“Come with me.” Estelle hauled Aviva up into her arms and headed back toward her bedroom. “I’m going to introduce you to my friend,” she whispered. “He’s hurt. And he’s sometimes scared too. Do you think you could make him feel better?” she asked. “You could practice being a doctor.”

“Yes,” she replied in a small voice. “Does he have a dog?”

“I don’t know,” Estelle told her, opening the wardrobe and shoving the dresses aside. “You can ask him.”

Aviva clung to her neck as Estelle pushed the back of the wardrobe in. The airman was sitting on the edge of the bed, his knuckles white where they clutched the sheets, obviously woken by the commotion. “What is happening?” he asked hoarsely. “Are they here for me?”

“No. It’s not you they are after this time. You’re safe for now. So long as you stay here. But I need to make sure that this little girl is safe too.”

The airman met her gaze and nodded. “I understand.”

Estelle set Aviva down inside the little room and crouched in front of her. “This is my friend,” she said. “His name is Jean-Phillipe. He has a hurt leg. You’re going to stay with him for a little bit until I can find out what is happening. Do you think you can look after him if he gets frightened?”

“I would like that,” Jean-Phillipe said quietly to Aviva.

Aviva looked at the airman with an uncertain expression. “Do you have a dog?”

“I do.” He smiled at her. “At home, I have four dogs. And five sisters, the youngest one who is just about your age. Would you like me to tell you about them?”

Aviva nodded and climbed onto the bed beside the airman.

Outside her apartment, fists pounded on Rachel’s door, followed by angry shouts.

“You’ll have to be very quiet,” Estelle told her, trying hard to keep her voice from shaking. “And whatever you hear, don’t come out until I come to get you.”

She didn’t wait for either to respond but pulled the hidden door shut, shifted the dresses back, and closed the wardrobe.

Loud shouts echoed on the landing, and now Estelle could hear Rachel’s voice. Outside, three stories below, more voices, punctuated by cries of children, drifted up through the open window in the living area. Estelle stumbled to the window to find a swarm of French police herding a ragged group comprising mostly women and children and elderly down the street below. Many of the group had small suitcases in their hands. A bus was parked at the end of the street, more policemen ushering people aboard. Estelle swallowed against a rising tide of panicked nausea.