In the kitchen, Rosa had set out the first-aid box, a large basin of warm water, and some clean cloths. After binding the little boy’s ankle, Nina tended to the others’ cuts and scrapes with soap and water and gentle swipes of iodine.

She led them up the stairs and stood aside as Nico and the father of the little family helped everyone up the ladder.

“Here is the lamp, but keep the flame low,” Nico cautioned. “There is a chamber pot, and I’ll bring food and more water in the morning. Try to sleep as much as you can. We’ll be on our way again as soon as night falls.”

The ladder was pulled up, the trapdoor fell shut, and soon there was silence.

“I’ll go down and fetch in my father,” Nico whispered. “I won’t be long.”

Nina changed back into her nightgown and returned to bed, her mind brimming with questions, her heart tight with fear. She didn’t need to be told who the refugees were fleeing. She didn’t need to be told what would happen if they were found.

She was afraid for Nico, too, and his family, and not only because of the people who now hid in the granary. They would be gone in a day, but she would stay on. The mere fact of her presence was enough to doom every last one of them, and never mind that they were unaware she was a Jew, and very nearly a stranger to Nico, and not truly part of their family. The Germans certainly wouldn’t care when they executed Nico as a bandit, consigned his father and brothers to labor camps, and stripped the farm of every animal, tool, and scrap of food. They wouldn’t think twice about leaving Rosa and the children to starve.

Nico came back into their room, his footsteps soft and measured, and doused the light straightaway. He unlaced his boots, toed them off, and then got into bed, his movements slow and deliberate, his body facing her.

“I don’t dare undress,” he whispered.

“Who are they?”

“Best I don’t tell you.”

“They’re running from—”

“Yes.”

“Is that what you do when you go away?”

“Yes. And the reason I’m not telling you everything isn’t because I don’t trust you. I do. But it’s safer if you know as little as possible.”

“Is it a usual thing to bring people here?”

“No—this is only the second time I’ve done it. I know it’s dangerous. I know I’m risking the lives of the people I love the most. Tonight, though, and the time before . . . it was the only way. I had nowhere else to go. There were too many of them to take to the rectory, and I needed someone to see to their injuries.”

“There’s a doctor in Mezzo Ciel, isn’t there?”