Yesterday Was Long Ago: Part Two Page 31

  “It was not! We got it two weeks ago from a small circus who went bankrupt. All together, we got four horses and we, too, got a good deal. Besides that, I was scared of that SS guy and wanted to get rid of both of you, not knowing if you are undercover too.”

  Paul laughed. “No, I am Paul Reinhardt and own many Arabians, thoroughbreds, and Clydesdales. This horse will be pampered and spoiled by my daughter.”

  “That’s another reason I sold it so cheap. My daughter sleeps in the horse stable so no one would mistreat them. Gypsies are cheap, but can be cruel at times.”

  “How well I know,” Paul finalized, hoping the man kept the money. After all, he was a well-deserving one, short-changed all his life.

  Paul was coming in when the clown entertained. Gaby took his hand, squeezing it. “You are too good to us. Rupert told me, but Isabella has no idea. She thinks you went for a veterinarian,” she whispered.

  “I only hope it also takes care of her trip to America. I don’t have a very good feeling about it. That woman may be a member of America’s aristocracy, or anything else for that matter, but she is neither a wife nor a mother.”

  “I always felt that way. I never got close to her, but I love Daniella.”

  “You think they would let her spend the summer with us?” Paul asked.

  “We can try.”

  The funny clowns with their loud trumpets and even louder drums had now disappeared, with tigers making their entrance. All visitors were captivated by their performance. Isabella, however, still thought of the most beautiful horse in the ‘whole wide world’, driving Daniella insane with her comments.

  “My God Isabella, we have the same ones in America. You will see.”

  “Not like this one,” she countered.

  When the show was over, Paul and Rupert whispered between themselves, and all wished each other a good night. Isabella, however, insisted that her family, especially her mother, take a look at the horse.

  “Isabella, Rupert and I made sure a vet would be called, so I stayed here until one arrived. Why do you think I missed more than half of the show?”

  “Oh.” She got excited. “What did he say? Can he help her?”

  “In a few weeks, she will be as good as new. He took her to his own horse clinic and I offered to pay the bill.”

  “Thank-you, Papa.” She reached and patted his shoulder from the backseat of their car.

  Paul drove from a different entrance to the castle, so there would be no way Isabella could spot the light, knowing Dr. Steuber would still be working on the horse. Isabella was still talking about it. “Mama, did you know the color is named after me?”

  “No darling, you have to explain yourself better.”

  “Papa, please tell us again.”

  “Gladly.”

  Daniella gave a deep sigh. “I didn’t know you were that horse crazy.”

  “Well, I love Papa’s horses, but there are so many of them.”

  “You told me you loved Lippizaners the most.”

  “Of course, look how they jump the capriole.”

  “Isabella, it can be taught to most horses of Spanish descent.”

  “It can?”

  “Oh, no,” Daniella lamented.

  ∼

  Paul got up very early to take a good look at the patient. Dr. Steuber left a note, explaining in detail what had to be done. He reset the left leg, now in a heavy cast, lanced the right one, now in a lighter plaster bandage, and as it also had worms, he would see the horse the following afternoon.

  The stable’s headmaster greeted him, telling Paul about the instruction, also that the Palomino was heavily sedated while all the procedures were done. Like everything else, the Reinhardts kept him busy. They hated a change with people that worked well together. Dr. Steuber, like the stable master, had served them for more than twenty years.

  He planned a leisurely breakfast and walk with Gaby and Isabella to the stables. Both wanted to witness her reaction. The O’Haras left a message that, around 9:00 a.m., Daniella would be picked up to do more sightseeing. Since Isabella had already seen the places they had chosen, she declined to go along. Isabella wanted her Papa to take her to the animal clinic.

  “And why not?” he smiled at his wife. “I’ve taken the day off anyway, but first let’s look at our stable, as one horse may need some attention from the veterinarian, too.”

  They strolled arm in arm in their Austrian dirndls, starting purposely at the back of the stables, knowing Isabella’s horse was in the front sickroom. The stable boys greeted them, already fully informed by their boss about the surprise.

