The World That We Knew

Lea delights in exploring the lush gardens and the spacious, fortress-like buildings at the convent where she’s hiding. However, she chafes at the tight authoritarian system of the nuns. She doesn’t enjoy pretending to be Catholic. The Catholic school uniform, the group recitation of prayers, the study of the saints, and the regimented meals make her feel out of place. The nuns drill her on ridding her voice of its telltale German accent. Lea misses Julien. She approaches Ava, who has taken work in the kitchen, and asks if Ava can help send a message to Julien in Paris using the convent’s pigeons. She begs Ava to teach her how to talk to birds. Ava agrees but suggests they use the beautiful gray heron that followed them from Paris. They strap a tiny metal cylinder to the bird’s spindly leg. Lea begs the great bird, please find him. In the cylinder is a simple message in tidy and neat script: “I am fine, but no one knows me as you do. Please stay alive” (168). Within a week, the heron returns with Julien’s answer, “I’m here” (169). Ava worries over Lea’s infatuation, while Lea is astonished that Ava—a golem shaped from river mud and rainwater—is beginning to show emotions at all, marveling at “how human she could seem” (172).