Aleida gripped her hands in her lap. “I doubt you remember me, but we used to know each other well. You used to call me Moeder.”
Teddy paused with a block midair. Another jerk of his chin, he rolled one shoulder, and he set the block in place.
“I am so glad to see you again, Teddy.” Now she’d leave him be and let him think.
She joined Hugh on a sofa facing the Randolphs, a spot where she could see her son.
“I understand you were with the Foreign Service in the Hague, Julian. What are you doing now?” Hugh gave the man the same intense, interested look that made everyone open up to him, even as he gathered Aleida’s hand in his in a comforting way.
As Julian talked about his work, Teddy’s building project slowed and he frowned at his blocks.
In the past year, he’d changed so much. She’d missed so much.
Teddy picked up Oli, curled up next to the wall, and held Oli to his cheek, curving the trunk under his chin. Soothing himself.
Aleida’s chest collapsed, splintering the pain into sharp needles. Her arrival had caused him distress. She’d worried he wouldn’t remember her, but what if hedidremember—but only the bad?
What if his only memories of his early years involved the tension of living in that house, the dread of his father’s anger? What if he remembered his father’s derision and neglect? What if he remembered the chaos of the exodus? The terror of being thrust into a car with total strangers?
“Aleida?” Hugh patted her hand. “Why don’t you tell Julian and Dora about your work with the Ministry of Health? It’s exceptional.” Those hazel eyes of his glowed.
He’d probably sensed her growing anxiety and meant to distract her. Also, he’d told her it was important for Teddy to hear her talk, since he’d responded to her voice on the wireless.
Her breath hitched on the way in, but she spoke, her voice shaky and flimsy. She described the registry for evacuees and the collection of the children’s stories, careful to avoid certain details with young ears in the room.
Hugh, being Hugh, took over when she flagged, and he soon had the Randolphs chatting about rambles in the country.
The sofa cushion beside her dipped, and Teddy climbed up with Oli.
Aleida’s breath stopped.
Teddy didn’t look at her. He clasped both arms around Oli, his right hand on top, no longer as round, no longer dimpled, but as precious to Aleida as ever.
A hush fell over the room.
An ocean of time and experience separated her from her child. The moment shimmered in the hush, a chance to transcend time. Aleida had only to plunge into the ocean, stride through, rechtdoorzee.
And Oli—Oli seemed the key.
Aleida breathed a prayer. “Is Oli your friend?”
Teddy gathered the elephant closer. “He’s my best friend.”
Whether the child considered the friendship brand-new or rekindled, Aleida cared not. She put a smile in her voice. “Long ago, in a faraway land where you and I once lived, I used tosay to you, ‘Olifanten vergeten nooit.’ In English, ‘Elephants never forget.’ Do you think that’s true, Teddy?”
Teddy rubbed his little chin against Oli’s gray head. “Oli didn’t forget me. He found me.”
The truth of it slammed into her chest with poignant, piercing pain, and she stifled a gasp. “He—he did. He did find you. May I see him?” She held out her hands.
A long moment pulsed in the hush. At last, Teddy passed Oli to her, and she thanked him.
Aleida addressed the elephant. “Oli, do you remember the game we used to play with Teddy? Teddy would hide, and you’d look for him.‘Waar is Theo?’I’d say.” Aleida swung the stuffed gray trunk in a circle and pointed it at Teddy. “You always found him, Oli. There he is. There’s Teddy.”
Teddy’s perfect pink mouth puckered at the edges, a semblance of a smile.
“Oli never stopped looking for you, Teddy.” She waved the trunk from side to side. “Oli took a boat to England to look for you. He looked for you in London. He looked in hotels and hospitals and tall government buildings. He looked for you in the country. He looked in big houses and little houses and behind every bush. And then he found you. He never, ever forgot you. And—and neither did I.”
Teddy reached for his friend, and Aleida returned him.
