that her father had an overview of what was going to happen to Sophie and Alberto.
But while he was writing, he probably didn’t know everything that would happen. He
might dash off something in a great hurry, something he might not notice till long
after he had written it. In a situation like that Sophie and Alberto would have a certain
amount of leeway.
Once again Hilde had an almost transfiguring conviction that Sophie and
Alberto really existed. Still waters run deep, she thought to herself.
Why did that idea come to her?
It was certainly not a thought that rippled the surface.
At school, Sophie received lots of attention because it was her birthday.
Her classmates were already keyed up by thoughts of summer vacation, and
grades, and the sodas on the last day of school. The minute the teacher
dismissed the class with her best wishes for the vacation, Sophie ran home.
Joanna tried to slow her down but Sophie called over her shoulder that there
was something she just had to do.
In the mailbox she found two cards from Lebanon. They were both
birthday cards: HAPPY BIRTHDAY—15 YEARS. One of them was to “Hilde
M0ller Knag, c/o Sophie Amundsen . . .” But the other one was to Sophie
herself. Both cards were stamped “UN Battalion—June 15.”
Sophie read her own card first:
Dear Sophie Amundsen, Today you are getting a card as well. Happy
birthday, Sophie, and many thanks for everything you have done for Hilde.
Best regards, Major Albert Knag.
Sophie was not sure how to react, now that Hilde’s father had finally
written to her too. Hilde’s card read:
Dear Hilde, I have no idea what day or time it is in Lillesand. But, as I
said, it doesn’t make much difference. If I know you, I am not too late for a
last, or next to last, greeting from down here. But don’t stay up too late!
Alberto will soon be telling you about the French Enlightenment. He will
concentrate on seven points. They are:
1. Opposition to authority
2. Rationalism
3. The enlightenment movement
4. Cultural optimism
5. The return to nature
6. Natural religion
7. Human rights
The major was obviously still keeping his eye on them.
Sophie let herself in and put her report card with all the A’s on the
kitchen table. Then she slipped through the hedge and ran into the woods.
Soon she was once again rowing across the little lake.
Alberto was sitting on the doorstep when she got to the cabin. He invited
her to sit beside him. The weather was fine although a slight mist of damp raw
air was coming off the lake. It was as though it had not quite recovered from
the storm.
“Let’s get going right away,” said Alberto.
“After Hume, the next great philosopher was the German, Immanuel
Kant. But France also had many important thinkers in the eighteenth century.