Words on Fire

Audra attempts to walk back to Milda’s under cover of night to stay safe. To motivate herself, she thinks of her friends, the books, and Lukas’s stories of Rue, now fully understanding their symbolism. After a few days of famished, exhausting walking, Audra arrives at Venska, where she finds that Milda’s home was burned beyond repair. She sneaks down to Milda’s library and finds all the shelves empty.

Roze greets Audra from the top of the ladder and explains that Milda knew of Audra’s escape plan. Rusakov has been released from the army because of his extreme actions in the village, and Lukas was able to save all of Milda’s books and distribute them. The smugglers are planning to gather more books because people want them now more than ever. Roze leads Audra to Lukas’s hiding spot in the woods, promising her food.

At Lukas’s secret shelter, Roze leaves Audra and Lukas to continue their job. Lukas explains that Ben and Milda are safe but that he is leaving tomorrow to cross the border to procure more books. Audra wants to help him, even though they both know Ben would not approve.

In the morning, they start riding in a borrowed wagon to the border. Lukas explains that there are three layers of border patrol covering over 10 kilometers they must get through when crossing between countries. To distract Audra from the gravity of the situation, Lukas reminds her of their greater purpose.

They eventually arrive at a barn where they can leave the wagon and walk the rest of the way. They walk for many exhausting hours until they can see the dense border patrol. Audra thinks that crossing will be impossible but does not want to turn back. Lukas promises her it will be “easier than [she thinks]” (222).

Lukas and Audra crawl through the forest to avoid detection. When they make it to the river, Audra realizes she must climb along the bridge’s underside using the fastened rope to get across. Despite her fear, she does it to avoid being seen by the guards. They spend the night walking to the Prussian city called Tilsit. 

When the print shop opens, the printer informs Lukas that there are many extra books that need to be smuggled because the printer does not want to get caught with illegal books. Lukas explains to Audra that he had to trick her into joining him so that he could leave her in Prussia to stay safe. 

However, knowing he cannot carry the books alone, he acknowledges that he needs Audra’s help despite Ben’s orders to get her out of Lithuania. After packing the books in canvas sacks, Lukas leads them to a safe barn. They pack the books into barrels that Ben has strategically left for them. Audra reads many fairy tales until she finally falls asleep, searching for guidance in her deadly mission.

In the late afternoon, they wake to start their walk back across the border. Audra finds out that this is only Lukas’s second time crossing. At her indignation about crossing with someone inexperienced, Lukas reminds her that most smuggling is improvisational.

As they continue walking, Lukas confides that the whipping he endured has scared him into making decisions that are “too safe” and “too predictable” (233), which is why he wants Audra to teach him how to think more creatively. When they arrive at the river crossing, Audra combines their books into one barrel and sets up a decoy smuggler using the extra barrel, Lukas’s coat, and some rocks. 

She distracts the guards by throwing a rock upstream so she and Lukas have time to float downriver in the freezing water. They successfully reach the other shore, empty the barrels, and continue on their way. They walk all night, and when day breaks, they do their best to avoid being seen. 

While they continue to walk, Audra thinks about how she has grown and understands her role in the fight for Lithuania’s freedom.

They get a ride to Šiauliai, which gives the exhausted children time to rest in the wagon. Lukas eventually wakes her to tell her they will walk the rest of the way to Ben’s, and while they walk, Lukas tells her the history of the Hill of Crosses. Audra takes the opportunity of this somber moment to ask Lukas about his family, but Lukas only acknowledges that he misses his mother. Lukas confronts Audra about the trade she did not make with Rusakov. She admits she did not tell him about the deal because she was uncertain what her decision would be. He recognizes her sacrifice and is grateful for her decision. They arrive at the Hill of Crosses that night, and Lukas creates a makeshift cross from sticks for Audra to place on the hill in honor of her parents. Lukas assures her she will see them in the future.

They reunite with Milda and Ben, the latter of whom has a concerning cough. Ben is upset to see Audra back in Lithuania, and despite Lukas’s assurance that Audra was great at the border, Ben has decided that Audra and Milda need to move to Prussia. This infuriates Audra, and even though she knows Ben is right about her safety, she cannot accept his decision.

