Page 91 - Devil's Arithmetic by Jane Yolen

THE BOXCARS TRAVELED FOR FOUR DAYS AND NIGHTS;
the only difference that Hannah could tell was in the
heat. Under the midday sun, it was like standing in an
oven, an oven that smelled of human sweat and urine
and feces. But at night, when it was cold, they were all
grateful for the close quarters.
The train made only two stops the entire time. At
Troniat, a small station that one of the men recognized,
th6 doors were suddenly thrown open and they tumbled
out into the darkness onto a gravel path.
That was when they discovered that three old women
had died and a fourth was near death and could not
climb out of the car. All four of the bodies were slung
out by the soldiers onto a siding. The dead baby was
torn from its mother's arms and cast behind a horse's
watering trough. The child's mother began to wail, but
her husband slapped his hand across her mouth, whis-
pering, "Hush, hush, hush."

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