Page 462 - The Book Thief

Everyones waiting for you.

The bombs will blow your head off.

If you dont come, Ill stop coming to read to you, and that means youve lost your
only friend.

She went with the last sentence, calling the words directly through the sirens.
Her hands were planted on the table.

The woman looked up and made her decision. She didnt move.

Liesel left. She withdrew herself from the table and rushed from the house.

Rosa held open the gate and they started running to number forty-five. Michael
Holtzapfel remained stranded on Himmel Street.

Come on! Rosa implored him, but the returned soldier hesitated. He was just
about to make his way back inside when something turned him around. His
mutilated hand was the only thing attached to the gate, and shamefully, he
dragged it free and followed.

They all looked back several times, but there was still no Frau Holtzapfel.

The road seemed so wide, and when the final siren evaporated into the air, the
last three people on Himmel Street made their way into the Fiedlers basement.

What took you so long? Rudy asked. He was holding the toolbox.

Liesel placed her bag of books on the ground and sat on them. We were trying to
get Frau Holtzapfel.

Rudy looked around. Where is she?

At home. In the kitchen.

In the far corner of the shelter, Michael was cramped and shivery. I should have
stayed, he said, I should have stayed, I should have stayed. . . . His voice was