tess didnt need to be talked into sneaking across transgression sent an erotic jolt into our  to Czec passage to t me in bed until mid-morning. y about my age. I needed to kno tion of returning rees, lakes, and  long dormant, in my senses. tecture of stone and exposed timber ly as I ured, and at inns and cafes, t bore familial traces in turdy bodies, fine cures, clear blue eyes, and so Boo cross into t t on the German line.

    Since it  dedicated in 1222, tle at ter of to several times, most recently after orld ar II. On a sunny Saturday, tess and I o ourselves except for a young German family o building. t up to us outside, near te  ran along tys rear border, a fortress against attack from t and the Eger River beyond.

    quot;Pardon me,quot; to tess in Englis;you are American, rigograpake? Of my family, on my camera?quot;

    I blanc being so easily recognizable as Americans. tess smiled at me, took off  on t ts. ters, and as tion t I once  of suco etess took a feeps backo squeeze to t, quot;Vorsic; traig tess opped at , reaching in his small hands.

    quot; do you ; tess bent to meet his face.

    from  tess nearly stepping on t I could barely ligo t  name in almost ty years. All of t quite forgotten. I reac to toucess to  t of mind.

    After t, o rails bele. Along one pature cave, and in front, signs of an encampment, o me like an abandoned ring. I led us a to a traffic. Around tEG pointed to a dirt road to t, and  sream. On te bank lay t anot, and perected tess held my hand and we crossed.

    terline provided safe footing, but cep.  t. o it as possible. At t instant, I o convert—or revert—and lay claim to my identity. tess and I   morning, affecting a European indifference to our  I  ot see t, I s  open o bring quot;socialism ; to ted Czecanks  roll in until August.

    tess loved trespass and skulked along tried to keep up  cunning. After a mile or so on our ermittent sprinkle fell t. t teady beat, but underneat rsteps became audible. It oo dark to make out any figures, but I er.

    quot;?quot; tess s eyes darted about, and surned o side. t on coming, and o run. Sook one last look over cess stopped our progress and ormentors. tared back at us, indifferently cheir cuds.

    Soaked,  forest and found t iable sigruck stopped, and ted y t ;C; to  in and rode atop a mountain of potatoes for a o t Czec my eyes on t we were being followed.

    Like floores ed in pale pastels, te and yelloaupe and verdigris. s of Cruck no c parked at a crazy angle before toe direction, o find someone ured German. e sel side  us for a full ty seconds. Across t ture of t a ramsel near ted to trigger memories of Gustav Ungerland, but noted expectations, conjured along too  was as if I ed.

    Inside a dark and smoky bar, o let us dine on sausages and boiled potatoes, and a dank tle of East German er our meal, aircase to a tiny room ess and I lay on our backs in our jackets and boots on too tense, tired, and excited to move. Darkness sloole t, and ts.

    quot; are we doing ; she finally asked.

    I sat up and began undressing. In my former life, I could  noion. quot;Isnt it a kick? to of Germany, and before t of Bo;

    Sook off s, slipped out of . I slid under ts and coarse ss as sess moved in close, rubbing a cold foot against my leg. quot;Im scared. Suppose t police come knocking on t;

    quot;Dont ; I told  James Bond. quot;Ive got a license to kill.quot; I rolled over on top of  to live for the danger.

    aking late t morning, . Nice for a Mass in Czecin. Nearest tar sat a fe in clumps, dazed and rances may cried to sing along  I could only fake t understand ts rites and rituals mirrored tments of ts and pristine altar boys, tanding, kneeling, sitting, a consecration   a romantic folly, I could picture my former self done up in Sunday clotant, sigs.  struck me most of all  above, cascading like a river over rocks.

    As ted, topped to so greet t standing in t sunsurned to ical sister and pointed to us, aking in te statues of Mary and St. Nicrance, and o leave tess  o t, sured in his grasp and drawn closer.

    quot;t; urned to me, a strange look in ory. quot;And God bless you, my son.quot;

    tess broke into a beatific grin. quot;Your Englis. ;

    ime. quot;I  t. Louis Cat ordained. Fatival?quot;

    quot; festival?quot; tess brig t.

    quot;Pra?ké Jaro. ternational Music Festival.quot;

    quot;O t.quot; Sial voice, quot;e snuck across t;

    aking ly c, asking  ted and laug outside, stood in a corner to ligte, and considered to ters ime leading a group of otreets. Like a string of birds on a telepood just beyond tes, a dozen  sounded like podvr?ené dítě popping up like tmotif of ttering song. it my tention, I started to o ttered like pigeons urned around. epped outside te, I found one girl coo be afraid.

    quot;;

    quot;Sold us t;

    quot;But I am not a devil .. .just an American.quot;

    quot;S;

    Beyond toreets, t bristled ;t;

    tood up and faced me, ;I dont believe you,quot; surned to race off to ood tced in knots,  I ake. But o be frig of t from ot perfectly capable of s from everyone.

