“Goodbye, Krys,” I said. I wished we were not parting poorly again, but he had his reasons for what he was doing and I had mine. I turned and started up the riverbank before he could, wanting to be the one to leave.

I did not go home, though. I pretended to start for the bridge. But when I looked behind me and Krys was no longer there, I slipped away and into Dębniki once more. As I made my way toward the square, I thought about all Krys had told me. He had found his purpose, but in a world that would not let us be together. I walked a long loop around the neighborhood and then doubled back to the alleyway, checking to make sure that Krys had not followed me and that the Germans had gone. Then, despite everything that had happened, I returned to the grate.

It was more than an hour past when Sadie and I usually met. Yet miraculously, she was there, waiting for me. “Hello,” I said brightly. For all that had happened that day, I was still glad to see her. Then, taking in her solemn face, my concern grew. “Are you all right?”

“Yes, fine. Only you can’t come here again,” she said, and I knew then she had seen the Germans and heard our exchange. “It’s too dangerous, you coming to the grate in the middle of the day with so many people around. Someone will see you.”

“Yes,” I agreed. She was right. Standing over the sewer grate and talking to Sadie in broad daylight was too risky for both of us. Even if I had not encountered the Germans, people could see me looking down and they might even notice Sadie if they passed by too closely. I recalled what Krys had said about the awful things that were being done to the Jews. Sadie’s very life depended upon her remaining hidden and out of sight.

A flicker of sadness crossed her face. “Your visits are just such a bright spot.”

“I know. I like coming, too. But it’s hardly worth it if I cause you harm.” She looked as if she wanted to disagree, but could not. No, I couldn’t come here anymore, but I couldn’t abandon her either. There had to be another way. I thought of the sewer, which Sadie had once described as a labyrinth of tunnels. It ran beneath the entirety of the neighborhoods that lined the southern bank of the river. Surely there had to be another place where it came to the surface that we could meet.

“We have to find somewhere else, close to the river, maybe?”

Sadie’s face brightened as a light seemed to dawn in her eyes. “There is,” she said. “I found it when Saul and I were walking.” She had not mentioned Saul before and I wondered who he was. I could tell from the way she said his name that she was fond of him. “There’s a ledge that I can climb that will bring me out on the riverbank. I’m not quite sure of the specific location, but it is in Podgórze, close to where the ghetto was located.”