by Helen Burko
You don’t know who her parents were, he continued to think. You don’t know her antecedents. All that you know is that she’s beautiful and fearless. She doesn’t even have any documents; who knows what her past was. She said she was in a concentration camp. Maybe the Nazis used her for their experiments; maybe she’s sick. Why was she in such a hurry to attach herself to him? And why had she agreed so suddenly to go with him? Could she be his wife as Doris had been? Would she be able to give him children like his Lillian?
Right after that, he thought opposing thoughts: There was a war, and people felt lonely, deserted. She is also an orphan, one of many, millions. She was brought up by her aunt in Harcov, and she’s a Russian girl whose thoughts and habits are different from his, and she has agreed to another way of life. He is also solitary now; both of them are alone! Nothing brings people together like suffering and grief! A woman falls in love when she meets a man who understands her, who is sensitive, and that is enough for her!
“What are you thinking of, liebling?” Rachel asked him when she noticed him deep in thought. “I thought you were asleep.”
“No, I was thinking of you,” he said honestly.
“And what do you think of me?” She looked at him affectionately.
“I was thinking of our chance meeting and the love that is blossoming between us.”
“Ah!” She pressed against him. She looked so wonderful, he wanted to say more, but just then, the train stopped suddenly.
Otvotsk! The famous health resort of prewar Poland.
They climbed down to the platform, where a crowd of people were waiting who immediately began to push their way into the train. Only a few buildings were destroyed, and even those were covered with green growth and surrounded by tall pine trees. Even the buildings that the bastardly Nazis bombed on the first day of the war were now all covered with ivy. Only their residents couldn’t be revived.
Unlike war-town Warsaw, it was pleasantly and unusually peaceful here. To Jacob and Rachel, the quiet was like paradise.
As they passed under the bridge that led to the town, Jacob stopped an elderly woman, who had also arrived on the same train and was going in the same direction, and asked her if she knew where to find a room for a few days.
The woman looked at them and said, “Ask at the boarding house of Marta Olshanska. Can you remember the name? Marta Olshanska! That’s the only place where you can find a room, because most of the places are closed.”
After Jacob asked her what direction they should go, he thanked her, and they continued on the wooden sidewalk that led to the city. After a short time, they found themselves among half-wrecked houses in a forest of pine trees.
As they went further, they were surrounded more and more by the deserted town that had once been so full of life. Only occasionally did a Russian soldier pass them, and they didn’t even see anyone they could ask about Marta Olshanska.
Suddenly, they heard a noise behind some trees and saw a tiny dog, which upon seeing them broke into a loud barking fit. A Russian officer appeared and walked slowly toward them. They were happy to finally see someone, even though the officer wasn’t a person you could ask how to get to Marta Olshanska’s place. They understood that a Soviet army base was probably near the town.
“Did he frighten you?” the officer asked when he saw that both of them had stopped when the dog barked. “He’s a nice dog, my little Goebbels. He only knows how to bark; he never bites.”
“Oh, what a lovely poodle!” Rachel enthused. “How sweet he is and how lovely!” She called to him to come to her.
“Go to the lady, Goebbels!” ordered the officer with a smile.
“Well, Goebbels… One, two!” The little dog that the officer called Goebbels after the late German propaganda minister jumped up as though he really understood his master, but instead of going to Rachel, he ran to his master and began to jump up on him.
“Maybe by chance you might know where the boarding house of Marta Olshanska is? We have been wandering around for an hour trying to find it,” Rachel asked the Russian officer.
The officer looked Rachel over, saw her fine figure, and said in a friendlier fashion than before, “No, I don’t know where that is, but if you like, I’m ready to help you look for it. I’m familiar with the town.”
“Thank you very much, but we’ll find it ourselves somehow.”
“It’s no trouble; on the contrary, it will be a pleasure for me to walk with you… Anyway, I was out for a walk. I was fed up with the work in the hospital all day long.”
“You’re a doctor?” asked Rachel in awe.
“To my sorrow, yes.” He smiled. “Not far from here is our hospital for those recovering from their wounds, and I am one of those who helps them recover. And who are you?”
“We are Poles who have returned from Russia,” announced Rachel.
“What’s going on in my country? Did the enemy wreck it very much? What places did you see?”
“We were in Asia,” said Jacob, who didn’t like all the questions.
“So you didn’t see much of the war.”
“We saw quite a lot,” answered Jacob. “All the places we passed on the way here were horrible and depressing.”
While the two men talked, Rachel kept quiet and waited, hoping the conversation between the two would finish quickly. But the officer wouldn’t leave and continued to question them and kept staring at Rachel.
“And you are married or brother and sister?” he asked.
“I am both wife and sister,” said Rachel, smiling.
“So? Wife and sister… Not bad when a wife can also take the place of a sister. A pity that a sister can never take the place of a wife unless, of course, she is a nursing sister.”