  ”Mr. Weber,” Paul addressed him as they walked along, “would you know of any breeders who sell Palominos?”

  “You mean a mate for ours?”

  Isabella laughed. “Ha! I hate to contradict you, Mr. Weber, but Papa doesn’t have one.”

  “You must be kidding, Miss Isabella. He just never told you.”

  “He didn’t have to. I would have seen it. After all, my friend and I have been riding every day for the last two weeks.”

  “Where do you take the horses from?” he asked, walking and playing along.

  “My friend takes Nelly and I ride Gitta.”

  “Well that explains it. One takes number eleven, and the other, number eight.”

  “And no one ever looked at number two?” Paul, Gaby, and Mr. Weber laughed, almost upon it, when she saw the golden horse face with a white front mane and a small white stripe blending in with a pink one between the nostrils. She stared for a moment, in shock, looking from one to the other, and put her hands in front of her white face and started to cry, leaning from her Papa’s chest to her mother’s.

  Gaby, like her own daughter, had tears running down her face too, while a glowing Paul and his stable master were astonished, never having witnessed an emotional outburst quite like this. It only happened when a horse died.

  “Come in her stall and I’ll tell you more about it,” Paul said, after stroking both of his girls’ hair. “It will take several weeks for the legs to heal. Then you have to walk her several times slowly until she starts running on her own. She was a former circus horse; she may have been trained or not. I don’t know any more about it, Isabella. And this is my present to you for being such a fine daughter, making your parents very happy.” Gaby cried even more. “Here, dear wife,” he said giving her his handkerchief. “Why do you go without one, knowing this would happen when Isabella saw the most beautiful horse in the whole wide world?”

  “Oh, Paul. Never ask me why I love you so much.”

  “We!” Isabella interrupted, patting her horse’s neck. The stable master had the happiest grin ever.

  “Mr. Weber, try to get me something sour. I’ve had too many sweets for one morning.”

  “Let me tell you something, Mr. Reinhardt. If anyone deserves even more of it, it’s you.”

  “Thank you, Mr. Weber,” Gaby said happily.

  “I will see to it personally that we never run out of it.”

  “What a fine day,” he thought to himself, returning to the stable boys who had just arrived, one by one, to see the ‘Miracle Horse’.

  “If you don’t mind, I’ll sit here until lunch, picking a name for her. It has to be fitting and unique. Also, I will tell the O’Haras I am staying in Vienna. The horse needs me. Daniella has lots of friends in America.”

  “As you wish.” Both were elated.

  “Well, I cannot ask her to watch me take care of my horse.”

  “That wouldn’t be fair, Isabella.”

  “Aside from that, Uncle Peter said New York and those other places they named are extremely hot during the summer. He never experienced anything like it.”

  “He told us that too,” Paul replied soothingly. “You will have to tell the family very soon.”

  “Today, Papa. They will understand. I can always visit once I am out of school. Then my horse and I will already have a strong bond.”

  “I agree,�
�� replied Gaby. “We all may go there someday. Papa might like to see their industry.” They all smiled at each other and left.

  ∼

  When the O’Haras came home exhausted from touring the city, disgusted to see so many SS, brownshirts, and military walking in the same places and Jews still being rounded up, they decided to pass over Salzburg and leave for Switzerland until their departure to Le Havres pier. Letters arrived from their friends and family, advising them that America had become anti-German again, and certain friends were not looking forward to meeting Isabella, who was, after all, a German now.

  “Damn it,” Chris O’Hara cursed. “What do your stupid friends know? The Reinhardts put everyone else we know in the shadows.”

  “What can I do?” Anne agreed.

  “We’ll just have to take her to some other places. The girl speaks good English.”

  “What will I do?” Daniella cried. I’d rather be with the Reinhardts than back with you, listening to your quarrels.”

  “We cannot have that. I am already told by some of my friends and family that I am a poor mother, keeping you for five years in Switzerland.”

  “Those damn friends of yours are all you are ever worried about! Never about us!”

  “Chris, shut up. You have had too much to drink.”

