Abba shook his head. “Remember that ship full of Jewish refugees? The Americans and Canadians both turned those people away. More than nine hundred passengers —desperate men, women, and children —forced to return to Nazi hands.”

“So there’s no place to go?” Miriam asked. “There must be someone who’ll take pity on us. Why doesn’t the world see what the Nazis are doing and how desperate we are?”

“We escaped from them once, Miriam. We can do it again.”

Miriam saw his determination and believed he would find a way. “But I don’t want to go without Avi. Can’t we wait until we get a letter from him and find out what’s happening to him at Westerbork?”

“Who knows how long a letter will take to get here with a war on? By then, it may be too late. We will be trapped again. Like your mother is.” He sounded close to tears. “We must go upstairs, Mrs. Spielman, and decide what to do,” he said, speaking in Dutch again.

“I’ll keep listening to the news and let you know if anything else happens.” She sounded dispirited. Abba had upset her. She remained in her chair as they made their way to the door. “Watch out for the cat when you leave . . . ,” she called after them.

Abba was right. They should run before the Nazis caught up with them again. But how could Miriam leave without Avi? And where could they go? She helped her father upstairs as if leading a blind man, his words echoing in her heart and stealing her breath: “How long do you think it will be before they do the same things to us here . . . ?”

CHAPTER 15

The fact that Eloise had barely spoken since they’d come down from the roof worried Ans more than her manic chatter had. They listened to the radio in the front room, sitting side by side on the sofa as news of what was happening slowly trickled in. The Nazis had invaded at three o’clock that morning, targeting airfields and destroying nearly all of the Dutch army’s aircraft before they had a chance to take off. Thousands of Nazi paratroopers had landed near Amsterdam. More had landed outside Den Haag, intending to capture the queen and government officials. The Dutch army was fighting back, but they were badly out-armed and had already sustained many casualties. Please, not Papa or Erik.

At times, Eloise would rise and pace the length of the room as she listened, muttering to herself. Sometimes she would stop and part the draperies to look out the front window before returning to her seat beside Ans, gripping her hand until Ans’s fingers ached.

As the sun rose and the terrible news repeated endlessly, Ans had switched off the radio. “Let’s get dressed. Professor Huizenga will know more when he gets home.”