It's Just Lola (35 page)

Smythe’s expression showed a glimmer of understanding.  “I understand your concerns, Mrs.
Atkins
; you don’t feel safe in Chile.  If there is any way we can help you, it would be our duty and our pleasure to do so.”

Before Lola left the Embassy, Secretary Smythe had promised to accompany her and her family to a hotel in Valparaiso where they would wait
until he booked passage on
a suitable vessel.
Lola reached into her bag and handed over the journal.  Smythe locked the journal in his desk and pocketed the key.

“Thank you, we
’
ll be ready
by noon tomorrow
.” 

~ ~ ~

Lola surveyed the small cabin she would share with Carlota.  Inez
, Estela,
and
Joseph
were in the larger cabin. 
T
he
small freighter had
only one
passenger
cabin
, but
Secretary
Smythe
had persuaded one of the officers to bunk with the crew so she could have his small cabin.  Lola suspected that the persuasion involved money, but she wasn
’
t complaining.  She wrinkled her nose. 
There was a smell in the cabin she couldn’t quite place.
Oh, well, she was lucky to have a cabin at all. 

Arrangements
were
made for the passengers to take their meal
s
in the officers’ mess
at times that would not conflict with
the officers.  The room smelled of cigars and wine, but the food was simple and quite edible.  Estela and Joseph were wide-eyed as they sat in the large heavy chairs, surrounded by mementos of previous voyages.

When Lola returned to her cabin, she found a young officer waiting at the door.  He removed his hat, revealing a shock of reddish blond hair.  He began to speak in English.  She apologized that her English was very poor and he immediately switched to Spanish
with a sprinkling of
English. 

“
It’s inexcusable to bother you like this, but
there
’
s something in my cabin that I
’
ll need this evening. 
I am so sorry, but
d
o you mind?”

“No, I
’
m grateful that you
’
re letting me use your cabin.”  Lola opened the door and the officer entered after her
.
 
T
here was barely enough room for him to walk past her toward the bunk.  She felt his presence as a tangible essence of male—and she recognized the smell in the cabin.  She had smelled it before—sitting next to Juan on the seat of the wagon, walking back into the house with her father after riding the
fields
, taking two small girls off Mehmet’s shoulders after a romp thr
ough the apartment.  It wasn’t
the offensive smell of unwashed body; it was just the smell of man.

S
he watched the young officer bend over her bed.  There was something too familiar about having his hands on her clean linens.  Then, like a street magician pulling a coin out of someone’s ear, he pulled a pair of trousers from the bed.  Lola laughed and the young man
grinned
.

“I was ironing my pants under the mattress and forgot them,” he explained, which made Lola laugh even harder. 

“
Forgive me for
laugh
ing
, but I
n
ever heard of ironing with a bed before, Mr…uh…Sir.”

“
Wulf
.  Everyone calls me
Wulf
, unless they call me something worse,” he said with an infectious grin.”  His clear blue eyes met Lola’s and his face lost the silly grin.  “You can call me Herman, if you like,” his voice was soft and something about it made Lola’s heart beat faster.

“I think you’d better leave now,” she said quietly.  “I’m not feeling well.”

“Shall I call your friend?” he asked with concern.

“No, thank you.  I merely need to rest.”  He made a slight bow and moved to the door.  The room was so small that he brushed against Lola as he left. 
When
the door closed behind him,
i
t felt as though the air of the small cabin had left with him.
  She felt a bit dizzy.

The next day Lola was pleasantly surprised to find that she wasn
’
t a bit nauseous.  She joined Inez and the children at the rail, enjoying the sunshine and admiring the view of the shore. 

“Hello.” 

Lola turned toward the voice.  “
H
ello, Mr.
Wulf
.”

“The captain asked me to inform you that we
’ll anchor off
shore for the night. 
The town’s harbor is barely deep enough for its fishing boats
, but i
f you like, I can arrange for a boat to take you to town.” 
Lola looked at Inez. 

“What do you suggest, Mr.
Wulf
?” asked Inez.  “Are you familiar with the town?”

Herman
Wulf
gave an easy laugh.  “
M
y recollection is that this town smells strongly of fish and has nothing to recommend it.  Even the bar is uninteresting.”  Seeing the expressions on the ladies’ faces he hastened to add, “Not that either of you would ever…I mean, begging your pardon…I didn’t mean to imply…”

“What’s a bar?” asked Estela.

“A place where sailors go to get away from the sea,” answered Herman.

“Can
we
go there to get away from the sea?”

“Are you a sailor?”

“No, that’s silly.  You can see I’m a girl.”

“I want to be a sailor,” said Joseph.  “Can I go?”

“When you grow up I’ll take you myself.  Okay?”

“Okay.”

Lola and Inez declined the invitation.  Herman promised the
y
’
d
stop at
more interesting towns farther along the route
since
the captain
travelled
very slowly, just in case they crossed paths with a warship.  Lola shuddered.

