Chapter 17

Sophia tossed and turned all night after she saw Ted. She thought about their conversation, and every word they both had said. She wondered if he was right about the delay of her final vows or, more likely, if he was just a temptation Life had put on her path to test her strength, to see how she responded to temptation, and if she kept her word. Her word was her bond, and she was going to take her final vows. And then she lay in bed and thought about him again, and she remembered Mother Paul reminding her that she could serve God in different ways. She had served Him well so far, in Ravensbrück and with the children at St. Blaise, and those she had saved. She turned it all around in her mind a hundred different ways, lying on her narrow bed in the dark in her cell. And then she stood up and looked out the window, and saw a small red bird sitting on the bomb site behind the convent, even though it wasn't daylight yet. She wondered if the red bird was a sign. She gazed at the bird and he looked happy, and then as she watched him, he flew away, and she felt sad knowing she would never see that same red bird again. And suddenly she knew what she had to do and where she had to go.

She ran to the bathroom and took a shower, and then hurried down the stairs to the closet. She picked a pink summer dress with a white collar and a silly little pink hat that looked like something Theresa would wear. She chose a pair of simple white shoes, took it all back to her cell, and put it on. She didn't have a mirror to look in, because nuns weren't allowed to have them. As the sun came up, she brushed her hair, put on the hat, and grabbed a purse she'd been planning to give one of the young women. She went down to the kitchen then and looked at the clock. It was seven A.M., and Ted had said he was taking the nine o'clock train back to Paris. She went to find Charlie and asked him how to get to the train station quickly. He looked startled at how she was dressed, but didn't comment. She looked pretty and young. He told her he'd call her a cab. There were some in Berlin now. The taxi came in half an hour, and took another half hour to get to the train station, avoiding bombed-out streets. At the train station, she looked at what platform the train to Paris was leaving from, but it was easy to spot with all the men in uniforms standing next to the train. The station was crowded. It looked like thousands of soldiers, in different uniforms. She didn't see Ted as she approached, and he had never seen her out of her habit, so he wouldn't recognize her. She hurried from one cluster of men to the next, and then she saw him far down the platform and flew like the wind to catch him before he got on the train. When he first saw her, he didn't know who she was. She was just a woman running toward him, and then he knew, and he smiled.

She waved frantically, and he laughed and took long strides toward her and caught her in his arms.

"What are you doing here?" he asked her. "And what are you wearing?"

"I saw a red bird this morning and I knew... it was a sign... and then the bird flew away and I knew I had to see you before you left." He was smiling down at her. She was breathless. She'd been so afraid she wouldn't find him. And if she didn't, she would know what it meant.

"I love your dress and your hat."

Finding him was the sign she needed. "I think you're right. I was meant to meet you and not take my vows, and you were meant to wind up in the tree," she said, and he kissed her before he had to leave. "Just give me one more month to organize everything, and the others can take over what I started. And I'll teach you German and you can do the war crimes trials." She was talking in a rush before he left. He kissed her again and kept kissing her until the train whistle sounded.

"I love you, Sophia. I'll come back in a couple of weeks and we can talk about all of it then. Or you can come to Paris. I'll get you a room at the Ritz. We have a whole lifetime ahead of us to figure it all out." He was beaming at her, and the train started to move slowly out of the station. "And if you ever see that red bird again, thank him for me!"

"I love you too," she said, following him to the steps, as he kissed her one last time and hopped on. He stood on the steps until the train picked up speed and he kept waving to her as she stood there beaming, and this time she knew she really had done the right thing. He was the life she wanted, and the gift and opportunity that had been given to both of them, and they had been brave enough to reach out and grab it. She had almost missed her chance. And all they had to do now was be brave together from now on. It wouldn't be hard compared to everything else they'd been through. They had each other now. The war was over. She was certain that this was why she had survived, for the life they would share, and the good they would do, together. A little red bird had been the sign and given her the answer just in time. Ted was right. There were no accidents in life. They had been meant for each other. They had been brave enough to come this far, and were brave enough to face the future together. The future they would share shone like a bright light ahead of them.