“The explosions,” Sadie said as we made our way through the tunnel. “What happened?”

“Some of the mines detonated. But I’m not sure why.”

“Do you think the Germans set them off?”

“I don’t know. I don’t think so.” Even if the Germans suspected people were hiding in the tunnel, it seemed unlikely that they would have detonated mines without checking first. “Perhaps one of us stepped in the wrong place, or we set them off with the weight of four people walking,” I suggested. So much we didn’t know. “It doesn’t matter. We just have to find a way out of the sewer so we can get to the others.”

Sadie turned right in the direction of what must have once been a narrow pathway. It was blocked now, though, covered with debris and rock from the caved-in walls. “This was the way we were supposed to go.” She paused, fretting. “Only now it’s gone.”

I wondered with dread if our last and only escape plan had failed. “What now?”

She walked back, retracing our route a few steps. Then she looked down at the wall. “The pipe.” She pointed to an opening in the wall, close to the ground, so small that I had not noticed it when we passed the first time. “I’m not entirely sure, but I think it runs parallel to the tunnel we were supposed to take. We have to lie on our bellies to get through,” Sadie explained matter-of-factly.

I crouched low to peer through the opening, which led to a long, horizontal pipe. “That’s impossible.” The pipe was not more than two feet in diameter. She could not seriously mean for us to go through it.

“It’s not. My whole family had to do it when we came to the sewer. Even my mother, and she was pregnant.” Sadie’s eyes clouded over at the memory. “Trust me. I’ll go first and pull you through.” I knelt, wondering if the pipe might have been compromised by the detonations the way the tunnels had been. But it was made of wrought iron, not rock, and remained intact. Peering into the dark, close space, I recoiled, my stomach twisting.

“What is it?” Sadie asked, noticing my reaction.

“Nothing.” I shook my head. “It’s just that I’m afraid of close spaces...terrified actually.” The words sounded foolish as I spoke them.

“I’ll help you.” Sadie reached for a rope that lay on the ground. “Put this around your waist. When I reach the other side, I will pull you through.” She made it sound so simple. The pipes were my worst nightmare, but to her they were second nature. “Trust me,” she pled. For so long Sadie had trusted me with her safety; now she was asking me to trust her with mine.

Before I could protest, she lay down and started shimmying through the tunnel, holding one end of the rope. A few minutes later, her voice came echoing down the pipe. “I’m through.” It was my turn. I stood motionless, unable to move. “Ella!” Sadie called. “Come on.” She tugged on the rope. There was no other way out; I had to try. I took a deep breath, then lay down and pushed myself into the tunnel. As the close piping enveloped my body, I could not breathe. The pipe was damp and smelled strangely metallic, like blood. I heard Ana Lucia’s voice taunting me, saying that I would fail here, too, like everything else in life. My spine stiffened. I was not going to let her win. I had to make it, for Sadie’s sake—and my own.