After

Partisans wake Felix to tell him that Dr. Zajak needs him to assist in surgery; several partisans have been injured by an attack from Nazi planes. He stumbles into the treatment area only half-awake and tries to follow the doctor’s orders, which he does not fully understand. As they operate on one man, partisans carry in another gravely injured man. Felix recognizes him as one of those who escorted Gabriek to the main camp. Fearing for Gabriek’s safety, he is relieved to learn that the men were already on their way back to camp when Nazi planes attacked. Zajak yells at Felix for misunderstanding what he was asked to do. Felix feels that he has failed as a medical assistant and wonders if Pavel will have him shot.

Later, Yuli sits by him and tries to convince him to eat something, though Felix is reluctant. She says, “The world’s just full of injustice […] And it’s full of hunger. Why suffer them both at the same time if you don’t have to?” (83). Felix has made up his mind that he is going to take Dom and sneak away that night.

Believing that this will be the last time he ever sees her, Felix hugs Yuli and tells her goodbye as he goes out to feed Dom. He thinks, “I’ve never done that before and she looks surprised. I hope I haven’t made her suspicious” (86). He falls asleep while he waits for everyone to go into the sleeping bunker and wakes up to find that the camp is covered with snow and that he cannot feel his feet. Dr. Zajak and Yuli rub Felix’s feet, which he finds extremely painful.

Yuli explains to him that snow makes the partisans’ work much more dangerous because they leave tracks that the Nazis can see. As Felix helps Dr. Zajak treat the frostbite on the feet of another partisan, he thinks of a way to cover his and Dom’s tracks if they sneak away from the camp.

Thinking that Pavel and Szulk have gone on a mission and that only a few guards will be out because of the extremely cold and snowy weather, Felix urges Dom north toward the main camp. He has placed pine branches on the back of the horse to erase their footprints so no one will be able to track them. However, Szulk and other partisans soon stop Felix. Szulk wants to shoot him immediately, but the other partisans call for Pavel. Meanwhile, Yuli runs out from the encampment and pretends that she and Felix came up with a plan to erase tracks in the snow; she claims that this was an experiment, not an escape attempt. Pavel accepts this explanation.

Yuli takes Felix to the supply bunker and gives him a coat and glasses taken from a Nazi supply train. These items originated with Jewish people in a concentration camp, and Yuli must work to persuade Felix that it’s is acceptable to use them. She also reports that Gabriek is recovering and plans to return at the end of the month. Working with Dr. Zajak and wearing new glasses, Felix is better able to help during operations. He also learns to anticipate the doctor’s needs and to follow his orders precisely. Felix tells Dom that they’re going to wait another month until Gabriek returns.

At the end of the month, as Felix grows overconfident in his ability to assist Dr. Zajak and makes a mistake by handing the doctor vodka when he wants hot water. Felix feels distracted because it is the end of the month, and he expects Gabriek to return at any time. The doctor understands what is bothering Felix and tries to tell him that something may have interfered with Gabriek’s plans, especially given that a war is raging. Even though other partisans try to persuade Felix to be patient, his mind runs wild with lots of imagined scenarios about where Gabriek might be and why he has not returned to the camp. He also misses Yuli, who has taken Dom on a lengthy mission.

One day, Felix hurries out of the sleeping bunker because the partisans have returned from a mission. He sees that Dom is well and then notices that Yuli, carried by two other partisans, has been injured. He rushes into the treatment room and yells at Dr. Zajak to get on his feet. They discover that Yuli has a bullet wound through her shoulder. Although it is a clean wound, it will require three weeks to heal. They discover that Yuli also has an older, healed wound that caused massive scarring on her stomach. Yuli tells Felix that Gabriek has gone north to help sabotage Nazi infrastructure. This news devastates Felix, who thinks, “Maybe he’s decided he doesn’t want me around anymore, and I have to find my own way” (107).

Another month passes as Yuli recovers from her shoulder wound. Felix feels disconsolate for he has decided that Gabriek has lost interest in Felix completely and will never return. Felix despises himself for making up imaginary reasons to explain why Gabriek did not return. He says, “I’ve been so dumb. Just a feeble-minded kid who thought he could solve any problem by telling himself a cheerful story. What an idiot” (109). Yuli senses that Felix is deeply troubled, and in an attempt to console him about Gabriek’s absence, she asks the boy if he would like to go with her on a mission to the town where he first got the bazookas. Felix immediately agrees.

They hitch Dom to a cart that they stole from a collaborator farmer and head out for the town. As they ride along, Yuli tells Felix about the important work that Gabriek must be doing by attacking the Germans, who are retreating in the face of the advancing Russian army. She says that the Germans have secret weapons that they might unleash. Even now, they have flying bombs that are landing on England. Hearing this, Felix fears that the bombs might hurt Richmal Crompton. Yuli tells Felix that they will pay for the food they buy with concentration camp jewelry stolen from the Nazis. She explains to Felix that her previous grenade wound prevents her from ever having children. Passing another farm, they witness three Nazis execute a woman. Yuli stops the cart and tells Felix to remain there. As Felix watches, Yuli approaches the soldiers, laughing and drinking with them, then deftly kills all three.