  “No, I haven’t, but I consider my wife the biggest ‘nothing’ there ever was. You’ll pay for it once we are back in New York!”

  “You both be quiet!” screamed Daniella. “When I go back, I’ll live with my grandma.”

  “Which one?” asked both in unison.

  “Grandma Rosemarie O’Hara.”

  “There!” Chris stated grandly. “There you have it. Smart girl.”

  “Smart, my foot! Your relatives came from Ireland because of the great Potato Famine. Mine arrived on the ‘Arabella’!”

  “You never did want to find out why they came. Like the saying goes, ‘Dukes don’t immigrate.”

  They would have argued more if a phone call hadn’t stopped them. It was Isabella asking to speak to Daniella. She was surprised at Anne O’Hara’s huffy voice and mannerism.

  “Hi, Isabella. I would have called you anyway as soon as my parents stopped their quarreling.” Chris and Anne looked at each other in disgust. “Oh, your Papa got that injured Palomino for you? That’s great!”

  Isabella went into the details of her surprise then told her very honestly why she couldn’t possibly leave, as the horse and as she needed to form a bond first. “My parents and I may visit America in the fall of next year, as Uncle Peter said August is very hot.”

  Daniella didn’t know if she should be glad or sad, having just witnessed their disagreement over a German. “I understand, Isabella. I am so glad you have such nice parents,” she said quite sarcastically. “Maybe by next year everything will calm down. And spring or fall will be a better time. We’ll see you tomorrow.” She was now in tears.

  Anne O’Hara took the phone, saying she heard all about the horse, and could she please speak to Gaby or Paul. Gaby took the phone and accepted an invitation for dinner at Bristol. “Bring your husband’s brother and his wife and your mother-in-law. We are leaving the following day.”

  “To where?”

  “Switzerland.”

  “Oh… because the Reinhardts have two beautiful places in Salzburg you could have stayed at.”

  “No, but thanks anyway.”

  ∼

  They all came dressed fittingly for the occasion in one of Vienna’s finest hotels. As always, Anne O’Hara wore too much jewelry. She was a dark-haired, beautiful woman with blue eyes and great sex appeal. Daniella looked very much like her mother, unlike Isabella who could pass for Paul’s daughter easily.

  The conversation was strained as both O’Haras explained why they had eliminated Salzburg and were leaving for Switzerland. “It will not be a good end,” Chris O’Hara predicted, advising them to leave.

  “The Reinhardts have their roots in Austria back to 1509. We love our place and country. Of course, we realize all the wrongs as well,” Victoria replied.

  “Mr. O’Hara,” Peter finally joined in. “I was at Atlanta’s famous Emory University and visited also Danielsville in Georgia to see where Dr. Crawford Long lived, among many other places where the Civil War took so many lives.”

  “We wouldn’t dream of visiting the South. We are strictly from and for the North,” admonished Anne.

  “Nevertheless, I was astonished, as were many of the northern students, I may add, about the separation of blacks and whites. Don’t you agree?” He directed the question to Chris.

  “No, and there is nothing I can do about it.”

  “Same here. We disagree with everything the man in Berlin stands for, but being lucky enough to have been rescued from the Gestapo’s headquarters once, I am not about to risk going back again.” They were astonished at Peter’s remarks and experience.

  “I agree, Dr. Reinhardt. That’s why I am saying to leave. I personally will do all I can.” They knew he meant it and thanked him.

  After a few artificial niceties, the evening was over. Both girls cried bitterly at their good-byes; the grown-ups shook hands. Somehow, the Reinhardts were sure, should they see Anne again, she would have another name.

  1939

  24

  Ever since Philip’s suicide, Victoria took to her daily diary with the same vigor that all Reinhardt women did before her. Once again, she listened to the many sounds of Vienna’s church bells, including the loud Pummerin, remembering the year of the turn of the century, 1900. She still could picture Verena holding her little Elisabeth and telling her stories about the bad Turks and the ‘dreadful von Waldens’. She rocked the cradle with Gisela while she put Peter and Paul to bed after a good dose of milk.

