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doing?”
    Jonah popped to his feet, his hands covered with dirt, fingernails black. On his face was a look that flashed between surprise, fear, and then relief when he recognized Edward. “N-nothing.”
    “Well, Edward,” Isa greeted him. “What are you doing coming from that direction? I didn’t think you liked my old neighborhood.”
    He ignored her, noting the obvious guilt on his brother’s face. “What have you been doing? You can’t plant a potato under a bush.”
    Even as he asked the question, he saw Isa move back, casually stamping on whatever Jonah had been burying.
    “Looking for dropped coins,” Jonah said.
    Isa looped her arms with both of them. “Come, Edward, let’s all start walking. We’ve been in one spot long enough. We’ll be perfectly honest, shall we, Jonah?”
    His brother looked horrified, but Isa’s smile was so easy Edward nearly couldn’t resist smiling along. People smiled so rarely anymore, it was as if they’d forgotten. Probably she would forget too, after she’d been back for a while.
    “We were burying a treasure. One we’ll dig up after Belgium is ours again. And it will be someday. We’re finished now, anyway. So shall we go back to Viole’s and have lunch?”
    “What treasure?” he queried. “Not the flute?” Some of Jonah’s horror landed in Edward’s gut.
    “No, no, that’s back in my satchel behind the cupboard at Viole’s. Although,” she added, “I think perhaps we should find a better place for such a valuable instrument. I have just the spot for it, once I’m living in my home again.”
    He nearly harrumphed over that silly notion but thought the better of it and stopped midstride. “What were you burying, then?”
    “Not to fret. Jonah’s old tin bank, for safekeeping. He thinks the Germans might go house-to-house looking for tin and metal and didn’t want the bank your father gave him to be requisitioned.”
    “So you buried it in broad daylight?” He shook his head at Jonah. “You both could have gotten into trouble if you’d been caught.”
    “But we can’t go out after dark, Edward.”
    “And we weren’t caught.” Isa’s voice was as untroubled as always. Here, in the middle of occupied Brussels, she sounded as if she hadn’t a care in the world. It irked him. “So, what were you doing in Quartier Léopold?”
    “I went past your old house. Still occupied by German troops, so you might want to rethink where you’ll be living.”
    Her smile hadn’t the sense to dissipate even the smallest bit. “I went to see Brand Whitlock today, and he’s promised to help.”
    “Ambassador Whitlock will see you in your house again?”
    “He didn’t promise, but he’ll try.”
    Edward smirked. “Of course he didn’t promise. What do you think he is, Isa, a miracle worker? He’s a good, decent man who probably had a hard time saying no to his old friend’s daughter. You had no right to put him in such a spot.”
    “I have a right to my own house, haven’t I? He’s just doing his job, protecting American interests. Believe me, if Mr. Whitlock didn’t want to help me, I’m sure he wouldn’t.”
    “I think we’d better come up with another place for you to live just in case he can’t achieve the impossible.”
    Isa raised one brow. “Such as . . . wherever you’re living?”
    “No. I was thinking you might be more comfortable with an old neighbor or another friend of your parents. Anyone come to mind?”
    She cocked her head with a teasing smile. “Most of them went with King Albert when the royal court left the country.”
    “Why don’t we just take you to see Mr. Whitlock and he can arrange for you to follow that path, right out of Belgium.”
    Instead of being offended, she patted his arm. “I wouldn’t dream of deserting you now, Edward.”
    He sighed, soft and brief, then set a brisker pace.
    “Halt! Halt!”
    Edward stopped and saw that the others did too, in the same step. His heartbeat quickened, and he