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No random searches or raids, no roundups or executions bothered him or slowed his pace.She’d never realised how strong or brave he was before the war.The conflict had brought out the worst in so many of the people she knew, but it’d brought out the best in some as well—Jan and his family included.She knew how much his mother risked by helping source the supplies and sending her son over the wall.She also knew he’d never do it without his mother’s approval.Everything he did put his mother and sisters in danger, as much as himself.
They stopped at her front door and faced one another for a few quiet moments.
“I suppose I should go inside.”
“It’s getting chilly,” he agreed.
He reached for her hand and held it.His was warm, and his touch sent a thrill up her spine.“Thank you for saying yes.”
She laughed.“I’m glad I did.I’ll remember this day for the rest of my life.”
“Me too,” he said with a grin.
The front door flew open, and light spilled out into the night.
“Nacha Wierzbicka, get inside this apartment right now.”Tata’s voice was low, and his eyes flashed with anger.
Nacha dropped Jan’s hand and hurried inside with one last glance over her shoulder.She met Jan’s gaze, and the intensity in his eyes made her throat catch.She didn’t wait to hear what Tata would say.She knew how angry he would be.He was worried about her.She didn’t leave a note or tell anyone where she’d gone.She’d been foolish to do it.But still, she couldn’t feel sorry.
She heard his voice, quiet and yet angry.Even in his fear, he wouldn’t draw attention.
She threw herself down on her bed and hugged the old, worn pillow her mother had made her years earlier.She’d embroidered a pattern of a flower on the cover, and Nacha always slept with the embroidery facing down and one hand beneath the pillow so she could feel the roughness of it with her fingertips.
Before long, her father’s footsteps thudded on the staircase.Then there was a knock at the door to the room she shared with her family.Tata always knocked if the door was shut, even though he slept against the wall opposite her.
“Yes, come in.”
He walked in and sat on his own bed.“Nacha, I hope you know how worried you made me.”
“I’m sorry, Tata.”
“You didn’t tell me where you were.Now Jan says you went to the Aryan side to watch a movie.I don’t know what to think about it all.How could you do it, after everything we’ve talked about?”
She sat up and smoothed her skirt.“I know it was wrong and thoughtless of me.But I can’t help it—I don’t care.I might die tomorrow, Tata.And you know that.But today I got to live.”A smile flooded across her features as the memories of what she and Jan had done filled her thoughts.
He sighed.“You’re right, my sweet girl.Today you lived.”
