The man had the grace to hold the door open for her and help with her suitcase. But three other elders stood just inside the door, preparing to leave. One of them, the village postmaster, was married to Mama’s cousin, Truus. They’d all overheard what Ans said and were certain to tell their wives the big news. The prodigal daughter had returned home and was sneaking around in the dark of night —with a baby. She should have given more thought to how her arrival would look.

Ans moved into the parlor, where chairs had been gathered into a circle for the meeting. Opa looked surprised when he saw Ans, but he recovered quickly and came to her rescue, pretending not to be surprised at all.

“You made it. Come in, my child. Can I hold the baby for you? How was your trip?”

“Tiring,” she said, laying Elisheva in his arms. “But at least she slept.” He parted the blanket, smiling as he looked at the baby’s face.

“I’ll say good night to you gentlemen,” Opa said, shooing them out the door. He was still cradling the baby. “It was a good meeting. We’ll talk again.” The moment he closed the door and turned to Ans, she burst into tears. He embraced her with his free arm and kissed the top of her head. “Come, let’s sit down for a moment.” He led her to the sofa and sat down beside her.

“I’m sorry. I’ll need to be stronger if I’m going to do this work,” Ans said between sobs. “And I’m sorry for surprising you this way. I didn’t plan ahead for what I would do if you had company . . . and I ran into Mrs. Van Dam outside the train station and . . . and I wasn’t prepared.”

“Is the child Jewish?” he asked.

“How did you know?” She wiped her eyes on her sleeve.

“Because I know you, my dear girl. What’s her name?”

“It’s Elisabeth now. Her parents are my friends. The Nazis are rounding up all of the Jews in Amsterdam and Leiden and everywhere else and transporting them to resettlement camps.”

“Yes, we’ve heard about it through the underground newspapers.”

“My employers and I are helping to hide as many people as we can, but it’s difficult to hide babies as young as Elisabeth. I’m hoping Mama and Papa will take care of her for us.”

“She’s beautiful,” he said, gazing down at her.

“The thing is . . . I hated to put Mama and Papa in danger, yet I couldn’t stand by and do nothing to help.”

“Don’t worry about your parents. The compassion you feel for this child —and your desire to do what’s right —are things you learned from them. They won’t hesitate to take her, in spite of the risks.”

“But I’m putting Maaike and Wim in danger too.”