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

saw me emerge from the café and step into the alleyway, she straightened from behind the garbage cans. “Any luck?” I could see her searching my arms for the food she so desperately needed. “You don’t have it,” she said, crestfallen.

“It’s coming,” I promised quickly, and her face brightened. “Or at least, my friend Krys is going to try,” I corrected, not wanting to get her hopes up in case he failed.

“You told him about me? But, Ella, you promised.”

“I know. I’m sorry. It was the only way. He can be trusted.”

But her panic did not lessen with my reassurance. “He could tell someone. I have to go back and warn the others.”

I took both of her hands in mine. “Sadie, stop. You trust me, don’t you?”

“Yes, of course,” she said, without hesitation.

“Then you can believe me now. Krys isn’t going to say anything. He’s part of the Polish Home Army,” I added, betraying Krys’ secret as well in my effort to reassure her. “He is fighting against the Germans. He isn’t going to tell, I swear it. And he can get what you need.” Or at least, I hoped he could.

The explanation seemed to calm her. “How long?”

“He needs a few hours. Let me get you back to the sewer and I will bring you the food as soon as I have it.”

“All right,” she said, seeming to agree. We started from the alleyway. “Wait.” She stopped again. “If it’s only going to be a few hours, why can’t I stay out of the sewer while we wait for the food?”

“Oh, Sadie, I don’t know...” I was caught off guard by her request. “That would be so dangerous.”

“I know it’s not a good idea, but it’s been months since I was above ground. I just want to be here for a bit longer, breathe the air. I’ll be careful, stay out of sight.”

I hesitated, not answering right away. I could see how she drank in her freedom and was desperate to stay. “It’s just so dangerous. And it might take Krys longer than a few hours.”

“I’ll go back before dawn,” she said, almost pleading now. “Whether he has the food or not.”

She watched my face as I considered it. Staying above ground was foolish. She might be caught at any time. I could see, though, how badly she needed this. I was happy to have her company, too, and not eager to have her go back so quickly. “Fine,” I relented. “But not here.” The Dębniki neighborhood where the café was located was not far from the former ghetto and thick with police patrols.

We started from the alleyway and toward the river. The streets were deserted and our footsteps echoed too loudly on the pavement. As we neared the bridge, I spied a police car parked by the base. “Hide!” I whispered, pulling Sadie behind the low retaining wall that ran along the riverbank. We huddled close, not moving. We were pressed so closely I could feel her heart beating against mine. I hoped the police were not setting up a checkpoint on the bridge, which would force us another way across the river. Beside me, Sadie was rigid with fear. She did not have papers to show if she was stopped; she would be arrested immediately. I wondered then if I had made a mistake giving in to her request, whether I should have insisted she go back to the sewer immediately. It was too late now. I laced my fingers with hers, determined to see her safely through the night.

Several minutes later, the police car drove away. As we rose from our hiding spot, Sadie grabbed my arm. “Where are we going?”

“My house,” I said, before immediately second-guessing myself. Going there meant a long walk through the city streets after curfew, risking detection or worse. But Ana Lucia was out for the night, I recalled. She had gone to dinner with Colonel Maust at a restaurant on the far side of the city, closer to his apartment, and would not be back until the morning. My house was the best option for hiding Sadie. There was nowhere else.

Sadie stared at me in dismay. “How can we possibly?”

“It’s safe,” I said, forcing certainty into my voice. “I promise.”

Sadie looked as though she wanted to argue further. But if she wanted to remain above ground while Krys went for the food, there was really no other choice.

As we crossed the bridge toward the city center and my house, Sadie looked upward, staring so intently that she forgot to look where she was walking and nearly stumbled. Taking her arm so she would not fall, I followed her gaze. At first I thought she was trying to see Wawel Castle, which sat high on its hill, partly obscured by the riverbed. But her neck was craned beyond that, her eyes locked on the night sky. “They look almost blue tonight,” she said, her voice filled with marvel.

I remembered then how on the day we met, one of the very first things she asked me was about the stars. “Which constellations can you see?”

“There,” she said eagerly, pointing to the north. “That’s Ursa Major, or the great bear. My father used to say as long as you could find it, you would never be lost.” Her words spilled out in a great tumble. She spun around. “And over there, that long triangle with a tail is called the Chamaeleon.” I tried to follow her finger as she drew lines in the air, connecting the stars, but I could not see the images.

We walked swiftly from the bridge toward the Old Town. Sadie did not speak, but as we neared the city center, I could see her drinking in the familiar streets, which had been hidden from her view for months.

Several minutes later, we turned onto Kanonicza Street. “You live here?” Sadie asked with disbelief as I led her around the back of the house.

“Yes.” I saw our house from Sadie’s eyes