Me:
The disparity in wealth thing
So
I feel bad about all of this? Can I make it up to you by buying you ice cream tomorrow
Noah:
You realize you already owe me two ice creams
Me:
I had no cash!!
Noah:
I will accept three ice creams
But tomorrow’s supposed to be nice, actually, so I’m thinking of sailing
Me:
Monday then? I’ll tell you the latest developments in the Girl from Germany story
Noah:
Abigail.
I meant let’s go sailinginsteadof getting ice cream
I wore the tiny red bikini.
“Is it too much?” I asked Jane the next morning, standing in front of our mirror. “Like, am I going to fall out of this?”
“Don’t make any sudden movements. Or dive. No diving or you’ll lose the bottoms.”
“I’ll stay very still.”
“And you’resureyou’re not cousins?”
“I hate you.”
I checked my email on the way to the yacht club, anxious for a response from Dr. Weisz—or maybe I was just anxious all over. I hadn’t had time to process everything that had happened at Golden Doors. When Noah had said I drove him crazy. The conversation with his grandfather.
The moment in the window alcove.
I wasn’t sure if Noah would want to talk about the alcove, or about our arguments, or not talk at all. I couldn’t tell if this meant something, inviting me to be alone on the water with him, when aloneness and nature were two things he prized so highly. What was in my head and what actually existed? Was he waiting for me to make a gesture of interest, or was I reading things unwritten?
Luckily, Dr. Weiszhadwritten, and her words were plenty distracting:
Hi Abigail,
Good digging! I had an additional thought—while the other passengers might have already passed away, it might be worth cross-checking their names against this collection of oral histories from survivors. If any of them left a testimonial, they might mention your grandmother or where they went afterward—and if they’re also part of the American Kindertransport, they might share a similar path as your grandmother.
If any of the passengers did leave testimonies, you do unfortunately have to visit, in person, one of the institutions with access to the records (you can find the list of institutions, mostly colleges, here). The closest to Nantucket are Boston University, Harvard, and Brandeis—if you do come to Boston, I’d be happy to meet up (and some of these universities might actually require you to be an affiliate in order to gain access, and I could definitely bring you in as a guest).
I was so excited I almost ran over a tourist. Then I spent the rest of my walk plugging in the names of the Jewish passengersI’d discovered—and all the other passengers as well, for good measure.
