Page 105 - Devil's Arithmetic by Jane Yolen

and came up with a dark gray dress with a dirty white
collar and cuffs. There was a ragged rip along the hem
and deep perspiration stains under the arms. Looking
around, she saw that the other women were already
slipping into whatever they had chosen. She raised the
gray dress over her head and pulled it down. The ma-
terial was silky and a bit stiff where it was stained.
Buttoning the three buttons in front, she remembered
suddenly how she had thought the dark blue dress Gitl
had given her ugly, how she'd called it a rag. Even that
small return of memory was a comfort. She'd called the
dress a rag; she hadn't known anything about wearing
rags then. Her arms strained the sleeves of the gray
dress.
"Help the children," someone near her whispered.
It sounded like Gitl.
Hannah glanced down at the naked child by her side.
Was it Tzipporah? The poor little thing had her thumb
in her mouth. Her eyelids were a bruised bluish color
and she swayed where she stood. Hannah rummaged
quickly through the pile of clothes and found a blouse
and jumper that looked as if they might fit. The child
made no move to help, and Hannah had to dress her
as if she were a doll, pushing her arms into the sleeves
of the blouse as gently as she could.

They were herded directly into another room and made
to line up single file. Another shaven-headed prisoner,
with an odd-looking metal instrument, sat at a wooden
table. There were guards at the door.
Hannah could hear a mumble of voices by the table,

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