The only person who seemed remotely happy about the developments was Josef. He hoped to be able to save his wife now after all. “I’ll go back to the ghetto and fetch our comrades from Nalewki Street. If I hurry, I should be back here with them by tomorrow morning.”
The rest of us decided to spread out to various exits for the night. If the Germans discovered us all hiding in the same place, we feared they might kill us all with just one grenade.
I moved two streets away with Daniel and Rebecca. We were able to sit in the cold waste water here—though there was the danger that the little girl would drown if she fell asleep.
Daniel kept her awake by telling her the stories about King Macius that Korczak had written. He told her about Klu-Klu who knew 112 European words, the hermit in the tower, and how the little king tried to flee from the dungeon and realized that the outcome wasn’t the most important thing in life, it was the decision to act.
Rebecca was only half listening. She kept nodding off, for one thing, and Daniel spoke more and more slowly and quietly. The gas in the bunker at Miła 18 had affected him far more than me.
Rebecca turned to me looking dog-tired and said, “Can you tell me a story?”
It was the first time she had ever spoken!
I was so surprised that I couldn’t say anything for a moment.
“Daniel always tells stories about Little King Macius,” she complained. “I know all of them.”
Daniel managed to smile.
“I … I,” I stammered, “I can think of one.”
Beside me, Daniel closed his eyes gratefully, and I started to tell the story of the 777 islands, about how Hannah and Ben Redhead had discovered the book, Hannah’s claim to be the Chosen One, how she had discovered the three magic mirrors that would defeat the Mirror King, and on and on …
Sometime past midnight, I reached the point where the crew of the Longear reached the mountaintop.
Tonight in the sewers, the fate of the islands would be sealed. So would Hannah’s and mine. Would I dare face the Mirror King?