“Oh,” Christy said. “And Thor was Norwegian, I take it.”
Todd nodded. “I think Katie is going to want to see this.” He pointed to the words Lille Havfrue in the tour book.
“What’s that?”
“It’s a statue of the Little Mermaid from the Hans Christian Andersen fairy tale.”
“We’ll definitely have to see that,” Christy agreed. “This is going to be fun.”
“It’s already been fun.” Todd reached across the table and gave a playful little tug on a strand of Christy’s hair that hung over her shoulder. “It’ll only get better.”
With a smile at Todd that reflected all the delightful anticipation she held in her heart, Christy said, “I can’t wait until tomorrow.”
12
At 2:00 in the morning, their train pulled into the Venice station. They grabbed their packs and headed through the ornate terminal, trying to find their connecting train north to Salzburg, Austria.
In the middle of the platform, Katie stopped and said, “You guys, we have to talk.”
“We can talk on the next train,” Christy said. “We have to make that connection to Salzburg.”
“No, we need to talk now. I have to be honest with both of you about something.”
Christy thought Katie was going to say she had felt left out during the past hour when Todd and Christy had gone to the dining car to sip their cappuccinos. Christy already was preparing her apology for excluding Katie and planning their transition to the next train, which left for Salzburg in forty minutes. If they were among the first on the train, Christy hoped they would be able to find better seats than they had had to settle for on the ride from Rome.
“I want to stay here,” Katie said.
“Stay where?” Christy asked, looking around the platform.
“In Venice. The one thing I wanted to see was a gondola. Marcos lives here. He told me a lot about Venice. Remember? His dad has the jewelry store. I’d like to stay here for a day or two and then go on to Norway.”
“Okay,” Todd said. “We can do that.”
Christy felt reluctant to agree. She wanted to see a gondola, too, but for the past hour, Todd had been telling her about Scandinavia, and now she had visions of castles and mermaids floating in her head.
“I know I should have said something sooner,” Katie said. “I kept going back and forth in my mind, trying to decide if I was being a team player by bringing this up. I guess it just hit me when we stepped into the station. This might be the closest I’ll ever be to a real gondola. I want to see one. I don’t have to ride in one; I just want to see one.”
“We’ll need to find a place to stay,” Todd said, turning and heading for the exit instead of for the track to board the train for Salzburg. “Let’s ask at information. It’s the middle of the night, so we’ll have to take what we can get. Are you guys okay with that? It might be pretty expensive.”
“I think it would be worth it for one night,” Katie said. “Besides, we haven’t had to pay for a single hotel yet. We have money to burn.”
“I wouldn’t go that far,” Christy said.
“Or you know what?” Katie said. “We could call Marcos and see if we could stay with him for free.”
“Doesn’t that seem a little pushy?” Christy asked. “It’s like we’re following him. He left Rome on the 6:00 train, and we followed him here on the 8:30 train. That feels odd to me.”
“Okay, we don’t have to call him,” Katie said. “We can find a place for tonight and then stop by his dad’s jewelry store tomorrow. I’d like to see Marcos again.”
Christy tried to evaluate what was going on. Was Katie’s real passion for the elusive gondolas? Or was she attracted to Marcos the way she had been attracted to Antonio last summer? Their train ride to Venice was the first time only the three of them had been traveling, except when they went from Capri to Rome. Christy wondered if Katie had felt the loss of a counterpart when Todd and Christy went to the dining car. Maybe Katie didn’t like the idea of being number three when Christy and Todd were a couple, and she was trying to delay the odd numbering by touring around with Marcos a few more days.
Todd took the adjustment to their plans in his easygoing stride. He suggested Katie and Christy wait with the luggage on a long, polished wooden bench in the center of the station while he did some research.
