Herr Rehme drew on his pipe to light it. “No, you’ll go to the meetings just the way you have been.”
“But Mother looks tired,” Korinna insisted. “I want to help her.”
“You’ll help her by going to the meetings, Korinna.” Her father removed the smoking pipe from his mouth and used the stem as a pointer for emphasis. “It would be un-German of you not to be a member of Jungmädel. You would get into trouble for quitting.”
Korinna smiled. “Oh no, Papa, the leaders at the Jungmädel are very nice. They wouldn’t think I’m un-German just for wanting to stay home to help Mother.”
Korinna’s parents glanced at each other.
Her mother plunged the dishes into the steaming water. “That’s very thoughtful of you, dear, but we don’t want you to give up your meetings. We know you enjoy them. You just go and have fun.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes,” her father said firmly, blowing out a big puff of fragrant smoke. Then he smiled. “I have a surprise for you.”
Korinna clapped her hands together. “Really? What is it?”
Korinna’s father checked his pockets as if he were looking for something. “Now where did I put it? Helga, do you know where I put it?”
His wife smiled, but shook her head.
He finally knocked his broad knuckles on his forehead. “Oh, I remember, next to my boots.”
Korinna frowned. “In the hall, Papa?”
“Go look, I tell you. Quickly!”
Korinna got up from the table and walked to the front hall where she had left her book bag. Next to her father’s large boots sat a box she hadn’t noticed before. Someone had punched holes in the top. Korinna held her breath and slowly lifted the lid. Inside, a small bundle of fur trembled in one corner. Korinna gently lifted the little black and white kitten out of the box and, hugging it close, walked back into the kitchen.
“Oh, Papa,” she said breathlessly, “he’s beautiful! Look at the little white nose! Thank you so much! I’ll take good care of him, I promise.”
“I think he’s a she, but you’re welcome. She comes from a long line of mice killers.” “Don’t tease her, Bernd,” Korinna’s mother chided.
Korinna blushed. “I heard the mice, Papa. I swear it. They live behind my bedroom wall.”
“I know, I’m just teasing you. I put a mousetrap up there for them. Did you hear any mice last night?”
“No, not last night.”
Her father nodded with approval. “Good. The traps must have scared the little rodents away. Anyway, now if they come back you have a mouse-catcher.”
“Thank you,” Korinna said, touching her nose to the kitten’s. “What shall I call her?”
Herr Rehme shrugged. “That’s your decision, Korinna. I trust you’ll make the right choice.”
Korinna glanced over at her father, looking for the teasing glint in his eyes, but instead he looked quite serious. She wouldn’t have thought that naming a cat would be such a serious event, but then, she’d never had a cat before.
“Don’t worry, Papa,” she said, hoping she sounded solemn enough for this occasion. “You can trust me to make the right choice.”
Chapter Two
By morning, Korinna still hadn’t chosen a name for her new kitten. The black and white “mouse-catcher” raced around in crazy circles and made flying leaps at Korinna’s stockinged legs as she dressed.
After a cold breakfast of rye bread spread with a thin layer of jam, Korinna left her kitten purring next to the coal stove in the kitchen.
“I’m leaving, Mother,” Korinna called from the front hall, shouldering her book bag.
Frau Rehme came from the kitchen, wiping her hands on a towel and hugged her daughter. “Come home right after school today. Aunt Hendrikia is coming over for dinner.”
“I won’t forget,” Korinna promised as she slipped out into the cold morning air. She pulled the door shut behind her.
Korinna stomped her feet to keep warm as Rita and Eva crunched over to her through the snow.
“Heil Hitler,” Rita called.
Korinna returned the greeting. “Heil Hitler. Guess what?” she added as she joined her friends, and they continued on toward school. “Papa gave me a kitten to catch the mice I heard. She’s the cutest little thing. And look.” Korinna stopped walking and angled her calf to show them. “The little monster bit a hole in my stocking!”
“What does the kitty look like?” Eva asked.
“She’s black and white and so fuzzy. Maybe you can help me name her.”
Eva sighed. “I wish I could have a kitty. But, of course, I don’t have any mice in my walls.”
Korinna shuddered. “I hope the traps really did scare the mice away. What if I ever saw a mouse race across my floor? I’m scared of them.”
Giggling, Eva said, “I know what I’d do—I’d scream.”
Korinna nodded. “And I’d—”
Rita made an impatient sound in the back of her throat. “Wait until you hear this,” she interrupted, slicing her hand through the air for emphasis. “Hans stopped by last night. Guess why Herr Haase was taken away.”
“Why?” Korinna asked flatly.
“He was involved in a secret organization that helps Jews! He’s being taken to the work camp, but first they’re going to try to find out who else is in the organization.”
Korinna shrugged. “Maybe he’ll never say who else was in the organization.”
“My brother says they have methods for extracting secrets out of prisoners.”
Eva’s eyes widened. “He told you all this?”
Rita shook her head. “I heard him talking to Papa in the kitchen. They didn’t know I was listening.”
“What kind of methods?” Korinna couldn’t help asking.
“Secret methods,” Rita said, her voice a loud whisper. “Hans isn’t even allowed to tell his own father.
“And look at this,” she continued, taking a small notebook out of the pocket in her coat.
Korinna and Eva looked at what Rita had scratched into the book in her messy scrawl.
“Fräulein Demmer made a face at the Führer’s picture,” Korinna read out loud. “She says it’s a sin what’s happening to the Jews. When she sees me she looks guilty and doesn’t say anything more for the rest of the night.” Korinna stopped reading suddenly. “Fräulein Demmer? You mean Elsa Demmer?”
Rita nodded smugly.
“But, Rita, Elsa’s your cousin! You’re going to turn in your cousin?” Eva exclaimed.
Rita’s face turned red. “She’s an enemy of Germany, isn’t she? She shouldn’t be so sympathetic to the enemy, and if she weren’t so guilty, why did she avoid me for the rest of the night? She knows she’s wrong!”
“But