Ben comes down with a terrible cold, which keeps the team resting for a week. They finally drop off the newest books to a priest in Kražiai, who pays Ben and hands him a new list of requested books. The priest tells Audra that the tsar will inevitably order the churches to be destroyed but hopes enough people will stand up to the destruction. He thanks Audra for her work and expresses hope that she will continue. Ben tries to interrupt the conversation, but a coughing fit overtakes him. The priest points out that Ben’s cough will jeopardize the smuggling mission. Ben warns Lukas and Audra that he does not “have a good feeling about this trip” (256), but the children prepare to cross the border again anyway. When they arrive at the soldiers’ bunker, Lukas must steal some boots so that he and Audra can cover their tracks in the snow. Lukas is almost caught, but Audra distracts the soldiers, allowing Lukas time to flee with the boots.

They successfully cross the border and make it to the printer again, though Audra notices that along the way, they are not making “the wisest [moves]” (262). The printer is grateful for their business but warns them that the books on this list are particularly risky. The children meet Milda at her new home in Tilsit, which was previously an undertaker’s house. 

While Milda discusses her plans to convert the space for smugglers, Audra ponders her plans to transport the books. Audra remembers a recipe she read in her father’s notebook and requests Milda’s help in procuring the ingredients—sugar, baking soda, cotton, and saltpeter. Audra promises Milda she will not use the saltpeter as a weapon; instead, she and Lukas make smoke bombs that “could save [their] lives one day” (266).

This time, they cross the border with a wagon, with Lukas pretending to transport Audra’s body to Lithuania. Milda helps Audra disguise herself as an old woman, and Audra spends the wagon ride lying uncomfortably in a coffin. At the border, the soldiers search the wagon and accuse Lukas of trying to get them sick when he tells them Audra died of typhus. 

The soldiers notice Lukas’s fluent Russian, and Lukas claims that he used to work for a Russian family. He avoids further questions by stressing that he works with the sick, which convinces the soldiers to let him go.

Audra falls asleep along the way and wakes with a start when the wagon stops. She pretends to be dead until Lukas rousts her. Audra washes her makeup off in the stream so that she can ride with Lukas the rest of the way, but a man with a rifle finds her, and together with his wife, they tie up Lukas and Audra at the wagon. Lukas and Audra mix up their lies, and the couple figures out that they are book smugglers. They recognized Lukas at the border because the wife had worked as a servant for Lukas’s family. They plan to trade Lukas and Audra for their arrested son because Lukas is “[the Russians’] boy, and they’ll want him back” (279). Audra pleads for their freedom, but the couple informs them that a “demonstration” is planned for Kražiai in two days as a punishment for book smuggling.

The man keeps watch while his wife sleeps but eventually falls asleep himself. Audra is able to free herself of the ropes and then unties Lukas. With Lukas at the reins, Audra kicks the sleeping man off the wagon, and they ride as fast as they can until the horses need to rest. 

While they rest in the wagon, Lukas is ashamed to keep needing Audra’s help in these dangerous situations. He also shares more about his family: His mother is Lithuanian and his father is Russian, but Lukas grew up in Lithuania. One night a year ago, Lukas witnessed a friend’s father get arrested while reading them a Lithuanian book. Lukas tried to stop the soldiers from publicly punishing the man but realized his father oversaw the officers. Lukas’s father threatened to whip him too, but Lukas escaped from the soldiers and was taken in by Ben. With this story, Audra realizes that Rusakov is Lukas’s father. Lukas believes that his father “isn’t evil,” just “wrong” (287). The pair sits in silence until they are ready to move again.

When they arrive in Kražiai, it is evident that the town is anticipating the soldiers’ arrival. The only person to greet them is Ben at the church, who urges them to flee the village. Ben and the priest help the children unload the book delivery, and the priest explains there is an order for the church to be burned.

