She padded the bed with feather pillows after scrubbing off the dust and cobwebs, using the work to keep her emotions under control. If she ever stopped working, she would surely fall apart.

The house quieted after Papa returned to the village and Pieter and Ans went to bed. But Bep couldn’t seem to fall asleep in her strange surroundings and in a stranger’s arms. She cried and cried for her mama as Lena walked through the downstairs rooms with her, and nothing Lena did could console her. “Poor little thing,” she murmured as Bep pushed away the bottle of milk Lena offered her. “I’ll bet your mama is weeping for you too.”

Lena’s tears fell along with Bep’s as she paced through the darkened house, praying and pleading with God, desperate to feel His peace. How long would they have to endure this war, these painful separations, this agonizing uncertainty day after day? Would their lives ever be the same? Have mercy, God. Have mercy on this child and on us all.

When Lena ran out of tears, she began to sing, humming the melodies of her favorite hymns, finding consolation as the words flowed through her mind. She rocked little Bep in her arms as she sang, and at last, at last, the music soothed the exhausted baby to sleep.

Lena and Pieter were up before dawn to milk the cows and do their chores. Papa came back to drive Ans to the train station. Lena couldn’t hide her tears as she hugged Ans goodbye. There was no way to know when they would see each other again.

Papa prayed for all of them before leaving. “Just remember,” he added as he kissed Lena goodbye, “nothing any of us will ever face, now or in the future, is out of God’s control.”

It didn’t take Lena long to get used to doing her chores with a baby riding on her hip again. Bep was curious about everything on the farm, and she stared in wonder at the squawking chickens and the huge black-and-white cows. Maaike loved having a living doll to dress and feed and play with. But Bep cried for her mama when she was tired or hungry, and it took Lena a long time to comfort her.

The baby went to church with them on Sunday, although Lena spent most of the service walking with her outside. Lena’s friends swarmed around her afterwards, asking questions and saying what a beautiful child she was. Lena told them the story she’d rehearsed with Ans —Bep’s mother had died, and her father traveled for the railroad and couldn’t take care of her. They’d lost their home after the Nazis evacuated their neighborhood in Noordwijk.