‘Has something happened to your parents or Otto?’ Leo asks.

‘It’s nothing like that,’ I reply.

They walk back over, concern on their faces. Leo sits down beside me again while Max stays standing in front of us. ‘What is it, then?’ he asks.

‘We’re leaving,’ I say simply.

‘But we’ve only just got here,’ Leo says. ‘We don’t have to go yet. Surely you’ve got time to come and see the frogs before we have to—’

‘Leaving Vienna,’ I say, cutting him off.

Leo’s mouth falls open.

‘Careful, you’ll catch flies,’ I say, trying to keep my voice light.

Max folds his arms. ‘Where are you going?’ he asks. ‘Are you going on holiday? How long will you be gone?’

‘We’re going to Czechoslovakia,’ I say. ‘To live.’

‘To live?’ the boys blurt out in one voice.

I nod. I don’t trust myself to speak. As I look down at my lap, a tear falls on to my dress. I swipe the back of my hand across my eyes. I don’t want them to see that I’m crying.

Leo takes my hand in his. ‘For good?’ he asks.

I nod again.

‘You’re leaving Vienna for ever?’ Max asks. His voice is husky. ‘But why?’

A funny feeling snakes through my insides before I reply. I don’t want to say the words that Mutti and Vati told me. They sound silly. But I don’t have any others to offer. I look up at Max. ‘My parents say it’s not safe here any more.’

Max looks around at the park. ‘Not safe how?’ He points at our bicycles. ‘Has anyone stolen our bicycles?’ He waves an arm at the lanes behind us. ‘Is anyone acting suspiciously? How can it not be safe? What do your parents mean?’ He sounds cross.

Leo isn’t saying anything. He’s stopped holding my hand and his presence beside me seems to have hardened in some way.

‘Not safe for us,’ I reply in a quiet voice.

‘Us?’ Max echoes.

I shake my head. ‘Not you,’ I say. Then I point at Leo and back at myself. ‘Us.’

Max’s forehead is creased as he frowns at me. ‘I don’t understand.’

I hold his dark eyes. A feeling of embarrassment washes over me as I reply.

‘Because we’re Jewish.’

MAX

Max burst out laughing.

Now he understood what was going on. They always did this to each other. The game was that you had to keep a straight face long enough to convince the other two of what you were saying. As soon as you knew they both believed you, you revealed the joke and won points for tricking them.