Princes and Peasants

by Catrin Collier

  ‘Good evening, Rabbi, everyone. Excuse me, please, I need to wash.’ Nathan went into the washroom which was next to the kitchen. Pretending he hadn’t seen Vasya gesture to him, he poured water from the pitcher into the bowl and washed his hands and face.

  ‘We thought you’d be home earlier than this, Nathan.’ Rabbi Goldberg took his watch from his waistcoat pocket and opened it as Nathan sat on the only vacant chair.

  ‘I operated on two people today. I like to monitor them until they have recovered from the effects of the chloroform.’

  ‘Is there no one else in the hospital who can do that?’ the rabbi asked.

  ‘Nathan is always very busy. There are twenty-four beds in the hospital now, and Mr Hughes is talking of building another ward to make it thirty-six. A children’s ward this time,’ Vasya added, conscious that she was over-explaining Nathan’s unpunctuality.

  ‘Will Mr Hughes hire another doctor to help you when he opens this extra ward, Nathan?’ Rabbi Goldberg asked.

  ‘He hasn’t mentioned taking on any extra staff to me.’ Nathan waited until Vasya had served everyone with the goose soup and matzo balls before picking up his spoon.

  ‘Then you must suggest it. He cannot expect you to continually put the welfare and concerns of his hospital before those of your family,’ said Levi.

  ‘Nathan doesn’t do that, Papa,’ Vasya protested in his defence.

  ‘The hospital belongs to the town, not Mr Hughes, although his New Russia Company pays for it,’ Nathan said pointedly.

  ‘This soup is delicious, Vasya,’ Raisa complimented.

  It was painfully obvious that Vasya’s aunt was trying to diffuse the mounting tension in the atmosphere by changing the subject.

  ‘Thank you, Aunt Raisa,’ Vasya murmured.

  ‘It tastes different in some way. Spicier. Have you put in extra onions or pepper?’

  ‘No, Aunt Raisa, I followed Grandmother Shapiro’s recipe exactly.’

  ‘Face it, Aunt Raisa, Vasya is a better cook than you,’ Ruben joked, joining his aunt in attempting to lighten the atmosphere.’

  ‘What else can we expect to eat tonight, Vasya?’ Rabbi Goldberg asked.

  ‘I made cholent…’

  ‘It’s not a holiday,’ Levi protested. ‘You should have bought cheaper meat than beef, and where did you buy it?’ he asked suspiciously. ‘You didn’t shop in the shtetl today.’

  ‘Ruslan the butcher brought us two large joints of beef yesterday as a thank you to Nathan for curing his son of whooping cough.’

  ‘You used meat that wasn’t kosher!’

  ‘Ruslan takes his cattle to our slaughterhouse, Father. It’s all kosher.’ Ruben reminded.

  Levi sniffed to show what he thought of his daughter taking meat from a shop outside of the shtetl.

  ‘I also made potato knishes.’

  ‘They would have been sufficient without the cholent,’ Levi snapped.

  ‘Don’t be so hard on your daughter, Levi,’ the rabbi chided. ‘A bride is entitled to show off her skills to her relatives in her new home.’ He sniffed the air. ‘Is that apple cake I can smell?’

  ‘Yes, and I also made Medovik honey cake and cream horns.’

  ‘A veritable feast, Vasya, and we thank you. Now to business, as this will affect the entire family.’

  ‘Can’t it wait until we have finished eating, please, Rabbi?’ Vasya begged.

  ‘No, the sooner we put the proposition to Nathan the sooner we will know how he stands.’ Rabbi Goldberg leaned back as Vasya rose from her chair and began collecting the empty soup plates.

  While Vasya carried the bowls into the kitchen, the rabbi began. ‘No Jewish family is complete without children.’

  ‘Vasya and I have only been married a few months.’ Nathan hoped to put an end to the conversation before it began, but neither Levi nor the rabbi was willing.

  ‘Vasya is in delicate health,’ Levi hinted.

  Nathan stared at him. Raisa and Rebekah exchanged glances, tactfully rose and headed for the kitchen with a barely audible, ‘We’ll help Vasya.’

  ‘Before you say another word, please remember that I am a doctor.’ Nathan warned.

