“Yes, but...” I had imagined delivering a package or aiding in some way myself. If I thought he meant risking Sadie’s safety, I never would have offered.

“You said you’d do anything. Now is your chance to prove it.” I did not reply. “There is no halfway with this work, Ella,” he said sternly. “You are either all in or you are not.” Krys’ eyes burned and I saw then that he was willing to sacrifice everything for the cause in which he believed.

But I was not. I squared my shoulders, prepared to tell him no and face the repercussions.

There was a rustling below the grate then and I looked down to see Sadie, who must have been drawn there by the noise. She looked up, blinking with surprise to see so many people standing over the sewer.

Fear clouded her eyes. Then, seeing me, she smiled. “Oh, hello,” she said trustingly. My heart twisted. She noticed Krys behind me. “Is everything all right?”

“Yes,” I replied quickly, then faltered. How could I explain to her what Krys was asking her to do?

Before I could speak further, Krys knelt close to the sewer, describing the situation to Sadie in a voice too low for me to hear. She nodded as she listened, eyes wide, taking in his words gravely.

Sadie motioned me over. “It’s all right,” she said meekly, accepting the reality of the situation in a way that I could not. “I can do this.” Her lip quivered.

“Sadie, no...”

“I’ll do it,” she insisted.

“It’s too dangerous. I can’t let you.”

“It isn’t your choice,” Sadie snapped. “I’m not a child, Ella,” she said, her voice softer now, but still wounded. “I can decide for myself and I want to do this.”

“But why?”

“Because I want to help. Once I didn’t even know there were still good people like you out there. So many people have helped me, you and Krys and Kara, Pawel, the worker who brought us to the sewer. And after everything you’ve all risked for me, if I can help in some small way, well, I want to do it.” She lifted her chin. “Since the war started, all I have done is run and hide. This is a chance for me to do something, instead of feeling helpless. I want to do my part. I can do this,” she repeated, sounding more certain now.

“You don’t have to do this,” I persisted.

“I know, but I want to.”

“We’ll need help getting these below,” Krys said, patting one of the crates. They looked heavy and I wondered how he had managed this far by himself. Sadie nodded solemnly. She disappeared for a few minutes and returned with a young, bearded man. Saul, I knew instantly, the boy in the sewer she’d talked about. The one on whom she had a crush. He was just a few years older than us, with the clothing of a religious Jew and thoughtful dark eyes. I could tell from the way he stood close and stepped in front of her, as if to shield her from what was going on, that her feelings were not at all one-sided.