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put an arm on Sophie’s shoulder. “I need to speak with your mama for a few minutes. Would you keep a watchful eye on Ule for me?”
    Sophie’s face broke into a smile. “I’ll read him a story from my book if you like.”
    Matilde nodded at her daughter. “That’s a good idea, Sophie, but be sure to keep your voice down. We don’t want to wake him, do we?”
    Sophie ran upstairs to fetch her book. Greta extracted the last leaflet from the pram’s secret compartment and handed it to Matilde.
    “I brought these for Sophie.” Greta gave Matilde two children’s reading books with colorful pictures. “I wasn’t sure how advanced she is. If they’re too childish for her I can bring something better on my next visit.”
    Greta and Matilde went into the kitchen where Matilde hid the leaflet in a jar marked ‘pasta.’ She put a kettle on. The Rosens’ apartment was always the last call on Greta’s route, and the two women usually shared a cup of tea.
    Matilde glanced through the books. “They look perfect. Thank you.”
    Greta said, “Sophie’s growing up fast.”
    Matilde smiled. “You’ve no idea. She’s a little madam. She reminds me so much of Pauletta at her age, it’s uncanny.”
    “How’s her reading coming along?”
    “Very well. The books you’ve given her have been a great help. Her father has been teaching her numbers, and I tell her stories about distant lands and peoples.”
    “That takes care of geography. What about history?”
    “She knows the history of her people going right back to the Exodus. That’s all I’ve covered so far.”
    Greta glanced around the kitchen. The cupboards looked bare. “I wondered if you’d like to visit me one of these days, Matilde. My apartment is not far. You could bring Sophie and she could spent an afternoon playing with Ule.”
    “Thank you, Greta, but I don’t feel safe on the streets anymore after what happened to David.”
    Greta braced herself for bad news. “Why, what happened?”
    “Someone painted Juden on the outside of the shop. David scrubbed it off. But then a couple of Brownshirt thugs came into the shop and threatened him. They said the next customer who came through the door would receive a beating. He had to close the shop.”
    “That’s terrible!”
    “He came home, but then when he was half-way home they —”
    “Oh no, Matilde.”
    Matilde eyes filled. “They ambushed him. They beat him. Then they followed him. He was terrified of what they might do if they find out where we live. He had to go into the city to lose them in the crowds.”
    “Is he all right? Where is he?”
    “He’s upstairs, sleeping. He’s not badly injured, but he’s terrified that they’ll beat him again. They said they’d break his bones the next time. They could easily kill him. I’m not sure he’ll ever open the shop again.”
    “How will you live? Do you have savings?”
    Matilde shook her head. “We have a little put by. I don’t know what will become of us when that’s all gone.”
    “I will come by tomorrow with some food. Make a list of what you need.”
    “Oh, I couldn’t ask you to do that, Greta.”
    “Nonsense. Find a pen. Make a list.”
    As Greta was leaving, Matilde gave Sophie the new books. Sophie gave Greta a hug and thanked her. Ule was still sleeping.
     
     

 
    Chapter 10
     
    July 1938
     
     
    One thousand kilometers to the west, the War Office building in Whitehall was shrouded in mist. In a smoke-filled meeting room on the third floor, seven men sat around a table. These were the members of the Joint Forces Contingency Committee, their brief to consider and evaluate any and all threats to Britain and her empire. Six of those present were senior military advisors from the three arms of His Majesty’s Defense Forces. All six were of high rank, as indicated by the scrambled egg on their uniforms. The seventh man was dressed as a civilian, his understated double-breasted pinstripe a reminder to everyone in the