wood paneling of the wall. She opened it and said, “Go up the stairs and don’t make a peep.”
The boys went up as fast as they could and entered a long, low room. They could not even stand upright, and they were not alone. An elderly couple waited at the back. Jacob could not see their faces, but he could hear them breathing.
Below, they heard the gendarmes beating on the door. The woman took her time in opening.
“What’s all the fuss so early in the morning? Has there been a fire?” she asked, put out.
“We’re looking for some fugitives. They came up the mountain, but the dogs have lost their trail,” one of the gendarmes said.
“And what does this have to do with me? I’m an old widow who lives alone. You’ve scared me half to death.”
“May we come in?” the same gendarme asked.
“I’ve told you, there’s no one else here, but the police don’t believe the word of decent folk anymore. Come in and have a look around. I’m going to make some coffee.” She left the door open and went to the kitchen. Keeping her cool, she made the coffee as strong and fast as she could to throw off the dogs’ noses.
The boys and the couple crouching upstairs could hear the boots of the gendarmes clomping over the wooden floor. The police searched for a good while. The smell of coffee filled the house as the coffeepot hissed.
“Would you like some coffee?” the woman asked.
“Thank you, ma’am. We left Le Puy at three o’clock this morning. A cup would do us good.”
She poured them steaming mugs. The gendarmes sent the dogs outside and stood in the doorway. One of them addressed the woman.
“Don’t think it’s easy for us to go after innocent people. Most of them are children, or mothers and elderly folk. It breaks our hearts to arrest them, but it’s our duty.”
The woman replied, “We must always act according to our conscience, no matter our occupation.”
Jacob heard a drop of liquid nearby and then a rush. With horror, he realized the poor woman near him had lost control of her bladder due to the fright. The urine spread out over the wooden floor and entered the cracks between the wood. Jacob peered through a tiny hole down into the living room. The gendarmes stood talking with the woman, their backs to the living room. Jacob looked in the other direction and saw the first drops fall from the ceiling onto the table.
“Oh no,” he whispered, then clamped his hand over his mouth, terrified of being heard.
“Thank you for the coffee, and I’m sorry we disturbed you,” the first gendarme said, nodding and replacing his cap. The woman was closing the door when the other officer turned and ran back to the table with the mug in his hand. He set it down and said, “Forgive me, I nearly walked away with your cup.”
Drops of yellow liquid fell just inches from the cup, but the gendarme seemed not to have noticed. But the old woman did. Her eyes flicked from the table to the ceiling, and she turned pale, gripping the door for stability. The gendarme ran out and she closed the door behind him, leaning on it and letting out a long sigh.
A few minutes later, after watching the gendarmes walk sufficiently far away, she whispered for them to come down. The children came first, followed by the elderly couple. The man had to help the woman. She was still dressed in her nightgown and looked both angry and ashamed. Her husband turned gentle eyes toward her.
“It’s all right. We were frightened, and your body just reacted that way. It couldn’t be helped.”
Tears of exasperation coated her cheeks. “But I wet myself like a little girl!”
“Don’t worry about it. Come, I’ll help you get cleaned up.”
The couple went toward the bedroom while Jacob, Moses, and their hostess watched.
“What’s the point of staying alive?” the old woman bemoaned. “I’m just a clumsy old fool, good for nothing. We should’ve stayed in Lyon. Just let me die once and for all.” Her husband embraced her and started to cry as well.
“Sweetie, sweetie, no, don’t say those things. We’re together. We’ll always be together.”
“Just let me go. Let me die!”
Jacob and Moses were stunned, and their eyes pricked with tears. The desperation was like that in the velodrome: terrified people crammed together with no water, no privacy, and oppressive heat.
Their hostess closed the bedroom door and looked at