I was making my way down the hall when I heard Lud say my name. "Eddie!"

  I stopped and turned. "Yes?"

  He ran up to me. There was a big crease in the middle of his forehead. "There is problem with Polish government."

  "What?"

  "Dr. Tomko is here with man from government. Come outside, please."

  "Do you know what the problem is?"

  "No. Dr. Tomko is very cross."

  I chuckled. "More than usual?"

  His eyes widened. "Yes. More than usual."

  I led the way out the door next to the kitchen and into the courtyard. There I saw a thin man in a brown suit that didn't fit him well under a navy overcoat that was too big. He was white, about my height, and had shaggy brown hair cut as if it was 1978. As I got closer to him, I began to wonder if he'd recently lost weight because all his clothes just hung on him.

  He and Dr. Tomko were arguing in Polish. He had an official-looking document in his hand that she was obviously refusing to take since her hands were clasped behind her back.

  As soon as Dr. Tomko saw me, she pointed. "This is the tenant."

  "Yes?" I asked, wondering whether the man would understand English. "Can I help you?"

  Whether he did or not, he turned and pushed the document at me as he berated me in Polish.

  Following the doctor's lead, I put my hands behind my back and just looked at the paper but didn't touch it. I wondered if it was a warrant or something like that. I also had a brief thought about the nature of the Polish legal system but that was quickly pushed out of my head.

  After a minute or so of me listening to him going on and on, I finally said, "I don't speak Polish."

  "I know," he replied, surprising me.

  "Then why are you talking to me in Polish?"

  He didn't answer that question. Instead, he said, "I am from the województwo of Lublin." I didn't understand that Polish word, but I knew that Lublin was the closest big city.

  "Yes?"

  "You cannot operate these housings for refugees." He pushed the paper at me. "This is an order from the marshal. You must remove tents. No tents."

  "OK." I looked at Dr. Tomko. "Do you have places for everyone who's coming across the border?"

  Before she could answer, he replied, "This is a matter for Poland." He pushed the paper against my chest.

  "I know," I said. "And Poland seems to be doing a great job. Is there anything we can do to help?"

  "Remove tents. No tents."

  I looked at Dr. Tomko.

  She shrugged a little and, in a softer voice, spoke to the man. They went back and forth for a moment before the man nodded.

  He looked at me. "Good. Take the paper."

  I shook my head.

  He shrugged a little just like the doctor had and dropped it on the ground. "Goodbye," he said before turning and heading through the arch and down towards the drawbridge. I saw a small brown car parked next to the guard gate and figured that was his.

  As the man walked away, Lud leaned down and grabbed the paper. "I will take."

  To me, Dr. Tomko said, "That was ridiculous. We are breaking no laws, and this was approved by the Border Guard and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs."

  "What was the word he used? The something of Lublin?"

  "Voivodeship. It is a province."

  "Is this about politics?"

  "I think so, but I do not know."

  "What should we do with all the supplies we have?"

  She glanced at Lud. "There is a distribution point in Chełm. You can move them there, perhaps."

  "Sounds good." I looked at Lud. "Can you take care of that?"

  He nodded. "Yes."

  "So, no more refugees here at the castle?" That was my mother. We were all sitting at the kitchen table, eating. Dinner had started with vegetable soup. The main course was sliced ham, cauliflower au gratin (a small dish for me), potatoes au gratin (for everyone else), and green beans with shallots. Slices from a big loaf of freshly baked brown bread were in a couple of baskets on the table along with pots of butter. An apple galette was in the oven for everyone else while a sugar-free raspberry crumble was next to it for me.

  "No more refugees," I said. "Not here, anyway."

  Mother looked at Tad. "Y'all took all that down really fast. I was watching you while I was on video chat with Zoe."

  Tad had a mouth full of food right then, so he just nodded.

  Russ leaned over and asked Lud, "Did you read whatever that piece of paper said?"

  "Yes. It was an order from the..." He frowned a little. "Sanitation department?"

