At last the other parishioners left to eat their Sunday dinners. Lena was about to leave too, when she noticed her cousin lingering behind to talk with her. Truus pulled Lena aside, whispering as if what she had to say was top secret.

“I think you should know there are rumors all over town about your baby.”

Lena’s stomach did a slow turn. If people in town guessed that Bep was Jewish, Ans would have to find another hiding place. Lena watched Bep toddling near their truck, holding Maaike’s hands. She already loved Bep’s smile and her dark eyes and the soft black ringlets at the nape of her neck.

“I don’t listen to rumors, Truus, and you shouldn’t either.”

“Well, in this case, maybe you should. It reflects badly on you and your family, so you’d better defend yourself for their sakes.”

Lena’s stomach rolled again. If someone informed the Nazis, they would take Bep away and send Lena and Pieter to prison for hiding her. Sad to say, Lena didn’t know who to trust —or if her own cousin would keep her secret safe. “I don’t understand, Truus. How can it reflect badly on my family to adopt a motherless child from Noordwijk?”

Truus leaned closer. “People are saying she’s Ans’s baby.”

“What?” The accusation took Lena by surprise. Her heart pounded with outrage.

“Nettie van Dam saw Ans bringing her here late Friday night,” Truus continued. “She said Ans acted very suspiciously. Nettie’s husband is a church elder, and he saw Ans, too, as he was leaving the consistory meeting. So did my husband.”

Lena didn’t know how to reply to such a scandalous accusation. She was blushing, and she knew that her flushed cheeks made her appear guilty. It took her a moment to find her voice. “Yes, Ans brought her here . . . but . . . you mean . . . Nettie van Dam just assumed . . . ?”

“Everyone knows Ans is a willful girl. Nettie’s daughter, Corrie, was Ans’s best friend before she suddenly and mysteriously disappeared.”

“It isn’t a mystery! Ans works for a college professor and his wife in Leiden!”

“Don’t get mad at me, Lena. I’m just telling you what Nettie said. We all remember how Ans refused to come to church before she moved away. And she hasn’t been home for how long, now? A year or more? If you don’t want this gossip to spread, you need to speak up right away and quell the rumors.”