The evening before Matthias was due to fly home, he went to visit Ginny.

"I came to say goodbye," he told her as they sat together on the front porch. "I fly back to Germany tomorrow."

Ginny shivered and pulled her sweater a little more tightly around her thin body. "I'll miss you."

"I'll miss you, too. I hope you'll stay in touch."

"Of course I will! Will you ever come back to Walton's Mountain?"

Matthias smiled. "Now that I've gotten to know you, I don't see how I could avoid it." His smile disappeared. "The only problem is, I don't know exactly when. It may be a few months, or even a year or more. All I know is, we'll be together again some day."

Ginny forced herself to smile. "I don't mind waiting. When I see you again, it will be worth it."

They sat together on the porch until it was almost dark, and then Mattias kissed Ginny goodbye and walked back to his brother's home, and Ginny went back inside to wait and hope and dream.

Several days before Christmas that year, the mailman brought a package to Ben and Cindy's house. Ginny, who was at the table wrapping presents, walked outside as quickly as she could to meet the mailman, who smiled at her.

"I believe this package is for you, Ginny Walton," he said as he handed it to her.

For me? Ginny clutched it to her chest as she went back inside. At the table, she ripped into the package. Inside was a pair of gold earrings shaped like teddy bears, a card with a picture of a Christmas tree on the front, and a letter. She opened the letter and began to read.

Dearest Ginny,

I hope you'll accept this small token of my affection. During the brief time I got to know you, I became quite smitten with you. You are a beautiful young woman, and I'm so glad I met you. I hope you and your family are well, and that you are all enjoying the holiday season. Here we have been counting down the Advent Calendar and enjoying the Christmas market. Mama will be cooking a delicious meal which we will enjoy with milled wine.

Perhaps you and I can celebrate together some wonderful Christmas.

All my love,

Matthias Brimmer

"Look, Mama! He wrote, and he sent me these earrings! Aren't they adorable?"

Cindy smiled. "They're lovely, sweetheart."

"Sounds like love is in the air," Ben remarked.


Springtime brought sad news.

"Tobias's community has been stricken with a measles outbreak," Paul told Elizabeth one day. "Tobias and Sarah are both dead, and Amon is now deaf. Since I'm his nearest relative in the United States, I'm responsible for deciding what will happen to him. We'll have to take him in, Lizzie. I can't just let him go into an orphanage for strangers to adopt."

"Oh, Paul, of course not!" Elizabeth remembered the day the Godseys had brought Aimee home. "We can always make room for one more! He can stay in Max's bedroom."

Paul broke the news to Max and Laura over dinner that evening.

"Remember my cousins in Pennsylvania that we went to visit a couple of years ago?" he asked.

Max and Laura nodded.

"Well, something very sad has happened," Paul continued. "Little Amon and his parents all caught the measles. His parents both died, and Amon is deaf now."

"Oh, no!" cried Laura. "What will happen to him now?"

"That's what I need to talk to you about," said Paul. "He's coming here to live with us. He has no one else."

"But where will he stay?" asked Max. "We don't have an extra bedroom."

"He'll have to stay in your bedroom," Paul replied.

"And then where will I stay?"

"There's room enough for both of you in there. We'll just have to put another bed in it, and clear some room in your dresser and chest of drawers for his clothes."

"Dad, no!" Max was practically shouting. "I can't have a small child in my room! He'll mess everything up!"

"I'm sorry, son, but it has to be this way," Paul told him.

"It won't be so bad," Elizabeth told her son. "You'll get used to it. I shared a bedroom with my sisters the whole time I was growing up."

"If he so much as touches my things, I'll - "

"I'll put them all up safe in the closet, where he can't get to them," Paul told his son. "That's where they belong, anyway."

"Then I can't get to them when I need them!"

"I'm sorry, but that's the best I can do," Paul repeated.

Max scowled.

The family's second visit to Pennsylvania was much more tense and somber than their first had been. As they entered the Bishop's home, Elizabeth saw Amon standing slightly behind the Bishop, partially hidden by the man's body. He looked much the same as he had the last time they'd seen him, except that he was several inches taller.

"Hi, Amon." Paul reached for the child's hand, and quick as a flash, he ran into the coat closet, slamming the door behind himself.