But the major hadn’t named America in his message of hope. An image flashed into Martha’s mind—of her standing at the gates of the camp, waving off the last of the DPs, her suitcase in her hand and Stefan and the girls standing forlornly behind her. If they were to have a future together, America was the only possibility. She glanced at the photograph of President Truman pinned to the wall above the desk. How much longer? The words echoed inside her head.
CHAPTER 30
The ship that would take Kitty to the United States was due to sail ten days before Christmas.
“Charlie’s going to meet me in New York and then we’ll fly to San Francisco to spend the holidays with his family,” she said when she broke the news to Martha and Delphine. “He says that when the next semester starts, we’ll be getting a room in the residence on campus reserved for married students.”
“You must be so excited!” Delphine reached out to give her a hug.
“I am.” Kitty’s eyes were shining. “But I’m nervous, too. And I’m going to be lost without you two.”
“You will not!” Martha gave her a wry look. “You won’t miss us half as much as we’ll miss you.”
Later, in the office, Martha asked Kitty what she was planning to do when she was living in New York.
“I’ll try to find a job,” Kitty said. “I thought I might be able to get something in an office. But what I’d really like to do is study art. Charlie says there’s a school of art at Columbia. But I’m not sure I’m good enough to get into a university.”
“Kitty!” Martha rolled her eyes. “You’re so talented. Your drawings are beautiful.”
“I don’t know if we’d be able to afford it, though—not with Charlie studying as well.”
“I think there are scholarships available at Columbia.”
“Even for foreign students?”
“You’d count as an American citizen now that you’re married, so that wouldn’t be a problem.” Martha smiled. “I want you to promise me you’ll apply.”
“Okay, I promise.” Kitty smiled back, but Martha could see that it was an effort. She looked as if she were about to burst into tears. “We will see each other again, won’t we? You are going back to New York when the camp closes?”
“That’s the plan, but I’ve got a few mountains to climb to get there.”
“Because of Stefan?”
Martha nodded. “I can’t imagine my life without him. I’d marry him tomorrow if I could.”
“It seems so unfair that you can’t get a divorce. I wish there was something I could do to help. Do you think I could try to find Arnie for you?”
“That’s sweet of you, but it’d be like looking for a needle in a haystack. New York is a huge city. And I don’t even know if he’s still there. He could’ve gone back to Louisiana, for all I know.”
“Is that far from New York?”
“About fifteen hundred miles.”
Kitty’s eyes widened.
“I think you’ll be amazed when you see what a vast country America is,” Martha said. “You’ll get an idea when you fly to San Francisco.” She huffed out a sigh. “Makes it all the more senseless, when you think of how much space there is, that the government’s so dead set against letting DPs in.”
On the day Kitty boarded the train for the coast, Martha and Delphine tried to cheer each other up with plans for Christmas. They were wrapping presents for all the children in the camp in remnants of pretty, shiny fabric from the weaving shed. Each little bundle, tied with string, contained a packet of gum, a bar of chocolate, and a box of Sun-Maid raisins—all taken from the Red Cross delivery that had arrived earlier in the week.
“It’s not much, really, is it?” Martha said. “But at least we have something to give them this year.”
“Are you going to invite Stefan and the girls over for Christmas?” Delphine glanced up from the table.
“Well, I’ve been thinking about that,” Martha said. “I thought it would be okay to invite him for a meal with us.”
“I think it would be better for the girls if they stayed the night. Great fun for them, waking up with all the other kids on Christmas morning.”
“I suppose so. But I doubt they’d want to be parted from Stefan. And it would be miserable for him, being alone in the cabin on Christmas Eve.”
“I didn’t mean the girls should come without him,” Delphine replied. “He could stay here, couldn’t he? As a guest, for a couple of nights. I’m sure there’s nothing in the rules about that.”