Israel Book Shop presents Chapter 29 of a new online serial novel, Nine A.M., by Esther Rapaport. Check back for a new chapter every week. Click here for previous chapters.
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The letters were not prominent or etched onto a highly valuable piece of paper, but Elky passed her finger over them as if she could actually feel them. She slipped the last paper in the pile into the new bag her mother-in-law had given her and stood up. Now where would be the right place for this to go?
Until now, the vouchers she’d gotten from Naomi were squirrelled away in a cabinet under the Shabbos towel. But it made much more sense to store them in a good handbag with a solid clasp, like the one she’d received just right now. Maybe she’d put the handbag with the vouchers in it at the bottom of her linen chest.
Elky went over to the yellow-painted wooden chest that stood in the corner of the room and opened its small lock. She lifted one of the two thick winter quilts her mother had ordered for them, in exchange for taking upon herself more work hours. She was preparing to hide the handbag underneath it, but then she suddenly realized something: she’d have to show the bag to Mottel! His mother might ask him what her daughter-in-law had thought of the gift, and Elky could not allow a situation where he would not know what she was talking about.
And to start explaining to him where she’d gotten the vouchers from…that was too complicated.
With a sigh, Elky returned the quilt to its place, straightened it, and closed the yellow lid of the chest. It squeaked slightly, and she clutched the handbag again. Where could she hide her precious little stash? Should she put it back under the Shabbos towel?
Sighing yet again, she turned to the closet behind the wooden partition that separated the two tiny rooms and opened it. She pulled out the stack of notes from the bag and stuck them once again under the large white towel. There, they were safe, more or less. No one touched this place from one Erev Shabbos to the next.
Wait—was that the bell at the factory ringing?
Couldn’t be.
But…yes! It was the bell!
Elky stood up, her face pale. The distinct sound sliced through the air and pierced her ears. The work day was beginning this minute, and she was still here, at home! Where was Mottel’s mother, who had left a few seconds earlier? Would she also be late because of her visit? That was very unlike her; she was usually so well-calculated.
Or perhaps she’d already left a while ago?
Elky slapped the closet door closed. How much time had passed since her mother-in-law had walked out?
It hadn’t been nice to see her out like that instead of walking to work with her. But the bag was so perfect for Elky, it seemed to have been sewn just for those precious vouchers, and she felt that she had to check if it was the right fit, even before going to the office. She’d been very unfocused the day before, thinking about the fact that her most valuable possessions were resting in a most unsecure place.
Too bad; she wouldn’t be relaxed today either. But in the evening, she’d show Mottel the bag his mother had brought, so that he could thank her on Shabbos, when they’d see each other. Then she could quietly stick all the notes and vouchers into the gift and find it a good hiding place. Tomorrow, she’d be able to go to work with peace of mind.
Elky’s face clouded when she remembered her mother-in-law’s expression as she’d walked out the door. Mottel would thank his mother on Shabbos, but what would she tell her dear son about the ill-mannered ending to the visit?
She didn’t think it was so bad for them not to walk together, precluding them from becoming a topic of conversation for all the blabbermouths who would pass them, but maybe her mother-in-law thought that it was bad. Now, as she thought about it properly, it didn’t make a good impression at all. Especially as lots of women would figure out which direction her mother-in-law was coming from and would be surprised as to why she was walking alone. She sincerely hoped they wouldn’t think that their relationship had soured. Ugh, that was all she needed!
And being late…she needed that even more!
Elky dashed outside and slammed the door behind her. Eva Sherer sometimes allowed herself to be a few minutes late, and if she’d do that today as well, she might not even find out about Elky’s tardiness. On the other hand, if she was already at the office, she and her father and the other workers might think that Elka Kush was starting to lift her nose up in the air since her latest promotion, and she was allowing herself to be lax about timing.
Elky went out to the main path and began to run. If Eva was on time today, that was the worst-case scenario for her.
Actually not. There was an even worse scenario waiting for her, at the fork in the path. It was wearing a brown uniform and studying the young woman running in her direction.
“Good morning,” she greeted Elky coolly.
“Good morning.” Elky stopped and lowered her gaze. Of all the creations in the world, this Gefreiter had to appear right here, right now? Since when were they up so early, anyway?
“I’m just on my way to speak with Eva Sherer and you,” Teresa said as she folded her arms. “Thank you for the shortcut.”