  "About trash?" asked Russ.

  "No. About health. It say that the health of the refugees was not good."

  Billy asked, "Did it mention anything specific? Like people getting sick?"

  "No. It say the conditions are not good."

  "Well, that does make sense," said my mom.

  "How do you make that out?" asked Tad.

  Mother blinked in that way that meant she was irritated by the question. "I just mean that it's been so cold that I can see why that would be a good excuse to shut things down."

  Tad nodded. "You just put your finger on it, mum."

  Mother grinned a little at his use of that word.

  "See, I think this was nothing to do with the conditions and everything to do with who's paying for it." He looked at me. "This country is very conservative."

  I nodded. "Yeah."

  Dwayne said, "That's why our Warsaw office has always been really small and why we do most of our regional security work in Estonia."

  "I love Estonia," declared Lud.

  "Really?" asked my mom. "Why?"

  "It's very pretty and the peoples are friendly."

  "Sorry, but where, exactly, is Estonia?"

  Lud was cutting a bite of ham right then. He pointed with his knife. "North. There is Lithuania, then Latvia, and then Estonia."

  She looked at me. "That's what people call the Baltics, right?"

  I nodded.

  "We Americans are really bad with geography."

  "Not true," said Oksana. "I still do not know where is Kansas."

  "North of Oklahoma," said Mark.

  "And where is Oklahoma?" asked Lud.

  "North of Texas," said my mother.

  "And where is New Hampshire?" asked Marie.

  She hadn't said anything since we sat down at dinner. We all turned to look at her. Mark said, "It's between Vermont and Maine and has a small bit on the ocean in a town called Portsmouth."

  "Why do you ask?" said my mom.

  "I like the name. New Hampshire. So pretty." She sighed. "Is there Old Hampshire?"

  "Yes," said Billy, "but it's just called Hampshire. It's in England."

  "Where in England?" asked Lud.

  "I have no earthly idea," said my mom which made the rest of us laugh.

  An imperious voice suddenly announced, "Hampshire is southwest of London and includes the city of Portsmouth which, I presume, is the reason for New Hampshire carrying the name it does." That was Dirk and he was standing in the doorway leading into the kitchen. He was wearing a beautiful camel-colored wool overcoat with a bright blue silk scarf around his neck.

  I said, "You're back!"

  He grinned. "Yes. And just in time for a meal, I see."

  Marie stood. "I will—"

  "No need, my dear. I ate on the way from Warsaw, thanks to Peter knowing a restaurant in Lublin." Dirk removed his scarf and stuffed it in his coat pocket. "I will join you at the table for a bit before toddling off to bed." He sighed. "It was a long couple of days." He took the empty chair next to Oksana.

  "How was Berlin?" asked Tad.

  "Full of meetings. None of which I can talk about, of course." He then looked at Dwayne. "I had a glance from the courtyard and saw that our tent city is missing. Was it the Border Guard or those sourpusses in Lublin?"

  "Lublin," said Dwayne. "Apparently they don't want queer help."

  Dirk sat back in his chair. "It's more nuanced than that, but that's likely the nominal cause. There's an ongoing tug-of-war between the Border Guard and the governor."

  "Today, a man brought a paper from Lublin," said Lud.

  "Of course. And all nice and official, I'd wager."

  "Yes."

  Dirk sighed. "What about the supplies?"

  "They're going to Chełm tomorrow."

  "Well, it was a noble experiment on the part of our wonderful Monika. I'm surprised the governor allowed it to go on this long." He looked at me. "Any news?"

  I shook my head.

  Turning to my mother, Dirk said, "I don't think I'm quite as tired as I thought. How about a game of Rummy after dinner?"

  Before she could reply, Mark said, "I'm in."

  "Me, too," added Billy.

  "We have room for eight at that card table," said my mom, looking at me.

  "I might be in for a hand or two."

  "I will play," said Oksana after cutting a green bean in half. "But I must learn."

  "It's real easy," said my mom. "We can show you."

  "Good."

