Page 192 - LEIBY

192 Leiby – Border Smuggler 6

I, like a total idiot, accompanied him to the border. It was him,
I’m sure of it! So he was caught after all!” He sighed in relief,
but his face clouded over immediately. “He said that he was
looking for his lost daughter, that must have been Miriam. But
who sent him? Her adoptive mother, perhaps? Or maybe the
priest? Or the devil himself… And where on earth is Miriam
now? He couldn’t possibly have taken her away; Hersh writes
here that he was taken out, lying on a stretcher, more dead than
alive. It doesn’t sound like he was in any fit state to take anyone
with him.”

“But maybe the goy survived and knows something about
Mirushka’s whereabouts,” the thought suddenly struck Yosef
and his face filled with hope and longing.“Let’s kidnap him and
force him to confess and divulge everything he knows. Leiby,
you were a partisan – you’re an expert at getting information
out of captives.”

Leiby shrugged helplessly, folded the letter into a neat square,
and carefully placed it deep inside the pocket of his army jacket.
He looked around the crowded lobby. All over were refugees
planning for the next step of their journey, packing up food and
provisions for the way. Akiva, the organizer of the group, came
up to them, his arms full of knapsacks and suitcases.

“Nu, why aren’t you getting ready to leave like everyone else?”
he admonished them. “Are you waiting for Mama to come and
pack you up a knapsack with sandwiches and drinks? We still
have a good few days of walking ahead of us before we arrive in
Germany, and if you don’t take care of yourselves, your empty
stomachs will be sure to make their presence felt and punish
you for your negligence on the way.”

“On the way? We aren’t going anywhere,” Yosef protested.

“Please, just leave us some food, a few cans, and maybe a jar or
two of jam,” Leiby requested. “People staying home also need