'Enoch! Come outside!'

The first thing Enoch saw when he looked up was Claire running towards him, a bright smile on her face. As soon as she'd reached him she grabbed his hand and pulled him off his bed. 'Come!'

'What's happening?' He smiled despite being a little surprised – he'd never seen her this enthusiastic.

'Just come! Hurry!'

It was still sunny but less warm outside. Not that far away he could see people sitting on one of the wooden tables and on the benches around it, and for a moment he thought his ears were fooling him.

He could hear music.

'Claire, what's –'

'Enoch! Finally!'

Bronwyn ran toward him and grabbed his hands. 'You can dance, can you?'

He could see Victor sitting on a table with what looked like a small guitar in his hands and almost laughed in utter astonishment. 'How did you get that?!'

There were no guards around, which was weird and honestly a bit alarming, but apparently these people didn't care.

'Can you dance, Enoch?' Bronwyn asked again as she pulled him with her, and Enoch stuttered: 'Not – not really, no, I never –'

'Doesn't matter.' As she turned around she smiled at him. 'Just follow my lead and you'll be alright.'

A woman had started a quick, Hebrew song and soon they weren't the only ones dancing – Enoch completely forgot about the fact that there might be guards around and he got completely lost in the moment.

He almost tripped over his feet when the song ended and Bronwyn caught him just in time before he fell on the ground. They held on to each other, laughing until they couldn't breathe and they had to sit down next to Victor, who was grinning.

After a few moments of silence, Enoch turned his head towards his friend and nodded at the instrument. 'How the hell did you get that? Is it yours?'

'No, of course not,' Victor chuckled. 'I borrowed it from one of the men in Bronwyn's barrack, but I can play it.'

'And why aren't guards doing anything?' He quickly looked around, but as far as he could see, there weren't any soldiers nearby. 'I thought we weren't allowed to have fun?'

'Well, Vic thought we should risk it,' Bronwyn answered, pulling Claire up from the ground and setting her down on her lap. 'And I think they were too tired to stop us.'

Enoch started to smile. The fact that none of the guards had decided to stop any of them – and still weren't doing anything, since one of the women was still singing as they spoke – gave him hope. Those Germans weren't going to keep them down.

They sat there in silence, and after a few minutes Claire got up to play with the other children.

'Do you think someone will come to help us?'

Bronwyn had asked this question in a quiet, hesitant tone, and both boys were silent for almost thirty seconds before Victor answered her.

'They will, I'm sure of it. most people here think the war will be over by the end of the year.'

'But that's still months away, Victor.' Bronwyn looked up to her brother. 'Who knows what will happen.'

'I'm sure they will come,' Victor said, a little louder this time. None of them knew who "they" were, but Enoch nodded in agreement. They would come, and they would help them out of their misery.

After dinner, the group that gathered around the wooden tables and benches seemed to be even bigger than before. This meant they were also making a lot more noise.

And this lead to them not noticing the officer until it was too late.

The instrument was roughly pulled out of the man's hand and the singing suddenly stopped. Enoch, who'd been sitting with Bronwyn and Claire, looked around, alarmed by the sudden silence.

'Is this yours?' The officer stared down at the man in front of him. 'Do you know you are not allowed to have this?'

'But sir, we have been making music for hours now,' the man started, panic growing in his voice as he spoke. 'And none of the guards said a thing, so we thought –'

'You thought wrong.' The officer's cold voice sent chills down Enoch's spine. He and Bronwyn exchanged worried glances – something was going to happen.

Meanwhile Victor had gotten up from his place and stepped towards the two men. Bronwyn noticed this just a second too late. 'Victor, don't –'

'There is still time before we have to be inside, sir.' Victor's voice was calm and when the officer turned around to look at him Enoch could see him smiling.

'We were never told that we weren't allowed to make music. So please, sir, if we could just get that back you can have it after 8 o'clock.'

The silence that fell didn't seem like a good omen at all, but Victor clearly wasn't bothered by it.

When the officer spoke again, his voice was low and quiet, almost menacing. Everyone around him held their breath.

'Do you think I am to be negotiated with?'

Victor raised his eyebrows. 'Well... I thought...'

'You should probably stop thinking. It will only cause you trouble. Now, shut your mouth.'

Enoch glanced at Victor. He knew the boy was very patient, but for how long would he keep that up?

'But sir, if you just –' Victor stepped towards the officer when the man turned around to walk away and reached for his shoulder.

Which was a very bad decision.

What happened next all went too quick to completely follow, but it went something like this.

The officer had grabbed his gun and turned back at the same time, dropping the object he'd had in his hands. Everyone immediately stepped backward – everyone but Victor.

Next to him, Enoch could hear Bronwyn whimpering. He grabbed her hand and pulled her close, keeping both eyes on the officer.

The gun was pointed at Victor's chest. Everyone else had moved to the side, but the young man just stood there. 'Sir, I just –'

'Shut up!' the man yelled, stepping forward. Victor didn't even flinch. 'Get on your knees!'

For one terrifying moment, Enoch thought Victor wasn't going to obey this order – he wasn't going to kneel and the officer would –

But five seconds later the young man slowly kneeled, his hands resting on his legs and his eyes not moving from the officer's face.

It was eerily quiet in the moments that followed and the tension was almost visible in the air.

Then the man lifted his weapon and hit the boy in front of him in the face with the barrel of his gun.

Victor didn't scream, but Enoch did. With an angry yell he stepped forwards with his hands clenched into fists, only to be pulled back by Bronwyn. If she hadn't used all of her strength he wouldn't have hesitated to attack the officer.

The man didn't even glance at him. He kept staring down at Victor, eyes full of rage. The boy had lowered his head.

'Look at me, Jew!'

Slowly, he looked up.

A woman screamed when the officer hit him in the face a second time, leaving a deep cut on his cheek. He placed his boot on his chest, pushed him backwards and kicked him under his ribcage, causing the young man to double over, gasping for air.

The man stepped backwards, breathing heavily, and looked up to the people surrounding him. 'Let this be a lesson for all of you.'

He turned around and walked away.

'Victor! Victor!'

Bronwyn finally let go of Enoch and ran towards her brother. She fell down on her knees next to him and took his head in his hands, placing him on his back before she brushed his hair out of his face. Tears were running down her face. 'Victor...'

The young man opened his eyes. It took him a few seconds to focus, before a weary smile appeared on his face. 'Hey, Wyn...'

'You're an idiot, Victor.' Enoch carefully sat down opposite of Bronwyn and looked at his friend, trying to hide his worry. 'You know how those men are...'

'It has never stopped you from being a cheeky bastard,' Victor answered, and Enoch almost laughed, but Bronwyn's teary eyes stopped him. He sighed, shook his head and answered: 'Someone needs to clean that wound. We need to get a nurse.'

'I'm a nurse.' A woman stepped forwards. Her face was pale but her voice sounded determined. Enoch glared at her. 'We need a nurse with actual equipment.'

He ignored the mumbling from people around him and tried to get Victor back up to his feet again with Bronwyn's help. 'Come on, let's get some help.'