more eager to read the note than to eat our bread. It is long and written as if in great haste.
You saw pipes coming close to your detail. Stuff in groundfive steps from pipestomorrow
. I cannot believe the words before my eyes.
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All day we eye the pipes. I can see that five steps from the pipe there is a little rise in the ground, but we must wait patiently. I watch the sky closely as the afternoon wanes. Our timing must be perfect. I nod to Danka. Slowly we dig, little by little, away from the group toward the pipes. We gouge the land, carrying large shovelfuls of dirt to the sifting net, each time returning one step closer to the pipes. There are no SS nearby. I wink, and Danka busily digs around me, loosening the dirt while blocking me with her body so no one can see what I'm doing. Working diligently, she puts on a good show, giving me the cover I need to retrieve our treasure. Quickly I tie a bottle of tomato juice underneath my dress, to the other end of the string, which also holds my bowl. In a bit of cloth there is a lemon and, to my great surprise, tablets. There is a note, too, and these I hide in my hem with the lemon.
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"They've gotten us quinine." I whisper to Danka. She digs deeper into the dirt, throwing her back into the work. I was not expecting so much and only have the hem of my dress to hide things in.
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"Hurry," Danka whispers, digging, digging. It is very complicated, smoothing the tablets out in my hem so the SS won't notice any lumps. I pray none will fall out.
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"Done." We dig around the area, quickly obscuring the hiding place.
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"Halt!" Emma yells. Our skin bristles in fear. We stop what we're doing, trying to erase any traces of anxiety on our faces. We look up at Emma.
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"Line up!" she announces.
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I cast a glance at Danka as we carry our last shovelful of dirt toward the sifting net before carrying the shovels into the toolshed.
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