"That must have been just horrible, to have been imprisoned!" Aimee exclaimed.

Paul gave a slight smile. "I was very glad to be released."

"Those awful Germans!" Aimee shook her head. "I sure hope they didn't torture you!"

"Not unless you count being separated from your home and everyone you love as torture."

"Oh, you poor thing!" said Aimee. "Well, I'm glad you're free at last!"

Paul smirked. "So am I."

As soon as they were outside the store, Paul grinned and handed something to Elizabeth. She saw that it was a gumball.

"Thanks!" she said, popping it into her mouth. "So, what did you think of her?" she asked a little while later.

"Corabeth? To be honest, I wasn't that impressed with her. Is she always so snooty? It seems unnatural somehow, like she's pretending to be something she isn't. I really like her husband. He seems much more genuine."

Elizabeth laughed. "That's just the way Corabeth is. We're all used to it, but I was really talking about Aimee."

Paul shrugged. "She's all right, I guess. But I've always preferred redheads to blondes."

Elizabeth was immensely relieved.

Paul started working at the saw mill the following week as planned, and not long after that, Elizabeth began her last year of high school. She was happy to be back in class, as her life had gotten considerably more boring with Paul away at work every day. The morning of the first day of school, Paul was getting ready to leave with John when she came to the breakfast table.

"So today's the big day, huh?" he asked.

"Yeah," she said softly.

"Nervous?" he asked.

She shrugged. "Not really." Her marks had been at the top of the class the previous year.

"You'll do fine. I know you will." He kissed her cheek before leaving, and she had a smile on her face for the rest of the morning.


Paul found a small house near the Waltons to move into. Elizabeth spent most of one weekend helping him pack.

"It's gonna be really different not having you around the house anymore," she told him.

He touched her cheek. "I'll be right nearby. It's not like I'm moving to California."

"Yeah, I know."

He came to her and put his arms around her. Surprised but elated, she rested her head on his shoulder. "I'll still come around a lot, I promise."

The weather turned cooler, and the leaves changed color and began to fall from the trees. One chilly morning was the start of a very special day for Elizabeth.

"Good morning, birthday girl!" John greeted his youngest daughter.

"It's so hard to believe you're eighteen years old now!" Olivia exclaimed.

She'd made her daughter's favorite breakfast, blueberry pancakes. "Thanks, Mom," Elizabeth said as she gobbled them down.

Aimee was waiting to walk to school with her as usual. "Happy birthday!" she cried. "This is for you."

Elizabeth opened the package her friend handed her to find a pair of pearl earrings inside. "Thank you!" she said as she gave her friend a hug.

When Elizabeth got home from school that day, her parents gave her her birthday presents from them. Her father had given her a copy of the novel 'Gone With The Wind.'

"I remember how you liked the movie," he told her. "I thought you might enjoy reading the book as well."

Olivia had knitted her daughter a sweater for her birthday. "It's beautiful, and so soft!" Elizabeth exclaimed. "Thank you!" She hugged both her parents.

About thirty minutes before dinnertime, the doorbell rang. To Elizabeth's great joy, Paul stood there dressed in his nicest clothes and holding a bouquet of flowers.

"Happy birthday!" he said to Elizabeth, handing the flowers to her.

"They're lovely! Thank you!" she exclaimed.

"Ready to go?" he asked.

"Where?"

"I'm taking you out to dinner and a movie for your birthday." He hesitated. "If you want to go, that is."

"I'd love to," said Elizabeth. "Just let me change first."

"You look fine just as you are," Paul assured her.

"Are you sure?"

He laughed. "Of course I am!"

He took her to the nicest restaurant in town. "I've never been here before," she confessed.

"Neither have I," he said. "A co-worker at the mill told me about it."

While they waited for their meals to arrive, Elizabeth asked Paul about his childhood in Wisconsin.

"The winters are much colder there than they are here," he told her. "Some of my earliest memories are of spending the morning sledding down the hill and then coming inside to drink hot apple cider by the fireplace."

"Sounds really cozy," Elizabeth remarked. "So, did you ever have a girlfriend back in Germany?"

"There was a girl named Gretchen." Paul's eyes held a faraway look. "She sat right beside me in school, and we used to spend every spare minute in class talking to each other. She was very intelligent, just like you are, Elizabeth. We used to talk about our dreams for the future. One day she just never showed up for class. I never heard from her again."

"Gosh, that's really strange," said Elizabeth. "I wonder whatever happened to her?"

"She was Jewish," Paul said grimly.