The Master Butchers Singing Club-Chapter 12-SPOILERS
I am now having trouble putting this book down. Fascinating. I am totally enjoying this book. I keep getting stuck between writing about what I have read, or continuing reading!
Chapter 12 – Traumfeuer
In the kitchen at Fidelis’s house, there was a crock where they put all the last bits of fruit, then added sugar and brandy. This mixture was put over pound cake or ice cream, and was eaten only on weekends before bed. It was called Traumfeuer, which meant dreamfire. Delphine was never there when they had it, since it was eaten at night.
On the day before they were going to Chicago, Delphine decided to try it. She had packed clothes for Erich, Emil, and Markus for a trip to Germany----yes, Tante had convinced Fidelis to let her take them to Germany for a year or two. Franz would stay home since he was almost done with school. The boys had continued to run wild, and Fidelis was still having financial problems---he couldn’t even pay Delphine any longer.
They were going to drive to Chicago, put Tante and the boys on a train to New York, where they would board a ship. She got drunk on the mixture, and as she was washing her dish so she could go home to sleep, Markus came in. He often liked to talk to her while she was doing domestic things like washing dishes or cooking, and would tell her things in that way that he would never mention if they were looking at each other. He did not want to leave her----and he leaned on her ready to cry. She decided that somehow, she would keep him there.
They left early the next morning. While Tante and Fidelis got all the passports and paperwork, Delphine was to entertain the boys with museums and parks….but she had decided that she would find a circus instead. So they went to the sideshow and fed the elephants and had a good time.
There was a Delver of Minds that Delphine decided to go to see. She noticed how strong looking this woman’s fingers were, and was staring at them. The woman asked why she was watching her so closely, and Delphine told her that her finger looked strong enough to crack walnuts---and the seer told her that the man in question does just that. The seer told her that she was in town on a desperate errand---she said yes, sending off the kids of the man she works for. The seer said they were being sent to Germany and that she was in the meat business---she said that she also watched hands, and Delphine’s hands were cut and gouged. She told her that it was interesting that she had not tried to hide her hands---that she will not hide anything. The seer said she heard music and she told her that he sang. She asked her if she loved him and she said no. She said that there was an animal in her way, a large black bug like an ant. Delphine said yes, it was the boy’s aunt. The seer told her she hated her guts, and should. She said that the man was too bright to look at, and too dark to read….he is a widower….marry him. Delphine said she couldn’t. The seer said Delphine was tired of holding them all up….yes….then let go of the ones that you can do without.
When she left the Delver of Minds, she had a lot to sort out. But she had to get the boys back so they could get their passport photos. They headed back to the hotel and she determined that she had to speak to Fidelis alone, away from Tante, about the boys and Germany and all the reports that were coming out about what was happening there.
There was a long line for photos, and Delphine told Fidelis that they should go get some sandwiches for the boys. Tante tried to stop them, but they left her and the boys in line. She tried to convince him not to send the boys, that Tante would not return them. He said then he would go get them himself. She said that if there is a war, he will not be able to go. He said there would never be another war and that Germany was doing well, the family was prospering there. Delphine used the secret she had held onto---that Tante was the one who stole Eva’s morphine. She pleaded for him to at least keep Markus here. He said he couldn’t take care of him, and couldn’t pay her to….and she said it didn’t matter. They stared at each other. Then he said “Cyprian”. She told him that they were never married. But Fidelis knew he couldn’t get between the two of them, he owed too much to Cyprian. He went to ask if Cyprian was coming back, and Tante ran up to them. She was furious at being left alone. They went into a sandwich shop to eat.
Tante and Delphine had to share a room at the hotel. In the night, Delphine woke up thinking of the Delver of Minds. She had said something about men being strange and flawed, and a struggle to love them or not to love them was all the same. She wondered what more Fidelis had wanted to say when Tante showed up….was it a warning to stay out of it, or saying that his grief was still too raw, or to tell her not to get closer.
Markus solved the problem of sending him to Germany by being very sick in the night. He had a high fever and was so sick that Fidelis went out looking for a drug store. There was no way he could travel….and no one argued. She they got the twins and Tante on the train and headed back home with Markus laying in the back of the car. Fidelis and Delphine chatted, but as the day ended, they fell silent. Finally, she blurted out that Cyprian was like a brother, they were not married, and did not do anything together because he didn’t want to. Fidelis said it didn’t matter, he had saved Markus. There was silence for a long time, then she said that he was probably never coming back, and if he did, it would not be to live with her. Fidelis was conflicted, he didn’t know what she was thinking. It had been easier with Eva after the war---there was no question about what to do. He didn’t know what to say. He finally decided to tell her with a story, about the war.
Johannes saved his life, twice. In the final days of the war, Johannes was mortally wounded. Fidelis stayed with him for two days. At the end, he was asked to sing to him. Johannes died in his arms in a corner of a blown out house. He covered his face and left him without having the courage to stay long enough to bury him. He walked all the way home. He went to tell Eva that her finance was dead, found her pregnant, and married her. She asked if it was to give Franz a father, and he said yes. She said that if they married, it would be the same thing all over again. She didn’t know how she felt, whether it was just the boys, or if it was the father too.
Then Markus woke up, and asked Fidelis to sing to him. This was something he often did when they were sick, and she had never seen this side of him. He kept singing until both Delphine and Markus slept.
= new reply since forum marked as read
