Chapter 26

Spiez, August, Wednesday—Present Time

The drive to Spiez took a little over an hour. Giant puffy clouds drifted slowly across the sky in my view from the passenger seat of Emelie’s car, which we’d borrowed for the day. I counted the clouds, then the tiny pockets of bright blue sky between them. We forgot to turn on the radio, and my mind relaxed, worries and fears slowly dissolving as the clouds disappeared over the snowcapped mountains. It was quiet in the car, with only the hum of the road noise. After some time, I looked at David. He didn’t look back, but his hand found mine and held it for a while.

“Shouldn’t be too far now,” he said, taking an exit off the main road.

I sat up straighter and opened the window. Lake Thun emerged from the mountains now, changing from emerald to blue, then back to emerald as we turned. Only a few sailboats were out today, tiny in this magnificence of water, cloud-covered sky, and mountains. I took a deep breath of fresh air and heard David doing the same.

“Quite a sight, isn’t it?” he asked.

“Breathtaking!” I inhaled again.

The car passed through a series of arches carved into the mountainside, and then we began a winding drive into town through turnabouts and small streets lined with picturesque whitewashed homes with brown-slated roofs. I tried to guess which house we were going to. As Ruth had explained, Rebecca used to stay in Spiez with her family all the time. Then the house became her sister’s when Rebecca moved away to New York.

The car finally came to a stop on a gravel driveway in front of a large chalet. The house was carved into the edge of a hill, with large evergreens all around and a lake sparkling behind it. I inhaled the fresh air again and took it all in: the mountains, the trees, the fresh rain scent on the gravel. The first floor was whitewashed, and the windows were framed by green shutters. Decorative woodwork ran along the roof and the small balcony of the third floor.

I heard steps behind me and saw David. He set our backpacks down and came toward me.

“I wish we had more time. I would’ve loved to show you the sunset. Where you are standing now happens to be just the perfect spot. The sun sets over the lake right there.” He pointed. His arm grazed my shoulder, then he hugged me closer, reminding me of how good it had felt in the taxi yesterday.

“Oh,” I sighed, snuggling closer into his embrace.

Why did it feel as we’d held each other a thousand times before?

We watched the lake and the boats for a few minutes, enjoying the sunshine. Birds flew around the water in formations, but otherwise, it was very quiet. It occurred to me suddenly that we were here alone, and my skin began to tingle in a pleasant sort of way.

“What?” I asked, missing David’s question.

“I asked if you didn’t mind takeout for lunch?”

“No, not at all.”

“You’re shivering. How about we go inside and look for those pictures?”

The house proved to be as charming indoors as it was out. Wooden beams, wool rugs, a large fireplace, and cozy furniture were just the basics of comfort in the house. Fifteen minutes later, the coffeepot was going and food was ordered. I could imagine spending my entire life here. Safe. Comfortable. Loved. I hoped my face wasn’t showing the thought. But it likely was, because David looked very pleased with himself as he sat down in a large armchair by the fireplace.

“Come, join me. Relax for a moment. Then we’ll have a coffee and will start looking.” He patted the seat next to him on the chair.

I was about to accept his offer when the room’s appearance began to shift somehow and, suddenly, the furniture was smaller and less plush, and it wasn’t David at all sitting in this chair. I didn’t know who it was, but it was definitely someone very familiar. The image became less fuzzy, and I saw an older man, with graying hair, smoking a cigar. I smelled the sweet scent, well-known to me. There was another scent in the room now. Roses? I wasn’t quite sure. As my heart beat a wild rhythm, the man’s face changed back to David’s, his mouth saying something I couldn’t quite understand.

“What?” I asked in confusion, trying to still both my heart and my mind.

“I said you look like you are in another world again. Is this another one of those times when you’re seeing things as her? My great-grandmother?” David half rose, seemingly in an effort to catch me if I fell.

“I am. I was, I mean. I’m all right, you can sit back down. I just…for a second… You were gone.”

“I was gone?”

“Yes. There was a man sitting in your chair, instead of you. I’ve never seen him before.”

“Was it my great-grandpa Edward, perhaps?”

“I have no idea. I don’t know what he looks like. But this man was older and had gray hair. Maybe it was Rebecca’s father. I don’t remember what he looked like. I only saw a picture of him once, at the Wildflower.”

“All right, let’s get the pictures then. Coffee will wait.”

We went up the large staircase to a small bedroom at the end of the hallway.

“Emelie said this was a junk room where they stored ancient family belongings.”

“No attic here?” I asked.

“Everything would get ruined—too cold and moldy, I think.”

We walked into a room full of boxes and old furniture. David waved me over to a large trunk by the window.

“The albums should be here.” He opened the lid with effort.

“Whew!” I pinched my nose. “I think there’s some mold in this trunk.”

“I think there’s a dead body in this trunk!” David was gagging.

