Somebody stop me:

[tree_and_leaf]

Their first meeting with the Professor had been frankly embarrassing, thought Peter, and that had been Ewald's fault, too. The old man had sent a cart to meet them at the railway station, so their first sight of him had been of a small figure waiting outside the house as they rattled up the stony hill road, past the vineyards and through the pastures and then through trees. "How lovely", Suse had whispered, "this is a bit better than stewing in Berlin all summer," and Lucie, wide eyed, had asked "Do you think there'll be bears?"

"There aren't any left in the Black Forest, silly," said Ewald. "I'd rather see a wolf."

The driver tugged at the reins, said something they couldn't quite understand. The horse stopped, and they got their first proper look at their host, a tall, thin, slightly forbidding man with a white beard. The children clambered down, all of them feeling rather uncertain. Then Lucie stepped forward, and made a hesitant curtsey.

"Good afternoon, Professor," she said politely. "Or – Gruß Gott, that's what you say down here, isn't it?"

He laughed, and suddenly seemed much less frightening, and took Lucie's hand with a surprisingly courtly gesture. "Quite right – you must be Lucie? Hello, children."

"Gruß Gott,"said Suse, a little self-consciously, and followed Lucy's example in curtseying. Peter, too, said, Gruß Gott, and stuck out his hand. "I'm Peter, this is Suse, and this is Ewald…"

Ewald, who had been regarding them all suspiciously, did not give the Professor his hand, but raised it in a crisp salute (much crisper, thought Peter, than he could have managed at Ewald's age). "Heil Hitler, Professor."

"Good afternoon," said the Professor, and his face shut down. "You must excuse me, Ewald, I'm afraid I'm a little old-fashioned." But his tone had not been apologetic in the least, and Ewald had turned white, as if he had been struck, and his eyes had grown hot.

Comments

[tree_and_leaf]

I'm finding out myself.

All will be well, and all will be well - but I fear it may require a Julian-esque perspective.