Christy tried to think of a delicate way to ask Katie about Marcos and if she was feeling brushed aside by Christy and Todd. But her mind grew foggier and foggier as she sat with the noises echoing off the high ceiling and reverberating inside her head. The cappuccino’s caffeine seemed to wear off in a single, crashing moment, and Christy could barely keep her eyes open, let alone discuss Katie’s psyche with her.
Christy was glad to see Todd returning. Once they were settled in a hotel, had slept a bit, and then ate a good breakfast, Christy thought she would feel a lot more optimistic about their sudden change of plans.
“I found a place we can stay,” Todd said. “And it was no small task since it’s the middle of the night. But they only accept cash. How much do both of you have?”
Katie, Christy, and Todd pooled their money and found that between the three of them they didn’t have half the cash needed since the hotel was pretty expensive.
“Why won’t they take traveler’s checks?” Christy asked.
“Don’t know. It’s their hotel. They answered the phone. They get to set the rules, I guess.”
“Isn’t there a place here in the station where we can change our money?” Katie asked.
“I already tried that. They don’t open until 6:00 in the morning. If we had a credit card or an ATM card, we could use the machine. Guess none of us thought of that ahead of time.”
“So what you’re saying is that we have to wait here until 6:00, change some money, get ourselves into Venice by water taxi or whatever, and by around 7:00 we can check into the hotel,” Christy summarized.
“You got it,” Todd said. “And check-out time is noon.”
“I don’t want to pay all that just for a place to sleep for five hours,” Katie said.
“We could sleep on these benches,” Christy suggested.
“Or take a train to Salzburg,” Katie said in a low voice. “I’m so sorry, you guys. I messed everything up.”
“No, you didn’t.”
“Yes, I did. We had a plan, and now we’ve missed the train, and we didn’t make arrangements ahead of time for here so we can’t do anything. We’re stuck.”
“I checked a couple of the train schedules,” Todd said. “A train leaves at 8:02 for Salzburg. It has only one stop in Villach at noon and has a three-hour layover before it leaves for Salzburg. We would be in Salzburg by 7:00 tomorrow night.”
“That’s all day on the train,” Katie said. “Wasn’t the night train we were going to take direct, without any stops?”
Todd nodded. “Yes, but we can’t look back. We’re here now. What do you guys want to do?”
“What time is it?” Christy wished she had a watch. Her old one had broken months ago, but she never had replaced it.
“It’s 3:10.”
“No wonder I feel as if I’ve been run over by a truck,” Katie said. “I say let’s get out of here.”
“And go where?” Christy asked. “Roam the streets of Venice?”
“They don’t have streets. They have canals, remember?” Katie said. “No, let’s just get on the next train and take it wherever it goes.”
“What about seeing a gondola?” Christy asked.
“Right now, I don’t care. I made a bad decision when I insisted we stop and get off track after we had set up a schedule and everything. Let’s go back to the schedule as much as we can. Only, can’t we get to Sound of Music land without it taking all day?”
Todd consulted a small pamphlet of train schedules as Katie talked. “Because I’d kind of like to stop and see some of Salzburg. It’s the only Austrian city I know anything about.”
&
nbsp; Christy added, “That’s because you’ve seen The Sound of Music a hundred times.” She thought of lyrics from one of that movie’s songs, “How do you solve a problem like Maria?” and felt ready to sing her own version, “How do you solve a problem like Katie?”
“Looks like a 10:30 train out of Innsbruck gets into Salzburg at 2:30,” Todd said. “We could find a place to stay and then look around Salzburg that afternoon.”
“Does that mean we sleep here for the next two hours?” Christy asked.
Todd examined the four long benches placed back to back. “You know, I always wondered what a homeless person felt like. Now I’ll get to find out.”
Christy had never wondered such a thing. Only you, Todd.
Todd and Katie had no trouble catching some Z’s on the hard benches. Christy, on the other hand, couldn’t fall asleep. She felt nervous about people walking by, seeing them asleep, and taking their gear, even though they had fastened their packs all together and anchored them to the benches. The train station wasn’t full of people, but enough travelers were coming and going to make Christy nervous.
