"No." His cool voice was unusually warm. Half-baked. "There's someone else."

His name was Viktor Chemmel.

and he was the kind of delinquent

who had no other reason to

He had windy hair and cloudy eyes,

steal except that he enjoyed it.

When it came to stealing, Liesel and Rudy first stuck with the idea that there was safety in numbers. Andy Schmeikl invited them to the river for a meeting. Among other things, a game plan for fruit stealing would be on the agenda.

Unlike most people engaged in the various arts of thievery, Viktor Chemmel had it all. He lived in the best part of Molching, high up in a villa that had been fumigated when the Jews were driven out. He had money. He had cigarettes. What he wanted, however, was more.

THE NEW ARTHUR BERG

"So are you the leader now?" Rudy had asked, but Andy shook his head, heavy with disappointment. He clearly wished that he had what it took.

"No crime in wanting a little more," he claimed, lying back in the grass with a collection of boys assembled around him. "Wanting more is our fundamental right as Germans. What does our Fuhrer say?" He answered his own rhetoric. "We must take what is rightfully ours!"

Viktor Chemmel propped himself up on an elbow. "You're not wearing a watch."

"Last year," she listed, "I stole at least three hundred apples and dozens of potatoes. I have little trouble with barbed wire fences and I can keep up with anyone here."

At face value, Viktor Chemmel was clearly your typical teenage bullshit artist. Unfortunately, when he felt like revealing it, he also possessed a certain charisma, a kind of follow me.

"Not by my watch," said Rudy.

The new leader sat up fully and smiled, with straight white teeth. He then turned his casual focus onto the girl. "Who's the little whore?" Liesel, well accustomed to verbal abuse, simply watched the fog-ridden texture of his eyes.

When Liesel and Rudy approached the group by the river, she heard him ask another question. "So where are these two deviants you've been bragging about? It's ten past four already."

"Yes." She did not shrink or step away. "All I ask is a small part of anything we take. A dozen apples here or there. A few leftovers for me and my friend."

"Would I be here if I was rich enough to own a watch?"

"Is that right?"

Liesel did not cough.

"Well, I suppose that can be arranged." Viktor lit a cigarette and raised it to his mouth. He made a concerted effort to blow his next mouthful in Liesel's face.

For a moment, Liesel longed for the reappearance of Arthur Berg. Or would he, too, have fallen under the leadership of Chemmel? It didn't matter. Liesel only knew that Arthur Berg did not have a tyrannical bone in his body, whereas the new leader had hundreds of them. Last year, she knew that if she was stuck in a tree, Arthur would come back for her, despite claiming otherwise. This year, by comparison, she was instantly aware that Viktor Chemmel wouldn't even bother to look back.

It was the same group as the previous year, the only exception being the leader. Liesel wondered why none of the other boys had assumed the helm, but looking from face to face, she realized that none of them had it. They had no qualms about stealing, but they needed to be told. They liked to be told, and Viktor Chemmel liked to be the teller. It was a nice microcosm.

He stepped closer and grabbed Rudy's hair. "I want to hear it."

"Of course." Liesel was quick enough to avoid the same treatment.

As the group walked off, Liesel and Rudy were at the back, as they'd always been in the past.

The group was getting away from them.

"Me too."

Viktor smiled. He squashed his cigarette, breathed deeply in, and scratched his chest. "My gentlemen, my whore, it looks like it's time to go shopping."

Rudy paused a moment. "I think he's a complete bastard."

"Do you?"

He stood, regarding the lanky boy and the malnourished-looking girl. "So you want to steal with me?"

"Do you like him?" Rudy whispered.

What did they have to lose? They nodded.

"Definitely," Rudy said, before being shoved back, fringe first.

"And you?"

After a few miles, they reached the first farm. What greeted them was a shock. The trees they'd imagined to be swollen with fruit were frail and injured-looking, with only a small array of apples hanging miserly from each branch. The next farm was the same. Maybe it was a bad season, or their timing wasn't quite right.

"Come on," Rudy said, "we've fallen behind."

Viktor didn't even turn around. "What does it look like?" The words were dropped over his shoulder.

Rudy was incensed. "To hell with this. We didn't walk ten miles for one and a half scrawny apples, did we, Liesel?"

"One lousy apple?"

"Am I?" Viktor was smiling again. She hated that smile.

Liesel did not answer.

She did not have time, for Viktor Chemmel was on top of Rudy before she could utter a word. His knees had pinned Rudy's arms and his hands were around his throat. The apples were scooped up by none other than Andy Schmeikl, at Viktor's request.

By the end of the afternoon, when the spoils were handed out, Liesel and Rudy were given one diminutive apple between them. In fairness, the takings were incredibly poor, but Viktor Chemmel also ran a tighter ship.

"Here." A half-eaten one was also tossed their way, landing chewed-side-down in the dirt. "You can have that one, too."

"You're hurting him," Liesel said.

"What do you call this?" Rudy asked, the apple resting in his palm.

"He's not hurting me." Rudy's words were rushed together and his face was red with strain. His nose began to bleed.

"Well, what are you waiting for?"

Viktor came casually closer again and faced him. He gave him a gentle rub on the arm. A whisper. "Unless you want me to turn that blood into a fountain, I suggest you go away, little boy." He looked at Liesel. "And take the little slut with you."

A SMALL THREAT FROM VIKTOR CHEMMEL TO RUDY STEINER

After an extended moment or two of increased pressure, Viktor let Rudy go and climbed off him, taking a few careless steps. He said, "Get up, boy," and Rudy, choosing wisely, did as he was told.

"You'll pay for that at a later date, my friend."

No one moved.

Liesel took Rudy's hand and they left, but not before Rudy turned one last time and spat some blood and saliva at Viktor Chemmel's feet. It evoked one final remark.

Say what you will about Viktor Chemmel, but he certainly had patience and a good memory. It took him approximately five months to turn his statement into a true one.