Jacob noticed the officer was trying to make an impression on Rachel and didn’t take his eyes off her, but he thought it the natural way of a man trying to find favor in the eyes of a beautiful woman. Before they continued on their way, the officer said with pretended politeness and friendliness, “It’s very boring here in Otvotsk; you can die of boredom. Would you allow me to visit you?”
The suggestion wasn’t to Jacob’s liking, and it seemed to him that Rachel also didn’t welcome it, so he tried several excuses: that they didn’t know how long they would be staying there, that first they wanted to rest well and then they would think of visitors.
The officer was very stubborn.
“If you don’t want my company, perhaps I can let you have the use of the car that, as a doctor, I am entitled to. I travel to Warsaw often, and I could take you there, but I understand you have to rest… Without a doubt. Right? So if you wish…”
“Oh, we thank you sincerely,” said Rachel politely. “Please do come and visit us. Of course, we have to recover our strength first. It will be about two weeks, at least, until we recover.”
The officer took his leave, but before he left, he introduced himself. “Doctor Lieutenant Matvey Ostafovitch Bunin.”
“A pleasure! Attorney Jacob Barder and Rachel Barder.”
That was how they met the Russian doctor.
“Why did you invite him?” Jacob asked Rachel as soon as they had distanced themselves from the doctor.
“Out of politeness,” she excused herself.
“Just so long as it doesn’t become a habit with him.”
“I don’t think it will, and I don’t fear it.”
They continued to walk in silence.
Finally, they found the place. When they knocked at the door, nobody answered. They were discouraged and were about to leave when they heard footsteps. The sound stopped before the door, and someone was probably weighing whether they should open the door or not. At last, the door opened, and they saw an elderly woman with a lined but aristocratic-looking face, gray hair, a short nose, and eyes half-veiled from age, fatigue, or fear. This was Marta Olshanska: short, agile, and very reserved.
A gray cat with a proud-looking mustache and sleepy eyes curled itself around Marta�
��s feet until she had to push him inside another room.
“Who are you, and what do you want?” she asked them.
After Rachel and Jacob introduced themselves and said they would like to stay with her for a short while until they could go to America, she opened the door, invited them to come in, and explained politely, “This house is very large with many rooms and a large dining room. Once it was a first-class boarding house full of guests who came here to recover their health, but today it is all in ruins.”
“Do you live here alone?” They both looked surprised.
“Yes. Alone, that is. And who should I live with? This is Kitzie.” She pointed to the cat. “He is my only friend.”
“Don’t you have a husband, children?” Jacob asked, as Rachel caught the cat and stroked it lovingly.
“My husband and my oldest son were killed. I have another son, but he isn’t here,” Marta answered sadly. “He married and went to live in another city. Sometimes I visit him, but most of the time I spend in church. People have sinned, and we have to pray for them so God will forgive them.”
“I’m surprised they haven’t requisitioned such a large house,” Jacob said.
“They have done so more than once. Russian soldiers lived here. Only a short time ago, they gave it back to me. They wrecked everything. It’s a miracle they left. Ah, we’re so sick of them. They took another large hotel for a hospital, not far from here. I’ve heard they mean to move away from Otvotsk. Thanks to God we will be rid of them.”
She took them around to show them the place, and they saw the peeling walls and the worn furniture.
“Those people don’t even know how to behave around decent furnishings!” Marta continued to pour out her grief. “And it’s no wonder… They aren’t used to all this! They drank all night, brought in women, and held orgies. And those women, may God punish them, strayed from the right path. Oh, how the world has deteriorated! The war has destroyed everything, and people have lost their God.”
Jacob listened impatiently, while Rachel played with the cat.
“Oh, how wonderful he is! How handsome! Kitzie! Kitzie!”
Jacob was glad when Marta finally suggested, “Please, choose any room you like! I am not at home very often. Just keep everything in order and watch over my Kitzie. Maybe because of you, they won’t come again.”
“I’ll take care of him!” said Rachel happily. “I’ll watch over him. Oh, how I love dogs and cats! How sweet Kitzie is!”
To Jacob and Rachel, the large rooms looked like a palace. Rachel was especially joyful.
“How wonderful all this is! A real paradise! Here, we can really rest!” she exclaimed as she hugged Kitzie.
“Yes, my dears, rest,” Marta said, trying to be kind. “Here is a bed and here a chair and sofa, although everything is so worn that it’s terrible to look at them.”
“Is there somewhere we can obtain food?” asked Jacob.
“Money will obtain everything you want,” Marta answered, and her veiled eyes sparkled. “Yes, if you have cash, you can find everything, although with difficulty. The war has gobbled it all up. There is no oil, and sugar is scarce, but whoever has money lacks for nothing.”
“Good, Pani Marta,” said Jacob. “We’ll buy everything. We’ll try not to let you lack for anything, and the rooms will also look different while we’re here. I’m just waiting for a letter from home, from America, and everything will be fine.”
When Marta heard Jacob was an American citizen who had been detained during the war and how they arrived there, she was aghast.