  ‘Exactly. You are earning good money. You have good prospects. God gave you those gifts to share with those less fortunate. Vasya is made to be a mother. You are clever, you would make a good father who will educate and guide his children well.’

  ‘If I had any.’ Nathan struggled to reign in his temper.

  Ruben saw his brother-in-law’s face darken. ‘Nathan’s right, he and Vasya have only been married a few months…’

  ‘You’re forgetting the children,’ Levi cut in.

  ‘What children?’ Nathan questioned.

  ‘My cousin’s children. I received a letter from my son Abraham, who left here to help my cousin Moshe Goldberg in Ekaterinoslav.’

  Nathan had a feeling he would soon regret asking the question, but he asked it anyway. ‘Why did your cousin Moshe need Abraham’s help?’

  ‘His rabbi wrote to me to inform us that Moshe was seriously ill and could no longer work or care for his family.’ Levi pulled an envelope from the breast pocket of his coat as proof. ‘Moshe, his wife and twin baby daughters,’ Levi, Ruben and the rabbi all stared at the ceiling and broke off to chant, “May their memory be a blessing to all who knew them,” ‘have all died of diphtheria. At the moment Abraham is caring for their three sons and remaining daughter, but he cannot stay in Ekaterinoslav because I need him to help in my business, and when he leaves the children will be taken to the Jewish orphanage.’

  ‘You can’t seriously expect us to take in four children just after we’ve married!’ Nathan was furious that Vasya could even allow her father and the rabbi to countenance the idea.

  ‘You are the perfect people to do just that. They are family, but I am too old to look after children, and I no longer have a wife or daughter to run my household, only a daughter-in-law and sister who visit me when they can spare the time. My sister Raisa is too old to take them in. Besides, she is poor and has no experience of children. You earn much more – probably ten times more than Abraham and Ruben do helping me in my butcher’s shop. And soon, very soon, Rebekah will present Ruben with a child, so they will be too busy looking after their own children to take in my cousin Moshe’s. All our houses are too small to take in four extra children. That leaves you. And look at this table! The boards are groaning with gifts of food, so many gifts, you have more than you and Vasya can eat.’

  ‘I have family of my own,’ Nathan reminded tersely.

  ‘Since Asher and Leah have been buried, only your sister Ruth, who as we all know has married out of our faith. And by marrying Alexei Beletsky she will never have to worry about money again. These children have nowhere to go other than the orphanage and no one to care for them…’

  ‘They have you.’

  ‘Nathan.’

  ‘No, you listen to me for once…’

  Nathan was interrupted by a knock at the door. He rose to answer it but he was still determined to tell Levi what he thought of his proposal. ‘I work long hours in the hospital…’

  ‘No one disputes that…’

  ‘I married Vasya,’ Nathan cut in ruthlessly. ‘I promised before God to care for her and I will. I did not promise to take on a ready-made family. I have no time to look after anyone other than Vasya and my patients. As for Vasya, as you say, she is in delicate health. She is, yet she has a full-time job – caring for me. If it’s money you want I may be able to make a contribution to the upkeep of your cousin’s children, but I will not take them into my home, nor will I meet them. That is my final word on the subject. Now, if you’ll excuse me.’

  He left the room and went to the front door. Still in a temper, he wrenched it open. Kolya was in the porch.

  ‘I am sorry to disturb you, sir. Madam Koshka has sent for you. One of her girls has been hurt. She asked if you could come at once.’

  Thank you, Kolya.
I’ll pick up my bag.’

  Vasya appeared in the hall behind him. ‘You have to go?’ she questioned timorously.

  ‘I do.’

  ‘Nathan, this is a family meal …’ Levi admonished from the doorway of the dining room.

  ‘Someone has been injured. I am needed.’

  ‘Our discussion…’

  ‘Is over, Levi.’ Nathan picked up his hat and jammed it on his head. ‘Good evening.’ He took his bag and left, slamming the front door behind him.

  Chapter Eighteen

  Madam Koshka’s salon

  December 1871

  Several men had gathered outside one of the carriages that lined the drive to Koshka’s house. When Nathan drew closer he recognised Fritz and three of the liveried men Koshka employed to keep order in her establishment. They were loading a comatose man into a closed vehicle.

  ‘Is he sick?’ Nathan questioned.

