Safe Haven (46 page)

The community within the fort took on a true spirit of celebration as almost nightly gatherings were held in the recreation hall. Even Ilse could not help but join in whenever someone started the “Hokey Pokey.” And the circle for doing the dance that had helped many of them learn their first English words had never been larger as staffers and agency workers and volunteers from town joined in its joyous silliness.

Ilse had persuaded Gisele to join those who would cross into Canada and back in order to legally enter the United States. “You just never know,” she told her friend. “And as Theo has told me, it gives you options. You can return to France, but if things don’t work out there, you have your visa to come back.”

Liesl was both excited and nervous about going to live with Paul and Ellie and starting the next term in a new school in Wisconsin, but to Ilse’s delight, her daughter seemed determined to make the best of the situation. “Theo told me that there’s a horse on the farm—one I can learn to ride. And my cousins Matthew and Jenny wrote to ask if I might be interested in doing some babysitting for them. And Aunt Ellie sent me pictures of the farm and the school, and there’s a lot of snow, but I like snow, and—”

“It’s not forever,” Ilse assured her.

“I know. As Papa used to say, ‘It’s an adventure.’”

Ilse laughed and hugged her child so that Liesl would not see her tears. “That’s exactly what he would say.”

Suzanne had sent postcards from her new assignment on the West Coast and assurances that she had lots of stories to share with them. Ilse worried about Theo. He had come to Oswego to make sure that she and Liesl had his support. He had even arranged to travel with them into Canada and back and record the whole experience with the box camera that Suzanne had sent to Liesl. But when he thought no one was watching, Ilse did not miss the haunted sadness that came over him. She knew that sadness, for she felt it every time she missed Franz.

The night before they were scheduled to board the buses for Canada, hardly anyone slept. Ilse was aware of the low murmur of voices in the hallway outside her apartment door through the long night, and by dawn most people had already made their way to the dining hall for breakfast. It was hard to believe that when this day ended they would be free to leave—no passes needed, no restriction in time or miles from the fort. They could leave and start living their lives. Theo had already made arrangements for Ilse, Liesl, and Gisele to spend this night in the hotel where he was staying.

The buses were unusually quiet as everyone boarded and found seats. The same anxious uncertainty that had traveled with them from Italy to New York seemed to have returned. Would it all work out? Ilse sat with Gisele across from Theo and Liesl as the bus traveled west toward Rochester and then on to Buffalo following the shoreline of Lake Ontario. As they neared Niagara Falls the chatter and aura of excitement on the bus increased. Then they saw the bridge. At the same time the thunder of the falls filled the air.

“Oh my,” Gisele whispered as she stared out at the impressive steel arches.

On the Canadian side, everyone got off the bus and formed a line. Representatives of the Canadian government as well as the American embassy welcomed them to Canada and then handed them the precious document that was their passport to freedom. There was not a dry eye on the bus as they reboarded, clutching their precious proof of legal reentry on the American side of the falls.

“Mom, there’s a real rainbow,” Liesl squealed as she pressed closer to the window with a view of the falls. Sure enough, a beautiful rainbow arched its way through the mist of the falls. Ilse clutched Gisele’s hand. “We are free,” she said.

“Finally,” Gisele agreed, and for the first time that Ilse could ever remember, her friend—this elegant, cynical, sophisticated woman—giggled like a schoolgirl.

The only thing that could possibly have made the day better for Theo would have been to share it with Suzanne. He could hardly wait for the bus to return to the fort so he could help Ilse and Gisele get their things and go with him to the hotel. Tomorrow they would board a train for Wisconsin, while he headed in the opposite direction, across the Atlantic, to start his work with the AFSC. Tonight would be his last chance to talk with Suzanne for some time, and he planned to memorize the sound of her voice, her laughter … even her tears, which he was certain would come when they had to say good-bye.

He had just gotten Ilse and the others settled in their hotel room for the night when the telephone in his room rang. “Mr. Bridgewater?”

“Yes?”

“Could you please come to the lobby? There is a matter of urgency we need to speak with you about.”

Now what?
He glanced at the small alarm clock he’d set by the bed. He was supposed to call Suzanne in fifteen minutes. “Can this wait? I have a call I need to make and—”

He was aware that the hotel staffer had covered the receiver and was speaking to someone else, but he could not make out what they were saying. “Please sir, if you could come now.”

“All right.” He had removed his tie and suit coat as well as his shoes, but other than the shoes, he decided not to bother putting on the rest. As he walked quickly to the elevator, he rolled down the sleeves of his white shirt—gone limp after the long day he’d had—and buttoned the cuffs. On the elevator, he ran his fingers through his hair to make it more presentable. There was nothing he could do about the five-o’clock shadow that had sprouted on his face.

The elevator doors opened to a mostly deserted lobby. He headed straight for the front desk. “I’m Theo Bridgewater,” he said. “What is this about?”

The desk clerk grinned at him. “You have a guest, sir.”

Theo turned to where the clerk pointed and saw Suzanne standing next to a chair that had been facing away from the elevator.

“Hi.”

Theo was speechless with surprise. “What … where … how …”

Suzanne ran to him and kissed him. “You know something, Theo Bridgewater? I got out to California and got to thinking about all that stuff you said about finding our individual contentment and such?”