  "Rummy," announced Oksana as she played her last card.

  "Damn it!" said Dwayne with a little heat.

  "Are you sure you've never played this before?" asked my mom as she started sorting out the cards on the table for the next round.

  "I have played a similar game, but not this."

  We were in a big room with two fireplaces, both burning wood and both roaring. I was sitting on one of the sofas and close to the larger of the fireplaces. I was doing what I'd done the past three evenings. While mother organized games, I would sit and read old magazines on a tablet.

  Right then, I was paging through an old LIFE magazine from November of 1956, one that had Roz Russell on the cover. It also had a story about the beginnings of the revolution in Hungary, something I'd had to look up online so I could remember how things turned out (not well—something I vaguely knew but didn't remember many of the details).

  Dirk suddenly appeared and sat down on the sofa next to me. "Don't you just know Ivor Novello is going to walk through the door? He'll be dressed in white tie, sit down at that piano over there, and start playing, 'Keep the Home Fires Burning,' which would be utterly perfect right about now."

  "Is that a reference to Gosford Park?"

  He grinned a little. "I just loathe Julian Fellowes, don't you?"

  I laughed. "Well, he did rip off Dorothy Sayers a couple of times in the first couple of seasons of Downton Abbey."

  "My dear, he ripped off Jean Renoir entirely for Gosford Park."

  "He did?"

  Looking over at Russ, who was sitting across from us reading a book with his legs crossed, Dirk said, "Mr. Secret Service Man?"

  "Yes, sir?"

  "Do you have a way to play the YouTube on speakers in this room? I feel certain this whole castle is wired for sound."

  "Yes, sir."

  "Go on to the YouTube and search Ivor Novello and 'My Earlier Songs'. It's about nine minutes long."

  Russ looked at me and I nodded. He put down his book, picked up his phone, and started swiping and tapping.

  Turning to me, Dirk said, "I was but a mere youth when Mr. Novello passed away, but I was more than fortunate to meet his lover, the actor, Bobbie Andrews." Dirk grinned a little. "Now that I'm older than he was when he passed, I realize why he would pay younger men for their company." Dirk sighed. "Before I knew I was an earl, I was someone he paid. I squired him around London in the mid 50s, vehemently protesting at the capitalists while letting Bobbie buy champagne for me. I have no idea where he got the money from. As far as I know, he didn't receive a sou from Ivor."

  "Sometimes I can't believe any of this is real." I whispered to myself, "Ivor Novello."

  He patted my leg. "I know the feeling, my boy. I know the feeling." He then stopped and looked at me. "Do I detect a small crush on our Ivor?"

  I grinned and nodded. "He was Welsh, after all. They're all so hot."

  He guffawed. "You've obviously never been to the seedier parts of Cardiff, so I'll let that pass." He leaned in and whispered, "There wasn't much between the legs, according to Bobbie who might very well have been lying, but our Ivor knew what to do with what he had."

  I blurted out, "He was a top?" I clapped my hand over my mouth.

  Dirk guffawed again. "If you mean, was he the active partner? Yes. Again, that was according to Bobbie who could very well have been lying. Ah!" Right then, an old-fashioned orchestra began to play with the hiss of a record needle in the background.

  A male voice with a proper British accent said, "I have been asked to introduce these earlier songs of mine. Some of the tunes you may know. To others, you will be strangers."

  "That's our Ivor," said Dirk as he stood.

  "What's this, Eddie?" asked my mother.

  Dirk answered for me as he walked over to the card table. "This, my dear Susan, is the renowned actor and composer, Ivor Novello. And these are samples of some of his songs."

  "Who is this?" asked Oksana.

  "A man who was once as famous as Madonna."

  I grinned over at Russ who winked and then went back to his book.

  28. A new pair of mittens

  Castle Gród

  I Armii Wojska Polskiego 75

  22-175 Wołyńska

  Poland

  Monday, February 28, 2022

  4:02 p.m. CET

  "The thing that's the hardest for me to get used to is how damp this wind is." That was my mother.

