Paratroopers fell from the armada of airplanes, filling the distant horizon. Ans’s stomach churned as she thought of Erik fighting against such an overwhelming enemy. And Papa would be deployed in this crisis too. “I heard that there’s a plan to open the dikes and flood the land so enemy tanks can’t get through,” Ans said, desperate to offer hope.

“A flood won’t stop paratroopers from dropping out of the sky. Look at them all!” Eloise made a sweeping gesture with her arm, and for a moment, Ans feared she would lose her balance. She had to get Eloise off this roof.

“Can we go inside now? I’m cold.”

“Our brave Belgian army tried to fight back in the Great War, but they were outnumbered.” She seemed immune to the cold.

“Please, Eloise. My teeth are chattering.”

“Oh, I suppose. If you must.” She led the way inside and they closed the heavy window together. Then Eloise trotted across the rickety floorboards and down the stairs to the front room while Ans struggled to follow her through the darkened house.

“Shall I turn on the lights?” Ans asked.

“What for? We’ll need to get used to the darkness.”

“What do you mean?”

Eloise didn’t reply. She switched on the radio and turned the dial through the haze of static until she found a station. Any news was certain to be devastating, and Ans knew she had to keep Eloise calm until the professor came home, but how?

Oh, Lord, please help me, she silently prayed. Please show me what to do.

CHAPTER 13

Lena startled awake. Pieter had suddenly thrown back the covers and leaped out of bed. She sat up in alarm. “Pieter? What’s wrong?” Their bedroom was dark. Not even a crack of light appeared on the eastern horizon.

“Shh! Listen!” He held a finger to his lips. A low thrumming sounded in the distance, like a tractor running. No, like dozens of tractors.

“What is it? What’s that noise?”

“It sounds like airplanes. A good many of them, I would think, to create such a roar.”

The telephone downstairs began to ring, never a good sign in the middle of the night. Pieter hurried down the narrow stairs to answer it with Lena close behind. She glanced at the tall clock in the front room. Four thirty in the morning.

“Hello? . . . Ja, this is he . . . ja . . . ja . . . I’ll be there as soon as I can.”

Lena’s first thought —her greatest fear —was that something terrible had happened to Ans. “Pieter, who was that? What’s wrong?”

“The Nazis are invading us.”

“What?” It wasn’t what she expected to hear. She gaped at him in astonishment.

“That sound is their planes. They’re bombing our airfields, dropping paratroopers.” He raced back up the stairs, calling behind to her. “I’ve been deployed, Lena. I have to go.”