Smoky Blue Literary and Arts Magazine #6

father divorced her when I was little. He said she was a socialist; maybe a communist.”

“I still don’t . . .”

“Do you know about the Nazis?”

“Of course. They’re a bad bunch.”

“My father gives them money. He thinks like they do. But, he feels they do not trust him.”

“Because he is Russian?”

“Yes. Because he is Russian. So he wants to use me.”

“What?”

“I am to marry a German officer. His name is Kurt Richter. He is a captain at the German embassy in Tokyo.”

“But do you want to . . .?”

“No. It is true he is very handsome and from a good family. My father thinks it will be a good match.”

“And the marriage would work to your father’s advantage?”

“Yes. But Kurt is a beast. A Nazi beast. He boasts of beating communists and Jews. Kurt says it is how we must deal with people who do not belong. He is an evil man.”

“But surely you can say no. This is the 20th century. We’re modern people.

This sort of thing sounds medieval. How old are you?”

“I am twenty-five years old.”

“Then how can he force you to . . .?”

“If I refuse, he says he will abandon me. I have no passport of my own. I will be a stateless refugee.”

“There must be some way. I’m sure there are people who can help, good people . . .”

“Peter, I cannot marry this man. I cannot. I have no hope.”

Again Peter said, “There must be a way.” But none came quickly to mind.

She turned toward Peter and put her arms around him. She was crying. “You are a nice person, Peter. I wish I met you before.” Then, without another word, she pulled free and started toward her cabin. She had taken only three or four steps when