“I also dream sometimes,” said Adam. “But I forget my dreams.”
“You’re lucky. I dream almost every night. Mom says that the dreams are trying to guide us, to show us what to do. They are our conscience.”
“I don’t know what to say to you,” said Adam. That was a sentence Adam repeated every time Thomas raised a complicated issue. By now Thomas knew Adam’s ways, but he kept asking questions and raising difficulties.
Thomas’s questions sometimes amused Adam. Once Adam said to him, “Next time choose a friend who can answer all your questions.”
As they were making their way to the cow and calf, an old peasant appeared as though he had sprung from the earth, and he alarmed them. The peasant also seemed surprised, and he asked, “Who are you?”
Adam took heart and answered him. “My name is Adam, and my friend’s name is Thomas.”
“Are you Jewish children?” asked the peasant.
“Yes,” said Adam, taking two steps backward.
“And you’re not afraid?”
“A little,” Adam admitted.
“In a little while the Red Army will come, and you can go home. You can already hear the cannons.”
“When will that be?” Adam asked.
“Very soon,” said the peasant, taking a piece of brown cake from his coat pocket and offering it to Adam.
“Thanks, grandfather.”
“You don’t have to thank me, but God. Children, hide well. The Germans are in every corner. Don’t leave your hiding place. I’ll leave a bit of food at the foot of this tree now and then. When the day of victory arrives, come and visit me.”
“What’s your name, Grandfather?”
“My name is Sergei.”
They cleared out and climbed the tree. Miro couldn’t repress his joy. He hopped from foot to foot, hoping to get a piece of cake. It was a delicious honey cake, and they finished it immediately. The water they sipped from the thermos bottle was tastier than ever.
Chapter 24
From then on the rain didn’t stop. It was accompanied by thunder and lightning, as well as hail, which struck the cloak very hard. Without Miro and his body heat, they would have been frozen.
“Who’s that old man we met, Sergei?” Adam asked. “Do you mean to say he was sent to us?” asked Thomas.
“I don’t know whether he was sent to us. I’m glad he appeared.”
“My dad says, ‘A person should do what he must do.’ If only I knew exactly what I’m supposed to do,” said Thomas.
“We do what we can,” said Adam.
“I’m not reading the books I brought with me, and I’m not solving arithmetic problems. I hardly even write in my journal.”
“Don’t worry, Thomas. When the war is over, you’ll catch up on everything.”
“It’s a shame to waste time,” said Thomas.
“But you saw a lot. You were hungry a lot. You were afraid and you overcame your fear. That’s also learning, isn’t it?”
The rain fell without stopping, and they didn’t climb down from the tree. They lay down tensely. Adam talked to Miro and asked him how he was feeling. Miro murmured and whined in little yips. From time to time he would jump down from the tree and look around in the forest.
Miro was a brave guard. Once, back home, he gripped a thief ’s arm and wouldn’t let go. The thief was desperate and shouted, “Help!” If it hadn’t been for Adam’s father, who released the thief ’s arm from Miro’s teeth, he might not have survived. After he was released, the thief didn’t move, as though he were hypnotized. “Go away and don’t come back,” Adam’s father scolded him, and then he did pick up his feet and run away.
During a letup, they climbed down to see whether Mina had left them anything. To their surprise they found a packet wrapped in canvas near the tree where they had met the peasant.
They quickly carried it up to the nest, and to their astonishment they found a big piece of corn pie, a hunk of cheese, and a packet of pickled cucumbers.
“Is everything that happens to us coincidental?” Adam wondered.
“Do you have a better word than that?” Thomas answered.
“We met marvelous people who saved us. Is that all a coincidence?”
“Why say they were sent to us? Why not say they’re doing it of their own free will?”
“I don’t know what to say to you,” said Adam.
They had a meal and shared it with Miro. Everything was delicious, especially the pickles. The canvas wasn’t big, but it covered them.
“We haven’t seen Mina for a while,” said Thomas.
“Peasants don’t go out to the fields or pastures in the rain. But sometimes it seems to me that they’re hurting her. I hope I’m wrong,” said Adam.
“Where did you get that impression?”
“It’s hard to explain,” said Adam.
That day Thomas wrote in his journal:
Dear Mother and Father,
Adam and I are still hiding out in the forest. The rain doesn’t stop, but don’t worry. We’re curled up in our nest. We have a sheepskin cloak, the blankets we brought from home, and a piece of canvas to shield us. I think about you all the time, I see you in dreams, and when I’m awake, and I hope you’re well. I have a feeling that the war is ending, and we’ll come home. My friend Adam is a perfect friend. We live from day to day and wonders keep astonishing us. An old peasant we met by chance left us a whole corn pie. Adam says we must say blessings. Adam’s a nature boy, but at the same time he has a sense of the marvelous. I’ve learned a lot from him. Now I also know how to run in a crouch and climb trees. Sometimes it seems to me that my outward appearance has changed a lot since we parted. I hope that I’ve stayed the same Thomas you used to know. You’re in my thoughts every day. I’m waiting with yearning for the end of the war and for the moment I can come down from the tree, straight to you.