  We were going on what was quickly becoming our daily afternoon stroll down to the river. We would walk down to the drawbridge, make a right, follow the moat's edge around for a few hundred feet, and then head down the side of the grassy hill. Mother was walking between Oksana and me. Russ and Billy were behind us.

  "Damp?" asked Oksana.

  "In Texas, when it's this cold, the air is usually dry."

  "Ah, yes. I notice this."

  "Here, it's really humid." She sniffed and then wiped under her nose with an orange mitten.

  "Is that one new?" I asked.

  She held out her hands for me to see. The pair were orange and red in a similar pattern as the other pair she had. "Yes! When Oksana and I went over to have lunch with them, Malina gave this pair to me." Malina was Elvira's mother. I was beginning to suspect that Oksana and Elvira were falling in love with each other. Ever since we'd taken down the tents, the two women had been working together nonstop in Chełm to help out with the incoming refugees. It could have been that Oksana was enjoying being around someone who wasn't American, however. But the night before, Mother had told me she thought there was something romantic going on with them, too.

  I said, "Very nice."

  Behind me, Billy said, "I love those colors, Susan."

  "Me, too!" she said. "And they keep my hands warmer than any other gloves I've ever had."

  Oksana said, "Elvira wishes to invite you to dinner to meet her cousins."

  It took me a few seconds to realize she was talking to me. "Oh! That would be great. Who are her cousins?"

  "They are Ukrainian and they come from Lviv."

  "Their names are Peter and Igor," said my mother, "and they're the cutest couple."

  "And they wish to meet you," added Oksana.

  I turned to look over my shoulder. "Well?"

  "I'll check with Dwayne," said Billy, "but I think he'll want them to come here."

  "But Malina wants to make a traditional Ukrainian dinner," said my mom.

  "I'm sure Favor and Marie would love a night off."

  "But not with everyone," pressed my mom.

  Russ jumped in. "Would you mind if I talked to Elvira about this? I'm sure we can arrange for the rest of us to have food brought in or we can have sandwiches for whatever night is convenient. I love Favor's cooking, but sometimes it's a little rich."

  "Yes," said Oksana with a small sigh. "Please talk to Elvira. Thank you, Russell."

  My mother chuckled a little at that which made me realize they had probably planned in advance how they were going to bring up the subject.

  "OK, now, tell me one more time what the name of this river is?" That was my mother. The five of us were standing about ten feet from the edge. As always, there was a very mild marshy smell coming from somewhere. But the water was running clear and pretty fast.

  "Bug," said Oksana.

  "Boog?"

  "Yes." Oksana glanced at me with a small grin on her face. "Not an insect. When you ask yesterday, I research. The name is from Old German. It means something that winds or bends." She made a curving motion with her ungloved hand.

  "Well, that makes sense," said my mom. "From up on the Walk, it looks like it's winding all over the place."

  "Yes. There is other thing. This is the line that is dividing West from East and Catholic from Orthodox."

  Mother looked around. "What does that mean?"

  "This river was dividing Germany from Soviet Union in 1939 when Poland includes Ukraine. Now, we are in Poland, which is the West. If we swim across, we are in Ukraine, which is the East."

  "So, this is a big deal."

  "Yes. Is a big deal."

  "We're standing at the edge of history," I said, more to myself than anyone else.

  Oksana looked at me for a moment. "Perhaps. Only time will tell us if you are right."

  "This may be the edge of history," said my mother. "If so, I'm here to report that the edge of history is cold, very cold."

  We all chuckled at that.

  "Thanks for waiting with me." Russ and I were standing by the river as the sun was setting behind us.

  "We need to go in soon."

  "Sure." I was looking across the river into Ukraine hoping Whit would know I was looking for him and not from an eye in the sky, but down on the ground, where he was.

  I wondered what he was up to. I knew I could go into Dwayne's office and see for myself thanks to that very same eye in the sky. But, after doing so on Friday, I'd decided I just couldn't.

 

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