The sky was growing light outside, which meant it was time for Max and Ina to crawl into their hiding space again. Lena needed to rekindle the fire, fix breakfast, and wake the children for school. If only those routine chores could distract her thoughts from what Wolf had just told them. If only the good news of the Allied landing didn’t mean that their lives would be in more danger than ever before.

“Are you all right, Lena?” Pieter asked. He’d returned from the windmill to find her shoving wood noisily into the stove and slamming down the lid.

“No. But I will be.” She looked up at the man she loved so much. “I know these things have to be done. I know we have to fight for our country. I just wish . . . I just pray that it will all be over quickly.”

CHAPTER 43

Miriam was sitting in the parlor at Meijers House with the other residents late one evening, listening to music on the gramophone, when someone knocked on the front door. Miss Willy looked alarmed. Miss Hannie did too, but only for a moment. Her serene smile returned as she rose from her chair. “I’ll see who it is.”

Miriam moved closer to the hall door so she could hear who it was above the tinny music. She thought she recognized Dr. Elzinga’s voice.

“This is Klara and her daughter Tina,” he said. “They were hiding with a Dutch family in Haarlem and barely escaped capture by the Gestapo. May they stay with you for a while?”

“The only beds we have are the two in the infirmary,” Miss Hannie replied, “but they’re welcome to them.”

“I know this is an imposition, Mrs. Woltheim, but with the latest razzias, it’s difficult to find hiding places.”

“What’s a razzia?” she asked.

“The Gestapo is going house-to-house, searching for Dutchmen between the ages of eighteen and sixty so they can take them east to labor camps. In the process, they’re also finding hidden Jews.”

The news opened a well of fear inside Miriam. Where was Avi? Was he safe? Nearly two years had passed since she’d held him and kissed him and said goodbye. They had married four years ago and had been apart for two of those years. Sometimes her marriage seemed like a dream, while her life was a waking nightmare with no dawn in sight. She had to believe that Avi was safe. That Elisheva was living happily on a farm like the Mulders’, feeding the chickens and playing with the barn cats. Miriam wouldn’t allow herself to imagine anything else.

“They’ve never searched here,” Miss Hannie said, “and Miriam has been hiding with us for four months now.”