“It is. Jewish law does not require a rabbi, just someone who is knowledgeable about the rituals and requirements. My father can marry us.” He spoke more quickly now, gaining momentum behind his words. “I know I should be asking your mother for permission,” he added apologetically. “I wish I could. What do you think, Sadie?” He searched my face, eyes hopeful.

I did not answer right away, but considered the question. I was old enough to get married. If the war had not happened, I might already have a husband, perhaps even a child. But that world had been taken from me and the idea of marriage and a normal life was so foreign and distant I could hardly imagine it. I loved Saul, though, belonged with him. A life with him, even under these circumstances, felt right.

Still, part of me wanted to wait. Everything had happened so quickly. The sewer was nowhere to begin a life together. Yet this wretched place was all we had; there might never be anywhere else. It was now or never, perhaps our only chance to make our love for one another into something permanent and real. We could be together, not just in those stolen moments where we took more comfort in one another’s arms than we should, but as actual man and wife.

“Yes,” I said at last. He smiled, and it was the first real happiness I had seen in his eyes since Bubbe had died. Then he kissed me. “When?” I asked, after we broke apart.

“Now!” he exclaimed, and we both laughed. “That is, not tonight, but tomorrow.” I started to say that we should wait until my mother returned. But who knew when that would be? With every passing day and week, it seemed less a hope than a fantasy. “Let’s tell my father when he wakes up in the morning and he can help us get everything we need together straightaway.” I nodded, wondering if Pan Rosenberg would be happy about the news. Once he would have minded that I was not observant, perhaps protested rituals that were less than in strict accordance. Still, we had all been forced to change down here, and I hoped he would welcome me warmly into his dwindling family. “We can get married tomorrow,” Saul repeated.

“I want to see Ella first, if I can manage it,” I said. “I would like to get married under the grate so she can be there.” With Mama still missing, my whole family was gone. I needed Ella to be by my side—or at least as close as possible.

I expected Saul to protest, but he nodded. “I understand. We really shouldn’t wait long, though.”

We sat in silence for several minutes. Saul rested his head on mine in the way that had become familiar to us in the nights we read by moonlight. Soon I recognized the slow, even sound of his breathing. We should go back to the chamber and Saul’s father, I thought, perhaps even check on the munitions on the way. But Saul needed his rest. I didn’t want to disturb him, at least not yet.