Free Hitler's Secret by William Osborne

company.
    Her third favorite thing was visiting the convent’s library. Most Sundays, after morning service and her walk around the gardens with the mother superior, she was allowed an hour or two before lunch to explore the rows of books in their tall oak shelves. She would pore over the atlases and encyclopedias and learn about the wonders that lay outside her little whitewashed room on this tiny island. She especially loved reading about the mountains of the Alps, which she could just see from the tower.
    At least she’d been lucky this afternoon and the coast had been clear in the church below, so she could slip unnoticed into the tower. She had finished weeding in the kitchen gardenby three o’clock, which meant she had an hour before she had to wash and get ready for tea — just bread and goats’ milk — and then evensong. She looked once more at the mountains in the distance. She longed to visit them — even if it was just for a day. That would be the best birthday present anyone could give her, she thought.
    Angelika’s birthday was this Sunday and she was looking forward to it. Of course, nothing was made of it by the nuns or the mother superior, but every year since she had been at the convent a visitor had come to see her. He was a very nice man who always brought a camera, a pretty dress, and a huge box of chocolates, and he would take a photograph of her in the dress. He never told her his name but she knew the chocolates were from Munich. It said so on the box.
    This birthday would be her fifth at the convent. Five years stuck on this little island. At least it was summer now. In the winter, the cold and rain and fog made her feel even more of a captive, almost like a criminal in a prison. Since the war had started, the mood in the convent had changed. The nuns had become preoccupied and she’d been even more unhappy. Perhaps the mother superior sensed this and that was why she’d walk with her every week, talking to her quietly about God’s purpose for her, about how special and important she was, and how she must be patient and trust in God. She felt better after these talks. The chocolates the mother superior doled out helped, too, but even so, on a day like today,when she was staring out like a bird in a cage at the world beyond, she longed to spread her wings and fly.
    She moved to the last of the windows, the one that faced west towards Herreninsel. The lake was still studded with boats at the end of the day. The steam ferry on its way back to Stock, its decks crowded with tourists dressed in bright summer clothes, tiny pinpoints of color. Closer to her were fishing boats and a sailing boat that was halfway between the two islands. It had a bright red sail and was heading straight towards her. She could just make out two figures: one hunched down at the front, and another holding the tiller and the rope for the main sail. It must be wonderful to be out there on the water like that , she thought. Then she got up and checked on the position of the sun. She had no watch but had learned to tell the time as accurately as a sundial. It was nearly four. Time to go, or risk discovery.
    Angelika quickly pulled her robe over her head, slipped on her leather sandals, and hurried back down the stone steps. One day , she thought. One day I will be free .

Otto and Leni’s little sailing dinghy scudded nimbly over the gentle swell. To the south was a cluster of fishing boats, men hauling in their nets, but otherwise there was nothing on the water near them. They were making excellent time and the shore of Fraueninsel was now only a few hundred feet away.
    Otto sat in the stern, holding the tiller, with Leni squeezed farther up on the port side. She had the packs with her and the rope stowed beside them. A light breeze filled the sail, and the dinghy’s hull was heeling gently, up on its side.
    In front of them was a small cove, the beach covered in large flat stones. Nearly there, thought Otto. He felt