Of Windmills and War (4 page)

3

October
1938

Dear
Hans,

I still
can’t believe it. Our Cubs made it all the way to the World Series, then they
lost the first four games! FOUR GAMES! The first two games were played here at
Wrigley. We couldn’t get tickets. Probably just as well. Dad would’ve killed me
if he found out I skipped school to go, but I sure wanted to. But everybody’s
real upset. We were so sure this was our year! People keep blaming Dizzy Dean
for letting us down, but I think they should get off his back. If it wasn’t for
him, the Cubs never would’ve made it to the World Series. I don’t know, I’m
just real sore we lost.

In your
last letter, you said your mother was not well. Is she better now? I told Mom
about her and she promised to pray for her.

Joey said
he’s getting used to being in the military. He seems to like being stationed in
Norfolk
, but
hopes to get assigned to a ship soon. I wish I could go see him. He said I’d
love living near the ocean.

Well, I
need to do some homework. I have a test in English Literature tomorrow. I just
realized you all probably don’t have any kind of English classes. Do you study
Dutch writers?

Bye for now,

Danny

The
months flew by as fall gave way to winter. But for Danny, Christmas 1938 just wouldn’t
be the same. He couldn’t get used to holidays without his big brother around.
On Christmas Eve, they drove out to his grandparents’ farm in
Sandwich
, a
rural community west of town. He loved visiting the big farmhouse and helping
his grandfather feed the livestock. He wished he could spend the holidays
there, but Dad never took much time off work and wouldn’t hear of leaving his
wife and son in the company of her family for that long. Dad didn’t much care
for Mom’s kin, and the feeling was mutual. Still, Danny was glad they could
spend most of the day on the farm. A light snow fell all day which made it just
about perfect.

The
following week, Danny worked as many hours as he could at the grocery store. One
night, as he was helping Mr. Chaney close up, he put on his jacket to take out the
trash. As he rolled the big trash barrel out to the alley, he heard the
faintest whimper. Following the sound, he discovered a puppy hiding behind the big
garbage bin.

Danny squatted
down to get a better look at the pup. “Hey, little fella. What’re you doing
back there?” The pup pulled back when Danny reached out his hand toward him.
“Don’t be afraid. I won’t hurt you.” He could tell it was some kind of beagle
mix, though dirt and mud covered much of its coat. He could see the dog’s ribs
under all that mess.

“Danny?
Where are you? Let’s call it a night.”

“Over
here, Mr. Chaney.” He waved the older man over. “There’s a little puppy back
here. Looks like he could use something to eat. Okay if I give him some scraps
out of the trash here?”

His
boss came closer to take a look. “Well, hello there, little fella. Look at him—he’s
shaking like a leaf. Think we should take him inside to warm up?”

“Not a
bad idea. Awful cold out here.”

As
Danny slowly leaned closer to the pooch, it backed up against the brick wall
and let out the most pitiful cry. “At least he’s not growling or baring his
teeth at me,” Danny said as he moved in closer. He carefully held out his hand
for the dog to sniff. “There you go, little fella. I just want to help.” The
puppy sniffed and sniffed, then slowly started licking Danny’s hand.

“He
probably smells those vegetables you were sorting earlier. See if he’ll let you
pick him up.”

And in
one gentle, swift move, Danny scooped the pup into his arms and held him tight.
Mr. Chaney opened the door and followed Danny and his new friend inside.

“Let’s give
him some dog food just to be safe. I’ll be right back,” the grocer said.

A couple
minutes later they watched as the dirty hound gobbled down the contents of a
large can of Alpo.

“Whoa!
I can’t believe how fast he ate that. Think we should give him more?” Danny
asked.

“Actually
the question is, should we give
her
more.”

Danny took
a peek, and sure enough the he was a she. He laughed, giving the dog a rub
behind her ears. She immediately crawled up in his lap and started nuzzling
around inside his jacket.

“I’d
say she’s probably had enough to eat. Don’t want to give her too much too fast.
Might make her sick if she hasn’t eaten in a few days.”

Danny pulled
her head out of his jacket and took a long look at her. “Well, little lady,
what are we going to do with you?”

Mr.
Chaney stood up. “Can’t leave her here. That’s for sure. I reckon you’re going
to have to take her home for the night.”

Danny wondered
what his dad would say, but realized he had no choice. For years, he and Joey
had begged their dad for a dog until they finally just gave up. But surely Dad
would understand. Poor little dog couldn’t be left out in the cold on a
winter’s night in
Chicago
.

Thankfully,
Dad was gone by the time he got home and his mother was already in bed. Danny
snuck the dog up the stairs and into his room. “Now, whatever you do, keep
quiet.” He grabbed some blankets out of the hall closet and made a bed for her
beside his own bed. She seemed content to curl up in its warmth, her big brown
eyes following Danny’s every move. After brushing his teeth, he quietly made
his way back to bed where, for the next half hour, she whined as she tried over
and over to climb up onto the bed with him.

