Her Mother's Hope Read Online Free

as well, smoking the bees into a stupor so she could rob the hives. Marta cranked the handle to spin the honey from the combs. After days and days of hard work, Frau Fuchs paid her in honey, only two small jars. When Papa saw them, he went into a rage and threw one against the wall.
    At least, Mama and Elise appreciated the fresh breakfast loaves Marta brought home from the bakery, and sometimes she brought cookies. At Christmas, the Beckers gave her Marzipan and Schokoladenkuchen . Dr. Zimmer came to see Mama every few weeks, although Papa preferred francs in his pocket to the poultices and elixirs the doctor gave Mama. All through spring and summer, Frau Zimmer paid in fresh vegetables and flowers from her garden. Mama didn’t have to purchase anything from the market.
    Only the Gilgans paid in francs, but Marta never saw any of them.
    “Herr Gilgan says you’re smart enough to run your own hotel someday.” Papa gave a derisive laugh as he dipped bread into hot cheese. “Since you’re so smart, you can make sure Hermann passes the examinations next time.”
    “And how can I do that, Papa?” Marta bristled. “Hermann has to want to learn.”
    His face flushed in anger. “Listen to her, Hermann. She thinks you’re stupid. She thinks you can’t learn. She still thinks she’s better than you.”
    “I never said I was better!” Marta shoved her chair back. “I was just more interested!”
    Papa stood and loomed over her. “Make Hermann interested and maybe I’ll send you to school. If he fails again, you’ll answer to me!” He leaned across the table and shoved her back into her chair. “Do you understand me?”
    Angry tears filled her eyes. “I understand you, Papa.” She understood him all too well.
    He grabbed his coat and went out the door. Elise didn’t raise her head, and Mama didn’t ask where he was going.
    “I’m sorry, Marta.” Hermann spoke glumly from across the table.
    * * *
    Marta worked with Hermann every evening to no avail. “It’s all so boring!” Hermann groaned. “And it’s nice outside.”
    Marta slapped him across the back of his head. “That’s nothing to what I’ll get if you don’t concentrate.”
    He pushed his chair back. “As soon as I’m old enough, I’m quitting and going into the Army.”
    She went to Mama. “Please speak to him, Mama. He won’t listen to me.” Maybe if Mama pleaded with Hermann, he might try harder. “What hope have I of going back to school when that dolt refuses to use the brain God gave him?”
    Dr. Zimmer’s poultices and elixirs had done little to help Mama’s cough. She looked drawn and pale; her clothes hung loosely on her thin frame. The bones of her wrists looked as fragile as birds’ wings.
    “There’s not a thing I can do, Marta. You can’t change a dog into a cat.”
    Marta flung herself into a chair and put her head in her hands. “Because he’s hopeless, I have no hope.”
    Mama left her needle tucked into an embroidery stitch as she reached over to cover Marta’s hand. “You’re learning new things every day, from the Beckers and Gilgans. You must wait and see what God will do.”
    Sighing, Marta threaded a needle to help Mama. “Every franc I earn will be used to pay Hermann’s school expenses. And he doesn’t care, Mama. Not a bit.” Her voice broke. “It’s not fair!”
    “God has plans for you, too, Marta.”
    “It’s Papa who makes the plans.” She stabbed her needle into the wool.
    “God says to trust and obey.”
    “So I must submit to one who despises me and crushes every hope I have?”
    “God does not despise you.”
    “I meant Papa.”
    Mama didn’t disagree. Marta stopped and watched her mother’s slender fingers dip the needle in and out of the black wool. A delicate white edelweiss began to take form. Tying off and snipping the white thread, Mama took up another with yellow and made tiny French knots at the center of the flower. When she finished, she smiled at Marta. “You can