“Don’t worry, Señora, the captain
’
s very protective of his vessel,” laughed Herman.  “
T
heir father wouldn
’t ha
ve allowed you to sail with us if he didn
’
t feel confident you
’
d be safe.”  He smiled at the children.

“We don’t have a father,” said Estela.

“I
’
m recently widowed,”
said
Lola.

“I’m sorry for your loss.” 

Several nights later, Lola responded to a knock on her door.

“Mr.
Wulf
, don’t tell me you’ve forgotten more of your ironing.”

“No, but I could bring something to iron if you like
.
”
Herman
laughed
and
stepped into the small cabin
,
clos
ing
the door behind him.  His eyes lost the laughter first, and then the rest of his face became serious.  He took a step into the room and Lola instinctively took a step backward.  She felt the bulkhead behind her.  Her heart beat faster as Herman took another step forward. 

“Mama,” said Carlota from her seat on the bed. 

“Hi, Sweetie,” said Herman
.  “Can I get a smile today?”

“So you came to visit Carlota?”

“No, I came to put this over the porthole.”  He held up a square of heavy black cloth with strings dangling around the edges.  As he spoke he fastened the strings to hooks
around the porthole
that Lola had not noticed before.  His deft fingers made it obvious he had done this often in the past.  “We
’
re running dark tonight.”

“What does that mean?”  Lola’s mouth felt dry.  She had a very good idea what it meant. 

“There was a ship too far away to identify, but the captain likes to err on the side of safety.  We don’t even know if it was headed t
oward us or away from us
, but we
’
re running dark anyway.”

That night Lola spen
t
more time listening to the sounds of the ship around her than sleeping.  There were no voices, and even the throb of the engine seemed muted.  When she did
sleep,
her dreams were disturbing.  Sometimes she dreamed the ship slipped quietly into the water without waking anyone; sometimes she dreamed of rushing out on deck waving her letter of safe passage; once she dreamed Mehmet was swimming beside the ship.  Each dream ended the same way—with her eyes flying open and
her heart
pounding.  Only the peaceful even breathing of Carlota beside her convinced her that it was all a dream.  At last she
heard normal
voices
. 
Murmuring a brief prayer of
thanks,
she
unfastened a section of the black cloth to bright sunshine. 

Later that morning she caught sight of
Wulf
talking to the captain and another officer.  Lola was taken aback to see him looking haggard.  She felt a chill as she realized she was not the only one who had experienced a sleepless night.  The
ir
serious faces
underscored
the immediacy of the war.  Herman met her eyes over the captain’s shoulder and she could have sworn he winked at her.  Wavering between shock and amusement, she looked away and busied herself with the children. 

The next night they again covered all portholes, sheltering behind a small offshore island rather than risk missing the narrow channel in the dark.  Herman told her there were no more ship sightings, but
their wireless operator had picked up
a
random transmission. 
I
t was merely a precaution.  That night she start
ed
at every sound, but there were no more dreams.  She didn
’
t see
Wulf
again until the following afternoon when he joined them as they were taking the air on deck.

“Tomorrow we
’
ll be putting in to a rather nice town.  I
’d like
to invite you
all
to dinner at the local hotel.  The cook wants shore leave, and we all like to keep the cook happy.”

“
Thank you, Mr.
Wulf
.  Under the circumstances
, we
’
ll be pleased to accept your invitation.”

On the way to the hotel restaurant, Herman stopped at a general store and bought each of the children two pieces of candy—one for now and one for later.  Herman
Wulf
had acquired two devoted followers who watched his every move with worshipful eyes.  When the walk proved too long for Joseph, Herman picked him up and put him on his shoulders, heedless of the sticky fingers in his hair. 

“You
’
ve bribed your way into the hearts of my children,”
said
Lola.

“How is it that you
’
re so good with children?” asked Inez.

“An advantage of growing up in a large family,” he
said
.

“And are you this indulgent with your own children?”

“I
’m sure I
will be.  The only thing more wonderful than the laughter of a child is the love of a good woman.”

Later that evening as Herman walked Lola and Carlota to their cabin, he thanked her for allowing him to accompany them.  “You have beautiful children, Señora, exceeded only by the beauty of their mother.”  Before Lola could reply, he disappeared down the passageway. 

The next day Herman appeared on deck as the family was admiring the scenery, Lola spoke to him quietly.  “Mr.
Wulf
, I am very recently widowed.  It isn
’
t proper that I should be seen in your company so frequently.”

Herman
’s
wounded expression brought Lola close to laughter.  “Madam, I
’
d never do anything to reflect poorly upon your conduct, although I must admit that I enjoy the time I spend in your company.  The captain has assigned me the duty of making sure you have a pleasant journey.  It
’
s my duty to take care of you all.”

“Please give the captain my thanks and assure him that he needn’t disrupt his duty schedule on our account.”