Page 49 - LEIBY

Chapter 6 49

Chapter 6

Leiby and Yosef left Minsk and began their journey. In the two
front seats of the military car sat a pair of uniformed Russian
soldiers and in the back were Leiby and Yosef. Tensions ran
high; the roads were exceedingly dangerous – they were
traveling in hostile territory with antagonistic villagers all
around. The soldiers sat silently, their faces expressionless, and
Leiby wondered if they were Jewish. They hadn’t identified
themselves as such.

Leiby stared out of the window at the tall pine trees flying past.
As long as the roads were empty and no one saw them, he was
calm. The danger would begin only when they were spotted by
one of the local farmers. All of a sudden, after a bend in the
road, they entered a large town and passed by the central town
square. It was market day and the streets buzzed and hummed
with crowds of people, and their car stuck out like a sore thumb.

In one quick bound, Leiby was in the front seat and began to
direct the soldiers to a far corner, to drive around and around in
loops, and to turn back.

“What are you doing?” one of the soldiers grumbled. “We’re
going back to the place we’ve just come from.”

“I’m afraid of an ambush, there at the end of the street,” Leiby