“So… And I thought you just wanted to visit America and came here to rest first.”
“The heavens decided that an American citizen should also have a taste of Russian concentration camps.”
“And your wife, too, was in the camps together with you?”
“Yes, I was in the camps, too,” said Rachel, who was still busy playing with the cat.
“Your wife looks completely Aryan, so pretty…”
“Yes, she’s not ugly even though she’s not Aryan.” Jacob laughed, looking at Rachel so busy and happy with the cat.
“Oh, how grand this is…how splendid!” Rachel raced around the rooms after Marta left them. Her eyes shone, and she almost danced with joy.
“Oh, look! Look how lovely it is here, liebling.” Her eyes sparkled. “Here we’ll really rest. Oh, I’m so hungry for peace and quiet. Oh, how I want to sleep!” She threw herself on the soft sofa, whose rose velvet cover was torn and frayed and springs showed through here and there. She put the cat on her chest and looked lovingly at it.
“How sweet you are…how charming.”
“More charming than me?” Jacob laughed.
She didn’t answer and continued to murmur to the cat.
“Yes, it is really pleasant and so convenient,” Jacob said, as if to himself. Afterward, he sat beside her, took the cat, and said, “It’s such a lovely and well-fed cat despite the shortages of food after the war.”
Rachel remained happy and joyful. Then she pulled him to her and kissed him passionately.
“How good it is here! How happy I am we found such a quiet corner to rest in. Close the door!” she ordered. “And come lie down next to me on the sofa.”
At that moment, they heard Marta calling, “Kitzie, Kitzie, you’re hungry, aren’t you?”
The cat sprang out of Jacob’s hands and ran out to Marta.
He closed the door and lay down next to Rachel.
CHAPTER FIVE
They woke the next morning at almost noon. The sun was streaming in the high windows and embroidered the walls and the floor with the branches of the pine trees it was shining through.
They both woke together and looked at each other as though they were seeing each other for the first time in their lives. They felt rested and refreshed, although here and there some pains were still lingering. Rachel’s face was flushed from sleep, which made her look even younger. They noticed that they had slept completely nude, and they laughed and made love again.
Only now, as he lay next to her nude body, did he notice how classically beautiful she was. Her waist and her neck and all the other womanly curves were like a marble statue. Her lovely blond hair spread out on the red sofa. Until now, he had thought her quite hard, proud, and sometimes strange, but at this moment, she seemed delicate, quiescent, and completely soft. Her arms were soft and full, and her lips were a natural pink—sensual, provocative.
She stretched out her bare arms and said in an indulgent, cheerful tone, “Good morning, liebling. And a good morning to a day of freedom and joy!”
“Good morning, my dear!” He kissed her glowing cheek and was impressed by her original way of addressing a day. This was the first time he had seen her in such a good mood. She didn’t at all resemble the bitter, reserved Rachel she had been.
“How great… What a joy! How long it’s been since I slept like this. It has brought back my strength!”
“And also your gentleness and womanliness have come back!” said Jacob, and he hugged her so hard that she groaned a lustful groan and continued to snuggle in his arms with the charm of a kitten.
She murmured, “After all that has happened to me and after all that has happened to both of us, I feel as though I have been born anew!”
“We’ll make up here all the sleep and love we missed during the whole war! The past seems now like a bad nightmare, and I feel as though the earth is freeing itself from a covering of ice.”
“It was really a bad nightmare.” She smiled as she touched her lips to his cheek.
“How good it is to be free…as free as those birds on the windowsill who are singing us a love song!”
“Open the window! The walls are mildewed. We must whitewash the rooms!”
“We’ll do everything that needs to be done, my darling. Everything bad is now behind us!”
He rose and opened wide the creaking windows. The fresh air burst into the room; the birds’ singing
became clearer, and they seemed to be holding a special concert for Jacob and Rachel.
He returned to the sofa and lay down again beside her.
“Only now, after all the buffeting and suffering, is it possible to appreciate what a warm, peaceful house means. How strange it still seems to me.” He began to play with her golden curls. “Over there, across the ocean, people live happily, go to the theater and to the cinema, eat and drink as much as they want, and entertain themselves, while we are so far from all that. Who knows when we’ll be able to reach America? I’ve experienced so much that now I wonder what a peaceful family looks like. Is it really possible to have a quiet family life in these stormy days? How can it be? Are there really people who aren’t afraid, who don’t have to jump from moving trains? Will we never need to travel on the roof of a speeding train again?”
“Yes.” She was thoughtful. “Today, or in a few days, you’ll return to your peaceful home and forget everything.”
“What about you?” He looked at her lovingly. “Won’t you be happy there together with me?”
“I don’t know…”
“Why, my darling? I’ll do everything so you can forget the terrible years of the war. Tell me, have you ever longed for your home? There’s no one there close to you, is there?”
“Your country is your country even when it’s a bad place, but I haven’t longed for it,” she said with a dry smile that told him nothing.