Sweat ran down Lena’s face and into her eyes as she attacked the weeds in her kitchen garden with a hoe. Prayer had taken on a new urgency these past few months, and she’d developed the habit of pleading silently with the Almighty while she worked. Today she prayed that she would remain strong for her children. She prayed for courage to fight against the enemy and that God would show her when and how to do that. At times, she found it difficult to continue with her regular farm chores as if nothing had changed, while the Nazis proclaimed victory after victory. Her nation had depended on the British and French armies for help, but they’d suffered devastating defeats. The Fascist dictator of Italy had now joined forces with Hitler.

Lena paused when she reached the end of the row and removed the kerchief to wipe sweat from her eyes. “How are you doing, Maaike?” she called to her daughter. “Are you getting many blackberries?”

“Some . . . ,” she said, holding up the bowl she carried. “They’re so prickly, Mama!”

Lena smiled, suspecting that more berries were going into Maaike’s mouth than into her bowl. Lena had always loved her life in the countryside, far from the hectic pace of Amsterdam and Leiden. But ever since the Nazis took control of the radio broadcasts and newspapers, she’d felt cut off from the world with no way of knowing what was truly happening. Then word had whispered around the village to tune into the British BBC station in the evenings, which had begun a special broadcast of Radio Orange in Dutch. Last night, Queen Wilhelmina herself had spoken to her fellow citizens, offering words of encouragement, urging them not to give up. Her speech had brought tears to Lena’s eyes and renewed her courage.

She was about to attack the next row of weeds when she heard engines rumbling in the distance. She cocked her head to listen. They weren’t airplanes. The droning was much closer and traveling on the ground, not in the air. The sound grew louder, approaching. “Maaike, come here,” she called. “Right now.”

Maaike plucked one last blackberry and popped it into her mouth before making her way toward Lena. “What’s that sound, Mama?”

Lena didn’t reply. She put down her hoe and grabbed Maaike’s hand, hurrying inside through the back door, then continuing through the door into the barn to look for Pieter. He and Wim had been spraying trees in the orchard, but he must have heard the approaching engines too. He was striding toward the barn with Wim beside him. A dust cloud plumed in the distance, accompanying the sound. A car was coming up the road, followed by two motorcycles. Nazi flags fluttered from the car’s antennae. Lena stood close to her husband, gripping Maaike’s hand.