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arrival. She was a tiny, skeletal old woman with white hair and sparkling, pale blue eyes. Her hands were full of knots, and she reminded me of a mangled old tree. The woman was unnervingly quiet when she spoke, with almost a whisper of a voice. When she saw me she called me by my mother’s name.
    “Annaliese.”
    “That’s right, Mother, Annaliese’s daughter Tamsin,” Celia told her, but the old woman shook her head and pointed at me saying the name again.
    “Annaliese.”
    Celia’s mother was obviously senile, and I wondered if she really thought that I was my mother. She reached a hand out and Celia kissed her cheek and Julian did the same. I could see that they were both taken aback by her state. It was several years since they last visited Anbetung . The old woman beckoned me to sit beside her and I did so, even though I felt odd in her presence. She took my hands in hers and spoke to me with a thick German accent, but much louder than I expected and in English.
    “I know that you are Tamsin, but your mother is there, too. Two souls, one body. You are she. Zwei Seelen, ein Körper . A chill went down my spine, and I must’ve looked stricken because Celia jumped in.
    “She’s a fanciful old woman. In this part of Germany, the myth often mixes with the history. The people of this country are very superstitious.” The old woman shook her head and waved her hand as if she were dismissing the conversation all together, but I was still chilled by what she said to me. Two souls, one body...
    After tea I was shown to my room which was right next to Celia’s. She informed me that her brother and his wife were tending to business in Hamburg, but they would return to Anbetung before I left for the convent and that I would meet their children, as well. As she pulled back the curtains in my room she told me that this was the room my mother stayed in when she was there. Despite the feeling of welcome, I also felt a little strange to be sleeping in the same bed that my mother slept in so many years ago. Celia must have noticed that I was feeling a little uneasy at that prospect because she placed a hand on my shoulder.
    “Not to worry, dear, you will find that the nights here are restful and as quiet as the English countryside.”
    When she left me, I changed my clothes and washed my face with water from a basin across the room. The windows had a bench seat right in front of them, so I leaned over it to look out. I was quite high up, and as I looked down at the top of a tree, the height made me dizzy. I felt my stomach flutter, but I sat and looked at the surroundings of where I would be spending the next few days. This place certainly was awe-inspiring but there was a strange presence in this room. Two souls, one body , I thought, and little bumps appeared on my arms and the back of my neck.
    It was not the thought that my mother’s soul remained with me all of this time. A part of me always felt that way, why else would I have dreamt of her so clearly and so often. If anything, I found that presence comforting. This feeling was different and it made me wonder if I was being warned. Was she trying to tell me something? I laughed out loud at myself and thought how silly I was. These are the ramblings of the little girl I left behind in London. Time to put that little girl to rest , I thought.
     
     
     
    Chapter 6
     
     
    That night I hardly slept. I thought about what Celia’s mother said to me on our arrival. The worries of starting school and meeting the other girls who I’d be spending the next few years with made me horribly nervous, too. My mind was going round and round in circles when I heard the sound of a creaking floor board just outside in the hall. I sat straight up and the covers flew forward. Had I locked my door?
    A faint flickering light shone beneath my door. My chest heaved and my thoughts went back to the night I heard the voices in the hallway back home. Hilda was not here to lock me safely in.