As it turned out, the Baumgartners' fears were unfounded, as no one ever arrived to inquire about Dieter's whereabouts. The Soviets closed in on the Germans as the war drew to a slow, painful close. On April 16, two army groups attacked Berlin from the east and the south. The Red Army encircled the city, and on April 20, began shelling the city center.

Russian soldiers filled the streets, killing soldiers and civilians indiscriminately. The Baumgartners were terrified to leave the house. Communication with the outside world was impossible, as the telephone lines were down. Jo thought of Mrs. Weber, Renate, and Konrad, and wondered whether or not they were even still alive.

One day, Paul, Julia, and Jo were listening to the radio when they heard that Hitler had died in battle.

"So now Dieter can go free!" cried Jo.

The three of them went upstairs to Paul's study, where together, they pushed the bookcase back from the wall. Dieter looked at them in surprise.

"It's over." Julia sobbed with joy. "It's finally over!"

Dieter reached for his mother and pulled her into an embrace. Then he turned to his father.

"How bad is it?"

Paul moved the curtain to glance outside. "The city is in ruins."

"Then there is much work to do." Dieter's blue eyes met Jo's brown ones as he took her hand. "You and I will work together to help rebuild Germany."

Don't you know who I really am? Jo wanted to ask.

"It seems such an overwhelming job to me!" was what she said instead.

"With the help of God, it will be accomplished." Still hand in hand, they stepped outside the house. Despite the scene of devastation, Dieter broke into a wide grin. "You can't imagine what it's like to breathe fresh air as a free man once again!"

Jo smiled, thinking of the warm late summer Concord sun.

Together, they surveyed the piles of rubble that lay before them. Entire buildings had collapsed, filling large areas of ground with bricks, mortar, broken wood, twisted metal, and other debris. On one building, the entire wall had fallen over, so they could see the inside of what had once been office buildings.

"This is like a horror movie!" cried Jo.

Dieter gave her a curious look.

"I mean - like I imagine a horror movie would be," she said softly.

Dieter began to lead her down the street.

"Where are we going?" she asked.

"To search for people in need," he replied. "If I can help just one person, it will be worth it to me."

In a pile of rubble, they saw a woman sitting on the ground, crying for help. As they drew closer, they saw that a large piece of furniture lay on her right leg, pinning her down. Together, Dieter and Jo were just able to move it off her.

Once she was free, Dieter and Jo tried to help her stand, but she gave a cry of pain and slumped to the ground.

"It must be broken," Dieter said grimly. "I doubt there's a nearby hospital still standing. I'll take you home. My father is a physician. Surely there's something he can do."

He lifted the woman's slight body and began to carry her in the direction of the Baumgartner home. Really seeing her for the first time, Jo noticed that she was about twenty-five and had honey blonde hair and gray eyes.

"Everything will be all right," she told the woman as she squeezed her hand. "I'm a nurse. I'll take good care of you."

The woman's eyes, which had been wide with pain and fear, gazed at Jo in gratitude.

By the time they reached the Baumgartner home, the woman had lost consciousness. Dieter lay her on the sofa so Paul could examine her.

"The leg is definitely broken," he announced. "As I have no access to an X-ray machine or material to make a cast, there's little I can do other than to monitor her vitals and administer pain medication as needed."

Thankfully, the woman had remained unconscious during Paul's examination. Dieter covered her with a blanket and then led Jo to a chair.

"Now I can tell you everything," he began. "There was a plot to kill Hitler and capitulate to the Allies. Werner and I were a part of it. We worked as spies, intercepting communication between members of the Abwehr and sending coded messages to the Allies.

I wasn't directly involved in the assassination attempt, but I knew the men who planned it and helped arrange their meetings."

"The suitcase with the bomb?" Jo remembered hearing about it on the radio.

"Yes."

Jo sighed. "If only that had been successful!"

"There's no point in dwelling on it now," Dieter pointed out. "Hitler has met his fate and now must answer to God for his actions."

He didn't really die in battle, Jo wanted to scream. He took the coward's way out in an underground bunker. She remembered that much from her twenty-first century life.

The woman lying on the sofa began to moan, and her eyes fluttered open.

"Where am I?" she asked.

"You are in the home of Dr. Paul Baumgartner," Dieter told her. "I'm his son Dieter, and this is my fiancee, Martina Weber. We found you injured and brought you to my father's house for treatment."

"What's your name?" asked Jo.

"Elsa." Her voice was barely a whisper. "I was sitting in my living room drinking tea when the explosion happened. I felt myself falling, and the next thing I knew, I was lying on the ground with a piece of the sofa on my leg. It hurts..." She began to sob.

"Listen, Elsa." Dieter placed a caring hand on her arm. "You're going to be all right. As soon as it's possible, we'll take you to the hospital for treatment."

Elsa continued to sob. "If only Bruno were here..."