Chapter Fifteen (Geertrui) Summary

After Dirk leaves, Mrs. Wesseling stays in her room for days. She is nearly deranged with grief. She is overwhelmed with guilt, feeling that she should have turned Geertrui and Henk away when they first arrived, or that she should have let the Germans capture Jacob rather than endangering her family to hide him. With Mrs. Wesseling mourning in her bedroom, and Mr. Wesseling forced to single-handedly manage the work of the farm, Geertrui is free to spend her time nursing Jacob in the hidey-hole. Geertrui fully depends on Jacob for emotional support as she grieves the loss of her brother. Initially, she hoped he would return in a few days, but days stretched into weeks and it became painfully clear that the boys were not coming back. As they talk, Geertrui and Jacob bond. They become friends, then...