  Hannes and Philip visited the Esslers’ New Year’s party, only to arrive quite early and Philip confessed to her his many infidelities, promising solemnly that he would seek help. Of course, there were also two operations ahead of her. And then came a slightly intoxicated Anette, and both became the closest friends until her dying day. All this seemed like yesterday and yet it was so long ago.

  In the meantime, two new generations were added, although so far, only her two daughters had given her grandchildren. But now the tide seemed to be turning towards her son’s direction. Peter’s wife was, following two miscarriages, expecting her first baby after thirteen years of happy marriage. And Gaby told Paul on Christmas Eve, after they went home, that she was three months’ pregnant too. Paul was so elated that he talked the following few days of nothing else. Isabella predicted a baby brother and her main concern was, once again, the proper name. It took her two weeks to get a name for her Palomino, Lillian. No horse could have been more worthy to be called Lillian, after the ultimate horse lover Lillian von Essler.

  But now they were all gone. Gone forever like her beloved mother, Kurt, Verena, Hannes, and those wonderful Kronthalers, who were still alive but completely unaware of their surroundings. But so were some of the Wilands. There was, however, a big difference with that family. They produced son after son, waiting desperately for at least one girl to make her entrance. And without exception, they all studied law. There was always a Wiland Senior, Junior, or a Wiland the Third. And then there was also that ‘Mrs. Irene’ she would love to forget, because Philip’s last days were linked with her. She was now married to an old and wealthy French jeweler.

  This New Year’s Day of 1939 she would have to contradict her late mother Lotte, who constantly told her that, ‘the more things change, the more they stay the same.’ Maybe in your time, Mother, but surely not in mine. Or, for that matter, my children’s and grandchildren’s. And those changes have taken place so rapidly that no one, including me, can keep up.

  “Our beloved Austria was taken over last March by Germany, and we are now called ‘Ostmark’. The beautiful city of Vienna is nothing more than one of many large cities in the east. So far, the Germans behaved well, however, t
hey are made welcome. The same thing happened last fall when they entered to free the Germans in Czechoslovakia. However, how the Czechs themselves feel is another story. They were sold out without any of their own people being involved. And the former Austrian loafer, Adolf Hitler, is, if anything, a hypnotist who bedeviled all of his followers. George Bernard Shaw’s quotation that ‘Words are the most powerful drugs used by mankind’ comes once again to pass. So far, Hitler has created the feared Gestapo, who enjoy torturing, killing, or putting the Jews on cattle trains to God only knows where. Then there is the infamous SS in their black shirts and dead skulls as insignias, who are no better than the Gestapo. We also have brownshirts who are calling themselves Nazis, though they have less power but are by no means kinder. Paul is convinced we are shortly heading toward a war, and with his many contacts in Berlin, he is in a position to know.”

  ∼

  Being presently all alone, Victoria took a cup of cider and started to go through all the mail before discarding some of it. Still to her utmost astonishment, both O’Haras wrote more than anyone had ever anticipated. They also mailed many parcels from New York’s finest stores, with expensive and selected items which were very useful. Beautiful and warm housecoats were only some of them. They also apologized individually for their rude behavior at Hotel Bristol and explained that those were very unhappy times as their marriage was falling apart. Once arriving in New York, they had separated. Daniella was in a prestigious boarding school, staying during the holidays with Grandmother O’Hara and her stepfather, since he was the better one of her parents. Anne already had a new boyfriend, which in her circle of socialites was easy to get. This one is related to many of the ‘Who’s Who’ in New York.

  Victoria only shook her head smiling, never caring about ‘Who’s Who’ in Vienna, which was not the case with many of their acquaintances. The Reinhardts were above caring, and many suspected they were not only very secure but made their own manners and laws. Their fortune allowed them to be totally honest and no one ever questioned how they got rich, as not one of the Reinhardts was ever considered idle. Isabella, the young addition to the Reinhardts, remarked that her relatives in Switzerland had a schedule for giving her no more than an hour of rest. ‘Knowledge needs constant hard and persistent labor.’ It was a small engraved plaque standing on her writing desk.