The Woman with the Blue Star, Pam Jenoff [highly recommended books txt] 📗

with me and eat it for lunch.” Hanna continued to stare at me, not believing. Then she turned and walked from the kitchen.

Outside on the pavement, I paused as I always did before setting out to meet Sadie. Though it had been a few weeks since Ana Lucia had voiced her suspicions about my going to Dębniki, I was still afraid she might be on to me. But she was not home, and even if she was, she would not follow me herself to the distant, working-class neighborhood. I promised Sadie I would come again and I wanted to bring her food and make sure that she was all right.

Forty minutes later, I stepped off the tram on the corner of Rynek Dębnicki. I made my way around the corner of the square toward the grate. As I reached the top of the alleyway where the grate was located, I froze, stopping dead in my tracks.

Standing over the grate where Sadie and I met were two German soldiers.

They had found her.

I froze with panic. I had imagined it before, picturing the grate pulled back, soldiers marching Sadie and the others out with their hands up, arresting them as they had tried to arrest the woman with the two children I had seen jump from the bridge. I often wondered what I would do if Sadie was caught. Would I step in and try to save her, or stand silently by as I had with Miriam at school, and again the woman and her children?

Easy, I thought now, my heart pounding. Closer, I could see that the two Germans were just standing in the alleyway, talking. The grate was still intact. They had not yet discovered that there were people in the sewer. One of the soldiers was kicking the grate with his foot as they spoke, though, lifting the edge with his toe where it opened. He looked down, said something to his companion. I could not hear him, but I imagined that he was remarking about the fact that it was loose.

Sadie was surely on her way to meet me and any minute now she would be here. The soldiers were standing just over the grate and Sadie had no idea. If she wasn’t careful, she might unwittingly step into view. I had to distract them.

Steeling myself, I walked into the alleyway in the direction of the Germans, forcing myself to smile. The younger of the two, who had close-cropped blond hair beneath his hat, noticed and stepped toward me. “Dzień dobry, pani,” he said, mangling the Polish language in his attempt. He gave me an appraising look and smiled, revealing a wide gap between his front teeth. I channeled Ana Lucia, batting my eyes at the soldier and feeling sick at doing so.

“Dzień dobry.” I smiled in the direction of the other German in hopes that he would walk over as well.

But he remained firmly planted above the grate. “Ja, what do you want?” he asked rudely, clearly in no mood for pleasantries. I could tell by the stripes and medals on his uniform that he was the more senior of the two.

“It’s such a lovely day,” I offered, thinking of something to say to these beasts, stalling for time. Food and fighting, I’d heard Ana Lucia tell one of her friends once, were the things men liked. “I’m looking for a good café for coffee and dessert,” I said.

“You won’t find any in this part of town,” the younger soldier offered.

“No?” I feigned ignorance about the city where I had lived my entire life.

“You have to go to the main market square in the Old Town. The restaurant Wierzynek has a sachertorte that is almost as delicious as the one back home in Heidelberg.”

“I would love to try it.” Sadie had to be close to the grate now, so I spoke a bit louder than normal, willing her to hear my voice and stay hidden from sight. “Perhaps you could take me for a coffee.” I didn’t want to go with him, of course, or leave Sadie, but I wanted to draw these two men away from her hiding place.

The younger soldier smiled, seeming flattered by the suggestion. But the older man beside him glowered. “We don’t have time for this, Kurt.”

“Perhaps later, then,” I said. My eyes darted to the grate. Sadie had not appeared. I prayed that she had heard the exchange and kept away. “I should be on my way.” I inched back from the Germans. I still wanted to see Sadie, but as long as the soldiers lingered here, that was impossible.

The older German’s eyes dropped to my basket. “What are you carrying?”

“Just some food for my family. I bought it at the shops.” I instantly recognized my mistake. It was Sunday; the shops were closed.

“Let me see,” he demanded. As he reached for the basket, I panicked.

“Darling!” someone called behind me. Even before I turned, I recognized Krys’ familiar voice. He moved closer and swiftly took the basket from me. Then he produced an identification card and ration book and handed it to the older officer. “We were getting so worried. My fiancée’s mother is sick and she had to get food for all of us while I cared for her,” he said to the Germans, lying smoothly. Even in my panic, Krys’ calling me his fiancée tugged at my heart. For a moment it felt like things between us were as they had once been. But of course it was a ruse to fool the Germans.

“My mother, Ana Lucia Stepanek, is a good friend of Oberführer Maust,” I added, hoping the name of my stepmother’s consort might buy some goodwill.

I was right—their expressions changed instantly. “Of course, fräulein,” the older man said, now contrite. He returned the ration book to Krys. “So sorry.” The men moved back to let us pass. But as I began to step around them and go, I glimpsed a familiar face in the sewer. It was