The more she thought about it, the more frustrated she became with Katie for the way she had thrown their plan off course. Christy tried to be understanding and forgiving. She reminded herself how everyone had been kind to her when she had melted down in the minivan on the camping trip. They all had agreed to alter their plans to accommodate her. She knew she wasn’t being fair to begrudge Katie the same courtesy everyone had shown Christy.
Since she didn’t want to get any more upset with Katie, Christy turned her thoughts toward Todd. Her scruffy-faced sweetheart lay curled up on the wooden bench across from hers, with the hood of his navy sweat shirt pulled over his head. Christy was amazed that he could clock out whenever he wanted to, although she knew she shouldn’t be surprised. Over the years, Todd had managed to clock out emotionally at times when she was wide awake, so to speak, in her feelings for him. Or at least that’s how it had seemed to her.
So what have we decided, Todd? We’re not going to have any more should-we-break-up conversations, but where does that put us? Where we’ve always been? Friends? Close friends? Friends-forever kind of friends for another five years until your internal alarm clock goes off and you wake up to me? I’m here. I’m wide awake. I know I’m in love with you, and I always will be. I’m ready for more. Are you?
Christy closed her eyes and turned over on her side. She tried with all her might to force herself to go to sleep, physically and emotionally. Her efforts didn’t meet with success. Instead, her thoughts wandered off to her family. She knew her parents had grown used to her calling home only about once a month and writing a quick note every few weeks. As a matter of fact, she had talked to her mom for about twenty minutes the day before Todd and Katie had arrived, and her mom had told Christy again how she hoped Christy would have a great time on this trip. Maybe Christy should call her parents now. What time was it at home? Her mind was too tired to do the calculations.
And what exactly would she tell them? “Hi. We’re sleeping on benches in the Venice train station, and we haven’t exactly been eating balanced meals or managing to stay together all the time, but don’t worry about anything. The trip is going great so far. The three of us are getting along just peachy.”
Christy knew she couldn’t call them. Not now. Not when she didn’t have a positive report. It wouldn’t help to let them know details at this point, she decided. It would be better to call them at the end of the trip, after she was back in her dorm room and life was normal again.
Things will get better in Austria. They have to. Then I can send a postcard home, and nothing in my news will be false or strained.
The train ride to Innsbruck and then on to Salzburg turned out to be comfortable. Their compartment had pullout beds called couchettes, and Christy stretched out and slept deeply for the first four hours. When she woke, Todd said he had breakfast for her. It turned out to be one of his oval tomatoes, some cheese, and a hard roll. Christy ate it gratefully and shared her water with Todd and Katie.
They barely made it to the train that took them to Salzburg. But, once settled in, they found their window seats provided a fantastic view of some of the most spectacular scenery Christy had seen since she had been in Europe. It was much better than the view out of Tonio’s van. This was the kind of experience she had hoped to have with Todd, and she scooted closer to him as they gazed out the window so they could comment on the dramatic mountain ranges that seemed to go on forever.
Katie was noticeably quiet by the time they arrived in Salzburg. They found a Gasthof that was recommended in the tour book and checked into two rooms. The friendly owner of the Austrian-style bed-and-breakfast told them that Jause would be served between 4:00 and 5:00. She explained that was a traditional coffee time. However, they were too hungry to wait and politely excused themselves to go find a full meal.
They left their heavy luggage, exchanged their money, and went off to see the sights. Christy wished they had taken time to shower and change before hitting the streets. She promised herself that a shower would feel even better that night when they returned.
Deciding on a restaurant they could all agree on turned out to be easy. Two blocks from the Gasthof they came to a large, open-air restaurant. It offered plenty of outside tables under umbrellas, allowing them to sit below an austere fortress on the top of a hill and watch the horse-drawn carriages promenade by on the cobblestone streets.
