Counterpoint
…two or more melodies sounding together…
Hilde sat up in bed. That was the end of the story of Sophie and Alberto. But
what had actually happened?
Why had her father written that last chapter? Was it just to demonstrate his
power over Sophie’s world?
Deep in thought, she took a shower and got dressed. She ate a quick breakfast
and then wandered down the garden and sat in the glider.
She agreed with Alberto that the only sensible thing that had happened at the
garden party was his speech. Surely her father didn’t think Hilde’s world was as cha-
otic as Sophie’s garden party? Or that her world would also dissolve eventually?
Then there was the matter of Sophie and Alberto. What had happened to the
secret plan?
Was it up to Hilde herself to continue the story? Or had they really managed to
sneak out of it?
And where were they now?
A thought suddenly struck her. If Alberto and Sophie really had managed to
sneak out of the story, there wouldn’t be anything about it in the ring binder.
Everything that was there, unfortunately, was clear to her father.
Could there be anything written between the lines? There was more than a mere
suggestion of it. Hilde realized that she would have to read the whole story again one
or two more times.
***
As the white Mercedes drove into the garden, Alberto dragged Sophie
with him into the den. Then they ran into the woods in the direction of the
major’s cabin.
“Quickly!” cried Alberto. “It’s got to happen before he starts looking for
us.”
“Are we beyond the major’s reach now?”
“We are in the borderland.”
They rowed across the water and ran into the cabin. Alberto opened a
trapdoor in the floor. He pushed Sophie down into the cellar. Then everything
went black.
In the days that followed, Hilde worked on her plan. She sent several letters to
Anne Kvamsdal in Copenhagen, and a couple of times she called her. She also
enlisted the aid of friends and acquaintances, and recruited almost half of her class at
school.
In between, she read Sophie’s World. It was not a story one could be done with
after a single reading. New thoughts about what could have happened to Sophie and
Alberto when they left the garden party were constantly occurring to her.
On Saturday, June 23, she awoke with a start around nine o’clock. She knew her
father had already left the camp in Lebanon. Now it was just a question of waiting.
The last part of his day was planned down to the smallest detail.
Later in the morning she began the preparations for Midsummer Eve with her
mother. Hilde could not help thinking of how Sophie and her mother had arranged
their Midsummer Eve party. But that was something they had done. It was over,
finished. Or was it? Were they going around right now, decorating everywhere?