Katie's Journey to Love (30 page)

A flight attendant passed them, glancing at each seat before moving on. They were serious about this seat belt thing, Katie thought. But little
gut
a seat belt would do if this big thing crashed into the side of one of those mountains. Katie shivered just thinking about it. She pictured a big ball of flame hitting the snow-covered slope as the pilot failed to clear the summit.

Margaret must have been thinking some of the same thoughts because her face was a little pale. When Katie glanced at her a second time, Margaret managed a crooked smile. “We'll be on the ground before long—I hope.”

It couldn't come too soon! Katie thought. Margaret closed her little window shade, and they hung on as the plane bumped ever lower in altitude.

Nearly half an hour later, the plane lurched forward and the engines roared in Katie's ear.

“On the ground!” Nancy said across the aisle.

Katie hung on as the plane taxied toward the terminal. She'd made it! By the grace of
Da Hah
, she was in Switzerland. Chills were running up and down her spine. The flying hours were behind her, and soon her feet would be on the ground again.

With a loud ping from an overhead bell, the seat belt lights went out as the plane came to a stop. Everyone undid their seat belts, gathered their belongings, and stood up, but Katie took a second to catch her breath after all of the excitement of landing and arriving.

“I know how you feel,” Margaret said. “But we made it. We're here now, and the fun begins!”

“That's right.” Katie jumped up, her head almost hitting the overhead compartment.

“Take it easy there,” Margaret said with a laugh. “We have a long day ahead of us.”

Katie blushed a bit and reached up for her carry-on bag. Finding it, she stepped back so Margaret could do the same.

They stood there and waited until the line in their aisle moved forward. Katie stayed close behind Nancy. If she became lost in this country, there would be no easy way to find the others. She mustn't allow that to happen.

The girls soon were inside the terminal. “We're heading for baggage claim,” Nancy said over her shoulder. “Then we'll go through customs.”

Nancy led the way to a circling carousel. They waited until all four of them had collected their suitcases off the conveyor belt. From there it was off to stand in a long line at customs.

“Let's go forward in a group,” Nancy suggested when their time came. “It'll look better, and we won't have to answer all the questions four times.”

That was fine with her, Katie thought, hanging back as the others moved forward. The lady behind the glass booth looked through the four passports Nancy handed her and then began asking questions.

“What is your business in this country?”

“Are you traveling together?”

“How long are you planning to stay?”

“Will you be seeing other parts of Europe?”

“Are you flying home from this airport?”

Finally satisfied, the woman said, “Have an enjoyable stay in Switzerland!”

The girls were on their way, rolling their suitcases behind them.

“Rental car next,” Nancy called over her shoulder. Moments later they arrived at another desk. Nancy gave her name, and while the girl at the desk punched in numbers, Katie walked over to the large windows to look outside. She wanted a first peek at the land of her forefathers, but it looked like just a city here. A section of the runway was visible, and long lines of planes were taking off. In the distance lay more of the city. “Well,” Katie thought, “we'll see the countryside soon enough.”

“Ready to go!” Nancy said about fifteen minutes later. Katie turned and joined the others as they left through some glass doors.

“Number 304,” Nancy sang out. “Help me look.”

Katie took in the long lines of parked cars with numbers on overhead signs. Her head grew dizzy, but the others seemed to have no such problem. She followed them until Nancy stopped in front of a small sedan. “Looks like this is our buggy for the trip.”

Katie laughed with the other girls. This wasn't a buggy by any means. Nancy must be trying to keep their spirits up.

“No use standing around then,” Margaret said, throwing her suitcase in the trunk Nancy had just opened. Margaret climbed into the backseat and threw her head back. “I think I could sleep for a year. Yet it's bright daylight, and my watch says three o'clock.”

“Jet lag,” Nancy said. “We'll get over it in a night or two. But for now, is anybody hungry?”

“I don't think my stomach's in Switzerland yet,” Margaret grumbled. “It stayed behind a couple hours.”

“Funny, funny,” Sharon said. “Well, I'm hungry. And anything would be fine.”

“Then off to the market we go. But first let me hook up my GPS.” Nancy attached a black screen to the dash of the car, plugged it in, and tapped it. “Nothing,” Nancy muttered. “I guess we have to drive outside for a signal.”

“Do you know your way around if that thing doesn't work?” Katie asked.

“Don't even mention that!” Margaret said. “I don't want to wander all over Europe holding a map in front of my eyes.”

“It'll work,” Nancy said confidently. “My brother checked it all out before I left. And if not, I can find my way around. It just won't be as easy.”

Nancy pulled aside after they were away from the overhead roof, and true to her word, the screen blinked to life. Nancy punched away on the screen. Soon an authoritative man's voice told them, “Turn right at the next intersection.”

“It talks!” Margaret shrieked. “We have a man in the car with us.”

“How indecent,” Sharon said, laughing.

“I like a man's voice along,” Margaret declared. “It feels more secure.”

“Let's hope he tells us the truth about the roads,” Nancy said, as she took off and made the turn. “Help me watch for stop signs, girls. They're at different places than they are at home.”

“Like where?” Sharon asked.

“Like there!” Margaret shrieked. “Stop!”

Nancy skidded to a halt. “I told you to help me watch.”

Sharon looked pale, but Margaret had dissolved into giggles.

