Henry & Sarah

by Kadrak, Suzanne

  “That sounds great,” Yasmina remarked, looking up from a book that she was reading. “We must ask Paul what he thinks about it as soon as he comes back from his stage rehearsals.”

  By now it had in fact become quite urgent to find another place for all of them to live. With the upcoming arrival of Yasminaʼs and Sarahʼs baby, the little apartment in Summer Hill Avenue would soon prove to be too small for the two families. Initially, it had still been Henryʼs plan to rent a place for him and Sarah alone in order not to be a burden to his brother. But as the time had passed, Paul and the Levys had become so fond of Henry and Sarah being around that Paul had ultimately convinced Henry that it would be better if they all saved up their money so that they would be able to afford the rent for a little house where both families could live together.

  Henry had been more than pleased with this idea. Deep in the heart, he had never really wanted to leave the cozy atmosphere in the Levyʼs flat. And Sarah obviously felt the same. She had become so attached to Yasmina that Henry didnʼt want to separate the two girls anymore. Between them, the exact friendship had developed that he had hoped for. He was aware that Sarah secretly longed for merry girls talks and shopping trips downtown. Sometimes the two women were so busy with each other that Henry almost got a little bit jealous, but not too much. After all, Sarah didnʼt mind his regular menʼs nights either that he tended to spend with Paul and Oscar at sportive events or in taverns. And after having granted each other their time out, Henry and Sarah were even more desperate to be with each other.

  One hundred and twenty Dollars was a considerable amount of money compared to the rent they were currently paying, but Henry was confident that if they all pulled together in the same direction, they would be able to afford it. After all, his efforts to find work had been more than fruitful and had brought him more money than he would have ever dared to dream of.

  He put it down to a major strike of luck that he had met the Deirdre and Shannon Kavanagh back on the ship. Just as they had advised him to, Henry had gone to meet Stephen Sandler two days after his arrival in New York, offering his services as a tutor to Sandlerʼs sons Michael and Ruben. When Stephen Sandler had finished listening to Henry telling him about his previous work experience, and after having read the letter of reference Oscar had written for Henry, he had immediately offered Henry the job. And the latter simply had been unable to refuse as Sandler promised him a considerable amount of money and even a pay rise if Henry managed to live through the trial period of a month.

  That pay rise in mind, Henry had tried not to be all too discouraged when he met Michael and Ruben for the first time. The two boys were in fact the most gruesome and terrible children he had ever encountered in his young career as a teacher, and Henry found that every single day he had spent with Sarah during her ʻrebelliousʼ days had been a piece of cake compared to what he would be in for from now on. But then Sarah turned out to be of great help to him, giving him advice on how to handle the boys, just as if they were her own children. Henry gathered that the reason for all of her wisdom in this regard derived from the fact that she had been a rather difficult child herself. And so, after only a short while, Henry had miraculously managed to make the boys stop farting and burping in public by telling them that their gases would poison the atmosphere in the long run and that they would therefore soon run out of air to breathe and would all have to die. This secured him a pay raise which was even higher than Sandler had initially announced.

  But as Henry had only worked half a day for the Sandlers, and as the money he had earned was still not enough for securing a proper life in America—especially when one was soon to be a father—Sandler had decided to help Henry and had contacted Reginald Kavanagh, Deirdre and Shannonʼs father, and had asked him if he could offer Henry a position in Memories of Ireland, the company which Sandler and Kavanagh owned. Shortly afterwards, Henry had got to know Kavanagh during one of Sandlerʼs dinner parties where Henry and Sarah had been invited to, and it had turned out that Kavanagh needed an assistant to the supervisor in the warehouse. After having worked there for two afternoons to try it out, Henry ultimately got the position as he had done surprisingly well considering the fact that he had never worked in that field before. And so, Henry worked for Sandler in the mornings, for Kavanagh in the afternoons, and Sarah helped Yasmina with the sewing and, by doing so, earned a little money as well.

  Checking their current budget, Henry found that they would be well able to afford the two story place with the little garden. They had tried to convince Oscar to move in with them, but Oscar had explained that he would rather stay in Summer Hill Avenue until he and Tamar got married. After that, he intended to move with her to an apartment close to the hospital where he had found employment as a doctor. As he was now working in the emergency unit, he considered it essential that he stayed close to his workplace so that he could be there anytime he was needed. His position was very demanding and, of course, required him to work on weekends, too. But he loved his work and put his whole heart and soul in it, just as he put his heart and soul into his relationship with Tamar. The two of them had got involved with each other ever so quickly, and with his irresistible charms Oscar had easily managed to win Tamarʼs father over when the latter had begun to grow reluctant towards a marriage between his daughter and Oscar because of the fact that Oscar wasnʼt Jewish. But ultimately Samuel Rosenzweig, who had always liked Oscar in general, had decided that what counted most was the happiness of his daughter. Other than that, he found that it was handy to have a doctor in the family. And so he had given the two of them their blessing. And they were a lovely couple indeed with Oscar hardly talking about anything else but Tamar all day long.

