Summary

In Chapter 17, Yona carries Anka to the farmhouse Sister Maria described. She uses the code word – Siberian iris – and a woman named Maja lets them in. She explains that there are tunnels that can be used to get Anka out to people who will help her reach safety. Maja is worried that Yona was followed, tells her to leave, and insists she must never return. A soldier stops her on the way back into the village. Drawing on Jerusza's lessons, she tells the soldier a story about a starving daughter who needs milk, weaving in a lot of unimportant details so that he is quickly bored. He gives her a chocolate bar and says she should go directly home. Back in the village, Yona discovers the priest is hanging from the makeshift gallows. The nuns are lined up to be killed in place...