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“Probably. But what else can we do? They need a safe place. We have one. If the situation were reversed, we’d hope someone would help us.”

“I know. I just wish Andrée was here. I don’t like making this decision without her.”

“She would agree. You know she would. She’d say the same thing I’m saying: We help because we must. Because that’s what resistance means.”

Louis nods. “Tuesday then. Strangers in our bedroom, doing God knows what. The things we do for France.”

In Barbizon, Josie returns at suppertime, as the day stretches into long summer evening, flushed and happy, her dress torn, leaves in her hair. Andrée has never seen her look so alive.

“We climbed the old oak! And Solène showed me the cave where she hides treasures. And we saw a deer! A real deer, so close I could almost touch it!”

Sophie laughs. “I see Solène is already corrupting you. That girl is half wild, I swear.”

“Can I see her again tomorrow?”

“Of course. But first, dinner. And then, piano practice. You promised Grand-Mère.”

Josie groans, but she’s smiling. After the best dinner they’ve eaten in a long while, she sits at Sophie’s piano and plays. Chopin. Bach. A bit of Mozart. The out-of-tune keys don’t bother her. She’s too happy to care.

That night, in the small bedroom Sophie prepared for them, Josie falls asleep almost instantly. Andrée lies awake, listening to her breathe. This is what childhood should be. Climbing trees. Exploring forests. Making friends. Not hiding. Not fear. Not constant vigilance.

For this week, Josie gets to be a child. And that, Andrée thinks, might be the most important thing she’s ever given her.

The days blur into a pattern. After breakfast, Josie runs to meet Solène and the two girls disappear into the forest. Andrée and Sophie work in the garden, talking about everything and nothing.

On the fourth day, Colette joins them. “The girls are good for each other,” she says. “Solène has been so lonely. And Joséphine, she’s blossoming. I can see it.”

That afternoon, however, something changes. Josie doesn’t come back at the usual time. Dusk falls. Still no Josie. Still no Solène.

Andrée stands at the edge of the forest, calling, “Josie! Josie, it’s time to come home!”

Nothing.

Colette appears, equally worried. “They know to be home before dark. This isn’t like Solène.”

“Should we go look for them?” Sophie asks.

“In the forest at night? We’d be lost within minutes. We just have to wait. Maybe give them another hour. Then we⁠—”

There’s a sudden movement. Two figures emerge from the trees, running. Josie and Solène, disheveled, frightened, but unharmed.

Andrée runs to meet them. “What happened? Where were you?”

“Germans,” Solène gasps. “In the forest. A patrol. We heard them, so we hid.”

“They came so close,” Josie adds, her voice shaking. “We were behind the big rock, near the stream. They walked right past us. We stayed quiet. We didn’t move. We barely breathed.”

Colette pulls Solène into her arms. “How close?”

“Five meters. Maybe less. We could hear them speaking in German. I didn’t understand much—something about their route?”

Andrée’s blood runs cold. “You could have been seen. You could have been caught.”

“But we weren’t,” Josie says. “We were invisible. Like you taught me. We were invisible, Tata.”

“No more going so deep into the forest,” Colette says firmly. “Stay close to the village. Stay where I can call you.”

“But, Maman⁠—”