Her breathing was ragged, coming in short, sharp pants as she positioned herself by their kitchen window, slowly lifting her finger to part the curtain and peek out.

“Those British soldiers have gone into the barn next door,” Adelaide said, standing on the other side. “They’re hiding in there!”

“All of them?” Elise opened her mouth to speak, but the words barely formed a stutter in her throat as she saw German troops marching toward the barn, rifles at the ready.

“Oh my God, we’re going to be in the middle of it!” she gasped, as loud booms shook their house. Gunfire erupted from the barn, and it was only a matter of seconds before the German army started to fire back. “Take cover!”

She dropped to her stomach and crawled beside Adelaide to the foot of the stairs, her stomach scraping along the ground as she squirmed across the floor. They stood only to run, taking the stairs two at a time as the house seemed to shake with the constant booms.

“The bath?” cried Adelaide. “Will we be safe in there?”

“We won’t both fit,” Elise said. “Let’s go under the bed.”

They dropped low again and crawled to their parents’ room. Elise waited for Adelaide to crawl under first before following her, shutting her eyes for a minute as she caught her breath and fought against the intense claustrophobia she was feeling the moment they were beneath it.

“Where’s Oscar?” Adelaide cried.

Elise’s eyes flew open as she heard barking, and her hand automatically shot out to stop her sister from going straight down to find him. Instead of moving she whistled, short and sharp, just like Louis had, and within minutes the little dog was darting across the room toward them. She reached to grab him, hauling him under with them as they lay silently, listening to the cries and shouts of men, and the incessant sound of shelling.

“What are we going to do?” Adelaide asked, as they lay on their stomachs, shoulder to shoulder, thigh to thigh.

“We stay here until it stops,” Elise said, surprised by how sure her voice sounded. “With any luck, they’ll move on as quickly as they arrived.”

Or more than likely, they’ll stay. She pushed the thought away, not about to let her imagination take hold.

“And if they don’t?” Adelaide asked.

“Then we cross that bridge when we come to it.”

“It’s stopped.”

Elise lifted her head, groggy and tired from lying in the same position for so long, listening to the fighting. She’d resorted to pressing her hands tightly to her ears to try to block the sounds out, the anguished cries as men were injured or maybe even killed too much for her to stand. But now, after hours or maybe not even that long, there was suddenly silence.

“Should we look?” Adelaide asked.