Page 72 - Devil's Arithmetic by Jane Yolen

THE VILLAGERS GATHERED UNEASILY WITHIN THE HALF-
CIRCLE of soldiers and waited to be let into the shul.
There was hardly any talking, but Yitzchak's young son,
Reuven, began to whimper. To quiet him, Yitzchak
lifted the boy onto his shoulders.
Rabbi Boruch, Shmuel, and another man Hannah
did not know conferred hastily with the Nazi chief, the
one with all the medals. They spoke in swift, hurried
bursts of words that Hannah could not distinguish, but
she could see Shmuel's fists clenching and unclenching
behind his back. They were a violent punctuation to all
those undistinguishable sentences, as if Shmuel wanted
to shake his fist in the Nazi's face but didn't dare. At
last the argument was done and Shmuel came over to
them. . • .
He spoke gently. "They insist that we go with them
in those trucks."
"No!" Hannah protested in a whisper.

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