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

His brow furrowed. “We should not let ourselves be so easily heard.” I dreaded telling him that it was beyond all of that now, that the Germans would soon know they were here regardless of how quiet they were. “You are alone?”

I nodded. “Take me to Sadie, please. It’s very important.” I should tell him now that we needed to leave, but I was not sure how he would react and I didn’t want to say anything until I saw Sadie.

There was a break in the tunnel wall, leading to a small alcove. Before I could walk in, Sadie’s tiny frame appeared in the doorway. “Saul, where were you? I was so worried. Is everything all right?” He did not answer her. Then she saw me. “Ella?” Her voice was warm but full of surprise. “What are you doing here?”

“The sewer is no longer safe. I need all of you to come with me at once.”

Sadie did not reply, but stared at me, as if not understanding. “Can I come in?” I asked. Reluctantly, she stepped aside and let me into the alcove. The dank, dirty space was smaller than my bedroom at home, not fit for one person, much less the five adults plus an infant it had once housed. An older man, whom I presumed to be Saul’s father, sat huddled in the corner. All of these months I had known Sadie endured awful conditions when she left the grate. But until now, I had not realized how bad they really were. Yet there was life here, a place where Sadie and the others ate and slept and talked. I understood then that there was a whole world below ground where Sadie lived that I had not known existed.

“What are you doing here?” Sadie asked.

“I’ve come to get you all out.”

“Out?” Sadie repeated. I saw the fear in her eyes. I had understood when Sadie had not wanted to escape before and leave the others behind. But now all of them could leave together. The others looked similarly horrified at the notion. This place, which to me seemed a wretched prison, had become their safe place. It had not occurred to me until this very moment that they might not want to go at all.

“How can we possibly?” Saul asked. “Pawel said that if we went onto the street, we would be shot on sight.” They had been told by the sewer worker that hiding here was their best hope, and for so long, they believed him. Pawel had been their savior and protected them with his life. Why should they trust me more than him? Except for Sadie, they did not know me at all.

I cleared my throat. “It is true that things are very dangerous above ground,” I began. “But things are changing, things that make it no longer safe for you to stay.” I searched for the right way to explain. “You know that someone took the munitions. That person took them to the Germans, alerted them. There’s a good chance that the police will come looking in the sewer anytime now to see what else is here.”

Sadie seemed to pale. “I told you they would come,” she said to Saul, her voice pinched.

“We will hide somewhere else, then,” Saul countered. “Perhaps the reading annex.” I had not realized they had another place.

“It’s too small for three,” Sadie fretted.

“We’ll find somewhere else, then,” Saul said, trying to soothe her. “We can go deeper into the sewers. Surely there is somewhere else.” He searched desperately for another solution that would not force them to go above ground.

“That won’t work,” I interjected. “You see, the Germans have mined the sewer as a defensive measure. If you walk around the tunnels, you risk setting them off.” Sadie’s eyes widened and I could see her calculating how many times she walked those tunnels not knowing the danger.

“We’ll manage,” Saul insisted stubbornly. “We have before.” He glared at me. “We aren’t leaving.”

“I’m afraid there’s something else.” I turned to Sadie. “My stepmother, she found the necklace.”

“Your chai necklace?” Saul’s eyes widened as he turned to Sadie. “I told you not to wear it.”

“It’s my fault,” I said, jumping in to defend her.

“No, it was mine,” Sadie said, taking a step toward me. Saul and his father looked at us reproachfully. It was as if their worst warnings and admonitions about our friendship had all come true. “I gave it to Ella to keep safe for me. I never should have done that.”

“And I should have hidden it better,” I added. “But that doesn’t matter now. My stepmother found it and she realized I was helping Jews. She kicked me out. So I have to leave Kraków.”

“Oh, Ella.” Sadie’s voice was filled with remorse. “I’m so sorry.”

“After I leave, you won’t have anyone to bring you food. You can’t stay here in case the Germans come and you can’t go deeper into the tunnels because of the mines. You need to leave with me now.”

“But what if, I mean when, my mother comes back?” Sadie corrected herself, forcing a certainty that she no longer felt. “When she comes back, I have to be here.” A rock formed in my stomach. The lie I had created weeks ago as a kindness was the very thing that would stop me from saving her life. If Sadie thought her mother was alive, she would never leave. I knew then that I had no choice.

“Sadie, about your mother...”

“What is it? Is there news?” Then seeing my face, she stopped. “Is she all right?”

I knew in that moment that I had to tell her. “I went to the hospital where your mother had taken the baby. Only she wasn’t there anymore.”

“I don’t understand.”

“Your mother went to the hospital where she planned to take the baby. The nuns at the hospital gave her a bed and care.”

“But my mother didn’t go to the hospital as a patient. She went to hide my sister.”

“I know. But she was