Page 193 - LEIBY

Chapter 25 193

to eat, not only ‘hikers.’”28

Akiva stared at them in surprise. “Why are you staying here?
And until when?”

“We’re staying put until we find my sister,” Yosef replied
7 determinedly.“And b’ezras Hashem we’ll find her very soon. How

far can such a young child have gone already, all by herself ?”

“We have to check in all the hospitals,” Yosef had a bright idea.
“Maybe Miriam has been injured and is lying in hospital, and
perhaps the Nazi has recovered and we’ll be able to get him to
disclose what he knows.”

“You’re quite right,”Leiby agreed.“We should really have begun
our search by checking the hospitals first.”

Leiby glanced at his reflection in the cracked mirror on the wall
just opposite him. His hair was tangled and his clothing badly
wrinkled and he looked the stereotypical image of a homeless
refugee. Yosef didn’t look any better either. His clothes were
threadbare and ragged and his hair sticky and messy.

“We’ll have to straighten ourselves up a bit before we try going
to any hospital,” Leiby observed. “The way we look now, we’ll
be kicked out before we have a chance to say a word.”

He found himself a smart black suit in one of the clothing
packages sent by the Joint and put it on gleefully, folding the
too-long trousers into his boots. A quick brushing of his hair,
and he was well satisfied with his new, elegant appearance.
Yosef, too, found himself a woolen sweater and a blue beret to
cover his unkempt hair.

28 ͚,ŝŬĞƌƐ͛ ʹ ƚŚĞ ƚĞƌŵ ŐŝǀĞŶ ƚŽ ƌĞĨƵŐĞĞƐ ǁŚŽ ǁĞƌĞ ƐŵƵŐŐůĞĚ ŽǀĞƌ ƚŚĞ
ďŽƌĚĞƌƐ͘ ͞,ŝŬĞ͟ ǁĂƐ ƚŚĞ ĐŽĚĞ ŶĂŵĞ ĨŽƌ ďŽƌĚĞƌ ƐŵƵŐŐůŝŶŐ͘