Page 424 - The Book Thief

THE BREAD EATERS

It had been a long and eventful year in Molching, and it was finally drawing to a
close.

Liesel spent the last few months of 1942 consumed by thoughts of what she
called three desperate men. She wondered where they were and what they were
doing.

One afternoon, she lifted the accordion from its case and polished it with a rag.
Only once, just before she put it away, did she take the step that Mama could

not. She placed her finger on one of the keys and softly pumped the bellows.
Rosa had been right. It only made the room feel emptier.

Whenever she met Rudy, she asked if there had been any word from his father.
Sometimes he described to her in detail one of Alex Steiners letters. By
comparison, the one letter her own papa had sent was somewhat of a
disappointment.

Max, of course, was entirely up to her imagination.

It was with great optimism that she envisioned him walking alone on a deserted
road. Once in a while she imagined him falling into a doorway of safety

somewhere, his identity card enough to fool the right person.

The three men would turn up everywhere.

She saw her papa in the window at school. Max often sat with her by the fire.
Alex Steiner arrived when she was with Rudy, staring back at them after theyd
slammed the bikes down on Munich Street and looked into the shop.

Look at those suits, Rudy would say to her, his head and hands against the glass.
All going to waste.

Strangely, one of Liesels favorite distractions was Frau Holtzapfel. The reading
sessions included Wednesday now as well, and theyd finished the water-