Thekla Amité - New Beginnings

So after we had run away we laid low for a while but then decided it was time to go and find our parents. So we went to the train station. We all had a little bit of pocked money that our parents had given us and that Lady Davenport had never found, so we thought we'd just take the train. 

At the train station Merry suddenly pulled on my arm and pointed to a newspaper stand with a horrified expression. There were pictures of us on the front page! Noortje went and bought one and brought it back to us. We were devastated when we read that there had been a horrible train accident with many injured and dead and that the authorities were asking for help finding those three girls who had run away before they had been able to get in touch with them and tell them that their parents had died and that they would be provided for by the state and a nice place in an orphanage was already reserved!

My world fell apart in that moment, but when I saw Merry I pulled myself together. She was the most sensitive of us and was crying horribly. So Noortje and I tried to comfort her while coming to grips what had happened and that our world would never be the same again...

I have no idea how long we were just hiding, forgetting to eat, losing sense of time. We finally decided that we would have to split up as people seemed to be looking for 3 girls together. We split the money we had and Noortje and Merry took off together because it was clear Merry needed assistance the most and Noortje was the best for the job. We decided to meet again later so noone would be alone for too long. The idea was for us to find a new future, a way we could imagine leading our lives. And that definitely didn't include an orphanage.

I decided a girl alone better hides in a big anonymous city and took off to London. I was scared by this big city but I loved how nobody wanted to be responsible so everyone pretended not to see me. I found the most perfect statue when I visited the St. Paul's Cathedral. A perfect angel that suggested to me that someone always does watch over us and one day we will find our way. I walked up the steps to the top of the Cathedral and was just awed by how big that city is. So many people, so many possibilities...

But most time I spent in the underground, where it's always warm, the air seems to be of another world, a hidden world that could just open up behind any bend of the lang gangways I walked down. Every station a different world, busy bustle during rush hour and on the touristy stop all the time...

When we met again and I left with Noortje to Amsterdam we did worry a bit about Merry, all by herself, she's just the kind of girl you really want to protect form the world but her sweetness and honesty always make other people want to help her as well. Her plan was to go back to the States for that time, closer to her home where she felt safer. Noortje and I in the meantime explored beautiful Amsterdam, had tea in the big park, just talked about our future and our past. One day we decided to take a boat tour and we met two women on the boat. They seemed really nice and we carefully started to tell a bit about our story. No idea who started. We told more and more when we realized the two were doll makers and good friends though they had just met for the first time (seems they had talked only over the computer before obviously). I could almost not believe it as they seemed to get along so well. And I realized how much I had missed a grown up to look after me, a safe place. 

Visiting a beautiful little space in the middle of Amsterdam. So quiet and safe in Wendy's arms

The two women said they would love to help us but they couldn't take both of us in. So we decided that Noortje could stay in beautiful Amsterdam with Wendy and I could go to Switzerland with Monika. They would then help us find a new family because really we still need looking after (even though we first pretended we didn't of course). We contacted Merry before we made a final decision and it was like fate or the angel I met in St. Paul's looking after us when Merry told us she had also found a nice woman who had offered to help her find a new home and that she too seemed trustworthy. Her name was Julie and she was a doll maker as well! Sometimes life has a funny way... Like throwing us three girls together, already bound by the name Amité that stands for friendship and then finding 3 doll makers to help us find a new home...

To two woman crazy about fabric this picture might look intriguing when it really is just weird

This friday if everything goes as planned will be when we find out where our new homes will be. I for one am very excited and I also know there is a band between Noortje, Merry and me that will always be there.


Read about Merry and Noortje here:

http://www.invitingplay.com/category/doll-making/
http://www.liefmonster.com/