The World That We Knew

In the fall of 1943, Julien has lived at the farm near Haute-Loire for about a year. He hasn’t seen Lea for nearly two years but still thinks about little else: “They had been cast into the far sides of a maze, blindfolded, with no walls or trees or bread crumbs to guide them” (226). One day when Marianne and Victor are both gone, Julien, returning to the farmhouse from his chores in the field, hears the ominous rumble of army trucks. He hides until he thinks it is safe. He returns to the farmhouse, his heart dark with the foreboding feeling of death. He finds the farmhouse ransacked and, worse, Marianne’s father hanging from a crossbeam. Julien knows he must run but first he wants to secure the identity papers he’s sure Marianne’s father hid on the farm. He deduces the perfect place: the farm’s beehives. Indeed, he finds the valuable papers. He leaves a note for Marianne, gifting her the papers, and runs. He heads toward Vienne. He runs by night and sleeps during the day. Alone and lost, he takes work wherever a farmer is hiring.

Meanwhile, Ettie has emerged as one of the most reliable and courageous Resistance fighters.