Adam remembered the apple tree, and they ran to it. The apples had turned red, and some of them had fallen to the earth. They picked apples and gathered them in the canvas. Miro didn’t leave their side. From time to time he raised his head, turned it, and pointed his nose.
Between rainstorms they went down to Mina’s tree. This time they found a few pieces of bread and a piece of butter wrapped in a rag.
The last time they saw Mina, her right hand had been bandaged in a kerchief. She milked the cow quickly, so it didn’t seem like a serious injury to them. But Adam kept repeating, “The peasant is not only angry at her. He beats her.”
“How do you know?”
“From the expression on her lips. The next time we meet her we should ask her to join us,” said Adam.
“Let’s hope she won’t be afraid to run away,” said Thomas.
“Mina’s a brave girl. Look at her hands as she milks.”
The next day they found Mina milking. Adam directed his voice at her and called out, “If things are hard for you, and if the peasant is hurting you, come to us. We have a nest in a tall tree, and, if necessary, we can flee into the heart of the forest. We don’t have a lot to eat, but whatever comes our way is enough to live on. If you want to join us, we’d be very happy.”
Mina heard, but her face didn’t move. When she finished milking, she took the pail and the stool and hurried away.
When Mina went away, she left behind a trail of secrecy. She was so short and so small, it was a wonder she could carry the heavy pail. “She’s a spirit, not a body,” said Adam.
“Where did you get that feeling, Adam?” asked Thomas.
“The pail is as big as half her body. Who’s carrying the pail, if not the spirit that’s in her?”
“For years in school we never realized she was a being with spiritual strength.”
“Our eyes deceive us,” said Adam, and they both laughed.
Chapter 25
&n
bsp; After that dark days came. Cold filled the forest, and rain mixed with hail pounded the canvas.
Every time thunder and lightning exploded above them, Miro pricked up his ears.
“Is the war drawing to a close?” Adam asked Miro and looked at his face.
Miro couldn’t stay still. Every few minutes he stuck his head out of the canvas and let out little barks.
Snow was not long in coming. First it was mixed with rain, but from day to day it thickened and grew whiter. Mina continued to leave packages next to her tree. Once it was a packet of dry fruit. The good peasant left them a jug of buttermilk.
“What would we have done without our angels?” said Adam.
It snowed harder, and the cold grew fiercer. Adam and Thomas wore the shirts, the sweaters, and the coats that they had, but the cold wind penetrated their clothing.
Adam kept asking Miro if he sensed that the Red Army was advancing. Miro raised his head, pricked up his ears, and muttered dissatisfied little barks. He was complaining about the weather, which made it hard for him to sense things.
Their new enemy was now the cold and the wind. They had to reinforce the nest, add branches, and carefully build thick walls around the nest with twigs. One day from above they saw Mina come out of the darkness of the forest, place a package on the snow, and go away. Her movements were light, gliding, and hardly touched the snow. Fresh snow filled her footprints right away.
“Think of how much courage she needs to wrap corn pie and cheese in paper and sneak out of the house,” said Thomas.
“She’s a girl from out of this world,” said Adam, and he was alarmed by the words he had said.
They climbed down to see what Mina had left them. This time the package held a piece of cake, a slice of bread, and two sugar cubes.
“I have the feeling that Mina baked this cake.”
“How come?” asked Thomas.
“My heart tells me.”
“The cold is getting worse. Maybe we should go to Diana’s,” said Thomas.
Adam looked at Thomas and said, “It’s not right to leave the forest in this difficult time. The forest has protected us all the time, and I have a feeling that we can hold out without Diana.”
“The cold is penetrating to my fingers and biting them.”
“The cold is getting to me, too. We have to rub our fingers,” said Adam, and he added, “We’ve been in the forest for many months. We overcame fear and want. Now we have two angels who watch over us, and for our part we’ll do everything to overcome the cold.”
“Adam, you constantly amaze me.”
The snow didn’t stop falling. Thick flakes streamed thickly down from the sky. From time to time thunderbolts ripped the heavens. Miro was tense. Adam stopped him from jumping out, getting into danger. He spoke to him softly, saying, “Miro, it’s horrible outside. It’s best for you to be up here in the nest, to curl up under the blankets. When we’re together, the warmth stays, do you understand?”
Thomas wrote in his notebook:
Dear Mom and Dad,
The snow doesn’t stop falling. It’s piled high. If I’m not mistaken, half a meter. But don’t worry. We’ve improved our nest. We put on all the clothes we have. I think about you all the time, but since I don’t know where you are or what you’re doing, my thoughts wander somewhere else every time. Fortune favored us, and our friend Mina and the peasant we met by chance bring food to us. My friend Adam calls them angels. The booming in the distance can be heard very well. Let’s hope it brings the Red Army on its wings. Conditions are hard, but we haven’t lost hope. Last night I dreamed you were liberated and had come to pick up me and Adam. You were very thin, but your faces expressed satisfaction. I hope so much it will be that way. Don’t delay. Come. I love you very much, Thomas.
