"Oh." Everything was silent for a few minutes. "Well, maybe she and her family were able to escape in time," Elizabeth suggested.
Paul sighed. "I've always hoped so."
Their food arrived, and the conversation slowed for a few minutes. "That was delicious," Elizabeth said to Paul when they were finished eating. "Thank you for taking me out to dinner."
"You're very welcome," Paul replied. "The night isn't over, you know. We still have the movie."
The movie he took her to see was called 'The Enchanted Cottage.' As they were watching it, Elizabeth felt Paul's hand slip into hers. A thrill of joy went through her as she grasped it firmly. They held hands all the way through the movie, and then Paul drove her back home and walked her to the doorstep.
"I had a really nice time tonight," Paul told Elizabeth. "Thanks for going out with me."
"Thank you for taking me out," Elizabeth replied. "I had a very nice time, too."
"Would it be all right if I kissed you?" asked Paul.
"I'd like that," said Elizabeth.
Softly his lips met hers. She thought that it felt very nice.
"Good-night, Elizabeth." Lightly he touched her hair before walking back to his car.
Over the next few weeks, it became routine for Paul to take Elizabeth out to dinner and a movie every Friday night. He often visited her on Saturdays as well, and they went fishing or for walks in the woods, talking about all kinds of things.
"So, what was it like to grow up in such a large family?" Paul asked Elizabeth one day.
"Being the youngest girl meant I never got new clothes or shoes," Elizabeth replied. "Mary Ellen's clothes and shoes always got handed down first to Erin and then to me, and they were usually pretty well worn by the time I got them."
"But at least you had a lot of playmates," said Paul. "Mathias wasn't born until I was twelve, so I was an only child for most of the time I was growing up."
"I can't even imagine what that would be like." Elizabeth laughed.
Paul grinned. "I'll bet."
She told him stories of her childhood growing up on Walton's Mountain, of how she was badly traumatized by a Ferris wheel ride at the carnival one year, the time she'd broken both legs after tumbling from a stack of loose logs and the temporary paralysis that had followed, the strange events that had surrounded her thirteenth birthday, the sad loss of her teacher, Ms. Lamphere. He told her about moving from Wisconsin to Germany at a young age and of adjusting to a different culture and surroundings. Having been raised bilingual, he'd already known the language.
"It must be fascinating to know two languages," Elizabeth remarked.
"I suppose I've always just taken it for granted," Paul replied. "I could teach you German, if you like."
"That would be great!"
He taught her many words and phrases: 'ja', nein', 'bitte', 'danke', 'hallo', 'auf wiedershen'. He played 'Muss I Denn' on his guitar and sang it for her.
"It's funny how much alike some words sound in German and English," Elizabeth remarked one day.
"That's because English is a Germanic language," Paul told her. "The Anglo-Saxons and Celts who settled the British Isles were originally from Germany. They brought their language with them. If you've ever heard Old English spoken, it sounds remarkably like German."
John and Olivia invited Paul to spend Thanksgiving with them. Having lived his earliest years in Wisconsin, he was familiar with the tradition. Olivia prepared her usual meal, and everyone enjoyed watching little Virginia toddle around. She could say many words and even a few sentences now. John Curtis could talk fluently now and was full of questions.
"It must be nice to have a niece and a nephew," Paul remarked.
"I love both of them very much," Elizabeth replied. "I've always thought of babysitting them as practice for when I have my own kids."
Paul smiled.
