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United States gathered a bunch of scientists together to create the first atom bomb so they could end the war. The program even showed the bomb being dropped on a Japanese city. When it exploded, it sent up a giant mushroom-shaped cloud of radiation that spread for miles and miles. It killed thousands and thousands of people and made many of the rest of them sick for a long time afterward.
    If the Russians dropped nuclear bombs on cities in the United States, some lucky people who had bomb shelters might be okay. But what about the rest of them?
    Joanna shivered. Her stomach cramped. She looked around and didn’t know whether to laugh or cry, because if the Russians attacked Chicago, all the ducking and covering in the world wouldn’t help.
    Not one tiny bit.

CHAPTER 5
    The Watermans
    JOANNA TROTTED UP THE CONCRETE STAIRS TO THE MAIN entrance of her building. But when she reached the top, her movements suddenly became stealthy. As quietly as any burglar, she eased the outer door open and closed.
    The stairway to the second- and third-floor apartments was on her left. The door to Mrs. Strenge’s apartment was on her right. Joanna tiptoed to the left, but all the while she
looked
to the right. She held her breath and listened for any sound that might signal the apartment door was about to open. If it did, Joanna was prepared to run.
    But Mrs. Strenge’s apartment was silent. So silent that for one little part of a second Joanna was tempted to flip over the newspaper on the old woman’s doormat to see if the headline said anything about Cuba. She quicklythought better of it and fled up the stairs, past the Nowickis’ apartment on the second floor and up to the third.
    Joanna expected Pamela to answer her knock, so she was surprised when Mrs. Waterman opened the door.
    Joanna thought Mrs. Waterman was beautiful even when she was wearing one of Mr. Waterman’s old shirts over her clothes, and her hair was in a long out-of-the-way braid—which was how she looked when she painted. But she was extra beautiful today. Her red-gold hair was swept up into a fashionable French twist, and she was wearing a pretty green dress.
    Mrs. Waterman was an honest-to-goodness artist. Her studio was the sunroom that opened off the living room, and her framed paintings hung on nearly every wall of the apartment. Lately, though, she seemed to be taking a vacation from painting. Her easel had been holding the same half-finished painting of a woman for weeks now. And instead of the apartment smelling faintly of turpentine and paint, as it always used to, today it smelled deliciously of bread baking. Joanna’s stomach growled loudly. She’d been so eager to see Pamela’s surprise, she hadn’t taken the time to eat a snack. She’d just walked Dixie quickly and dashed upstairs.
    Mrs. Waterman smiled. “I sent Pamela to the corner to mail a birthday card for me,” she said. “Come have a slice of bread while you wait for her, and I’ll tell you someexciting news.” She led the way down the hallway to the kitchen, her high heels tapping against the linoleum.
    In the kitchen, Mrs. Waterman cut into a golden loaf of bread, but her eyes never left Joanna. They were green, like Pamela’s, and just then they were glowing. “Pamela’s uncle Zachary has been transferred from his job in St. Louis,” she announced.
    â€œThat’s nice,” Joanna said, though she didn’t see what was so exciting about that.
    Mrs. Waterman shook her head as if she heard what Joanna was thinking. “I haven’t told you where he’s been transferred
to,
Joanna. To
Paris
! Can you imagine? Paris,
France
!”
    Joanna’s mouth fell open. Paris was where Mrs. Waterman would have gone to study painting if she hadn’t married Mr. Waterman. She had books about Paris in her studio and it looked like an amazing place. “Golly!” Joanna breathed.
    Mrs. Waterman laughed and