    tess bounded tes and found me on t;e tour, baby?quot;

    Fat ;Frau Day tells me t you are a musician, a composer. You must try out t in C;

    In t  at ty peretc before me, t altar, to  t tone from to rock and t against t once I figured out its complexities of stops and bello became a kind of dance. I performed a simple piece from t time in years felt myself again. , not a t ice and fell over me like range snoess sat in tcened to the music.

    ired of t sound, tess kissed my caircase to look over t of t, I quickly broac to Cold o family ory and  o ctle ting access to tral government archives.

    quot;Its a surprise for ; I said. quot;I  to trace tess’s family tree, and tav Ungerland. If I could just find ion about ory for ;

    quot;t sounds like a o do. Come back tomorro;

    quot;But you cant tell my ;

    ors.

    Over dinner, I told tess about to o go back to t. On Monday afternoon, s beloening for t  t off on er s, Fat;I ; o follo. I suspected t icipation greed a o top of a rickety desk.  off the box.

    Instead of ts I ed, I saer score of music for t just common  symper gave life and presence to trument—a raft of ion, Liszts Battle of tasie Sympis, and a pair of organ-only solos by Guilmant. t, Langlais, Co for Organ, Strings, and timpani. Record albums of Aaron Coplands First Sympoccata Festiva, Runned and inspired. to simply listen to it all—not to mention trying my  take mont a feo stuff my pockets , fill my h song.

    quot;My only vice and passion,quot; o me. quot;Enjoy. e are not so different, you and I. Strange creatures  listen.quot;

    I played all day for Fated old parisisms, o tra octave of bass, and  tante. A c t keyboard, and I began to ions of my oerludes. tirred memories t existed beyond to glorious afternoon I experimented ions and  I forgot about Fatil urned empty- five oclock. Frustrated by o find any records of t St. enceslas, and t in toucs of t. Bart. Klara co he records.

    I  of time. Despite tive freedom, ill in danger of being asked for our papers, and  ted to center on ted at reets. I saoo, running in t spending so much of our honeymoon alone.

    quot;Just one more day,quot; I pleaded. quot;te like t c;

    quot;Okay, but Im staying in today. ouldnt you rato bed?quot;

    t late t afternoon, I o find t ing for me at t;You must let me tell your ; ;e  least I t be es are some av Ungerlands can t;

    ocopy of t from t, departing 20 May 1851 from Bremen to Baltimore, Maryland. tten in a fine hand:

    212 Abram Ungerland42Musikant Eger Boheme

    213 Clara Ungerland40quot;quot;

    214 Friedric;14quot;quot;

    215 Josef quot;6quot;quot;

    216 Gustav quot;?quot;quot;

    217 Anna quot;9quot;quot;

    quot;ont sed?  a fine .quot;

    I could not begin to ans bist du? Anna, t c. My moto go along h my dreams.

    quot;I knoimes t is a mystery. But I t for  1859,quot; said Fat;ory fades over time.quot;

    For a moment, t remember Eger or C yet one year old, aken from t from this place.

    quot;No records in t I t ion arc Mrs. Day be t  to see ;

    I folded tuck it in my pocket. quot;Of course, Fato tell e ... tonig;

    t made me regret lying to broken to leave t organ be I . Nicory in my pocket against my . ess, I made up a story about tracing our steps to the border.

    near to see a young boy, peranding by ree.  take notice of us, but remained quite still, as if  mig, and part of me ed to rescue ting a finger to o be quiet.

    quot;Do you speak German?quot; tess w language.

    quot;Yes, quiet please. ter me.quot;

    I looked from tree to tree, anticipating a rush of changelings.

    quot;er you?quot;

    quot;Versteckspiel,quot;  from to cag  as I looked from boy to girl, from face to face, I could not  remember er tess t te and ed to linger aone to stone, fording ter as quickly as I could. tess aking ime, frustrated and annoyed t I  ed for her.

    quot; are you running from?quot;

    quot;ess. ter us.quot;

    So jump to t rock. quot;;

    quot;t; I said, and  back to pull her side.

    After our rip, life rapidly greoo complicated to continue my researco find anot busy semester of scion dreions turned to neies. tess lay in tendrils of steam curling up from t er. I leaned on tensibly reading a draft of a ne actually for tching her soak.

    quot;y looks like it ;

    quot;ts great,quot; I said, and turned t; is it, exactly, t youll be doing?quot;

    quot;Case first. People come in roubles, I take t referrals.quot;

    quot;ell. I ervie t ne doion and stared at ;tor and music teacs a pretty good gig and ime to compose.quot;

    quot;t for us, baby.quot;

    S, and t  I decided. My life oget all odds and despite terruption caused by my fat to start. A beautiful young htub.

    quot; are you smiling about, ;

    I started unbuttoning my s. quot;Move over, tess, Ive got someto w;