Elise breathed deep. So her sister had managed to catch the eye of a high-ranking German soldier the one day she’d let her go out unchaperoned. Her voice defied her and she cleared her throat, trying not to stumble over her words. “I see.”

Addy started to cry then, and Elise forced herself to be kind, to be patient, when in fact all she wanted was to shake her sister’s shoulders and force some sense into her. Ever since she’d left her with Peter, ever since she’d chosen to help him surrender, Elise had known she needed to be more careful to keep a closer eye on her.

“Tell me, did it ever cross your mind that he might have been involved in the massacre we witnessed?” Elise asked.

“Of course it did,” Addy cried. “But if you’d seen how nice he was, I just don’t think he’s—”

“Of course he’s capable, Adelaide, he’s a Nazi. He’s capable of every terrible thing you or I could imagine, so don’t pretend for a moment that he’s not.”

“You’re acting as if I did something wrong, but I only talked to him! That’s all.” Addy was wiping at her cheeks now, but Elise wasn’t going to comfort her. She couldn’t. There was a time and place for being sympathetic, and this was not it, even though it went against every fiber in her body not to care for her sister; but what she’d done in taking Peter was wrong.

“He’s going to want more from you than you might want to give, Addy. We need, you need, to be prepared.” Elise sighed. “Men like him take what they want, they don’t ask for it or sit around waiting. If he decides you’re something he wants, then I don’t know how I can protect you.”

They sat, staring at one another a moment longer, silence heavy between them, Addy sniffing back tears of naivety.

“But Nazi soldier aside, we have two British men and a woman hiding in our house,” Elise said brusquely, not wanting to wallow in fear with her sister any longer. “We need a plan quickly, otherwise we could find ourselves on a fast-sinking ship.”

A soft knock at the door startled Elise and made Addy physically jump. Elise shot out a hand to steady her, feeling her pulse thumping at her wrist.

“It’s just me,” came a small voice.

Cate. “Come in,” Elise called back.

The door slowly opened and Cate walked into the room, dark circles under her eyes like the blackest of shadows on the gloomiest winter night. The girl needed sleep, and she needed it yesterday.