  ‘Sleepy,’ Fritz answered in a tone that discouraged further questioning. ‘He’s not the reason we sent for you, Dr Kharber.’ Fritz slammed the door of the carriage and shouted up to the driver. ‘Take him away and don’t bring him back here again, do you understand?’

  ‘I’ll give my master your message when he wakes.’

  ‘Do that, because if I see him here again he’ll be leaving in a coffin, not a carriage.’

  The driver tipped his hat and drove off.

  ‘Thank you very much for coming so promptly, Dr Kharber.’ Fritz led Nathan through the kitchen entrance and up the back staircase to the corridor that housed the girls’ rooms. He tapped one of the doors. Koshka opened it.

  ‘Dr Kharber, thank you for responding so quickly. Fritz, would you please check that the gentlemen who came in with Adele’s last client are not causing us any problems. And when you talk to them please explain exactly why I asked you to enquire after them.’

  ‘Yes, madam.’

  ‘Leave one of our men outside this door, please. Ask him to remain there until someone relieves him.’

  ‘Yes, madam.’

  ‘Dr Kharber,’ Koshka ushered him into the room. ‘Adele, look, Dr Kharber has come to take care of you’

  Nathan wouldn’t have recognised Adele if Koshka hadn’t mentioned her name. She was lying propped up on pillows in the bed with the sheet pulled to her chin. Her face was swollen out of all recognition, coloured by bruises that were already turning purple, burgundy, and black. Her jaw jutted sideways at a painfully unnatural angle.

  He sat on the edge of the bed and examined her.

  ‘Is there permanent damage?’ Koshka asked anxiously.

  ‘The skin isn’t broken, which is a good sign. The swelling will eventually go down and the bruising, although severe, will fade. It will however take time, a month, maybe more. Adele, your jaw is dislocated, but I am going to try to manipulate it back into place. If you understand what I’m saying, please don’t try to talk, but blink once.’

  Adele stared at Nathan and blinked. He took the opportunity to lift her eyelids and check her eyes.

  ‘You have burst blood vessels in your eyes. Is your vision blurred? Two blinks if it is. One blink if it isn’t.’

  Adele blinked once.

  ‘Have you sent for the Fire Brigade, madam?’ Nathan opened his doctor’s bag.

  ‘No need, we dealt with this matter in-house. Fritz has attended to everything that needed to be done.’

  Nathan wrapped his hands gently around Adele’s face. ‘Please don’t fight me. I know you’re in pain but try to relax. Do you understand?’

  Adele blinked once again.

  Nathan moved closer to her on the bed, clamped his hands around her face and made a swift and sudden wrenching move.

  Adele cried out. Then stared at him in astonishment.

  ‘Can you open your mouth?’

  ‘Yes,’ she whispered. ‘But it feels strange.’

  Don’t say any more than you absolutely have to. I am going to bandage your jaw into place.’ He removed a roll of crepe bandage from his bag and proceeded to wind it around her head. ‘Don’t loosen this support or try to open your mouth wide for at least six weeks, or your jaw may pop out again. If you must yawn or sneeze, support your jaw and hold it firmly in position.’

  She looked up at him and blinked once more.

  ‘You’re every doctor’s dream, an excellent and compliant patient. Now I’m going to give you an injection to help you sleep, but before I do, do you have any other injuries?’

  Adele turned back the sheet and Koshka winced. An angry welt ran from Adele’s navel up to and across her left breast.

  ‘I should have told Fritz to horsewhip the brute.’

  Nathan examined the welt. ‘Like Adele’s facial injuries, the skin isn’t broken. It will take time but it should heal without a scar.’

  He covered Adele again with the sheet and injected her arm. ‘She will need looking after and she should only take liquid food for a week and, depending on her rate of recovery, possibly longer.’

  Koshka nodded and went to the door. She spoke to the man outside. ‘He’ll fetch a maid to sit with Adele.’ She reached for Adele’s hand and squeezed it. ‘We’ll take good care of you, my dear.’

  By the time the maid arrived, Adele’s eyes were already closing.

  ‘Stay with her. If there’s any change in Adele’s condition, please come and find me immediately.’

  ‘Yes, madam.’

  Nathan checked Adele’s pulse one more time. ‘I think she’ll sleep now. I’ll call in again in the morning.’