Thomas read what he had written to Adam. Adam listened and said, “You described the situation correctly. I don’t know how to write the way you do.”
“But you’re better at making your way in nature than I am.”
“Sometimes I have the feeling that my parents receive my thoughts,” said Adam.
“It also seems that way to me, but I’m not sure,” said Thomas.
“You have to be strong and trust yourself, Thomas. When we met you didn’t know how to climb trees, you didn’t know how to walk right in the forest, and now you’re as agile and quick as a squirrel.”
“I still haven’t gotten to your level,” said Thomas.
“There’s no need to compete. Everyone has to be faithful to himself.”
One cold night Thomas suddenly asked Adam, “What do you want to study, Adam?”
“I want to learn from my father.”
“You want to be an expert carpenter?”
“Yes. And what do you want to study?” Adam asked.
“I’ll go on to high school and college.”
“Let’s pray that the winds and snow will leave us alone, and that our parents will come and get us soon.”
Upon hearing Adam’s words, Thomas burst into tears.
Chapter 26
Miro startled them. He leaped out of the nest and raced toward the interior of the forest. Tensely they watched him run. Every few steps he would stand still, stretch out his head, listen, and sniff.
“Miro has sensed something. He wouldn’t leap away for nothing,” said Adam.
After an hour of scouting, he came back and stood next to the tree. Adam climbed down and carried him back up, rubbed his legs, and pressed him to his chest. Gradually warmth returned to Miro’s body. “What happened, Miro? The cold outside is biting. Don’t run any risks,” Adam said to him. “Miro is different from us,” he said to Thomas. “Sounds and smells come to him before they reach us.”
“Did you learn anything from Miro’s behavior in the past few days?” asked Thomas.
“It seems to me he’s annoyed with himself because he can’t catch the signs that come to him from far away.”
“What should we do?” Thomas asked softly.
“If the snow keeps falling, and the cold gets stronger, we won’t have any choice except to climb down and light a fire to keep warm.”
“Won’t the fire give us away?”
“We’ll do it cautiously.”
That night Adam heard his mother’s trembling voice speaking to him. “My Adam, we have arrived. Don’t be afraid. You know our forest very well, and everything that’s in it. I’ll try very hard to come in the evening.”
Her voice was clear, as if she hadn’t spoken months ago, but just now. Adam wakened from his slumber. Heavy snowflakes fell from the sky and filled the dark with gray whiteness. Thomas was sleeping deeply. Adam was afraid the cold would trap him in its web, and he woke him. Thomas asked, “What’s the matter?”
“Nothing. Aren’t you cold?”
“No.”
“Try to move your toes.”
“It’s hard.”
“Let’s rub them so they won’t freeze. Your toes can freeze easily when you’re asleep.”
Chapter 27
From above, in the last watch of the night, they saw a short creature, wrapped in a blanket, tottering and wandering in the snow. The tiny creature advanced with difficulty, stumbling with every few steps. Clearly it was about to faint, or it was wounded and trying to resist the wind that kept knocking it over.
They didn’t delay but climbed down. They immediately saw that it was Mina.
Her face was bleeding. She was breathing with difficulty. Adam and Thomas held her and carried her to the tree, and carefully, from branch to branch, they carried her up to the nest and immediately started taking care of her.
“What happened to you, Mina? Don’t be afraid. Thomas and I will watch over you.”
Now that they had wrapped her up, once again they realized how light she was, almost weightless.
Meanwhile the thunder in the distance had stopped. It snowed harder from hour to hour. By now it was a meter deep. They curled up together. The blanket that Mina had brought with her helped to cover them. But the cold penetrated anyway, and it stung and hurt them.
“We won’t have any choice but to go down and light a fire,” said Adam.
“Maybe we should wait another day,” said Thomas.
“We’ll wait as long as we can, but no longer.”
Meanwhile they rubbed their hands together, and they rubbed Mina’s feet to draw her out of the cold and her weakness.
The peasant angel left them a pitcher of milk and half a loaf of bread. They put drops of milk in Mina’s mouth. She opened her eyes for a moment and then quickly closed them.
Miro wouldn’t stand still. The narrow space they were trying to seal off from the cold seemed to oppress him. A couple of times he was about to leap, but Adam stopped him.
Finally he freed himself and jumped. Adam wanted to run after him, but he realized he couldn’t catch up with him. Miro raced quickly, as though pursued, into the interior of the forest. They watched him fearfully. The darkness, which had fallen, separated them from Miro.
“Where did Miro run to?” Thomas asked in a trembling voice.
“Miro wouldn’t run off for no reason. Danger doesn’t deter him.”
Adam bent very close to Mina’s face and whispered, “Just another small effort, Mina. We’re getting close to the end of the war. In a little while, just a bit, the Red Army will come and liberate us.”
Chapter 28
But the night continued, long and dark. The cold grew more intense from hour to hour. Mina wasn’t breathing well. From time to time grunts of pain escaped her lips. Her mouth wouldn’t accept liquids, and the boys were afraid for her life.
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