“No need or, frankly, time for apologies.” He’s looking at me, but he doesn’t see me, not really. His gaze is focused on the tote strung over my arm.
“This is my friend Charlotte Trent,” I say, redirecting him for the moment. “She helped me translate part of the list.”
Charlotte smiles at him. “My eyes aren’t as cooperative as they used to be.”
He shakes her hand. “A pleasure to meet you, Mrs. Trent.”
Reaching inside the bag, I pull out the book for him. He finds Annika’s name inscribed in the front, tracing the word with his finger. Then he turns to the second page, and his eyes widen when they land on the handwritten listing of the gold necklace and ruby brooch.
“You know German?” I ask.
“A little.”
He flips through the pages quickly as if he has to catch the writing before it flies away. Then he starts to translate more of Annika’s words. “‘Diamond earrings. Pearl strand. Brass candlesticks.’”
Five minutes have passed now, but Dr. Nemeth seems to have forgotten about both the time and the crowd of students waiting behind him. Finally he closes the book, but instead of handing it to me, he pulls it closer to his chest. “I’m leaving Sunday for the Salzkammergut,” he says. “I have a grant to take six students with me, and we’ll spend almost a month searching for items like these that the Nazis dumped or hid.”
Charlotte inches toward him. “It’s been eighty years...”
“It seems impossible, but divers continue to find things under the rock ledges and submerged forests in these lakes.” Dr. Nemeth slowly lowers the book. “And the water is cold enough to preserve what’s been left behind.”
What would it be like to dive into the depths of one of those lakes and search for hidden candlesticks and jewelry among the ledges and forests? Of course I’d never go, but it must be magicalto explore where few people have ever been. A treasure hunt on an entirely new scale.
He glances back down at the podium before looking at me again. “Can I borrow this book?”
I shake my head. “I want to return it to Annika’s family.”
“I’ll get it back to you by the end of the week,” he assures me, but it feels as if someone is taking something valuable—priceless, even—from me, like one of the items listed inside the book.
“I don’t know—”
“We’re a lot alike, Callie,” he says, but I can’t imagine that I have much in common with this professor of history. “You want to return books to their original owners, and I want to return stolen heirlooms to the descendants of those who lost their things during the war.”
The pieces seem to fall into place, this mutual quest of ours to reconcile the past.
“You’ll tell me what you find about Annika?”
He glances down at the forlorn deer on the cover, standing in the forest alone. “I’ll pass along everything I can.”
His best offer—a book loan for the week to help us both reunite things with their owners.
Dr. Nemeth turns, theBambibook in hand, and pierces the chatter in the rows below us with a low-pitched whistle. And I want to stay here, learning more about the history of these lakes.
I lean toward Charlotte, whispering, “Should we listen to the rest of the lecture?”
She checks her phone. “We don’t have time.”
“The mall is open until ten.”
Charlotte shakes her head. “I need to be home for dinner.”
“You have a date?” I ask, eyebrows cresting.
“I can’t tell you.”
Dr. Nemeth has started talking about where various Nazi members hid near the end of the war, including the Austrian Alps. Iwish we could stay a bit longer to hear his stories, but Charlotte is determined, and now I’m intrigued by her urgency to return home.
Outside we both slip on our sunglasses, and as we walk to the car, my phone buzzes.