“All
right, all right. But just for tonight. And keep it down, will ya?”

He put
the blankets at the foot of his bed and lifted her onto them. She walked in
circles, sniffing here, scratching there. She made one final circle and curled herself
against Danny’s leg. He reached down and scratched her head. “No matter what
Dad says, first thing we do tomorrow is give you a bath,” he whispered. “You stink!”

She let
out a long sigh and quickly fell asleep. As his eyes grew heavy, Danny couldn’t
help thinking this might not be such a bad Christmas after all.

By New Year’s Day, the scrawny little pup had already begun
to put on some much-needed weight. She’d also won the hearts of his mom—
and
his father. Danny couldn’t have been more shocked when his dad finally agreed
to let him keep her.

“It’s a big responsibility. First time I find her making a
mess on the floor or tearing up the furniture, she’s gone. Understood?”

“Yes, sir. I’ll take good care of her. I promise.”

“See that you do.”

Then, the strangest thing happened. Dad knelt down on one
knee and gave her a good long rub on the back of her neck. Danny watched, surprised
at the tender display of affection.

“She’s a fine girl. Reminds me of a dog I had when I was a
kid.” His dad sniffed then stood up as if he’d had enough.

“You had a dog once?”

“A beagle. Looked a lot like her. Named him Barney. That dog
went everywhere with me.”

For the first time, Danny looked at his father with
different eyes. He tried to imagine a younger version of Frank McClain and the
dog named Barney. The image didn’t come easily in his mind, but he liked the
idea of it.

“What happened to him?”

“Idiot
neighbor accidentally ran over him. Took me a long time to get over it.” He
leaned back down and patted the pup’s head. “See that you keep her out of the
street. We’ll get the backyard fence all fixed up so she can’t wander off.”

“Thanks,
Dad. I’ll take real good care of her. You’ll see.”

His
father stood and headed for the stairs. “What are you going to call her?”

“Sophie.
I think I’ll call her Sophie.”

January 2, 1939

“Danny?” his mother called up the stairs. “Mail’s here. You
have a letter from Hans and we have a postcard from Joey!”

Danny flew down the stairs with Sophie at his heels. “Holy
cow, I lost all track of time. Mail man came early today, huh?”

“Maybe he knew how anxious we were to hear from Joey.” She
handed him the letter from
Holland
with the familiar
lettering as he followed her down the hall to the kitchen.

“Whoa—this letter was stamped more than a month ago. I
wondered why I hadn’t heard from him in a while. That’s slow, even for The
Netherlands.”

“Perhaps the holidays slowed down their mail service. I hope
all is well with Hans and his family,” Mom said. “But first, let’s take a
look.” She flipped the postcard over to look at the picture. “Goodness me—this
is Times Square in
New York City
! Although this picture
looks like it was taken in the spring or summer. I’d expect folks to be wrapped
up in coats and hats in the dead of winter, not linen suits and cotton dresses.”

Danny took a closer look at the picture. “Imagine that.
New
York City
! Think he’s rubbing in it?”

“Your brother? Of course he’s rubbing in it. Now, let’s see
what he has to say.”

Happy New Year from
New York
!

Me and the guys got a last minute leave so we caught a bus
up here for a couple of days. But I sure missed spending Christmas with you.
Thanks for the nifty sweater and the socks and cookies. I had to hide the
cookies so the guys wouldn’t eat them all! Right before I left the base, I got
my orders. I’ve been assigned to the USS
Oklahoma
in the
Pacific Fleet! They’ll fly me out to
San Francisco
to
board her
1 March 1939
. I’ll
try to call you before I leave
Norfolk
.

Miss you!

 Love, Joey

“Wow! He’s going to the Pacific,” Danny said. “He’s gotta be
excited about that.”

“But that’s so far away.”

“And he gets to fly all the way to
San
Francisco
! Man, I wish I could fly in an airplane. That’s gotta be
swell, way up there above the clouds. I wonder how long a flight all the way across
the country will take?”

She shook her head. “I wish they weren’t sending him so far
away. Now we’ll never get a chance to visit him. I’d hoped we could make a trip
to see him sometime this year.”

“Really? You think Dad would be okay with that?”

Her countenance fell. “Oh, sweetheart, I doubt it. You know
how he is.”

“But Mom, Joey sounds really happy, don’t you think?”

She tilted her head to one side. “Yes, yes he does. I just
hope and pray he won’t go near all that trouble overseas.”

“Oh, don’t worry. That doesn’t involve the
U.S.
He’ll
probably be having the time of his life. You’ll see.”