Working in the outside shed alongside Karen – smoking, fileting, and canning the fish in oil – Lotte and Gerlinde became herring experts. Baskets of herrings were delivered daily by a stocky, bearded man, who returned in the evening to pick up the canned produce. It was a smelly business, but the women did not enter the house after a workday without taking a refreshing shower in the attached bathhouse.
But at the end of the week, when Karen paid them their wages, they were ready to move on.
“Have you heard about our temporary papers yet?” Lotte asked their employer.
“Not so fast.” Karen laughed at her. “Things have their own speed in this sleepy town. But the mayor promised me to have travel permits ready for you before Sankt Hans Aften on Saturday.”
“Sankt Hans?” Gerlinde asked.
“Don
