Ashes by Kathryn Lasky

Author:Kathryn Lasky
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Publisher: Penguin Group US

That night the sky was very black, and Papa was happy. The dark, after all, was his element. He would rise like those animals who prowl the darkness—the raccoon, the owl, the bat. Stalking the night sky he hoped to untangle the stars’ light and thereby their histories—where they were born, how they die. Rosa and I lay in the grass and watched the flow of the night. Around me were other creatures of the darkness—the firefly with its flickering incandescence, a whippoorwill with its cry. If I listened closely enough, could I hear the fluttering wings of a moth desperately seeking a house light? Not in our house. Our house was darkened.

His cigar was extinguished but I smelled the tobacco in Einstein’s clothes as he approached. A fresh breeze brought the scent of sweetpeas. Mama was in the garden, barefoot. That was how she liked to work on hot summer evenings. She wove in and out of the merry chaos, putting the tomatoes, now heavy in their summer ripeness, on stronger stakes, untangling the snarl of pumpkin and squash vines in their inexorable scrambled march across the ground. August was just beginning. Everything was growing rotund, near to bursting in its lusciousness. Even the moon was now ripening, much to Papa’s chagrin.

“Guten Abend—oops, sorry Gaby.” Einstein nearly stepped on me just like that night earlier in the summer.

“No problem, Herr Professor.”

“What’s happening up there, Otto?”

“Albeiro—nice view tonight. You can see both stars. Have a look. . . . Hey, why are you wearing your handkerchief? Afraid of getting starburned?” Albeiro was the beautiful double star in the constellation of Cygnus the swan.

I looked over at Einstein. He was indeed wearing the little knotted square of cloth on his head.

“Oh, I banged my head trying to fix a pipe under the sink and it bled. No plasters, so I just put this on.”

“Gaby, run in and get Herr Professor Einstein a plaster.”

“Sure, Papa.”

Two minutes later I came back with the first-aid plaster. I peeled off the adhesive tabs as Einstein removed the handkerchief and bent his head down. Rosa stood next to me.

“Two fine nurses,” Einstein said. Rosa and I giggled. “When does your school start, girls?”

“In about a week,” Rosa said. Mrs. Ebers had called up after we had been at Caputh a few days and asked if Rosa could stay longer because her grandmother was still sick. Mama said of course, and naturally we were thrilled.

“Are you looking forward to it?”

“Oh yes,” we both replied at once.

Einstein’s hairline receded drastically, so there was not much hair to contend with. The cut was on the left side. I pressed the plaster onto his scalp. I suppose I should have thought more of this moment. My fingertips were centimeters away from the most brilliant brain in history. But all I remember thinking is that his head was really beautiful.

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