After dinner the professor took a box of their most valued possessions out to the yard and had Julien dig a hole underneath the oak tree. Julien’s shirt was soon soiled, as if he was a gravedigger, but he kept going until his father told him to stop. Into this trench went what was left of the silverware that had belonged to Julien’s great-grandmother, along with the professor’s studies packed into a leather case and a box of family photographs. If they were forced to leave, they could later return for these things.

Lea stopped at the doorway when she saw the Lévi family gathered in the garden. During the time she’d been their houseguest, the professor and his wife had mostly ignored her, but now Professor Lévi gestured to her.

“Join us. Perhaps you have a treasure to bury?”

“Don’t be ridiculous,” Claire said. “What on earth would this girl have?”

Lea touched the charm around her neck. Her only treasure, and she yearned to be rid of it. Julien was watching her with his fierce dark eyes that were flecked with gold. His white shirt was streaked with dirt, and he couldn’t seem to look away from her. Lea met his glance and hesitated, until Madame Lévi urged him to hurry, and then it was too late for Lea to be rid of the locket. Not that it mattered. She had memorized her mother’s instructions. She knew what she must do, whether or not she had the charm.

Shovels of dirt were tossed over the trench, and a frozen rosebush was planted above the buried treasure. The one thing of value the professor kept was his watch. It had belonged to his father, and, though he had paid no attention to time in the past, he thought he must now do so. He asked his son to bring out a bottle of cognac, the last they had. The German professors and their wives came to join them. Julien returned with the bottle and a tray of small glasses. The glasses were green and fragile and would all be broken before long. It was the first time Lea had tasted alcohol and she felt grown up and reckless. Ava came to look for her and immediately noticed that she was standing too close to Julien. She gave him a look, but it was too late. He was sick of being told what to do. They might be considered children, but it was possible they would not be alive long enough to become adults.

Out of sight, Julien took Lea’s hand.

Out of sight, she let him.

“Now they’ll know where our valuables are,” the professor’s wife whispered once their belongings were in the ground. She threw a look over her shoulder. There was Ava, glaring back with cold gray eyes. “Who’s to say that woman’s not a thief ?”