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

a second time. “Krys,” I said suddenly aloud. “Perhaps he can help.” Then I stopped again. We had not parted well last time I saw him. He might not want to see me at all. But I had to try. Swallowing my pride, I started toward the café. At least he might be able to hide Sadie while I went in search of her mother.

“Have you seen Krys?” Sadie asked as we walked. “Since that night on the riverbank, I mean.”

“Yes. But I almost wish I hadn’t.”

“Why? How can you say that?”

I hesitated. Though I had wanted to tell Sadie about Krys, it seemed ridiculous to talk about my troubles now when Sadie was suffering so. “After you went back underground, I went to see him. At first, things were good between us, the way they used to be. I almost thought we could be together again. But then we quarreled.”

“About what?”

“You,” I admitted. Her eyes widened. “That is, about the sewer. He wanted to store munitions there for the Home Army. But I told him it was too dangerous.”

“I’ll store them if you want,” she said meekly, fear in her eyes. “It’s the least I can do.”

“No,” I said quickly. “I won’t let you do that. It’s very good of you, but I can’t let you endanger yourself or the others. We will find another way.” But the point gnawed at me as we made our way toward the café. I had refused to do what Krys wanted and we had parted angrily. Did I really dare ask for his help now?

“Saul kissed me,” Sadie blurted abruptly. “That is, we kissed. You were right. It turns out he is fond of me as well.” As she confided in me, her cheeks flushed.

“Oh, Sadie, I told you so!”

“I know it’s awful. I shouldn’t be thinking about such things right now, much less talking about them. But I had to tell you.”

“I’m glad you did. I’m so happy for you.” Anything that gave Sadie the slightest bit of hope right now seemed a blessing.

We reached the café and I led Sadie to the same archway where she had hidden the last time we had come here. I walked into the café and stopped. I had expected to see the girl with the dark curls. Instead, an unfamiliar man with an auburn beard stood behind the bar, drying glasses. “Excuse me,” I said. “I’m looking for the young woman who usually works here.”

“Kara?” he asked, and I nodded, hoping that was right. It was the first time I had heard her name. “She’s in the cellar bar.” He gestured down a flight of stairs on the right side of the café that I had not noticed before. I walked carefully down the uneven brick steps. At the bottom, I was surprised to find a lively piwnica. Redbrick cellar bars were not uncommon in Kraków; at least a dozen ringed the main market square. But I had not known about this unmarked one here beneath the café. An off-license, I realized, a business running without the knowledge or permission of the Germans. I was surprised how crowded it was for late morning. A mix of young people, students and workers, filled a half-dozen or so tables hewn from rough wood, drinking beer from large mugs. They were almost all men and a few shot me curious looks as I reached the bottom of the stairs.

Kara stood behind the bar, pulling on a long tap on a wooden barrel to serve beer. I walked to her and her eyes flickered with surprise, then annoyance. “You again.” She put a mug in front of me. I fished a coin from my bag and placed it on the bar, but she didn’t take it. I had never liked beer and I didn’t want to drink it at this hour of the morning, but I could tell from Kara’s expression that she was trying to keep up appearances. I took a sip from the mug, the bitter froth tickling my lip.

“Krys isn’t here,” she said.

“Where is he?” I asked.

“Out of the city.” She lowered her voice. “He’s away on an errand for Korsarz.”

“The black marketeer?” She nodded. “But Krys would never work with Korsarz.” Krys hated the man and all he stood for. “Not unless he had to.” I thought back to the potatoes Krys had managed to get for Sadie—and his reluctance to say how he had procured them so quickly. He claimed someone owed him a favor, but I realized now that he had gone to Korsarz to help Sadie—and me even, though it meant working with the despicable man to repay to debt.

“When will Krys be back?” I asked.

“I have no idea. Do you want to leave a message for when he returns?” Kara asked, pushing a napkin across the bar.

I shook my head. But suddenly I was filled with remorse. Krys had helped me, even as I refused to do the same for him. Thinking better of it, I scribbled a note.

I’m sorry. I will help with whatever you need. E.

I debated putting some sort of affectionate sign-off and decided against it.

But still I had no way to hide Sadie. Krys, I realized, was not the one who could help me now. I handed Kara the note and took a deep breath. “I need your help.”

“Me?”

I nodded. “I have a package I need you to store.” Kara looked confused. “She’s outside.”

Her jaw tightened. “No. Absolutely not. We can’t shelter fugitives here.”

“She isn’t a fugitive, just a girl trying to stay alive.”

Still, Kara refused. “If the police come looking, we’ll be shut down.” I could tell by her voice that she was not concerned about the business of the piwnica itself, but rather its use as a front for the work of the Home Army.

“Please. She’s got nowhere else to go.”

“That’s not my problem.”

“Krys is also helping her,” I added. It was only partly a lie; he had found food for Sadie. “She has