Slowly he stretched his other arm around her and likewise drew her toward him. They were silent, and neither moved their head.

Sabina followed their gaze for a few moments, then glanced up toward them. Silent tears streamed down the faces of both her father and mother.

She watched their mute expressions for several long minutes.

“But… what is it, Papa?” she asked at length. “What does it all mean?”

The baron did not answer immediately, but continued to stare across his fields and toward the distant sounds. The high-pitched drone of an airplane somewhere in the sky not far away came to their ears, then gradually receded toward the east. An explosion sounded, coming from the same direction, but they could see nothing.

A moment of silence followed, and it seemed the peaceful dawn of a late summer’s morning had returned.

At length the baron spoke.

“The dark midnight of our history approaches, Sabina,” he said solemnly.

His words filled her with a chilly feeling of dread. “I… I don’t understand you, Papa.”

“What you hear, my daughter,” said the baron, “is the sound of guns, tanks, planes, and bombs—war. My guess is that our Führer has sent his army to invade our own people, our own Prussia.”

“Invade, Papa?” said Sabina in astonishment.

“I believe Poland is being attacked,” said the baron. “Within days, I have no doubt, like Austria before her, Poland will no longer exist, but will be consumed and swallowed up by the German Fatherland.”

54 Heart-Wrenching Offer

54

Heart-Wrenching Offer

Heidi knocked at the Baron’s study to inform him that there were visitors downstairs.

“But I’m expecting no one,” he said, rising and following her.

He went to the waiting room, shocked to see Thaddeus and Matthew McCallum standing there.

The look of joy on the baron’s face as he greeted his friends was quickly dampened by a corresponding expression upon Thaddeus’s countenance that told him he was bearing evil tidings.

“It is not good, my friend,” he said. “I would have called or written, but as things now stand, I feared doing either could put you in danger.”

“Nonsense, Thaddeus, you are my friend!” said the baron.

“The world has changed, Heinrich. All is changed overnight. If you do not fear for yourself, I do fear for you.”

“You did not come to tell me that,” said the baron.

“No, I bring news that was inevitable under the circumstances… I have been summoned back to the United States.”

“No!” exclaimed the baron. “When?”

“I’m afraid immediately. We came,” Thaddeus said, glancing at his son, “to try to implore you to come with us, you and your family. It is still not too late. There are ways… I have connections that would make it possible.”

“But… but, Thaddeus… what are you saying? How could we leave?”

“Otherwise, Baron, I am afraid our visit is for a most unpleasant purpose… to say good-bye.”