While some villagers move items from the church to safety, others prepare to defend it. Ben insists that it is futile to fight the soldiers, but Audra is eager to help because she believes “words are never enough of a weapon” (291). Someone announces that more soldiers have arrived, surrounding the church and its defenders. Ben commands the children to hide in their decoy coffin in the back of the church while he fights, and Audra resentfully retreats with Lukas. When they hear shots, Audra convinces Lukas to figure out a way to help or retreat to the forest.

The children crawl to the safety of some trees, from which they direct a girl to safety and witness a man get shot. A moment later, Audra realizes that Rusakov is standing behind her when Lukas asks his father to “spare her” (296). During an intense argument with his father, Lukas shares that he has never identified with his Russian identity because it made his friends fearful.

A shot interrupts their argument, and a soldier demands the villagers to surrender. Some continue to fight, while those who surrender are assaulted anyway. The soldiers start forcing people away from the church toward the river. Lukas tells Rusakov that he feels obligated to help the people, and Rusakov reluctantly reminds him he cannot “save” him without his authority over the soldiers.

Using one remaining match, Audra lights one of her homemade smoke bombs near the crowd. The thick smoke allows Audra and Lukas to redirect some people to safety without being seen. The smoke dissipates quickly, and a soldier grabs Audra and hauls her to the river. He forces her into the cold, deep water, and Audra realizes she and the other captives will be drowned.

Audra fights back, feeling more “like Rue” (304), but the soldier recaptures her. She hears someone confront the soldier but only gathers pieces of the conversation against the loud water. Audra hears a gunshot and is released, floating downstream until Ben rescues her. Ben demands that she hide while he helps others, but she wants to find Lukas first. She finds him kneeling over his father, who was shot in the leg while trying to help Audra. They help Rusakov to the safety of a nearby barn, and the people gathered inside accept him once Lukas explains that he saved their lives. Audra and Lukas stay with the villagers in the barn until morning, when the priest arrives to inform them of the arrests, injuries, and deaths. Audra assumes that Ben is among the casualties.

Audra regrets not being able to save more people, but many in the barn come up to personally thank her for helping them through the smoke. The priest calls her “the book carrier who does magic” (310), but Audra reminds everyone there that the “true magic” is that of books. She encourages everyone to keep fighting by reading and sharing their ideas of an independent Lithuania.

Audra and Lukas accompany the priest back to the church to see its condition. Inside the church, Lukas retrieves Henri’s locked book, which had been in Ben’s possession until now. Lukas was instructed to return it to Audra only if Ben did not return from the fight. Audra unlocks the book with her key and finds that the book contains pages of family records. On the last page of the records, Audra reads Ben’s name above her mother’s, confirming that Ben was her maternal grandfather. Audra finally agrees that it is safer and better for her to help Milda in Prussia. Lukas has decided to help his father return home and wants to “give him a chance” to change (315). Lukas assures Audra they will see each other again, and Audra prints her name in the book under her parents’, completing the family tree.

Audra crosses the border a final time, reading her family’s book along the way. She reads Ben’s account of the uprising he participated in decades ago, understanding how much guilt he felt for the resulting book ban. After the massacre in Kražiai, the demand for books increases, which keeps Audra and Milda busy with filling orders. Years pass without any word from Lukas. Milda’s health declines, and she eventually dies peacefully. Audra buries her as close to the Lithuanian border as possible. Audra has moments of doubt about the smuggling efforts, but she continues her work in Prussia while also writing for an underground newspaper. 

A year after Milda’s death, in 1904, Audra goes to lay flowers on Milda’s grave. She finds a bouquet of rue flowers, and Lukas is there to surprise her. He excitedly tells her the press ban has been lifted, which means Audra can return to Lithuania. He says he used all his money to buy two train tickets, and Audra realizes the rue flowers were placed by her parents, who are standing behind her. The family embraces in a tearful reunion, and Lina and Henri thank Audra for “bringing them home.” 

The book-long flashback ends, and in the present moment, Audra and Lukas are reading their children bedtime stories when they inevitably ask their parents for recounts of their book-smuggling days.