“Cranky Mrs. Rheinberg,” Adele chuckled. Then she struggled to her feet. It was easy for me to forget Adele’s advanced age sometimes because she was generally free of health problems, but recently, I’d noticed her occasionally wince in pain, and some days she’d look especially pale. If I asked, she’d mutter something vague about her heart not being what it used to.

“Come to the garden,” she said. “I want to show you a special flower.”

She had let the chickens out for a scratch, and now she shooed them away as she led me into the far corner of her courtyard. There, she gestured for me to lean close.

“Mayim and her parents have moved in with Levi’s brother. It’s a little cramped, but they are getting by and no longer have to worry about rent. She knows you’re well and expecting again.”

I pulled away in shock.

“But…how do you know I’m pregnant…?”

“You’ve been turning green when I offer you coffee. The same thing happened with your first two babies. I know you’re under a lot of stress, Sofie, but you do need to look after yourself. You’re not showing yet, although I daresay that’s because you’ve lost so much weight these months since Jürgen’s… accident.”

“How did you see Mayim?”

“I didn’t. I won’t. I’m too close to you, and we don’t know if they are watching me. But…the one advantage to being a little old lady is that no one expects you to cause trouble, so some of my friends have been taking advantage.”

“The Nussbaums wouldn’t go to Poland?”

“It’s going to be very expensive to get Levi an exit visa now,” Adele said gravely. The Reich Citizenship Law and the Law for the Protection of German Blood and German Honor had been enacted. The first stripped Jews of their German citizenship, leaving them subjects of the Reich rather than citizens. Levi was stateless.

Suddenly, Adele’s eyes twinkled, and she leaned even closer and whispered, “It’s going to be expensive, Sofie, but we’re trying to find a way.”

“The money you’ve borrowed!” I whispered in shock. She winked at me, then touched a finger to her lips.

“Every single Reichsmark filters through to the Nussbaums via my friends.”

I threw my arms around her and whispered in her ear, “Aunt Adele, I don’t know how to thank you.”

“Look after yourself and your family,” she whispered back. “That is how you thank me.”

At the park, we were joined by Lydia and Karl and their little tribe—Hans, Horst and Ernst, their toddler Werner and new baby Gertrude, with Petra, their terrifyingly stern nanny. While Petra pushed the stroller to soothe Gertrude to sleep, Karl and I sat with Jürgen and Lydia at a picnic table. The older children chased one another, giggling and shouting.