Chapter 3 Summary

September passes with no more unusual events, although Annemarie, Ellen, and Kirsti always take the longer route home from school now to avoid "the Giraffe" and his partner. Their mothers still take coffee together every afternoon, although, coffee, like every other luxury food item, is in short supply. Mostly, the mothers drink weak tea concocted from whatever herbs are available. Electricity has been rationed by the Germans, and so the families of Denmark must go without heat and light, relying on candles, extra blankets, and coal stoves, if they can find coal. Annemarie thinks she and Kirsti are lucky to have each other for warmth at night, and thinks of poor Ellen, who has no sisters.

One morning, as they prepare for school, Mrs. Johansen notices that a button has broken on Kirsti's jacket. She instructs the girls to stop by Mrs. Hirsch's...