“I’m Janneke.” The boys pulled off their wool hats, the static making their fair hair stand on end. Lena guessed the woman to be in her thirties, the boys around Maaike’s age. It was clear from their gaunt faces and hollow eyes that they were starving. “Get three bowls and spoons,” she told Maaike. “Bep, can you fetch the bread, please? And the butter.” Lena had made pea soup for supper, and she put what was left of it on the stove to warm. “Where are you from, Janneke?”

“Den Haag.”

“You walked all this way? That’s quite a distance.”

“We had to. There’s no food anywhere in the city. I couldn’t let my boys starve. Some of my neighbors have died.”

“I understand. I would do the same for my children.” Lena watched them gobble down the food. She had hoped to serve the leftovers to her family and the shadow people again, but she filled their bowls a second time, praying that a kind stranger was feeding Wim and Ans and Pieter tonight. Janneke stopped her boys from taking a second slice of bread.

“We’ll take it to Oma,” she told them. She looked up at Lena as if fearful of a reprimand. “Please . . . may I take this for my mother? She isn’t well, and I promised her we’d bring something.”

“Yes, of course. Let the boys have another slice, and I’ll pack some bread and a bit of cheese for your mother.”

Tears rolled down Janneke’s face. “I didn’t want to bring my boys. I knew the trip would be hard for them. But there are so many other beggars on the roads, and I was afraid of being robbed if I was by myself. Even desperate people think twice before stealing from children.”

“I can’t imagine facing such impossible choices,” Lena said. She’d thought her hatred for the Nazis couldn’t possibly grow any stronger, but the plight of these desperate travelers deepened it.

Janneke stood when she finished eating and prodded her weary sons to their feet. “You have been so kind, Lena. We won’t impose on you any longer. May God bless you for your generosity.”

“You can’t go back out in the cold. Stay the night, please. My son’s bedroom upstairs is empty.”

“You would take in strangers?”

“You would do the same if you were in my place. Come. You look tired.”

“Mama?” Maaike whispered later in the dark when they were all in bed. “If we give away all of our food, won’t we run out?” In truth, Lena feared the same thing. But the war had given her no choice but to place everything in God’s hands and trust Him. She’d also learned that trusting Him wasn’t a onetime decision but a daily one. She sat up so she could see her daughter’s face better.