Standing over the grate where Sadie and I met were two German soldiers.

They had found her.

I froze with panic. I had imagined it before, picturing the grate pulled back, soldiers marching Sadie and the others out with their hands up, arresting them as they had tried to arrest the woman with the two children I had seen jump from the bridge. I often wondered what I would do if Sadie was caught. Would I step in and try to save her, or stand silently by as I had with Miriam at school, and again the woman and her children?

Easy, I thought now, my heart pounding. Closer, I could see that the two Germans were just standing in the alleyway, talking. The grate was still intact. They had not yet discovered that there were people in the sewer. One of the soldiers was kicking the grate with his foot as they spoke, though, lifting the edge with his toe where it opened. He looked down, said something to his companion. I could not hear him, but I imagined that he was remarking about the fact that it was loose.

Sadie was surely on her way to meet me and any minute now she would be here. The soldiers were standing just over the grate and Sadie had no idea. If she wasn’t careful, she might unwittingly step into view. I had to distract them.

Steeling myself, I walked into the alleyway in the direction of the Germans, forcing myself to smile. The younger of the two, who had close-cropped blond hair beneath his hat, noticed and stepped toward me. “Dzień dobry, pani,” he said, mangling the Polish language in his attempt. He gave me an appraising look and smiled, revealing a wide gap between his front teeth. I channeled Ana Lucia, batting my eyes at the soldier and feeling sick at doing so.

“Dzień dobry.” I smiled in the direction of the other German in hopes that he would walk over as well.

But he remained firmly planted above the grate. “Ja, what do you want?” he asked rudely, clearly in no mood for pleasantries. I could tell by the stripes and medals on his uniform that he was the more senior of the two.

“It’s such a lovely day,” I offered, thinking of something to say to these beasts, stalling for time. Food and fighting, I’d heard Ana Lucia tell one of her friends once, were the things men liked. “I’m looking for a good café for coffee and dessert,” I said.

“You won’t find any in this part of town,” the younger soldier offered.

“No?” I feigned ignorance about the city where I had lived my entire life.

“You have to go to the main market square in the Old Town. The restaurant Wierzynek has a sachertorte that is almost as delicious as the one back home in Heidelberg.”

“I would love to try it.” Sadie had to be close to the grate now, so I spoke a bit louder than normal, willing her to hear my voice and stay hidden from sight. “Perhaps you could take me for a coffee.” I didn’t want to go with him, of course, or leave Sadie, but I wanted to draw these two men away from her hiding place.