Erik started to speak, but she stopped him. “Don’t say you have no choice. If every man on the police force refused to —”

“If we refused, we would be sent to the labor camps along with the Jews we’re defending. Listen, Ans, I’m as trapped as your friends are. They have no place to run or hide, and neither do I. How can I get out? Where would I go? Home to Java? The Japanese are all over the Pacific, and they’re even more bloodthirsty than the Nazis. There’s nothing we can do.”

“Don’t tell me that! There must be something!”

Erik slowly shook his head. She thought she saw tears in his eyes. Then the muscles in his face tensed as he clenched his jaw to keep his tears from falling. He stood. “I was just about to fix something to eat. A dish with spices from home. Stay and have dinner with me, Ans, and then I’ll walk you home before curfew.” He reached for her hand, but she hesitated. “Please? I’ll show you how we cook in Java. You’ll need to know for after we’re married.”

Ans wiped her eyes and accepted his hand.

Erik had told her what she needed to know. Miriam and her family had to go into hiding right away. But Ans couldn’t bear to think that Erik might be the one who pounded on their door in the middle of the night.

CHAPTER 27

Miriam had the Sabbath table set and dinner prepared by the time Abba and Avi came home. She’d had only enough flour to bake two tiny loaves of bread, and the cholent had more beans and potatoes than meat, but they would light candles and share the special meal together. She dreaded showing them the underground newspaper. Each time her husband and father left the apartment to look for work with yellow stars conspicuous on their clothing, Miriam’s fear for their safety made the hours apart seem endless. Today, after reading about the persecution in Amsterdam, she listened with even deeper anxiety for their return.

Their footsteps sounded slow and weary as they trudged up the stairs, but she breathed a prayer of thanks and opened the door to greet them, holding Elisheva in her arms. Avi smiled and kissed both of them. “No hugs until I wash,” he said. His clothes were damp with perspiration.

“Where’s Abba?”

“Right behind me. There was a letter in our mailbox.”

Miriam took one look at her father’s pale face when he entered with an open envelope in his hand and felt a panic attack grip her. “What does it say?” Miriam thought she already knew the answer.

“We must be ready to be transported to Amsterdam next week.” His voice trembled with emotion. “They will come after curfew to fetch us. We are each allowed one suitcase, which we must carry ourselves.”