"Sophie? Sophie, what are you doing back there? Get out here and help me. Gertrude's calf caught its leg in the fence!"
Sophie Weidler huffed and shoved her latest American comic book under the floorboard. Why did Papa have to sell the smartest cattle? Sure, they were worth more, but they had been easier to take care of.
"Coming, Papa!" she yelled, snatching up a green shawl as she prepared to leave the warmth of the house. She stole a glance at the shelf on her way out the door. The shelf was bare aside from a worn Bible and a single photograph of a young man in a Luftwaffe uniform. Sophie sighed. Would she ever see Adrian again? Wrapping her shawl tightly around her shoulders, she dove out into the bitter cold air. Papa, better known as Johan Weidler, had already isolated Gertrude from the rest of the herd. The old cow bellowed in frustration as her calf struggled to stand. Blood leaked from a gash in its front leg. Sophie studied the injury. Not bad enough to fetch the vet, thank goodness, but it still needed attention.
"I'll hold the calf, you bandage the leg," Papa said.
Sophie nodded and hurried back to the house for the supplies. On returning, she found that Papa had wrapped his sturdy arms around the calf and held it down in the straw. Without a word, Sophie swiftly set to work disinfecting the cut with iodine. The calf bleated and thrashed about, but Papa held it firm. With equal dexterity, Sophie wrapped fresh gauze and bandages around the limb. Patting it in place, she breathed,
"All right, Papa, done."
Her father breathed a sigh of relief and loosened his grip on the calf. The baby struggled to its hooves and limped to Gertrude's side, where its mother nudged it anxiously. Johan wiped a layer of dirt off his stubbled chin and smiled down at his daughter.
"Well done, Sophie. You're learning quickly."
Sophie blushed and clasped her hands behind her back. "Thanks, Papa."
He patted her on the shoulder.
"Your mother and Adrian would be proud. Now go ahead and finish your chores."
Sophie nodded and hurried off to feed the cattle. While rifling through the hay, she paused to stare out at the barren fields around their house, once full of dairy cattle. With the pressures of war, Papa had been forced to sell all but a small part of the once-prosperous herd. Now, the outside of the house looked just as empty as the inside.
"Sophie?" a familiar voice surprised the girl from her thoughts. "Sophie, are you in here?"
"Back here, Anna," Sophie replied, brushing the hay off her skirt as she stepped into the light. Her best friend grinned, a crumpled newspaper under her arm.
"You'll never guess what happened last night!"
Sophie arched an eyebrow. "Sabotage?"
Anna squealed in mock terror and opened the paper to reveal a photo of a destroyed bridge.
"Hey, isn't that the bridge we usually take to Dusseldorf?" asked Sophie, studying the picture carefully. Anna nodded.
"They say it was an accident, but I bet it was those Papa Bear saboteurs. That was a strong bridge, after all. It wouldn't just crash."
"That's only a few miles away."
"Which means Papa Bear could be hiding around here someplace."
Sophie glanced over both shoulders and leaned closer to her friend's ear. "He could be watching us right now," she whispered.
Anna shuddered at the thought. "What would he want with us?"
"Information about, maybe, the location of some top-secret base?"
"But he'll never get it out of us, right?"
Sophie smirked. "I'd tell him."
Anna gasped and clapped a hand over her friend's mouth, glancing wildly around. "Sophie, what's wrong with you? You actually want our side to lose?"
"I want the Nazis to lose," Sophie growled, "you know that, Anna. They go against everything we stand for. If I ever happen to meet this mysterious Papa Bear, I'd leave this crummy old farm and join his group in a heartbeat."
"Yes, but you don't say that out loud," Anna protested with a quivering voice. Sophie straightened up and raised her voice a notch.
"Are you joking, Anna? We're in the middle of nowhere! Who's going to hear us besides Papa?"
"You never know. As long as we don't bother them, they won't bother us. But saying something like that could make them upset," Anna replied.
Sophie scoffed and headed for the house. "Don't be such a worry wort. Those guys in Berlin don't care what happens all the way out here."
The two girls marched through the door to find Sophie's father slouched in a kitchen chair, his head in his hands and a newspaper spread across the tabletop.
"Papa, what's wrong?" Sophie squealed, rushing to her father's side.
"It's the bridge to Dusseldorf," he groaned, "it collapsed last night."
"That bridge didn't collapse, Papa. Someone sabotaged it."
"Sophie!" Anna protested.
Johan shook his head. "Well, sabotage or not, no one can cross the bridge, which means I cannot take this load of wheat to the farmer in Dusseldorf."
"But if we can't sell that wheat, how are we going to eat this month? We're almost out of food!" Sophie protested.
"My family can give you a little bit, but we're almost out of food ourselves," Anna offered.
Sophie's father offered a weak smile. "That's very kind of you, Anna. But I think we can get by."
He pushed his chair aside and headed for the cupboard. Prying aside a loose piece of wood, he produced a handful of bills.
"Take this into town, Sophie, and buy what you can with it."
"But Papa, that's our emergency money."
"And I believe this is an emergency. It won't buy much, but it'll do for the two of us. Now hurry. I want you back before it gets dark."
Sophie snatched the money from her father's hand and tucked it into the pocket of her skirt.
"Right. I'll leave now. Are you coming, Anna?"
Her friend wrung her hands nervously. "I'd like to, but my mother wants me home. I wish you luck, though."
Sophie nodded, kissed her father on the cheek, and hurried out the door to grab her bicycle. Finally, off on an adventure. Who knew? Maybe she would run into the mysterious Papa Bear.
