A couple of days later, the phone rang, and Ursula stared at the black instrument with surprise. It hardly ever rang.
“Ursula Hermann,” she said into the earpiece.
“This is your mother.”
Ursula almost dropped the receiver. Mutter hadn’t called a single time since she left with Lotte for the countryside. She always said the cost of a long-distance call was much too high, and the money could better be spent elsewhere. What had changed her mind?
“Are you alright, Mutter?” Ursula asked and put her finger to her lips as she saw Tom coming out of his room.
“I am fine, thank you. How are you and Anna? We have heard troubling news about the Englishman–” Ursula paled and dropped the receiver to her lap. She struggled to put it to her ear again. “Ursula? Are you still there? What was that noise
