Page 94 of The Storyteller of Krakow

‘Do you remember Italy?’ I asked. ‘The heat? The dust? The way the men sang at night?’

He blinked slowly.

I imagined, foolishly, that he did.

‘I went to Germany,’ I continued, voice barely audible above the breeze. ‘I saw Matthias. You remember him? He was in that farmhouse. You found him. You saved him. It turns out, Wojtek my friend, that I have been telling myself too many stories. He didn’t love me, of course he didn’t. And truly, I know I did not love him. I just wanted it to be real. I was a foolish woman, wasn’t I?’

‘Lena?’

Stupidly, I thought Wojtek had spoken.

Then, I recalled the voice. Zosia.

I turned to see her, stood a few paces back on the gravel path. Time had touched her, too. Her hair was pinned neatly, her coat tailored and modest. There were faint lines at the corners of her mouth.

‘Zosia,’ I said. ‘You came.’

Zosia stepped forward, stopping just short of an embrace. ‘I got your letter.’

‘It seems so,’ I said, suddenly wondering why I thought seeing her again would change anything for me. Would seeing Wojtek enclosed, seeing Zosia, help me move forward, help me rectify the past with my present?

‘He looks well,’ she said softly.

‘Yes.’

We stood side by side, looking at the bear.

‘I heard you were in Edinburgh a while ago,’ I said carefully. ‘I saw a few of the others from our unit in Kraków. Had a drink with them if you can believe it. They said you were still here, with Janek.’

Zosia’s jaw tightened.

‘Yes. I’m married to him,’ she said. ‘Just in case you were wondering.’

‘I know.’

‘We have a flat near Leith.’

I nodded.

‘And?’

Zosia let out a sigh. ‘And you were right about him,’ she admitted, never taking her eyes off the bear.

‘That doesn’t bring me any great joy, you know.’

‘I should never have told him about Matthias. I didn’t want to.’

‘I know that,’ I said. ‘I’ve never held that against you.’

She raised her eyebrows at me. ‘So why did you never speak to me again? When you came out of the infirmary, after I gave you the note, you never even looked at me again.’

Didn’t I? I thought back to those days that were choked with grief and saw she was right. I had simply gone back inside my own head. Why hadn’t I tried to talk to her? Why hadn’t I been able to?

‘Anka,’ she said as if answering the questions in my mind. ‘It affected you so badly. And then Matthias, and being sick.’

I nodded. ‘I’m sorry, Zosia.’

She smiled at me then and stepped towards me and took me in her arms. ‘You have nothing to be sorry for, Lena.’