Page 155 - Devil's Arithmetic by Jane Yolen

Gitl pulled Hannah back against the barrack's wall.
Hannah could feel the fear threatening to scream out
of her, so she dropped the shoes and put both hands
over her mouth, effectively gagging herself. There was
a wetness under her arms, between her legs, down her
back. She moaned.
And then there came a shout. A shot. And another.
And another, rumbling, staccato. A man began to scream,
high-pitched and horrible. He called a single phrase
over and over and over. "Ribono shel-oylam."
"Quickly!" Gitl whispered hoarsely. "It is ruined.
Before the lights. Come."
As she spoke, great spotlights raked the compound,
missing them by inches and seeking the outer perimeter
of wire fence and mine fields and the woods beyond,
where Hannah thought she saw shadows chasing shad-
ows into the dark trees.
Gitl dragged her back to the barrack's door, slid the
bolt open with one hand, and shoved Hannah inside
with the other. They both sank gratefully to the floor.
"What is it?" the blokova's voice called out from her
private room.
Hannah's mouth opened. What could they say? They,
would be found out. They would be Chosen.
"I went to get my bowl to relieve myself," Gitl called,
her voice incredibly calm. "And then shots began out-
side and I was so frightened, I fell to the floor, dropping
the bowl." She pushed Hannah away from her as she
spoke.
Crawling on her hands and knees, Hannah made it
back across the room to her sleeping shelf. She lifted

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