"It was a beautiful ceremony," Patty said to Naomi Cohen. The two of them were enjoying wine after the bar mitzvah of Naomi's younger brother, Benjamin.

"It was," Naomi agreed. The two of them took a few steps away from the crowd who'd gathered around the table, which held a large assortment of refreshments. "He worked so hard to memorize his Torah portion. He was so scared he'd make a mistake!"

"He said it perfectly!" Patty bit into a pastry. "You must be so proud of him!"

"Oh I am - we all are!" Naomi took another sip of wine. "Did you have a bat mitzvah back in the United States?"

Patty wrinkled her nose. "I had one, but it was very small. Not that many Jews live in Jenkinsville."

"But didn't you attend synagogue there?"

"Yeah, and it was full of old people!" Both girls laughed, but then Patty looked thoughtful. "That was only a few months after I met Anton."

"Dr. Reiker?"

Patty nodded. "He was a German prisoner of war who'd escaped the camp and was on the run. I hid him in the loft over my parents' garage."

Naomi choked on her wine. Patty had to pound on her back. "Dr. Reiker was a German soldier?" she asked when she could speak again. "I never would have guessed!"

"His mother's English. That's why he's in London. He's here taking care of his grandmother. She had a stroke. Anyway, after awhile, he got scared my family might be in danger because of him, so he left and went on the run again. After awhile, some FBI agents came and told me he'd been shot and died later at the hospital. They showed me the shirt he'd been wearing. It had a bullet hole and blood."

"Oh no, Patty!" Naomi embraced her friend. "That must have been horrible for you! But how did you find out he was still alive?"

"It wasn't until I came to university in England on a scholarship. I went horseback riding with my friend Lucy and fell off and broke my arm. Anton was the doctor who set it for me."

"And you've kept in touch since then?"

Patty nodded. "It's complicated, though."

"What do you mean?"

"Lucy and her parents and brothers were killed in that train wreck that just happened."

"You can't be serious!"

"It's true, Naomi. The only one in the family who survived was Lucy's sister, Susan, because she wasn't on the train."

"You're so young to have gone through so much!" It was all Naomi could think of to say.

Patty nodded, feeling tears form beneath her eyelids. "The hardest part is - I just feel so alone! My family is all back in the United States, and I don't have a good relationship with any of them anyway, except my sister Sharon, and she's only eleven."

"Maybe you could talk with the rabbi," Naomi suggested. "I'm sure he'll be glad to help any way he can."

Patty sighed. "Maybe, if I can work up the nerve."

"You don't have to be afraid of him. That's what he's there for - to help people in need."

"Thank you very much for the trip," Susan said to Anton as he dropped her off at her flat.

"You are quite welcome," he replied. "I enjoyed our time together."

"So did I." She bit her bottom lip. "Will I see you again?"

Taken aback, Anton wasn't sure how to reply. Gentleman that he was, he had no intention of simply disappearing from her life, and yet - the feelings he had for Patty still tugged at his heart, and they couldn't be ignored.

"Would you like that?" he finally asked.

Susan hesitated. She remembered what Anton had said about Aslan sending him back to earth because Patty still needed him. She didn't want to be selfish, and yet - she couldn't help feeling just a little like a drowning person letting go of a raft so another could take it.

"What if we just take it day by day and see how it goes," Anton suggested.

"All right." She nodded, relief sweeping over her. She watched as his car disappeared into the distance, then turned to enter her lonely, quiet flat.

As she walked into the kitchen to brew a kettle of tea, she wondered whether she really could make it all alone. Her family had been there for her her whole life, but now they were gone. She'd lost touch with Joan and Helen as well. They hadn't turned out to be good friends, after all. Then Anton had appeared. Could she let him go as well, for the sake of another?

She finished her tea, then decided to take a walk to help clear her head. As she approached the corner, she noticed a young man standing there. He looked like he was waiting for someone. As she drew closer, her heart almost stopped.

Could it be? Caspian!