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

“Yes.” I considered it for a moment, the notion of going to live with Maciej. Once upon a time, it had been my dream. But not anymore. “No,” I said slowly. “I don’t want to go to my brother.”

“After we get Sadie out of the sewer, I mean. That way you can know they are safe before you leave for Paris.”

“It’s not just that. I don’t want to leave you either.” I felt the words for the first time as I spoke them. Krys and I were messy and imperfect and we quarreled often. But I loved him just as much as I had before he left for the war. Maybe more. Fate had allowed us to find one another a second time; surely it would not give us a third.

“I feel the same way,” he admitted. “But with my work, we can’t possibly be together now.”

“Let me join you.” He stared at me, as if not believing the words. “Not just hiding things, but really join you.” It was the message I had wanted to give him the day I had gone looking for him at the café and had left a note. I hadn’t been able to tell him fully then, but I could now. “You said there are women in the Home Army, didn’t you?” He nodded. “I want to be one of them. Not just run a few errands, but really be part of it all.” I held my breath, waiting for his reaction. “Or don’t you think I can do it?”

“I think there’s no one finer or better suited for the job.” I felt myself standing a bit taller when he said this. “But I’m afraid it’s impossible. You see, the moment of truth is coming. There is to be a great uprising in Warsaw and almost all of our efforts and men and material will soon be concentrated there.”

“Including you?”

“Including me.”

My heart sank. “But it is even more dangerous in Warsaw.”

He nodded grimly. “Which is why I must go. They need me there.”

“I can’t bear to lose you again.” I wanted to beg him not to go. But he was determined and to do anything else would make him less than he was. My heart twisted at the thought that he would leave me once more.

“Then I’ll come with you,” I blurted, surprising myself.

“To Warsaw? But, Ella, it’s too dangerous,” he protested. “You just said as much yourself.”

“Nothing is safe anymore,” I replied. He looked as though he wanted to argue, but could not. “Let me join your fight.” I gained confidence now, owning the words. I really wanted to do this. “At least this way, we’ll be together no matter what happens.”

He hesitated for a moment and I expected him to say no. “All right,” he said finally, surprising me. “I love you, Ella. We can leave together.” He swept me into his arms and drew me close.

“Of course, we must help Sadie first. I won’t leave without doing that,” I added for emphasis.

“I’ll confirm arrangements for safe passage for them and run down the munitions. Then we can help Sadie and go.” He made it all sound so easy.

“I’ll find Sadie and the others and let them know. She should be at the grate in an hour or so.”

Krys shook his head. “I’m afraid it won’t be that simple. I told her to stay hidden and not come to the grate, no matter what.”

I took a deep breath. “Then I have to go down and find her myself.” I tried to sound confident. But my insides quivered. I had not been able to bring myself to go into the sewer there before. How was I going to manage it now?

“Ella, no. The pipes are mined.”

“Mined?”

“I only just found out after the munitions were taken. The Germans have begun to mine the tunnels to fortify the city. They mean to detonate them when the Allies eventually come, but it would be all too easy to trip one of the wires ahead of time.” I thought then of Sadie and the others. How many times had they walked those tunnels, unaware that they could be blown to bits at any second? “So you see why you can’t go down there.”

“If Sadie’s in that kind of danger, I need to go now more than ever,” I countered.

“At least wait for me to go with you. You can’t rescue her until we have somewhere for her to go. I have to go to my team first and make sure they’ve found the munitions. And I have to arrange safe passage for Sadie and her friends. Let me do that and I will meet you by the grate in the alley at midnight.”

“But that might be too late. We have to get to Sadie and her friends now.”

“It’s the best we can do. I know that you can’t go back to your house because of Ana Lucia. You can stay in my room upstairs until it is time to go to Sadie.”

“And then once she is safe, you and I can leave for Warsaw together. Perhaps we could even get married.” The old dream flickered in my mind.

“I hope so,” he said, with less certainty than I would have expected. For a second, my old doubts returned; perhaps he did not feel the same as I did. “I love you with my whole heart and I want to marry you. Everything is just so uncertain now. I won’t make a promise to you that I can’t keep again.” It was not his feelings for me he doubted, but the future itself. “But know this, Ella: I will wait for you. I will come for you. And no matter what happens, I will never leave you again.” His words meant more than any marriage vow possibly could have.

He kissed me once long and hard and then started away.

24

Ella

That night I waited by the sewer grate in the alleyway behind the church as Krys had instructed. After leaving