Page 32 of Who We Think We Are

T he next morning, Kate meets Mikelia at Schiphol. They take the train back to The Hague and arrive at Kate’s hotel by ten. When they enter her room, Kate opens her laptop. “I booked rooms at a bed and breakfast called Graanzicht outside Winschoten. Take a look.”

Mikelia looks at the website. “That’s gorgeous! We’ll feel like nineteenth-century royalty at our country manor house.”

“It’s perfect for what we need. They’re not rooms; they’re apartments.

I reserved two. Look at the living room in this apartment—plenty of comfortable chairs.

We can have conversations in privacy, and they’ll deliver dinner to our apartment if we want.

There are paths around the farm if anyone wants to go for a walk.

There’s a kitchenette, too, so after we’ve talked to Ingrid this afternoon and we know it’s a go, I thought we could go to a deli and bakery to get some stuff for snacks and tea. ”

“OK. But first, let’s talk about the elephant in the room.” Mikelia looks out of the window.

“What do you mean?”

Mikelia turns to face Kate. “I don’t know. How about the fact that you were being hassled, hunted down, and threatened a few days ago? We can’t forget that someone powerful does not want you to meet this lady.”

“Oh, that. Neither Ingrid nor her friend is the problem, and we’re in the Netherlands, not Germany, so I figure we’ll be OK.”

“Well, that’s an ironclad security plan. You figure we’ll be OK. I’m so glad you’ve thought this through.”

“What do you suggest then, as chief of security?”

“I suggest we talk about it now and brainstorm some ideas.”

“OK, shoot.”

“I say we don’t give our full names or share contact information. First names only.”

“Too late. Ingrid has mine from the archives.”

“But she doesn’t have mine, and her friend won’t have yours. And most importantly, before we agree to meet them, I want them to commit to not letting anyone else know they’re meeting us until after the weekend. And we can make the same commitments to them.”

“Good ideas. Anything else?”

“That’s all I can think of. I hope it’s enough.”

A few minutes before noon, Kate’s phone buzzes. “Hi, Ingrid. Good to hear from you. I have you on speakerphone. My friend Mikelia is with me. She’s been helping me with my research over the past few weeks.”

“Hi, Kate. I am with my friend. One moment.” She puts the phone on mute.

“Hi again; I am on speakerphone, too. My friend wants to ensure that I don’t share her name with you at this time. She will decide when and if she is ready for you to know her name. We have decided to go on holiday to Winschoten for a few days. Will you be able to join us there tomorrow for lunch?”

“That would be wonderful, Ingrid. Mikelia and I would love to join you. We’ll take the train there in the morning. And as for names, we would like to stick to first names only for now.”

“Of course. This morning, we have been going over some WWII documents my friend found and comparing them with the information you gave us at the Arneson Archives. We have agreed that there are enough similarities for us to at least have an interesting conversation.”

“I do have a commitment I would like all of us to agree to if we’re going to meet,” says Kate.

“And what is that?”

“That none of us tells anyone who we are meeting and why.”

“One moment, Kate.” Ingrid mutes her phone again for a moment. “My friend said she must tell her son and housekeeper where she is going, or they’ll worry.”

“That’s fine. I need to tell my husband and daughters, too. The commitment I am asking for is simply to tell our loved ones that we are going on a little holiday, as you call it, but not who we are meeting and why.”

“Yes, fine. That’s what we were going to do anyway. There’s a nice restaurant near the train station in Winschoten. Let’s meet there tomorrow at 1:00 p.m. I’ll make a reservation and text you the name.”

“Great. See you at one tomorrow. I’m looking forward to it.”

A minute later, Kate gets a text from Ingrid: “The restaurant is called Roegh Stadscafé. Did you book a hotel?”

Kate replies: “Yes, Graanzicht Bed and Breakfast.”

Ingrid replies: “Perfect. We’ve stayed there before, and my friend loved it. See you tomorrow.”

Kate and Mikelia catch the train to Winschoten at eight the next morning. Kate never tires of riding the train through the Netherlands. It is so green and lush. And flat. They pass by small, quaint villages of red brick homes.

“You know,” Kate interrupts Mikelia’s reading, “Even though I’ve never lived here, somehow it feels like a second home. I can imagine Oma here as a young woman and Grandad crashing into her life. What would my life have been like if they’d stayed here instead of moving to Canada?”

Mikelia laughs. “Well, you wouldn’t exist, for starters, because your mother was required for the miracle of your particular birth to occur.”

“Don’t remind me.” Kate laughs, sticks out her tongue, and rolls her eyes. “But you know what I mean.”

“I do. Have you let Jake and the girls know what we’re up to?”

“No. I just told them we were going to Winschoten for the weekend. I felt bad lying, but I promised Ingrid’s friend.”

“Well, it’s a short-term lie. Have you thought about how you want to approach your conversation with Ingrid and her friend?”

“I have. But I’m interested in what you think.”

“I say follow her lead. Today is not the day for being a bull in a china shop.”

“I’m shocked you would think that of me!” says Kate, and they both laugh. “I will be delicate, sensitive, and welcoming. She and I have both had a big shock this year. Hers being far more traumatic than mine.”

“What do you want from me over the next few days?”

“Just fully participate in everything. You’ve been with me from the beginning. You’ll think of things I won’t, and you’re more diplomatic than me.”

“Will you tell the lady about how you’ve been treated since making an inquiry about her?”

“No. But I’ll find a moment to talk about it with Ingrid.

She knows some of it already because of Oma and Anneke’s record being deleted from the database.

I am curious, and you know me, I always have a lot of questions, but I will go as slow as she wants to go.

And I know you’ll rein me in if I forget my manners. ”

“You know I will. I brought my buzzer.”