  The doorbell rang and tore Henry out of his reflections. The children momentarily looked up but soon got immersed in watching Sarah again.

  “That will be Tamar,” Alice said. “She wanted to bring some yarn along which she bought for me on the market yesterday.”

  “Iʼll go.” Henry quickly threw the paper on the table and jumped up from his seat, before either Sarah or Yasmina had a chance to get up. He would never allow them to venture down the stairwell now that the two women were both approaching the final days of their pregnancy. Their bellies looked as if they were about to explode and they could hardly move without suffering considerable pains. Although they kept saying that they were fine and were accusing Paul and Henry of treating them as if they had some terrible disease, the men had strictly forbidden them to leave the house. After all, they lived on the third floor. Not that the men didnʼt believe that Sarah and Yasmina would make it downstairs, but they had no idea how to bring the girls back upstairs again.

  Four bedrooms... Henry thought as he was merrily making his way down to the entrance hall, taking two steps at a time. Separate kitchen and garden… sounds wonderful...

  Lost in thoughts he opened the door.

  And froze.

  His mouth fell open, but no word came out of it. He felt his heart miss a beat, felt memories overwhelm his mind; the memories of a terrible birthday night in midsummer with him and Sarah standing in a horse stable, surrounded by nothing but darkness except for the dim glow of a lantern light, its little flame illuminating the hard face of an envious and scheming young man who so cold-heartedly watched their little bliss burst into a thousand pieces.

  Jeremy.

  The boy hesitantly hovered in the doorway, a grumpy yet bashful look on his face.

  “May I come in...?” he mumbled.

  After having stared at Jeremy for a while, in wonder and in shock, Henry felt his spirits, which temporarily had left him, return. Fueled by the enormous anger which was suddenly beginning to boil inside of him, he jumped at the boy, grabbed him by the collar and dragged him inside the house.

  “How dare you!?” Henry spat into the boyʼs face, pushing him hard against the wall.

  Jeremy didnʼt appear in any way surprised but rather calm, as if he had already expected that kind of reactio
n.

  “Have you come to destroy my little luck yet again?!” Henry yelled at him. “For the second time? Come on, tell me, is that the reason why you are here?!”

  “No, Henry, I—“ Jeremy whimpered, but Henry cut him off.

  “Let me tell you, my friend, not this time!” Henry growled furiously. “I swear by all that it is dear to me that I will break every single bone in your body if you harm us again. I will not refrain from killing you if necessary!”

  From the slightly insecure look on Jeremyʼs face Henry could gather that he came across as rather convincing, which didnʼt surprise him because he meant every single word he said. Only now did he notice that there was a long and nasty scar on the boyʼs cheek. The sight slightly distracted him for a moment, but not for very long, because suddenly a thought came to his mind; a rather terrifying thought.

  “Or are you only the advance guard...?” Henry mumbled suspiciously. He abruptly let go of Jeremy, stormed over to the door, and peered outside. But contrary to what he had expected, there was no one to be seen except for the old violin maker Yehudin Jitzak, who lived in the neighborhood and who was busy sweeping the path in front of his house.

  Henry rushed back inside where Jeremy was still leaning against the wall, a strange expression of resignation and exhaustion on his face.

  Once more, Henry grabbed him by the collar and began to shake him fiercely.

  “Where is he?!”

  “Who?” Jeremy asked.

  “You bloody well know who I mean, scarface! Damian Cox! He has sent you as his spy, hasnʼt he? He is out there somewhere, just waiting for a chance to strike again, isnʼt he? Do you really think I am that stupid not to realize what you two have been plotting?!”

  “Henry? Are you down there?” He suddenly heard Sarah call from upstairs.

  “Er... yes, I am! I will be with you in a moment!” Henry called back to her in a merry voice, trying to hide his anger, trying not to give away that Jeremy was here as he was certain that this fact would terribly upset her.

  “Is everything alright?” she asked, sounding suspicious.

  “Yes, darling, no need to worry. Stay upstairs. It is just some fellow selling brushes. I am dealing with it.”

  Henry heard Sarah mumble something, then it was quiet and he supposed that she had gone back inside.

  He turned to Jeremy again.

  “Now listen to me, you little bastard,” he hissed. “You go and tell Mr. Bloody Cox that if he can bring up the courage to face me personally, I am willing to arrange a date and time for a proper duel. But you can also tell him that he shouldnʼt raise too many hopes that he will survive, as I am prepared to go to great lengths in order to protect Sarah or whoever happens to live under this roof. Do you understand me?!”

  Jeremy looked at Henry expressionlessly. Then he said, “Damian is dead.”

  Puzzled, Henry loosened the grip on Jeremyʼs collar.

  Jeremy let out a little sigh of relief.

  “Look, I didnʼt expect a welcoming celebration, but will you at least give me a chance to speak and explain a couple of things?”

  “What could you possibly have to explain...?” Henry muttered and reluctantly let go of Jeremy.

  “I have come to apologize,” Jeremy said with a firm voice.

  Henry shook his head incredulously and began to laugh.

