Up until now, Chris had avoided the Drechslers, but he’d been back for more than three months, and it was time to make contact. He was worried about Mr. Drechsler. “Not the same since Dirk left” was the common comment Chris heard when he asked about him, and Chris’s conscience prodded him to seek him out before he left New Braunfels with no plans to return anytime soon.

As Chris had expected, he found the older man fishing from his folding chair on the site of the Guadalupe River where Chris had spent most of his summer days with him and Dirk while he was growing up. His old fisherman’s hat with its fly trophies pinned around the crown made him easy to spot. His fishing line hung limply in the water, and he was staring off into space as if the rod in his hand had been forgotten. Chris approached him quietly to avoid startling him.

“Mr. Drechsler?” he said softly.

“Ah, is that you, Christoph?” Ernst asked without looking around.

“Yes sir. Mind if I sit with you?”

“Be a pleasure,” he said and reached into his pocket. “There’s an extra chair in the car trunk,” he said, handing a key over his shoulder. Chris took it and said he wouldn’t be a minute. At the car parked under the same trees as always, he paused at taking out the extra foldup chair. For Dirk? he wondered.

“Not much action today,” the older man said when Chris joined him.

“I can see that,” Chris said. “How have you been getting on, Mr. Drechsler?”

“Oh, about the same as always since Dirk has been gone. Just waiting for the war to be over and my boy to come home. I imagine he’s ready now and has been for a long time. I’m sure he’s realized he made a mistake, but we’ll just put it behind us and go on like nothing ever happened. We’ll be moving once he’s home and that will help.”

“Oh? Where to?” Chris asked, his heart holding.

“We visited Oregon a while back, my wife and I, and we really like it. It reminded us of Germany—lots of forests and mountains and lakes, pretty farms. Good fishing there. A change of scene where nobody knows us will do us all good.”

“Have you…done anything about it? Bought some property there?” Chris asked.

“No. We’ll have to see what Dirk thinks about it.”

“That’s good,” Chris said. “Very wise.”

“I think so.” Ernst cast the line farther upstream. “Of course, if he doesn’t come home, we’ll stay here where the memories are…where you are, Christoph.”