Not long afterwards, Robert and I had an official church ceremony to, what Robert called, really ‘seal the deal.’ Reverend Hubbell, the retired supply minister from Douglas, was kind enough to do the honors. The judge’s wife banged out her rendition of Mendelssohn’s Wedding March on the organ, a special request by Robert as a surprise for me. The musicianship might not have been stellar, but I suspect Felix Mendelssohn would have been delighted to know his music was being played and appreciated in Copper Springs, Arizona.
Our courtship began on our wedding day. We started our life together with a renewed optimism, as the war in Europe slowly drew to conclusion.
The world of the Allies rejoiced, on April 30th, 1945, when Adolf Hitler committed suicide by shooting himself in the mouth after poisoning his mistress.
Hitler’s Thousand Year Reich had crumbled within a decade.
One week later, Germany surrendered unconditionally. Hitler’s henchmen scattered like rats to a sewer system. Some were found in the days and months and even years following the war, but Heinrich Mueller, head of the German Gestapo, has not been found. Nor has his cousin, Friedrich Mueller of Copper Springs, Arizona. Fortunate fools. But one day, I take comfort in the fact they will stand to be reckoned with before the Almighty Lord.
Hearing of Hitler’s death made us eagerly expect to learn of Dietrich’s release from prison. We were anxious to tell him our story and the role he played in bringing us together. He was never to learn of it. To our great sorrow, we heard that Dietrich’s trial had finally happened, after two years in horrible prisons with appalling, inhumane conditions, just three weeks before Hitler died.
In the kangaroo court of Nazi Germany, Dietrich and his brother-in-law Hans had been found guilty of treason and were hanged on April 9th, just one week before the Allies reached the camp where he had been held in Flossenberg. No one was notified of their death, not even Dietrich’s parents. They finally heard of their son’s death on a radio broadcast from the BBC.
When the news finally reached us, and we heard of the gruesome details of his execution, we both wept for our beloved friend. Heaven’s gain was earth’s loss.
* * * *
The townsfolk of Copper Springs survived. Perhaps because no one went unscathed, it was easier for the town to help each other get through Herr Mueller’s devastating deception. Even his own wife, Hilda Mueller, was left penniless and homeless. Amazingly, she knew nothing of her husband’s secret life.
In a remarkable show of charity, the town embraced her. She started working part-time as a receptionist at Ramon’s Barber Shop and part-time as a hostess at Rosita’s Cocina, a little Mexican restaurant the Gonzalves’ opened up not long after their baby boy was born.
Herr Mueller’s house, which had been heavily mortgaged so that he could free up the cash to take with him, was auctioned off for a penance to the bankrupt town and has become the new Copper Springs library and town offices.
And an interesting development happened in the local churches. They started filling up. Emptied bank accounts made for full churches.
Ruth’s death ended up being a blessing, easier to handle than her abandonment, for her death brought closure. William and Robert healed together, and this time, their wounds healed strong.
William’s language skills and speech have continued to develop so clearly he is now understood by many people in Copper Springs. He is starting to read and write and can lip read so well Robert and I can no longer have a conversation without his input.
Once a month, we take him to Violet Morgan, the retired teacher in Bisbee, for tutoring, and we always stop by the Prospector’s Diner to visit Wilma and check on her newest waitress, Glenda. In a fitting touch of irony, Glenda sold Mueller’s ring at our repeated insistence and used the proceeds to make a down payment on a little home for her and her red-haired nephew, Tommy.
All too soon, we are going to have to seriously consider letting William attend the Southwestern School for the Deaf. But I have another idea I’ve been mulling over, in which William might be allowed to go to the local public school. I’m still working on a strategy to persuade Robert.
There’s something else I need to tell him, first. William is going to have a new role soon, as a big brother. For a month or so now, I’ve been feeling suspiciously similar to how I felt after Ada’s visit. I’ve already chosen the baby’s names. If a girl, she’ll be Marta. If this baby is a boy, his name will be Dietrich.
Aunt Martha has let me start to teach her to play the piano though we’ve been on the same beginner’s piece for three months now. One thing I’ve learned about Aunt Martha, if I accept her where she is and give her time, she can surprise me.
A book I had once read described good and evil as equal and opposing forces: the yin and the yang. Natives in Southeast Asia wore fabric skirts made of a large black and white checked pattern, like a checkerboard, to symbolize the balance of good and evil.
I think they’re wrong. I have seen, with my own eyes, how good is greater than evil, God is greater than Satan, and God’s good ultimately triumphs. The scales of light weigh heavier than the scales of darkness. And as dark as the night can get, and it can get very dark, indeed, the sun will rise and expose the day.