  “You must be joking. Coming all the way from England just for that. I donʼt believe a single word...”

  “I am not joking,” Jeremy replied angrily. “It is true that it is not the only reason I have come to America. Still, it has been my wish to contact you for quite a while. Can you not listen to a bloody cripple for a second? Look at me! My face is forever disfigured, and one of my legs is stiff.”

  “What happened?” Henry asked, trying not to appear all too interested and by no means sympathetic.

  “It is true that I spent some time with Damian,” Jeremy began. “We fought together in the army in India. It was the most horrible time of my entire life... I have actually just come from there.”

  Jeremyʼs glance wandered off into the distance.

  Henry believed to see tiny tears sparkling in the boyʼs eyes, but soon Jeremyʼs face took on a stoney expression again.

  “Anyway, Damian was killed,” Jeremy went on. “We assume that the assassin was a very well-trained sniper who had been plotting that assault for quite a while. He shot Damian right in the head. They never caught him. As for me, from that moment on I had enough. Too many injured, too many dead. So I deserted. Risking that you think of me as a pathetic hypocrite, I must say that this experience changed me. I am actually capable of feeling remorse, believe it or not. And that is the reason I have come; in order to say that I am sorry and to tell you that Sarah is a widow now and that you can... well, you can actually marry her now.”

  Henry was leaning motionless against the wall next to Jeremy, unable to figure out what to make of it all; what to make of Jeremyʼs sudden appearance and of his story, which somehow seemed so hard to believe.

  “Is that... is that really the... truth...?!” Sarahʼs voice suddenly tore him out of his reflections.

  He whirled around and saw her standing at the railing of the staircase, looking down at him and Jeremy. Henry had no idea how long she had already been there, secretly overhearing their conversation.

  “Sarah,” he exclaimed, “I told you not to come down. It is too strenuous for you.”

  But Sarah ignored him. And contrary to Henryʼs worries, she appeared rather calm.

  “Tell me, Jeremy, is this the truth?” she asked yet again.

  Jeremy, equally puzzled by Sarahʼs unexpected appearance, nodded his head.

  “I swear by all that is dear to me that it is the truth…”

  “You will surely understand that I have my difficulties to trust you, Jeremy,” Henry remarked, calmer now as well, but still on edge.

  Jeremy fumbled in his trouser pockets and produced a grubby envelope and a pencil. With the pencil he began to write an address on the envelope. Then he handed Henry the envelope.

  “What is that supposed to be?” Henry asked grumpily.

  “That is the letter that I originally had wanted to send you before I decided to try and talk to you personally,” Jeremy explained.

  “And the address?”

  “Thatʼs the address of Damianʼs regiment in London which I served for. I suggest that you contact them if you are at all unsure whether you can trust me or not. They will confirm Damianʼs death to you. And if you feel like exercising revenge on me, you can also inform them that I am here in New York. They will be more than glad to see me turned in and locked up because I ran away...”

  Henry wordlessly stared at the envelope in his hands when he suddenly heard Sarah let out a moan. He looked up and saw to his horror that she was slowly sinking to the ground, one hand clutching her belly, the other one holding on to the banister.

  Henry hastily stuffed the envelope in his trouser pocket and rushed up the stairs to come to her aid.

  “There you go!” he yelled at Jeremy who was following him. “You bloody upset her! If she and the baby are in trouble it will all be your fault!”

  “Henry, please, donʼt shout at him,” Sarah whimpered in an effort to soothe his temper. “There is no reason for it. It is just labor pains. I think the baby it is coming...”

  “Good Lord...!” Henry suddenly felt completely out of his depths with the situation. His first thought was to go and get a coach to bring them to the hospital, but he didnʼt want to leave Sarah alone; especially not with Jeremy. Still, he needed help. He gathered that it wouldnʼt make sense to call Yasmina, as she was upstairs and equally unable to come down. And Esther was out on some errands. He considered knocking at the doors of the other families living in the house, but as far as he knew they were mostly old people who wouldnʼt be able to give him a hand. Apart from that they all spoke Yiddish, and Henry didnʼt understand a word of it despite Paulʼs attempts to teach it t
o him. His knowledge was definitely not enough to make it clear that they needed a doctor and a coach to the hospital. He guessed, though, that Sarahʼs sight would be self-explanatory.

  “Stay with her. Iʼll get a coach!” Jeremy suddenly said. And before puzzled Henry could say something in return, the boy had already dashed down the stairs as fast as he was able to. Only now did Henry realize that Jeremy was in fact limping. Henry didnʼt like Jeremy to interfere in this situation but realized that he didnʼt have any other choice. Hoping that the boy would really come back again as he had promised, Henry knelt down next to Sarah, wrapped his arms around her and held her tight.

  “Try to breathe calmly just as Oscar told you,” he said to her. He was terribly nervous and expected Sarah to be the same, but when he looked at her, he noticed that despite the pain there was a strange expression of bliss and relief on her face.

  “Henry...” she breathed, “we can marry... we can finally marry... in front of God...”