Free The Luck of the Weissensteiners (The Three Nations Trilogy) by Christoph Fischer Page B

lost its warmth and cosiness. The evenings were much quieter and the only thing that seemed to matter to her mother was the well-being of little Karl.
    It was Roswitha who had to work in the kitchen now and do the housework more or less by herself, but she seemed to enjoy it. She had learned many tricks from Elizabeth and her efforts were now usually praised or at least not criticised any more, which already helped her with her feelings of self-worth. She drew a lot of satisfaction from this and against character, Johanna made sure to show her appreciation - even though that was purely part of her plot to keep the daughters busy so that Johanna would have more time with Karl.
    Her obsession with the b aby upset her own children. They could not believe that the cold woman who brought them up without love could turn into such a caring mother figure and even neglect her own farm duties to spoil the little child. Benedikt was too much of a farmer to notice any of these things. He was certainly not a house-proud man who did not notice anything apart from the size of his nightly food portions. Housekeeping was for women and he did not waste his time keeping an eye on it. If Johanna said that things were under control, he was happy to believe it and any distraction, like the sick Greta, needed to be dealt with as painlessly and quickly as possible.
    When Greta was finally considered strong enough to make the journey into Bratislava , she was allowed to say a brief goodbye to her son whom Johanna firmly held on her arm for the whole time. Karl was already so used to his 'new mother' that on the morning she was supposed to leave he seemed to take little notice of Greta. She felt a painful stab in her heart seeing him so happy on someone else’s arm - as if he did not need her at all. She knew it was the best for her son, but it brought on another wave of grief, hurting as if she had lost now both children in such a short period of time. She managed to keep a straight face in front of Karl but when she was outside the house she could not control her tears. Wilhelm, who accompanied her to Bratislava on his way to work, did not console her. He handed her a handkerchief but said they would have to leave right away. They had a long journey ahead of them and, in her state, she was likely to slow him down. He carried the suitcase for her until near her father’s workshop where their paths separated. Neither of them said anything for the entire journey and their half-hearted goodbyes were swallowed by the wind.
    Wilma already stood on the street outside the workshop waiting for her sister when Greta turned into the dead-end road. She rushed towards her, took the suitcase, grabbed Greta by the arm and hurried her through the door. They fell into each other’s arms and both simultaneously burst into uncontrollable fits of crying. The two had missed each other and the relief that surged through them was overwhelming. With Wilma by her side, Greta knew that she would learn to live with the loss of her unborn baby and would be happy again. She was sad that her own husband had not been able to support her at all in this dilemma but she appreciated that he had his own demons to fight over the tragedy. They had been very close and a real couple when they first started dating but now it felt as if they had drifted far apart. She blamed the hollow organising and the sober running of their life. The joint experience of their loss, which they dealt with so separately, showed how disjointed they had become in such a short time. With Greta back in her life, Wilma knew that nothing bad could ever happen to her either. While in many ways she had a strong bond with her father, the relationship with him was not a close one. Jonah was a cheerful man for a widower but it was obvious that the loss of his wife had taken its toll on his psyche. He lived more for his own company and his role as the family provider rather than for the pure joy of life.
    In his