“Neither of you needs to apologize. I never should have let Eloise see the newspaper. I’ll be more careful from now on.”

“I agree that we need to hide Miriam’s family here, but we’ll all be in danger when we do. I can’t ask you to stay here and risk your life, Ans.”

She drew a deep breath, aware of the danger she would be in but also aware of her love for her friends. “I want to stay.” She didn’t lie and say she wasn’t afraid, because she was. “I’ll be back after I talk to Erik.”

It was too hot to run all the way across Leiden, but Ans walked as quickly as she could, hoping to catch Erik between shifts. Thankfully, he was home, just changing out of his uniform after a long day at work, and he answered the door without his shirt. “Ans! What brings you here?” His skin felt hot as she hugged him. She wanted to kiss him and linger in his arms, but her errand was much too important.

“I need to ask you something,” she said. “I just read the news that —” She halted, realizing her mistake. She had read the news in the illegal underground newspaper. The newspaper that she’d promised to stop distributing. She felt the blood rush to her face and cleared her throat to start again. “I learned that the Gestapo is taking Jews from their homes in Amsterdam and transporting them out of the country. The Dutch police are being forced to help them do this, and —”

Erik put his finger to his lips to shush her and pulled her inside, closing the door. He gestured for her to sit, then turned away for a moment to put on his shirt. “Ans, you must be more careful about what you say,” he said, fastening his buttons. “Someone might overhear you.”

Ans wanted to shout the news of this injustice from the rooftops. She struggled for control. “I came to ask if you knew when —?” She thought of baby Elisheva and swallowed a sob. “If you knew when the Jews will be rounded up in Leiden? The Gestapo does their dirty work after curfew so people won’t see what’s happening to these innocent men, women, and children, but I need to know when it’s going to happen here!”

He sighed and sat down on a chair across from her as if sensing that she didn’t want to be close to him right now. He bent forward, arms on his thighs, hands dangling between his knees. “We haven’t been told anything specific. But something must be about to happen because they’re reworking our schedules, assigning more of us to the night shift.”

Ans closed her eyes, unable to stop her tears. “And you’ll have to help them?”