“She's not going to be of much help, I can see,” Nancy said with a smile before she took off again. “I know we don't want to run one of these things. They take pictures of violators, and then we'll
have a big bill from the city of Zurich coming our way when we return the car.”

“How would they know who we are?” Sharon asked. “It's not our car.”

“The rental company,” Nancy said, coming to another stop. She pointed. “And there's a market on the right.”

The man's voice from the GPS intoned, “You have arrived at your destination.”

Chapter Thirty-Two

Less than an hour later Katie sat on a low stone wall, watching the clear water of a river below her rush past. Centuries-old buildings surrounded her here in the town of Zurich. She could almost feel the presence of those faithful men and women of old who had traversed these streets. Margaret was unwrapping the sandwiches they'd purchased at the small market where English was spoken only upon request. Katie had taken a deep breath and tried her High German on the young man running the register. “
Es ist ein netter Tag drausen
,” she'd ventured.

He'd smiled but replied in English, “You have a good day, girls. And don't get lost.”

Katie lowered her head. Her German must be awful for him to reply in English. She should have kept her mouth shut. The young man probably hadn't understood a word she'd said.

“What did you tell him?” Margaret asked, once they were in the street.

“I tried to remark that it was a nice day outside, but apparently my High German stinks. The correct accent has probably been lost after 300 years of living in America.”

They all laughed, but Nancy came to her aid. “They actually
speak Swiss German in Switzerland, so I wouldn't worry about it. Save your High German for Germany. They might understand it there.”

So she hadn't made a complete fool out of herself, Katie thought as she watched water in the river flow past. This was a beautiful town, so quaint and old yet bustling with vigor at the same time. It was already growing on her, and she'd been here only a few minutes.

“Sandwich?” Margaret asked, interrupting her thoughts. “And an apple?”

“
Yah
, I'm hungry.” Katie reached for the offered items. “Starving, in fact, now that I think of it.”

“And cheese?” Margaret broke off a piece for herself before passing the slab around.

They must make quite a sight, Katie decided. Primitive savages from America. Here were four girls sitting on the river wall in the old town of Zurich, one of them with a camera strapped around her neck, and all of them breaking off cheese with their hands.
Mamm
would pass out in a faint from embarrassment, if she were here. Katie smiled at the thought.
Mamm
would be very happy for her. Ben too, of course. Mabel might not though. Katie shook her head. She much preferred thinking about Ben—and that
wunderbah
kiss at the airport.

“Thinking of home?” Margaret's voice was a tease.

“
Yah
,” Katie admitted. Katie could feel the heat rising on her neck, but maybe the fresh river air was cooling her face so no one would notice. She'd have to think of something other than Ben's kisses or she would be red all day long.

“He is handsome,” Margaret said. “Can't say that I blame you for falling hard. I'd have done the same thing.”

“I've been very blessed,” Katie said. “And I should go buy a postcard. I promised to write to him.”

“You do have it bad!” Margaret laughed. “That's a good idea though—sending something home to our families. Although I think I'll make my contact tonight on Facebook. Cheaper that way too.”

Obviously she didn't have a computer, and Katie wasn't sure what Facebook was. Ben wouldn't either. Postcards were better for them, even if they might be expensive and required postage. She'd been expecting that expense though. And Ben and
Mamm
would treasure every postcard she'd send, so she'd send lots of them. These were days to treasure for the rest of her life. She might be an old woman before she came on a trip like this again.

“Everybody ready to go?” Nancy was on her feet. “Time to start the tour of the Old Town of Zurich. By the way, this is the Limmat River, in case you wondered.”

“I don't care about the river,” Margaret said. “But with my body fortified by bread and cheese, let us set forth. Lead the way, oh brave leader.”

Nancy laughed. “You'd better save some of that joking energy for walking. We have a ways to go.” She opened a guidebook she produced from her purse. “If you look across the river, there is the
Grossmunster
church where our forefathers listened to Zwingli's preaching. That's the place where our faith first began to grow.”

Katie gazed across the river at the immense church with twin towers reaching toward the sky. Sharon snapped away with her camera as Nancy continued. “The church is also the burial place of Zurich's patron saints, or so it says here. The hall crypt under the choir dates from the late eleventh century. The church design is an excellent example of early Romanesque architecture.”

“Some kind of culture,” Margaret commented. “They must have spent years building something like that.”

“I think they did,” Nancy confirmed. “Cathedrals back in
that time were often decades in the building—sometimes even centuries.”

“Do we get to see the inside?” Sharon asked. “I'd like to see where our forefathers sat in their pews.”

“Later we will,” Nancy said. “Let's see the sights on this side of the river first.”

“I like the narrow alleys,” Margaret noted as they walked along. “Take plenty of pictures, Sharon.”

“You ought to take your own,” Sharon said, snapping away.

“Why should I work harder than necessary?” Margaret said. “You take excellent pictures, so how could I do better than having copies made of yours?”

“Flatter mouth,” Sharon muttered, but she looked pleased.

“Over here we have the
Fraumunster
,” Nancy said. “That translates to ‘The Church of Our Lady.' They're not sure when it was originally built, but it was donated for a convent by Emperor Ludwig, also known as ‘Louis the German,' in 853. The way it looks now comes from the thirteenth century, it says, so they must have made some renovations.”

Katie looked up at the single steeple reaching into the sky. Three beautiful stained-glass windows adorned the front. Drawings of angels and the crucified Lord were engraved into the glass along with a multitude of other depictions of medieval life.