  ‘Thank you.’ Koshka went to the door. ‘Would you care to join me in my room for a brandy, Dr Kharber? I think we both need one after this.’

  ‘Thank you, madam.’ Before Nathan reached the door, Kolya appeared and called to him.

  ‘Sorry to disturb you again, Dr Kharber. The Fire Brigade has taken a young woman to the hospital. The nurses say she has been very badly injured.’

  ‘Did they say who she is?’

  ‘Too badly beaten around the face to see, sir. Whoever attacked her stripped and violated her. She was brought in naked and unconscious.’ I’m sorry, Dr Kharber, it seems as though tonight is going to be a busy one for you.’

  Hospital, Hughesovka

  December 1871

  Yulia and Miriam were gently sponging the raw and swollen face of the naked girl lying on the bed in the treatment room. She was battered and filthy, covered in blood, dirt, urine, and excrement. There were deep cuts on her body but her head injuries were the worst. Her hair was so soaked in blood it was impossible to hazard a guess as to the colour. Her eyelids were puffed, dark blue and purple pillows over her eyes.

  Nathan administered the morphine he’d prepared and stood back, waiting for it to take effect. The girl groaned, but he doubted the sound was the result of pain from the needle. A pin-prick and infusion of cold opiate would be insignificant after the violence she’d been subjected to.

  Nathan prepared a second syringe and left it in the tray. He hoped it wouldn’t be needed – for the patient’s sake. He checked her pulse again and placed his fingers on her neck.

  ‘Be careful when you wash her, Yulia. Sponge only the undamaged skin. Be careful not to dislodge any blood clots. Miriam, go to the porters’ cubicle and ask Kolya if Maxim or Bogdan have returned from their search of the area where she was found. Whoever did this to her tore off her clothes. They have to be somewhere and they might tell us who she is. I want to know the minute they find anything significant.’

  ‘Yes, Dr Kharber.’

  ‘Has anyone turned up from the Fire Brigade yet?’

  ‘Vlad, sir, he sent a man to the Cossacks’ barracks to ask for help to search for whoever attacked her.’

  ‘Ask Vlad to wait please. I’d like a word with him before he joins the other searchers.’

  ‘Yes, sir.’ Miriam bobbed a curtsey and left.

  Nathan watched Yulia wring the sponge out in a bowlful of clean water. Her eyes were brimming with tears an
d he doubted she could see anything. When she spoke her voice was so low he had to strain to hear what she said.

  ‘She’s dying, isn’t she, sir.’

  Nathan realised from the way Yulia spoke she hadn’t asked a question. She knew the girl’s condition was hopeless.

  ‘Losing patients is the hardest thing for any doctor or nurse to bear. I’m sorry, Yulia, she’s been too badly beaten to survive. She has too many serious injuries and has lost too much blood. All we can do is ease her pain.’

  ‘There is something else,’ she contradicted angrily. ‘We can wash the filth from her, bandage her wounds, cover her in clean sheets and … and …’ she fought back tears, ‘and…’

  ‘Her pain is fading, Yulia. Look, you can see the morphine beginning to work.’

  Miriam returned. ‘Vlad is waiting to see you, sir. He’s in the kitchen with Kolya. There’s fresh tea in the samovar.’

  ‘Thank you, Miriam.’ Glad of an excuse to leave the foul-smelling room, Nathan stepped into the corridor and stretched his limbs. He joined Vlad and Kolya in the kitchen. The samovar was steaming but they’d opened their flasks and he detected the heady, astringent scent of raw home-brewed vodka. Not for the first time he wondered if it were possible to get drunk on the stench alone.

  ‘Colonel Zonov has sent twelve Cossacks and an officer from the barracks to help the Fire Brigade search the town for anyone bloodstained who looks suspicious, sir,’ Vlad reported.

  ‘At this time of night that’s anyone who’s leaving a beer shop,’ Nathan commented. ‘Fights invariably break out at this hour.’

  ‘No harm in them looking. Colonel Zonov also said he’ll send half the regiment into town to take over from them at first light.’

  ‘That’s sensible, it’s black as a rabbi’s coat out there and whoever did this has probably gone to ground to clean themselves up. Is there any word on who the girl might be?’

  ‘I asked in the hotel, Madam Koshka’s, and Mr Edwards’s house, but the girls living in all three are where they should be, apart from Anna.’