In His Providence

Chapter 3

West Central Germany

North Rhine-Westphalia

1922

“Sweet dreams, my dear ones,” Helena cooed as she tucked Helga and her sisters into their beds. “Sleep now and I’ll come to get you in time for the fireworks.”

“Yes, Mutter,” they chimed, their faces beaming in anticipation as they slid under their covers.

“How long will it be?” Hedwick asked.

“Not long, my sweet. I’ll come for all of you just before the

festival’s fireworks begin.”

Helena slowly pulled the bedroom door shut and tiptoed down the hall. What a grand time my girls will have watching the fireworks with their friends, she thought. She would need to go see Frau Pfeil in a little while to help her carry the things she’d prepared. But for now, she had time to do some housework and put out the nice tablecloth.

Helga bolted upright in bed. Above her, all around her, a terrifying humongous spider with dreadfully elongated legs engulfed her from head to toe. In a stupor, she began to emerge from her dream, and then Helga ran for refuge behind the family’s horsehair sofa and scanned the room, where the gaslights cast dappled patterns across the damask wallpaper. Finally, she ran to the security of Mother’s room. Mother wasn’t there!

Gathering her courage, Helga searched the apartment. In heightened awareness, she listened intently for any sound, any sound at all, and then she thought, Were those noises coming from someone outside?

She approached the outside door, cracked it open, and spied into the dimly lit hallway. Helga was astonished to see the neighbors from across the hall. The neighbor woman’s face appeared frozen in horror and loathsome aversion as she angrily tugged and pulled her robust husband toward their apartment. Helga glared at the unsteady, repugnant man as he mouthed cantankerous objections. His eyes portrayed a glint of pride and conquest as his florid face shone with arrogance.

Time seemed to stand still as Helga watched the woman’s persistent efforts successfully result in both her and her disheveled husband disappearing behind their unit’s door and slamming it closed behind them. Helga stood in shock in the stillness and silence.

Perplexed, Helga entered the hallway but saw no one there. What had all that activity been about? As her eyes adjusted to the diminished light in the hall, she saw a body on the floor by the hallway sink. Edging closer, she was astounded to see that Mother lay crumpled on the floor, her clothing in disarray.

“Mother, Mother!” Helga shrieked, her screams escalating with each panicked exclamation.

Elfriede and Hedwick entered the corridor, adding to the shrill cacophony. Helga heard her own voice in the outcries, but her utterances seemed to be coming from somewhere outside herself. Elfreide and little Hedwick pushed close to Helga as she crouched over their mother.

One of the few neighbors at home that night ran to them imploring, “Girls, girls, how did this happen?” Frau Pfeil knelt by Mother and shook her arm in distraught panic, calling her name. “Helena, Helena!”

But Helena lay still. Her shirtsleeve had been ripped from her right arm, and there were angry scratches on her exposed skin. Swelling in her face evidenced severe injuries. She moaned but did not regain consciousness. Thunderous sounds of fireworks in the night accented the tragedy as the distressed next-door neighbor talked to the polizei: “Helena must have hit her head on the hallway sink.”

“Yes,” replied Helga, “and I saw our neighbor Franz as his wife wrestled him into their apartment across the hall!”

The police summoned the children’s tante Auguste and onkel Karl Schultz from Hohensalza, and the next afternoon, Auguste and the children went to the hospital to see Helena.

“Now, you children must wait quietly and obediently in the lobby while I visit your mother,” she commanded. “You will be respectful; I don’t want anyone to complain about you while Iam with your mother. I’ll be back soon with some news.”

As Auguste entered Helena’s room, she quietly approached her sister’s bedside. Seeing Helena awake, Auguste grasped her hand and spoke to her with deep emotion. “How are you, my dear?”

Helena responded in a labored, anxious whisper, “I’m happy and so grateful to see you. Are my girls all right?” “Yes, my dear. They’re in the waiting area. Tell me how you are! Your breathing seems labored. Do you have a headache? Does your chest hurt?”

Forcing speech, Helena replied, “Yes, yes, but I’m sure I’ll be good as new in just a little while, Guste. I hope I haven’t made things too difficult for you.”

“Don’t even think about it, Helena. We’re sisters. By the way, Reverend Reitz will be visiting you soon, and he asked me to tell you that everyone missed your solo, and they can’t wait to hear your beautiful voice again.”

 “I don’t care about my solo, Guste.” Helena’s palpable grief was for her children as she pleaded, “I want to see my children.”

“Helena, please don’t worry so; they will be fine. I’ll take more than good care of them until you are well. Please use your strength to recover.”

Helena nodded in agreement, thanking her sister again for her help. “Where are the children?”

“Helena, don’t you remember? They are in the waiting room, where the hospital requires they must stay.”

“But I long to see them.”

“You will. You will see them soon, my dear sister.”

“Is Karl with the children in the lobby?”

“No, he stayed home with a bad cold. We didn’t want to risk anyone catching what he has,” Guste replied. “He should be well enough to visit with you and the children when you get out of the hospital.”

“Oh, that will be wonderful. We don’t see each other enough, and I can’t wait to go home.”

Helena went on to explain that she had run down the hallway to escape Franz, but he had slammed her into the sink. “He must have been returning home from somewhere he shouldn’t have been in the first place. I was on my way to see our neighbor about the plans we had made for the children when he grabbed at me. I struggled with that schmerzhaft mensch, and I hit the sink with my middle and then with my head on the way down. That’s the last thing I remember!”

“Don’t talk, Helena. It’s all right. Just rest. You needn’t explain. You have told me in the past about that menacing man and his lack of sobriety. I’m so sorry you had to endure such a horrible struggle. The police are taking care of him—don’t you worry about that! Apparently, the elderly lady who lives directly across from you heard screaming and called the police before your next-door neighbor did. Frau Pfeil said she came out when she heard the children screaming.”

“You must mean that Ilse heard me first.”

 “Yes, that sounds like her name. Please rest and get your strength up because the police will probably come here soon to speak to you.”

“Oh, they’ve already been here. I told them how Franz came after me.”

“That’s good to hear, Helena. Now listen to me, please. Your children are waiting, so I will go and give them some good news about you.”

“Yes, Guste, please do that, and give them each a kiss for me.”