Anna frowned and shook her head as the two women stood.
“I just hope that won’t be too late.”
––––––––
Evelyn followed Anna into the shop on Uranienborgveien and looked around, the bell over the door jingling as it swung shut. The small store seemed to both sell and repair everything from radios to bicycles. As she came in, a man about Kristian’s age looked up from where he was bent over a household radio behind the counter, a screwdriver in his hand. He nodded to Anna and his eyes went to Evelyn.
“Is this the one?” he asked, straightening up. “She’s not what I was expecting.”
“And what were you expecting?” Evelyn asked in Norwegian, raising an eyebrow.
The man looked startled, then grinned.
“She said you were English,” he said, setting down the screwdriver and wiping his hands on a clean rag. “My apologies. I didn’t know you spoke our language.”
Evelyn nodded, a reluctant smile coming to her lips. “Apology accepted. But what were you expecting?”
“I’m not sure,” he admitted. “Someone older, I think, and much uglier.”
Anna laughed. “Now I know I never said anything that would give you that impression,” she said. “Don’t listen to him, Marlene. He’s just trying to stir up trouble.”
“I never stir up trouble,” Peder retorted, coming out from behind the counter and moving forward with his hand outstretched. “A pleasure to meet you, Miss Elfman. I’m Peder Strand.”
Evelyn took his offered hand. “Please call me Marlene.”
“I understand you’re trying to get a message to your uncle in London. Why not send a telegram?”
“It’s rather complicated,” she said with a smile. “I’d rather send it directly to his office.”
His brown eyes met hers and he considered her thoughtfully for a long minute before releasing her hand. Turning his head, he looked towards the back of the shop.
“Rolf!” he bellowed.
Evelyn started and he turned back to her.
“I’ll have my brother mind the store while we go to the back,” he told her. “I can’t promise anything, but I’ll try.”
She nodded and looked to the back of the store as a young man with dark hair emerged from an open door.
“Rolf, watch the store for a few minutes,” Peder said, leading them towards the back. “I won’t be very long.”
His brother nodded, glancing at Anna and Evelyn curiously as he went behind the counter.
“What’s the story with this radio?” he asked over his shoulder.
“Mr. Brevig said that it’s not receiving,” Peder said. “I was going to open it and take a look. You can do it, if you like. See if you can discover what’s wrong with it. Just don’t change anything until I return. I’ll check to see how you did.”
Peder held open the door at the back for the two women, motioning them to go through.
“He’s still apprenticing,” he explained, following them through the door. “He’s good, but still has a lot to learn.”
“Is everyone in your family good with radios?” Anna asked, looking around the small storeroom they were in.
“Not everyone, no. Rolf and I are the radio experts.” Peder moved through the small storeroom to another door and opened it, motioning them forward. “Come. The office is back here.”
Evelyn glanced at Anna and followed, her shoulders unconsciously stiffening as she went through the second door. No threat waited on the other side, however, and she relaxed as she stepped into a spacious office with two desks and a large window overlooking a tiny patch of grass.
“Kristian said you’ve been doing this for a long time,” Anna said, looking around. “Did you start in school as well?”
“Yes. We both became interested in radios around the same time.” Peder went over to a tall cabinet and opened it. “Your brother thought we were crazy.”
“My brother thinks a lot of people are crazy,” she replied with a flash of teeth.
He pulled out a large case and carried it over to the desk closest to the window, setting it down carefully.
“In our case, he wasn’t too far off,” he said with a short laugh. “We were very silly in those days. I suppose we did seem rather insane.”
“Is that it?” Evelyn asked, walking forward as he opened the case. “It’s not very big.”
Peder glanced at her. “It doesn’t need to be. I’ve designed the transmitter to be more powerful while taking up less space.”
“How heavy is it?”
“About fifteen pounds.” He pulled an antenna from the back of the case and unwound the cord, carrying it over to attach it to the window. “I wanted to make something portable that I could transport easily to the conferences and meetings that I attend. I got tired of lugging thirty pounds of equipment with me.”
“Thirty pounds!” Anna exclaimed. “I should think so! Is that how much your old one weighed?”
“That’s how much most of them weigh,” Evelyn said, bending down to examine the radio on the desk. “At least, from what I’ve heard,” she added hastily.
“The ones that are powerful enough to transmit over long distances, yes,” Peder agreed. “There are smaller ones that are short-range and they are much lighter. With this one I retained the range while lightening it up. I think it worked out very well.”
He plugged the machine into an outlet and looked at Evelyn.
“I can send a message for you, but I need to know what frequency and where to send it.”
Evelyn nodded and opened her purse, pulling out a slip of paper and passing it to him. “This is where it needs to go.”
He took the paper and read it, nodding. “Pull up a chair,” he said, seating himself before the radio. “Let me see if I can make contact. If I can, then you can tell me what you want to say.”
Anna pulled a chair over and motioned Evelyn to sit.
“What about you?”
“There’s another one over there.”
Evelyn nodded and sank onto the chair, watching as Peder put on a headset and began to fiddle with knobs on the machine. She had gone through basic
