At the orphanage, Louise kept herself busy to avoid the anxiety of waiting for the telephone call that would tell them that Pietari had reached Arnie and this nightmare she had caused would go away. She was stirring soiled diapers in a large bucket of boiling water, moving the stick up and down, trying to imitate the action of one of those new washing machines that were selling like hotcakes back in America now that the war was over. Not in Finland, it seemed.
All Arnie had to do was lose she mused. She was sure he’d do it. Yes, yes, in spite of the pride of the Tenth Mountain, the US Army, all that. She also knew that deep down, Arnie Koski was a decent man who would do the right thing. He would never betray his friend or fail to respect him as a fellow warrior—or himself. But, what about Kaarina’s son, Pietari, or his friends? In Arnie’s war, the Russians were allies; in Pietari’s war, they had been enemies and they remained so.
She held up a diaper on the end of the stick, watching it steam in the cold air of the orphanage utility porch. Mixed with the steam was the smell of poop. And he who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” She smiled wryly. Somewhere in Revelations. Yeah, but people who sat on thrones never washed dirty diapers. She dropped the one on her stick back into the hot water.
She knew it was silly to go ask Kaarina, probably for the third time, if Pietari had called. Kaarina would surely tell her when it happened. Still, after a few more minutes of pounding the washing, she walked into Kaarina’s office and gave her a questioning look. Kaarina shook her head. Louise went back to the cold utility porch and stabbed repeatedly at the mass of diapers, trying not to think.