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“So, Andrée, what have you got for me today? Come on in,” René says as he opens the door to his apartment.

They sit at the dining table. Andrée takes a folder from her handbag and places it on the table. René reaches out to take it, but Andrée holds it firm.

“There’s something I need to tell you before we go on. Something has happened at home, and everyone connected to us needs to know. And once I tell you, you will have to decide whether you still want to be involved with my family.”

Withdrawing his hand from the folder, René nods. “Go on.”

Andrée quickly recaps the events of the last few days. René doesn’t say a word until she is finished. He’s a man of medicine; his whole life has been devoted to the care of others. He never had a family of his own, but his patients were his family. Having reached retirement age, he has found a new way to care for others, not only through the practice of medicine but in supplying false medical certificates that save lives as surely as any surgeries he has performed.

“Hearing this only reaffirms my resolve to work with you. But do I need to tell you of the risk you are taking by having a Jewish girl live with you?”

“You do not. But what choice do we have? Where else could she go?”

René reaches out and pats her hand. “Let me get you a ration card for her. It’s the least I can do.”

“Thank you. I wasn’t sure how to ask you.”

René gives a thin smile. “Oh, Andrée. Is there anything else you need?”

“We’re still adjusting to how this is going to work for all of us. The fact that she is still at the same school gives her life some structure but adds risk. As for the rest, well, we’ll deal with any problems as they come along.” Andrée is aware that she sounds more certain than she feels.

René nods. “Leave the ration card to me,” he says.

He takes the folder. Removing the pages inside, he places them on the table: the details of seven young men. A small photo is taped in the right-hand corner of each sheet, handwritten information beneath. He reads each file, studying the picture attached.

“All verified, all safe from compromise or collaboration?” he asks.

Andrée nods.

“Only this one”—he holds up a file—“has anything like a legitimate illness: heart irregularity noted when he was a child. I’ll have no trouble writing him up. The others, well, I’ll have to be a little more inventive.”

“And, as always, you will. What are you thinking?” Andrée holds up one of the files. The photo shows a man aged twenty-five, fit, well built, clearly healthy. He had even played rugby at club level. “He isn’t going to be easy.”

“Oh, I don’t know. What do they say? The bigger they are, the harder they fall. I think a recent severe injury might have led to a case of depression and a need for continued rest and quiet.”

“I’ll leave these with you. Are the ones I gave you last week ready?”

“All done. I’ll just get them from the safe.”

It doesn’t take long for René to hand a similar folder to Andrée. “Do you want to take a look?” he asks.

She flicks through the documents, reading the medical summaries detailing conditions that will prevent the young men from being deported to the forced labor camps in Greater Germany.

“Remind them always to carry this piece of paper with them. It is a copy. The original has been filed at the German center for forced labor. They must tell this fact to anyone who detains them.”

“Thanks, Doctor René. I’ll take them to my drop on the way home. Don’t want to get caught with them. I have more to lose now that Josie is living with us.”

“It is an incredibly brave thing you, Louis, and Tina are doing. Tell me, how are your parents?”

“Really well. It’s strange, but I think the risks they’ve been taking this year have given them a new lease on life. I know they are roughly the same age as you, but the three of you seem in some way invigorated.”

René stands up and ushers Andrée to the door. “Like you and your parents, I have so much to live for. I need to see this war end, and my country liberated and free. Yes, we take risks, but it is worth it to contribute just a little in resisting the Germans.”

It is later than Andrée intended when she climbs the stairs to her apartment. Approaching the door, she hears a piano, the sound of music: Josie playing her favorite piece, “Clair de Lune.” Leaning against the wall, Andrée closes her eyes and, as Debussy intended, lets the music wash over her, calm her fears. Smiling, she pictures Josie sitting at her piano and hopes the music is having the same effect on the little girl.

Chapter Six

The next morning, Andrée ferries Josie to school after a meager breakfast of a thin slice of dry bread and chicory coffee. Josie needs the food more than they do, so she gets the last piece of hard cheese with her bread. They must have another ration card—soon.