Their dad left for Berlin. And after some persuasion, which involved flowers arriving regularly, sometimes even twice a week, roses, peonies, lilies, orchids, and late night whispered conversations that Tess and Max only caught a word or two of, their mom decided to join him in Berlin in September.

Tess and Max didn’t push their parents on the decision to send them back to boarding school in Switzerland. Although it did seem to Tess that their mom would spend a fair amount of time alone in Germany, as their dad was also reporting on camera from all points abroad, including Russia and the Middle East.

Their father had become quite well-known. It wasn’t unusual for someone to ask one of them if they were related to Martin Barnes, the TV news guy. And Tess or Max would say, “Yes,” very proudly, “he’s my dad.”

Tess had been told by a friend’s mother that seeing Tess’s father on television made her feel a bit more secure, especially since there was so much uncertainty in the world. “There’s something about your dad that makes me feel calmer,” she said.

Tess was proud to hear this and didn’t add her own feeling, which was sometimes it made her anxious, especially when he was reporting from a country that was experiencing “unrest.” That’s what they called it—the preferred expression around their house “unrest”—which could mean a flood or a war-zone.

Tess smiled and told the woman she was pretty proud of her dad, too.

Tess did think both her dad and mom would be excited about the unusual possibility of a snowstorm in London, even if it was only an hour or two long.

Tess buttoned her coat and pulled her collar up and put her mittens on, and as she did, she swore she saw something out the window again, but she didn’t say anything. She didn’t want Aunt Evie and Max to think she might be imagining things again.

She was quite certain she’d seen it though. A strange shadow and a shape. It was probably just a snow flurry.

~ CHAPTER TWO ~

snowflakes falling

Max shut the hotel room door after them, carefully locking it with a gold key on a silver chain attached to a small wooden plaque that said GARDEN ROOM just in case they forgot what room they were in. The key itself was curious. It had a glass dome on the top, almost like a miniature crystal doorknob, with a spray of orange in the middle, as if it really was blown glass.

Tess put her hand out for the key, but Max shook his head. He knew enough about Tess and keys in England to decide to keep this one himself. He put it in his fleece jacket pocket, which conveniently had a zipper, which he closed.