“Suzanne, what are you—”

“Here’s the thing. I’ve had a career—I may still have a career—but it will not be in California or anywhere else that keeps me away from you.”

“What have you done?”

“I have chosen us, Theo. I resigned the position with the
Times
and called Edwin—who by the way was delighted to tell me that he was glad I had finally come to my senses. I proposed a series of articles for his paper about the work of the AFSC, and he agreed that it would indeed sell papers so he put in a call to somebody who knew somebody and, well, I’m here.”

“But I have to leave—”

“Whither thou goest, my love. It’s all arranged.”

“You’re coming with me?”

“That’s the plan.” Suddenly she released him and took a step back. “Unless, of course … I mean if you’d rather I didn’t …”

He pulled her back into his arms and kissed her. Then he looked over his shoulder at the desk clerk, who was trying hard to appear as if he hadn’t been watching and listening. “Excuse me, but is there a justice of the peace who keeps late hours?”

The clerk grinned. “I’ll give him a call. Shall I ask him to come here to perform the ceremony?”

Suzanne and Theo were married in the lobby of the Oswego Hotel at midnight on January 18, 1946, with Gisele, Ilse, and Liesl in attendance. The hotel manager arranged a reception for the wedding party and their invited guests—those on duty in the hotel that night—in the dining room.

The following morning, Suzanne and Theo called their parents with the news and saw Ilse, Gisele, and Liesl to their train. Afterward they settled into a compartment of a train headed east to New York City.

“You’re sure about this?” Theo asked, still not quite able to believe his good fortune.

“Theo, I am your wife, and together we are about to do what we both have learned we are very good at: you are going to help a whole new group of displaced people start again, and I am going to tell their stories to the world.”

“And when that work is done?”

“It will never be done.” Suzanne smiled and looked at him with love-filled eyes. “But somewhere along the way we’re going to have children of our own, and when they are old enough, we will tell them about the people of Fort Ontario—about their courage, their patience, and their rainbow ending.”

Discussion Questions

1. In the Peacemaker series, historical events and places have been used that many people are unaware of. Talk about what you know of the White Rose in Germany, the concentration camp known as Sobibor, the escape routes across Europe used to get Allied airmen to safety, and the Fort Ontario Emergency Refugee Shelter that is the setting for much of this book.

2. Suzanne is almost obsessed with her career—why?

3. Theo is a man of faith, yet he struggles with his desire for something beyond farming. Discuss whether or not you think his struggle is God driven or ego driven.

4. Ilse is perhaps the character who must make the greatest shift from the woman she was in book one and the woman she has become in this book. How has she come to be this stronger person?

5. The end of the story for Gisele is unresolved—where do you think she goes from here?

6. Detlef Buch is a complex character. How did you feel about him?

7. Herr Buch’s story is also unresolved. What do you think happens to him?

8. In the Quaker faith there is the belief that every human being is born with the Spirit of God (or the Light) within and that the task is to maintain contact with that Spirit as we move through our daily lives. They elect to do this through prayer and silence. How do you connect with God’s Spirit within you?

9. If there is good in every person, how do we explain evil such as that found in Adolf Hitler and in more modern dictators and tyrants?

10. The backdrop for each book of this series is war, yet the characters are all on a journey to find their personal peace. Talk about how each main character finds that peace in spite of the circumstances.

A
CKNOWLEDGMENTS

The secret of happiness is freedom. The secret of freedom is courage
.

Thucydides, fifth-century historian/general

If there is a way to sum up the stories of this series, this line from Thucydides is it. This third and final story of the Peacemakers series has been such a wonderful experience for me. I am one of those weird people who really enjoys research—especially historical research. With that in mind I traveled to Oswego, New York, to learn more of the story of the Fort Ontario Emergency Refugee Center. I was warmly welcomed by several staff members at the small museum now housed in what was the administration building while the refugees were in residence. The museum preserves a wonderful exhibition of the story of these nine hundred–plus refugees fleeing Hitler and his regime.

My guide was a lovely young woman—Rebecca Fisher—who told me that although she had lived in Oswego most of her life, she had not until very recently known the story of this final use for a fort and military installation that dated back to the French and Indian War. As Rebecca led me on a tour of the grounds we saw a remnant of the barbed wire and chain-link fence that had once surrounded the installation. The barracks and many of the community buildings are all gone now, but standing above the shoreline of Lake Ontario, it isn’t difficult to imagine what things would have looked like when the refugees first arrived that August morning in 1944.

I asked Rebecca to be my expert reader for this story and she agreed. On top of that she continued to send me information, data, and wonderfully poignant photographs of life in the fort. I quite simply could not have written this story without her. I must also thank the people of Oswego who seem to have treasured their history and preserved key buildings such as the library and the movie theater that helped me “see” Oswego as it might have been in the 1940s.

I am grateful to everyone at Barbour Books and my editor, Annie Tipton, for this opportunity to tell these stories. I also thank Becky Durost Fish for her editing and revision notes. And always I am so blessed to have had my agent, Natasha Kern, in my corner, believing in me and making dreams come true. I hope you enjoy this story and I look forward to hearing from you. As always you can reach me via my website (
www.booksbyanna.com
) or by snail mail at P.O. Box 161, Thiensville, WI 53092. All best wishes to you, and may God hold you in His Light.

Anna Schmidt
October 2013