I sat on the bed and talked quickly. ‘Let’s just give it one more go,’ I said. ‘We’ll get up before the dawn breaks. We will be first in every queue. We will smile and listen and do everything perfectly, and we will get the papers in order. We’ll take every step together.’

Mama sighed. ‘But, Leo, I told you, even if we do all that, we still come to a dead end. We still have no one to vouch for us. We have nowhere to go!’

I thrust the letter out to her. ‘Yes we do,’ I said firmly.

‘What’s this?’ She took the letter from me and opened it. Then she laughed softly. Sadly. ‘The English couple from your birthday years ago,’ she said.

‘They might do it,’ I said. ‘They might help us.’

Mama shook her head. ‘Darling, a ride at the fair and a piece of cake do not equate to what we would be asking of them.’

I drew a slow breath and puffed out my chest. ‘Mama,’ I said. ‘They are our last hope. They are our only hope. We have to try.’

Mama held my eyes for a long while. As she did, I realized what was making her so reluctant. It wasn’t that she wanted to give up. It was that she couldn’t bear to let herself hope, only to have that hope dashed again.

Finally, she nodded. ‘Okay,’ she said. ‘I will write to them tonight.’

I threw my arms around her. ‘Thank you, Mama,’ I said, kissing her cheek.

I wished I could tell Papa that I had a plan. Even if it failed, at least we were trying to do something.

That had to be better than letting the Nazis take everything from us without even putting up a fight.

MAX

Max woke before his alarm went off. He was out of bed even before the sun had risen, before his parents had got up.

He made his bed and, still in his pyjamas, he crept into the kitchen where his mother had laid out his pressed uniform the night before. The first thing he did was check that the creases in his shirt and shorts were all in the right places. Next, he pulled out his boots from under the table and inspected them.

‘Max, what are you doing?’ His mother stood in the kitchen doorway, yawning as she pulled her dressing gown close around her and glanced at the clock. ‘It’s not even six yet.’

Max held up a boot. ‘I wanted to shine my shoes, Mother.’

She laughed. ‘Again? Surely you shone them well enough last night?’

Max’s father appeared behind her. ‘Leave the boy alone,’ he said, coming past her into the kitchen. ‘He’s doing a good job.’