“They will eventually,” Greta pointed out, amused.
“Ah, but then it'll be too late. I'll have gone on to my next adventure.”
“How did you think of the name?”
“Inspiration!” Ola said ecstatically. “It just came to me.”
“Suppose someone asks you to say something in Oltenitzan?”
“Aristocratic Oltenitzans speak German, just like aristocratic Russians speak French,” said Ola triumphantly. “Thank goodness you and Mama managed to teach it to me.”
“You seem to have thought of everything.”
“No, I haven't thought of anything at all. I'm making it up as I go along. That's the fun.”
“And when something goes really wrong?”
“Nonsense,” said Ola blithely. “How can anything go wrong?”
*
It was Ola's first experience of sleeping on a train, and it was like being rocked to sleep in a cradle. She
