As Juliet stepped in to her new
home in Salzburg, Austria sadness appeared on her face. To be honest she didn’t
know why she was so sad about moving. Her dream had always been to visit new places.
However, now that it had actually happened she felt homesick. Her mother had
one day suddenly decided that they needed to move out of France. The reason had
never been told, and she had no intentions of questioning her mother. After
placing her bags on the floor she went into the kitchen where her mother was
putting away plates.
Her mother was singing a soft
tune as she organized the kitchen. Juliet loved the way her mother sang, it was
soft and sweet. Her mother was so beautiful, with hair that was long and golden
blond, and eyes that were big and blue. Juliet had no idea why her father had
left her. Once she had asked about her father, and all her mother had said was
that he was a good man but a very complicated person. However, Juliet didn’t
like him and had absolutely no respect for him; for all she knew he was
heartless man that had abandoned his family. Suddenly, her mother stopped
singing and started to cry. She bent down to hold her mother and asked what was
wrong. Her mother didn’t respond instead she told her to go to unpack her
things and go out to buy something to eat.
Juliet went to the bakery to buy bread and to
the butchers to buy some meat. She bought the cheapest things, because her
family was financially not very stable. They had never been in good terms when it came
to money, but they tried to live healthy and well.
Juliet started school the next
day and life continued regularly until one day; the day that the Germans came.
On March 1938, Austria was taken by Germany. On this day her life changed
drastically. The whole country was taken over by Nazi’s therefore there would
be men in uniforms in all the streets of Salzburg. This frightened her, so she
rarely went out, unless it was absolutely necessary. Her mother supported the idea
of staying at home, so she was surprised to be asked by her mother to go out.
“Juliet” her mother said, “I want you to go find your uncle
Eric, who lives two hours from here and pick up a package from him”
To her this was strange because
she had never met an Uncle Eric or even heard of him. Being curious she asked
her mother who he was, her mother responded by saying that he was his father’s
brother and that it was very important for her to pick up the package. Without
asking anymore questions she took a train to meet her uncle.
Uncle Eric lived in a very big,
dull house. His curtains were all closed and no rays of sunshine seemed to filter
through into the house. She knocked on the door and waited. A man in his 50’s
opened the door.
“Who are you and what do you want?” he asked.
“My name is Juliet Archibeque, I’m your niece, my mother
send me here, she says I need to pick up a package from you,” she answered him.
“Archibeque?” the man looked at her as if recognizing her
face “come in and close the door.”
Inside the house there was no furniture and everything was
dark, only a candle lit in the kitchen. The man grabbed the candle and led her
down the stairs to the basement.
“Sorry about the shape of the house, it’s the only way I can
keep them from finding me,” the man said, “people tell me to leave this country
but I refuse, it’s my hometown, I was born here and I’ll die here."
Juliet looked at him and didn’t say anything. She did not
understand why this strange man had so much confidence in her. In addition, her
mind was still confused on why her mother had sent her here in the first place.
The man took out a brief case from the closet and hand it to her.
“Here, this what you came for,” the man said
Juliet took the brief case,
thanked the man and left. As she walked to the train station her stomach
grumbled. In front of the train station there was a coffee place which looked comfortable.
Juliet walked there and ordered a
muffin. The coffee place was small and there were not many people in it. She
sat down and decided to open the suit case. Inside the suit case there was
bills of money and small note. She sat there in shock and wondered why a random
man had given her family enough money to buy seven houses. The note was also
strange, it read:
Dear Natalia and
Juliet:
I know what this money
isn’t enough to repay by absence. But I hope that it will help both you in your
time of need. I want you to know that I think about both of you all the time
and that I love both of you so much.
Much love,
Emile Archibeque
Juliet felt awkward; she thought
her father had abandoned her and that he didn’t care. Tears filled up in her
eyes. Her mother had always kept secrets from her, had she kept her father a
secret from her too? When Juliet got home she handed the suitcase to her
mother.
“Mother, why is father giving us so much money when you said
he never care about either of us, I want to know who is my father? Why does he
have so much money? Why did he leave? I think I have right to know after all I
am his daughter.” Juliet asked.
Her mother looked at her and didn’t respond. Then she
started to cry.
“Pack your bags Juliet, we’re leaving to London tomorrow,”
her mother said sobbing.
“No mother, I want to know the truth” Juliet told her mother
sincerely.
“There are many things that you don’t know” her mother began
After, her mother told her the
story of her father, which made her understand many things of her life. Her
father had been born to a wealthy family in Austria, but had moved to Germany for
his studies. In Germany, He had been conscripted in to the German army.
However, he had betrayed the army and fled to France. In France he had met her mother;
they had gotten married and had a baby. However, the German government had
found him and threatened him with the murder of his whole family in Austria and
in France. Her father had fled to America and her mother had fled to Italy.
After two years she had returned to France. They had lived in peace until 6 months
ago when the Germans had found them. That was the reason they had moved to
Austria, and now that the Germans had invaded Austria, they needed to leave
again.
Juliet looked at her mother and
went to her room to pack her bags. She knew that it was her only choice. After
all her life had not been so bad and it had always been filled with adventure;
and it would continue to be, but she enjoyed the excitement. It was what made
her.
