Geertrui
- When we check back in with Geertrui, she warns us that her happy time is about to come to an end. One morning, when she is still in bed, Dirk shouts out for all of them to hear: "Germans!"
- They spring into action, knowing they must move Jacob quickly, but they're not sure where to—or how to—before the Germans get there.
- There isn't enough time to get Jacob down to the hiding place, so Mrs. Wesseling decides to keep him in the bed and have Geertrui climb on top of him. If they remain perfectly still and keep a lot of pillows and blankets around, maybe no one will know.
- Just before leaving, Mrs. Wesseling tells Geertrui to act sick. Next time she comes in, it's with a German officer, and she's telling him all about how Geertrui has tuberculosis—poor thing won't make it, she tells the officer.
- He scrams. He doesn't want to get sick, and Mrs. Wesseling follows after him to keep him moving throughout the house. Geertrui and Jacob must stay perfectly still until the Germans are gone, just in case they come back in for a second look.
- Geertrui is nervous and tries to remain calm. She takes a few deep breaths and then realizes that Jacob is excited that she's on top of him. She's not sure how to respond, or what to think, but she knows his body stirred when she jumped in the bed.
- Phew—the Germans are gone. They decide it would be best for everyone if Jacob went down to the hiding place with the other boys now; that was just too close.
- Geertrui gets sad when Jacob leaves the main house. Sure, he's not that far away, and she still sees him often, but now he's one of the guys—they don't have their private moments anymore, reading poetry from Sam's book and hanging out, just the two of them.
- Now he's always teasing her like the other boys. What's worse though, is that she doesn't have anyone to talk to about all this—it's not like any of her friends are around, and Mrs. Wesseling isn't exactly warm and fuzzy.
- For two weeks it's like this, and she can tell the boys are getting antsy as well; they're cooped up in a tiny space together, unable to do anything for fear of being found out.
- Dirk thinks they should go and help the Resistance. He doesn't want to stay locked in a barn this whole time, and he thinks Henk should go with him, but Mrs. Wesseling pleaded with her son not to do anything rash.
- One day, German officers come to the house again. This time, they are searching for any young man to come and work for them. Luckily all three of the boys were in their hiding place already, but still—it was scary.
- They told the Wesselings they would give up their search if they got some fresh food. Since it's a working farm, there were eggs and cheese—all kinds of things that aren't available anywhere else. Since they don't want their son and the other boys to be found, they Wesselings gave them a sack full of stuff.
- Once they finally leave, Dirk flipped his lid—he can't believe his parents would give food to Germans. They try to explain to him that it was just so everyone could be safe, but Dirk doesn't agree; he's adamant it's not worth it.
- The next day, Dirk and Henk are gone, and a note is left in their place. Henk wrote it to Geertrui, explaining that the Germans will likely raid the farm and they should be far away helping the Allies when that happens. He's sorry he didn't say goodbye, but he couldn't bear the thought of her crying.
- He tells her to get out of there as soon as Jacob is better. At the bottom, Dirk wrote her a message too—it says: "I carry you in my heart. All my love, Dirk." Tear.