Lena heard the distant rumble of approaching aircraft —an entire formation from the sound of it. She would need to wait until it passed before venturing out with her daughters again. Shadows flickered on the floor as the planes flew in front of the sun. Her father noticed them too.

“Every time you see planes flying overhead, let them remind you that we can find refuge in the shadow of His wings.”

“I don’t understand why God allows this, Papa.”

“Keep your eyes on the Cross and the Resurrection. When we remember how much Christ sacrificed for us, we’ll know we can trust Him with anything.”

They had just finished praying together when there was a tremendous explosion somewhere far in the distance, probably dozens of miles away. Lena felt the hair on her arms and neck rise. The Nazis would make them pay. “I need to go home,” she said.

Papa walked her to the door. “You know you can always come to me, Lena, and I’ll pray with you. But I may not always be here, and you must —”

“Don’t say that! With Pieter gone, I need you! I can’t face this alone.”

“It may not be up to me. I’m telling you what I tell all of my parishioners. You need to turn to God, not me.” It was what Pieter had told her and Wim before he left.

Lena walked up to the windmill that night after the girls were in bed to ask the shadow people if the hidden radio had reported any news of the battles being fought on Dutch soil. “I don’t think it’s going well for the Allies,” one of them told her. “There was a coded message for the Resistance to help with the retreat.”

“No . . .” They had drawn such hope from the Allies’ presence. How could any of them bear to lose that hope again?

The next day, Lena cycled into town with Maaike and Bep for the Sunday morning worship service. It was still too risky for Wim to be seen. She found consolation in the hymns, comfort in the prayers, and renewed strength from her friends and neighbors who were suffering with her. No one spoke of their fear of an enemy reprisal, but they all knew it was on everyone’s mind.

“This war has caused us to face impossible decisions,” Papa said in his sermon. “How do we decide which choice to make? Should we tell a lie to protect a Jewish child, for instance? Is it okay to steal from our enemy to feed someone in need?” He paused and gazed out at the congregation. Lena had never noticed how thin he’d become. “Jesus said the most important commandments are to love the Lord your God and love your neighbor. And so, whenever we face a dilemma, we can ask, What is the best way to show our love for God and for our neighbor?”