What happened in Chapter 17 of The Devil's Arithmetic?

Gitl tells Chaya that there is a plan to escape. Yitzchak
and Shmuel are a part of it, as will Chaya be, because she is their "only flesh and
blood." Gitl makes Chaya promise that if something happens to her and the others, she
will remember. Gitl will not give Chaya any more information at this time, for her own
safety. Gitl does confirm that Yitzchak is taking this risk because his children are
gone, and he has nothing left to lose. As for herself and Shmuel, Gitl says, "If not us,
who? If not now, when?" These words are part of the Seder ceremony celebrated by the
Jews on the Sabbath.

A few nights later, when Chaya least
expects it, Gitl tells her, "Chaya, it is now." Gitl hands her a pair of shoes and the
two creep silently through the women's barracks to the door. Chaya asks, "what about
Fayge," to which Gitl responds that despite her love for Shmuel, Fayge "has come to love
her next bowl of soup more." When Gitl and Chaya get outside, they hear a shout, some
shots, and the horrible screaming of a man. Realizing that the plan has been
unsuccessful, she quickly drags Chaya back into the barracks. When the blokova
sleepily asks what is going on, Gitl tells her she went to get her bowl to
relieve herself, but dropped it when she heard shots outside. The blokova
believes her story, and lets the matter drop after a short
reprimand.

Back on their sleeping shelf, Chaya can feel
Gitl sobbing. An awful thought comes to her - she has left the shoes Gitl had handed her
outside. When she tells Gitl, however, the older woman is unworried. The shoes belonged
to the blokova; when they are discovered, it is the
blokova who will be in trouble, not them (Chapter
17).