, teachers do as they see fit, as long as they teach what they are required to teach. And I know Frau Koch has been at this school a long time, much longer than the principal has."
He waited. Alicia needed a few seconds to understand what he was saying. If he talked to the principal, the principal might tell the Beast to go easy on Francesca. Because she told her, though, that didn't mean Frau Koch would do it. She might act meaner than ever, to get even with Francesca for trying to land her in trouble. Knowing the Beast, that was just what shewould do.
"Maybe you'd better let it alone, then," Alicia said reluctantly.
"I think you're being smart." Her teacher sounded relieved.
Alicia didn't feel smart. She felt shoddy. This was the same as not standing up to somebody on the playground even if you were right, because he'd beat the snot out of you if you tried. Sometimes you had to make choices like that. When you got to be a grownup, from what she'd seen, you had to make choices like that all the time. No matter what you ended up doing, you couldn't be sure it was the right thing. Sometimes therewas no right thing.
Herr Peukert said, "Why don't you go out and play now, Alicia? This business with your sister will sort itself out sooner or later."
"Sooner or later," Alicia echoed in mournful tones. Whenever a grownup said that, he meantsooner. Whenever a child heard it, she heardlater. As far as Alicia knew, there was no bridge across that chasm between the generations.
She went out. Emma Handrick and Trudi Krebs waved to her. She went over to them and started chatting. Everything was pretty much the way it would have been if the blackshirts hadn't taken her away. Pretty much…
Even while she was talking with her friends, though, part of her mind was chewing on something Herr Peukert had said about the Beast.Some people can't be reasonable about some things. It's too bad when those people get put in charge of others, but sometimes it happens.
He'd been talking about Frau Koch. He hadn't meant anything more. Alicia knew that. But she couldn't help thinking the words applied to the first Fuhrer at least as well as they did to the Beast.