May 10, 1940, Luxembourg City
Just past midnight, a knock at the door stirs fifteen-year-old Hansi Broussard from a fitful sleep. A member of the Resistance has arrived to join Papa on a mission near Vianden in the Ardennes Forest north of the city. But Maman is too ill for Papa to leave, and so, in a moment of excitement, Hansi volunteers for what promises to be a routine task to divert the invaders.
At the stone bridge in the misty ravine, however, things don't go as planned. With the German Army pouring across the border, to continue seems foolish if not hopeless. But Hansi made a promise. Can he keep it?
His friend before the war, Karin Blik, awakens to news of the attack from her home in Berlin. She has no idea if Hansi is safe, but she knows one thing: he is in danger. And if her mother's new suitor, Heinrich Schlinge of the Gestapo, finds out, the consequences are unthinkable. Can she warn Hansi in time?
In this pulse-pounding sequel to The Order of the Red Lion, Hansi and Karin seek the truth despite unimaginable dangers, treachery, and the unlikely possibility of seeing each other again.