Page 127 of Hidden Among the Stars

When the archaeologist and her assistant arrive, Josh slips up beside me and takes my hand. I’d expected the archaeologist to use some sort of fancy tool to open the casket, but the two women cover their faces with respirator masks and begin to pry open the box with a crowbar.

The lid tilts up, their success overpowered by the stench that permeates the room. The priest opens two doors, allowing the cold air to sweep through the nave, and I cover my face with my sleeve. Ella glances over at me, and I nod, giving her permission to slip outside with Anna.

The archaeologist reaches inside the casket with gloved hands and lifts out a burlap bag. One extraordinary girl, she confirms, brilliantly recorded the treasure in a place few adults would look and then hid it in the most unexpected of places.

Inside the bag is a gold necklace, the Star of David, engravedwith the initialsS.L.on the back. One of the women from the Leitner family gasps. “It’s Aunt Sarah’s star,” she says, and I smile.

TheBambibook and I—we’ve found our way home. Perhaps more of these items will find their way home as well.

Ella and Anna return to the sanctuary, and we watch quietly as daylight fades into the lilac hour, the archaeologist and her assistant carefully cataloging burlap bags and brown-paper wrappings and feed sacks—all filled with valuables from before the war. Every piece will be recorded, using Annika’s book as a reference, and the items will be returned to the Leitners and the descendants of any other families who survived the Holocaust.

If no one remains, the pieces will go to a museum in their memory and to honor all who died under Hitler’s regime.

The archaeologist pulls an envelope out of the casket, well preserved in the same salt used for Christoph’s remains. Then she reads the handwritten note to her small audience.

Dear Max,

To keep our secret safe, I must hide it away again. I’ll guard it even when I’m afraid, even after you are gone. If I’m not able to retrieve it, I hope that you will find this one day and remember what Mama once told me: Our hearts followwherever our treasure might be. I hope your heart follows this treasure home.

When she finishes, I glance at Charlotte and Luzia in the dim light; both are crying. In fact, tears seem to be flowing freely in this space now.

Outside I hear the whisper of a song, then a chorus of birds in their own harmony. Each one is singing a different melody, likeeach person in this room. Only God knows the entire score of our lives, but we all have our assigned parts, measures to sing solo or with a choir.

Stepping out of the pew, I press my nose against the window and find a rust-colored bird perched on a snowy tree, watching our group through the glass. Quietly I move toward the back door and outside into the winter air.

A flock of stars watches over the lake, and I wonder, perhaps, if these stars are watching over us too.

The door opens again, and Josh slips up beside me, squeezing my hand. As I lean into him, we remember together the precious lives lost, but more than that, we remember their legacy, the majestic voices and instruments blending into a starlit symphony of sorts.

No one can stop this music. Its journey continues, I think, throughout the earth and up into the heavens. An eternal, sacred song.