“Very well. I’ll start by cutting the remaining sutures and drawing them out. I’ll try to work quickly.” Snip, snip, snip went her scissors, and though the boy flinched when she pulled out the old stitches, he managed to stay still.

Next she cleaned the wound, relying upon Nico to flood it with iodine and Rosa to rinse it with cool water from the kettle. “Can you see where the tissue has died back along the edge of the wound? I need to remove it. It shouldn’t be terribly painful, but it will likely turn your stomach if you watch. Can you look away?”

She waited until Meier had turned his head and then she used the razor blade to trim away the necrotic flesh. “Almost there,” she promised. Now all that remained was to stitch the wound properly. “I know this is painful, but I am a good seamstress and you’ll barely have a scar.” It was true. Papà had made her practice on a ripe tomato, and if she could sew perfect stitches in its uncooperative flesh, she could set sutures in anything or anyone. “I’m almost done,” she promised. “The worst is very nearly over . . . almost there . . . done.”

She finished with a final wash of iodine, then bandaged Meier’s hand so the thumb was well clear of his fingers. “There. Time for more of whatever was in that flask.”

“Good German schnapps,” Zwerger said.

“Ah. Well, not too much. I don’t want him to have a headache in the morning on top of everything else. You will remember what I said about keeping the wound clean and dry? And that he must avoid using the hand at all until the cut is well scabbed over?”

Zwerger translated, and when he was done Meier looked up, a little woozily, and tried to smile at her. “Thank you, signora.”

“We’re glad we were able to help,” Nico answered, saving her from a reply. “And I don’t mean to be inhospitable, Karl, but I’ve hours of work ahead of me still. Was there anything else you wanted?”

“Not today, no.” Perhaps it was only wishful thinking, but had some of the bluster drained out of Zwerger’s manner?

“Can you see a way to letting the boys stay here with us? My father is getting older, and we do need the help.”

Zwerger nodded slowly, his eyes still fixed on the tray in Nina’s hands. “For the time being, yes. I can help you with that.”

“Thank you. And thank you for visiting. It was good to see you again.”

It was a credit to Rosa’s patience that she waited at least five minutes after Zwerger’s departure before she turned on her brother.

“You honestly thought it was good to see him again? A Nazi?”