After they had eaten Schnitzel and discussed what to do next, Katie said, “We need to find the fountain where all the Von Trapp children danced and sang. I think it had statues of horses in it.”
Todd consulted the tour book while Christy savored her cherry strudel dessert. She didn’t feel the need to run and see and go and do. Salzburg seemed willing to strut by and show Christy plenty of her charms. A young couple strolled past the outdoor café walking a small, fluffy dog. The woman laughed a light, airy titter at something the man said, and Christy saw him wink at her.
Someday. Someday you and I will stroll side by side, Todd. And someday you’ll wink at me like that.
Christy turned her attention to two women at a table next to them. As the women carried on an afternoon chat, she thought about how different the Austrian people were from the Italians. Here the local language around her flowed like a broad river with earthy, rolling sounds. In Italy she had felt as if the entire population was eager to get its point across with whatever amount of drama required. At one point, when they were at the top of Saint Peter’s Basilica in already close quarters, Christy remembered thinking that about Marcos’s style of communicating. She felt as if he were trying to lick her nose at the top of his voice.
“Hey, this sounds like something Christy would want to see,” Todd said, reading an entry from the tour book. “It’s a castle called Schloss Hellbrunn. We should go there first, in case they close in the evening.”
Christy felt warmed inside knowing that Todd had been taking notes again and that he remembered her saying she wanted to go to as many castles as they could find. She let Todd figure out how to get to the Schloss Hellbrunn, and once there, she continued to feel charmed by Salzburg’s unique beauty as they toured the castle. The guide told them to pay attention to the outside dining table. It looked as if it was made of cement with individual cement seats. Suddenly jets of water shot straight up from the seats and from the middle of the table, spraying the tour group with a light mist.
After the laughter subsided, their guide said, “Yes, Marcus Sitticus, the host of Schloss Hellbrunn, had a grand sense of humor. He enjoyed surprising his guests this way at summer picnics. To appreciate such innovation, remember, this was all built in the early 1600s.”
The tour guide directed them to the garden exit. On both sides a line of spraying water shot into the air and formed an arch for the visitors to run beneath. Todd and Christy went first, holding hands and moving quickly under the refreshing mist. Katie was right
behind them, but when she jogged through, the direction of the water changed, and she was doused with a jet of wet stuff that came at her from all sides.
Dripping and laughing, Katie said, “Now I know why the ladies from that era wore those long dresses. It was protection from crazy dinner hosts like this guy. I wonder if his guests ever came back a second time?”
When Christy snuggled under her down comforter at the Gasthof late that night, she thought about how she wanted to come back to Salzburg a second time, if ever the invitation was given.
She wrote that in her new diary the next day on their train ride through Germany. Part of her entry read,
The charm of that happy city will never leave me. When we walked past Mozart’s birthplace this morning, I thought of how his music still resonates here in a timeless, majestic way. The tour book said that people lived in Salzburg five hundred years before Christ was born, because of the salt deposits found here. That astounds me. All Katie seemed to be impressed with was the number of fountains we found as we walked around yesterday evening. At every fountain that had a horse statue in it, she made us stop and listen to her sing, “Doe, a deer, a female deer, ray . . .” etc. Poor Katie tried so hard to get Todd and me to stand on the edge of the fountains and sing with her, but we let her do a solo every time.
Their train rolled to a stop at the Munich station in Germany a fast two hours after they left Salzburg. Christy threw her diary into her pack and followed Todd and Katie off the train. It took them a while to figure out which train they wanted to take next. With the help of an attendant at the ticket window, they made reservations on one of the newer direct trains. The attendant told them the train would shoot them to Hamburg in the northern part of Germany at 165 miles per hour. They had to pay an extra amount, but they had become used to that in Italy.
Instead of compartments, the train to Hamburg had comfortable seats similar to first class in an airplane. Each seat came equipped with earphones and a dial so all the passengers could select their own favorite music.
Until Tomorrow Page 12