“Trust me, that’s not what a dead body smells like,” I said. “Let’s air it out a bit outside in the sun before we search.”

“Excellent idea.”

We carried the trunk to the deck outside. I saw now that there was, indeed, mildew inside the trunk and on the photo albums.

“I really hope none of the pictures are damaged.”

“Ruth would be devastated,” David said.

“Let’s lay these albums out on some towels to dry their covers a bit. Maybe it will help,” I said.

“Good idea. I’ll go get some. We can look through them as soon as they dry a little.”

“Maybe we should give them a few hours. The pages maybe fragile.”

“Do you have time for this?”

I looked at my phone. “It’s only noon, so we have plenty of time. I don’t have to take the train to Paris until tomorrow afternoon, and I’m almost packed, so I can be back late tonight.”

“All right. Why don’t we go to the beach for a while after we set them out to dry?”

We did a quick job of laying the albums out in the sun and took our sandwiches as a picnic to the lake. Sitting next to David on the towel, warm from the sand, my fingers touching his, looking at the shimmering surface of the water, I wondered if it was possible to make this feeling of peace last an eternity. I lifted my face to the sun and enjoyed the feeling of its warmth gently kissing my face and neck. David pulled me down on the blanket and laid me next to him, with my head on his shoulder.

“You fit just right,” he said and stroked my arm.

I snuggled in closer, enjoying the warmth of him. He smelled of sand and sunshine, and trees, and clean cotton. I felt almost dizzy with the desire to be kissed by him. His fingers stroking my arm sent my nerves into an excited frenzy. I focused on watching the clouds gently sailing in the brilliant blue of the summer sky.

I hoped this moment would last forever, but I felt David pull away suddenly.

“Do you hear that? I think someone is calling for help!” he said, shielding his eyes from the sun.

“What? Are you sure?” I stood up, shaking sand off me and squinting to see better.

“Yes! I hear it again! Over there! See? It’s like a speck in the lake. There is a person waving!”

“What?” I looked again. “Wait, I think it’s a kid!”

I ran to the shore, quickly working on removing my jeans and T-shirt. Several people stood nearby, pointing at the lake. I heard faint cries and saw a small head, not too far from me in the water, bobbing in and out, hands beating at the surface frantically.

I kicked off my shoes and started to run into the lake.

“Shit! It’s ice cold!”

“Do you need help?” David was standing behind me, staring at me in my underwear and camisole.

Instead of answering, I jumped into the water and swam, the icy cold gripping my chest tightly, making it painful to breathe. What if the kid freezes before I get there? My mind repeated the question over and over. I called out to the child, but heard no answer. The little head was still on the surface as I approached, but then it disappeared under.

Shit! Shit! Shit!

I dove, but struggled to see the body. I searched around with half-frozen fingers and grabbed onto fabric. Thank God!

I pulled as hard as I could, and a small and very cold body appeared at the surface. I turned the child over and saw the blue face of a boy who was no longer breathing. I swam as fast as I could, pulling the lifeless body on top of me, no longer feeling cold. David jumped in to meet me halfway. We reached the shore in what seemed like seconds. I fell on my knees next to the boy and gulped air.

“David, I need to start CPR. Can you get someone to call 911 or whatever number they call for an ambulance here?”

I positioned myself next to his chest. The boy was unresponsive; his lungs clearly full of water. A woman kneeled down and began to rub his feet vigorously. Someone brought a blanket and wrapped it around the boy’s legs. I was warming up quickly doing chest compressions.

“1, 2, 3, 4, 5…30.” I kept repeating as I worked on the little body tirelessly, giving him breaths in between the compressions.

“An ambulance is on its way.” David fell on the sand next to me. “Are you making any progress?”

“I’m doing what I can. Here, do chest compressions like this.” I showed him quickly. “Count to thirty as you do them, then stop so I can do mouth-to-mouth. Got it?” I proceeded without waiting for an answer.

David quickly moved to the boy’s chest and began compressions. We had attracted quite a crowd at this point. We worked tirelessly, but there was no response from the boy. I knew that we had to continue until the ambulance arrived. But I also knew that if we couldn’t get him breathing soon, he was in trouble.

Where was that ambulance?

I heard the siren at the same time David exclaimed, “He’s breathing!” My eyes closed for a second, in a silent prayer of thanks. The boy was coughing and shivering violently, water spouting from his mouth. I heard claps and excited cries from the crowd. I turned the boy to his side, while David wrapped him in the blanket and said, “You’ll be all right. You are safe, my friend.”

“Where the hell are his parents?” I whispered to David.

“Who knows? Kids often swim alone around here. They feel safe.”

It was only minutes before the boy was taken away in the ambulance. His parents had finally appeared, distraught and confused. There was no time for explanations, as the ambulance left in a hurry to the hospital. The dramatic scene was suddenly over, as quickly as it had begun.