“What must I do to earn it?” If she must be free of sin, then surely Hanni would fail whatever test the Almighty might place before her. “I’m a woman who has done as I must.”

All at once Ettie noticed the blood under Hanni’s fingernails, which she could not wash away. “I don’t care what you’ve done. In this situation, we both have to share the burden.”

Ettie was prettier than she’d first appeared, or perhaps it was the strength of her inner spirit that was reflected outward. Many young men had fallen in love with her and discussed marriage with her father, but he always told them, You would be happier with someone else, and after a while no one asked anymore. They saw that she wanted things no woman should want.

“If we go forward,” Ettie went on, “I would be putting myself at great personal risk. If I recite anything incorrectly I will immediately die. And if I make my father’s mistake, the thing could be strong enough to kill me. I will be its maker, responsible for what it does in the world. You must wonder what would make me take this chance?” The girl met Hanni’s gaze. “There is something I must have as surely as you must have your golem. I don’t plan to stay here because my father is too filled with pride to run away. I will do what anyone with any sense is doing and leave Berlin. And I’ll take my sister.” Her plan was forming as she spoke. They would go first to France, then to New York, where they had cousins. “Identity papers are expensive, and so is the passage.”

It was now clear to Hanni. The girl didn’t care about any sins Hanni might have committed. She wanted the jewels.

The moon had come from behind the clouds and shone through the window. In that illuminated moment they understood their fates were intertwined, and that one was impossible without the other.

“So we have a bargain?” Ettie said.

“You’re sure? You’re not too afraid?” Hanni asked. The rabbi’s daughter was only a few years older than her own child.

“Do I appear to be afraid? Look closely. You’ll see exactly who I am.”

Hanni saw a girl who was willing to do anything to save herself and her sister. “Fine,” she agreed. “We go forward.”

Ettie put out her hand for payment, but Hanni shook her head. Bobeshi had always told her to wait and see what is revealed before you walk through a door. There might be demons waiting on the other side. As always, she followed her mother’s advice.

“You’ll have it when I get what I want.” Hanni was sure of herself. And why not? This was a forbidden bargain they were making, one sinner to another.