Page 281 - The Book Thief

Liesels outer disappointment had masked a ferocious relief. Would she have had

the neck to go in? And who and what, in fact, was she going in for? For Rudy?
To locate some food?

No, the repugnant truth was this:

She didnt care about the food. Rudy, no matter how hard she tried to resist the
idea, was secondary to her plan. It was the book she wanted. The Whistler. She
wouldnt tolerate having it given to her by a lonely, pathetic old woman. Stealing
it, on the other hand, seemed a little more acceptable. Stealing it, in a sick kind
of sense, was like earning it.

The light was changing in blocks of shade.

The pair of them gravitated toward the immaculate, bulky house. They rustled
their thoughts.

You hungry? Rudy asked.

Liesel replied. Starving. For a book.

Looka light just came on upstairs.

I see it.

Still hungry, Saumensch?

They laughed nervously for a moment before going through the motions of who
should go in and who should stand watch. As the male in the operation, Rudy
clearly felt that he should be the aggressor, but it was obvious that Liesel knew

this place. It was she who was going in. She knew what was on the other side of
the window.

She said it. It has to be me.

Liesel closed her eyes. Tightly.

She compelled herself to remember, to see visions of the mayor and his wife.
She watched her gathered friendship with Ilsa Hermann and made sure to see it