The final chapter of this famous children's classic, Chapter 29, entitled "The New Beginning," gives a very clear indication of the kind of future that the children enjoy now that they are safe in Switzerland and have rediscovered their parents. Although all of them have been greatly impacted by their time of wanderings and war, the stability and love that they receive as part of this "new beginning" does a lot to restore them to health and happiness. Bronia, for example is able to have her "talent for drawing" developed, and she is able to move away from drawing visions of war to happier topics. The book suggests therefore that she will eventually become an artist. Edek, although he needs to go to a sanitorium to recover his health, is finally able to fulfill his childhood dream of becoming an engineer. Jan is the child who struggles most with his new beginning, but his talent with working with animals clearly manifests itself as Ruth discovers:

She took him to neighbouring farms, and soon the farmers found that he could do anything with a sick animal. If a cow was ill or a horse lame, they found it would get better more quickly if they sent for Jan instead of the vet.

Although it is unlikely that Jan would train to be a vet, it is clear that he will have some kind of future working with animals in a more unofficial capacity, and perhaps become a farmer himself. Lastly, the book ends with Ruth, who trained to be a teacher, married a Frenchman and came to set up a second French house in the same village as her parents.