Summary

In Chapter 21, it is January 24, 1945, at the Schmidt Bakery on 56 Ludwigstrasse in Garmisch, Germany. Elsie’s parents have been gone for five days, having left for Steinhoring. Elsie has stayed behind to run the bakery, and continues to shelter Tobias. She has even let him help her out in the bakery making pretzels early before any customers arrived. Today, she does the same. She closes the shop early each day, at noon, so that she can spend the afternoon preparing for the next morning. She also worries about Tobias’s health, who eats bread and winter vegetables, but never sausage since it is not kosher. Tobias opens up, saying he does not know where his parents are, but his younger sister, Cecile, is at the camp. He says Cecile likes ribbons, and that one day, he will buy her new ones. Elsie tells Tobias...