Missing

3. Of Free Thinking

When David and Maria entered the kitchen, they found Bethia and Rachel chatting amiably as they prepared breakfast. "What can we do to help?" David asked as they walked toward the two women.

"Nothing at all," Bethia smiled as she turned her cheeks to receive his good morning kisses. "We have everything nearly ready. We started preparing when we heard the whoops announcing the completion of your morning rituals."

"I guess I was a bit noisy," he said as he kissed Rachel good morning. "But it was far too good to keep corked inside."

"I thought I was the noisy one." Maria looked at him and giggled.

"It was glorious harmony, Sweetheart. So warming to an old lady." Bethia walked across the kitchen and pointed to chairs. "Come, sit here and here. We'll have the table groaning in a minute. Do you take anything in your coffee? Do you prefer tea? It's so good to have family again. It's been quiet here these last months."

"Coffee strong and straight for me," Maria said. "That's how I survived those long hours in the gasthaus after classes."

"Rachel was telling me about your studies and your nursing skills." Bethia headed back to the counter as she talked. "Are you going to continue your medical studies once you're back in Switzerland?"

"I hadn't even thought about it. Guess I've been too busy nursing David's wounds and Mama's sprained ankle. I really enjoy it."

David squeezed Maria's hand and nodded. "You're very good at it, and it appears intuitive, so you must continue. You can probably go to a Swiss school and challenge ..." He paused and tilted his head. "When were your exams to be in Freiburg?"

"The first week of June. We were in our second-to-last week of instruction when I left. The rest of May is reviews, writing essays, doing practicals and the final exam."

"This might sound crazy, but why don't you go back to Freiburg and finish your year there?" David asked. "Bethia's truck goes to Freiburg every third day with deliveries to the Kaserne. The house is still in Gottenheim. Your German papers are in order. There's no border to cross."

"Yes, it does sound crazy," Maria said, her eyes wide with shock. "Very, very crazy. We just spent a week and a half sneaking and hiding in the wilderness to get from Gottenheim to here, and you're suggesting I go back. Are you crazy?"

"Not that I'm aware of." He grinned. "Think about it. You thought the border was closed when we left, and your only option was to sneak across. But crossing is irrelevant to this. We're still in Germany, and your papers give you freedom of travel here. The situation has changed, and –"

"But all the time and effort it took us to get here," she interrupted.

"Those days brought us closer together." He laid his hand on hers and gently caressed it. "But let's look ahead, not back. You said you were at the head of the class. You won't need much time to catch up on the missed week. Your instructors should be pleased to assist. Then get your essay assignments, come back here to write them, and review your texts and notes here. First week of June, go back and write the exams and do the practicals."

"But how will I explain my sudden departure at the end of April?"

"A family emergency. No further explanation needed. A bonus to this is you can bring back some 1911 Bestes Fass as well as your clothes and your mother's."

"The more I think about your idea, the less crazy it becomes ..." She paused and nodded. "It really is the best thing to do, isn't it? I love your wisdom. I love your concern for me." She picked up his hand and kissed it.

"I've never allowed myself to care for anyone before," he said, shrugging as he looked into her eyes. "I guess I've rarely thought of anyone but me. Never let myself love. This is still so new and confusing. I hope you'll continue helping me with it."

Bethia and Rachel had stood silently, their breakfast preparations on hold, captivated by the two-minute discussion. "That was some of the interaction I was telling you about," Rachel whispered to Bethia after they had turned back to the counter to finish arranging the food.

They were all quiet in thought as Rachel and Bethia placed the platters on the table and poured the coffee. As they began eating, David broke the silence with compliments on the delicious spread of meats, cheeses, breads, pastries and dried fruits. "This is so different from the Canadian breakfasts of bacon and eggs and grilled bread Dad always insisted we have. I guess this is what Mamère so often said she missed. And croissants; she always talked about how much she missed croissants."

Maria shook her head and frowned. "It sounds like your father didn't listen, or he didn't catch her desire."

"No, he heard her. He's stubborn and set in his ways. 'Bacon and eggs, ham and eggs, sausages and eggs, a real breakfast for a hard-working family,' was his set response every time the topic arose."

"What does he do?" Rachel asked. "What's his hard work?"

"He owns a timber company. He buys logs from the cutters and sells them to the mills. The company has grown rather quickly beyond what he can comfortably handle, and he was grooming me to be the accountant and the administrator."

"So that's why the fancy prep school and university," Maria said.

"Yes, but it was not what I wanted. The mind-numbing accounting and the rigidity of management theory and procedure left me no room for creativity; left me no freedom to explore and to invent."

"So, is that why you spent so much time alone in the mountains?" Maria tilted her head. "Escaping?"

"Escaping, maybe. But more by foreboding – by the sense of losing my freedom when I headed to University School, to prep school, as you called it. Mamère tried to intervene, but Dad was unrelenting in his plans for me. I spent two and a half months climbing that summer, mostly alone until I met Conrad. Three months the next summer, before I went to Vancouver to begin university."

"So, you went straight from school to the mountains and then straight back to school?"

"I paused at home for two or three days at the beginning and end of each summer. Spent time with Mamère and Dad. She was sympathetic, but he was still inflexible."

"How many years did you do this?" Maria asked.

"Four years. Four glorious summers of unbridled freedom, unfettered joy, mostly alone with nature. I'd dip into the valleys from time to time for supplies but headed right back up to continue climbing and exploring." He paused for a sip of coffee. "I needed the time and the space to clear my mind of the rigidity and the inflexible structure of the courses. I needed to purge my system of the steady inculcation of accounting, organisation and administration theories."

"It sounds like you didn't enjoy university. You must have done poorly." Maria shook her head. "Why ever did you stay?"

"The work was simple but so rigid and boring. As much as I disliked it, I did very well. The topics are simplistic and logical, and I was among the star students in each subject. I also took several courses that interested me to relieve the boredom – geology, geography and linguistics. For release, I took long walks in the evenings, and on most weekends, I climbed in the North Shore mountains or up the Fraser Valley."

He shook his head and looked at Maria. "Besides meeting you, the only good thing about this war is an excuse not to go back to another year of mind-numbing rigidity."