What was she supposed to reply to that? “Yes, I’m running late today”? The arrogant woman she was facing knew that already. So she remained silent, and sufficed with a nod that was half bashful, half apologetic as she fixed her gaze on the triangle symbol on the Gefreiter’s collar.
“We were thinking of holding a birthday party for my sister,” Teresa explained. “For your information, I play piano. My sister sings beautifully. We wanted to have a party for her in the garden of the manor house, and to invite you to it.”
“Us?” It took Elky two full seconds to grope for something to say, and even once she did, she wasn’t sure it was the most successful choice. But she couldn’t think of anything else to utter.
“Yes. You know, we can’t invite our friends and relatives to this place,” the shikse said, blinking rapidly. “We’re afraid for your lives. So during longer periods of time, when no one from the outside comes in, we look for ways to spice up our lives a bit. And this is what my sister suggested.”
Now she needed to thank this woman warmly for the protection they were being given, and to apologize for the self-imposed boredom of the extended Wangel family, and to respond to this invitation, all at once. But Teresa did not wait for Elky to compose this complex response.
“So give over the message to Eva that she should think which of you young women would enjoy such a party,” she continued. “And you can also ask some of your friends if they want to come. I’ll stop by the office tomorrow—I hope you’ll be on time—and we’ll make up an exact time, in the late afternoon hours, okay? We’ll make sure that the participants are released from work at six, and that they get a permit to be outside until ten.”
She didn’t wait for an answer, turning arrogantly and marching away, Elky took a deep breath and continued running. Now she’d be able to tell Eva that Teresa had stopped her on the way for a conversation.
But Teresa might tell Eva that it had been after the bell to begin with.
She’d be better off revealing the truth.
And after she’d reveal that she simply had not realized the passing time, because she was busy with something urgent and important, she’d tell Eva about the strange encounter and the even stranger invitation. Eva and her friends would probably be happy to attend this party. But she? And her friends?
For some reason, Naomi’s image rose in Elky’s mind, and a crooked smile crossed her lips. Naomi would not be coming—that much was certain.
***
“If we would have been zocheh, and Mordechai Hayehudi would be here with us…” Babbe Sarah Liba, the unofficial leader of the frum group, said, “then it’s possible he would say not to go, even if this birthday party will only have cakes that are kosher.” They were standing near the main dining hall, a few minutes before the nine evening chimes, with Elky and her mother Ruchelle’s eyes fixed on the older woman.
“But because we were not zocheh, and nevuah has been taken from us, we can only try to understand ourselves what Hashem wants from us now.” She sighed. “We don’t want to be closer to the non-Jews, and on the other hand, we don’t want to do anything to get them angry. So early in the afternoon, I went to ask Rav Schwartzbrod what to do, and he said that because the invitation was very explicit and direct, and a rejection would not be taken well at all, a few girls have to go. But who those girls will be is the decision of the community.” She looked at Elky, whose fingers were twitching, seemingly involuntarily. “Elky, were you not feeling well this morning?”
“I was feeling fine,” Elky protested, and her imagination was off with images of her mother-in-law coming to consult Naomi’s grandmother about her daughter-in-law who didn’t bother to accompany her. Ugh—why did people have to make a big deal about every little thing?
“But when we came in the afternoon to discuss the party,” her mother reminded her, “you said that you left to work late, and you met the Gefreiter on your way.”
“Oh, right,” Elky said, remembering her Shabbos towel. So it wasn’t her mother-in-law who had passed on the information.
“What did you tell them at the office?”
“That I was very busy.” A small smile turned up the corners of her mouth as she remembered the towel and the little treasure buried underneath it. Her mother and Sarah Liba both noticed the smile and exchanged puzzled glances with one another.
“Hmm,” Sarah Liba said. “I think that it would be wise, first thing in the morning, to send someone to inform Sherer that you can’t come to work tomorrow, or to the birthday party.”
“I shouldn’t go to work tomorrow?” Elky opened her eyes wide.
“Nor the day after tomorrow.”
“You really do have a bit of a cold,” Ruchelle said to her daughter worriedly. “All you need is to get pneumonia, right?”
“Right. But what will be with my salary?”
Naomi’s grandmother looked at her. “It’s just two days. It’s not so terrible.”
“It is terrible.” She took a deep breath. “And what’s this whole show about, anyway? So that I shouldn’t go to a silly party at the manor house? Then who will go?”
“We’ll see.”
“Who, Naomi?” Elky felt like a stubborn, rebellious little girl, but at that moment, she didn’t care. There was something deeper going on here, and this was not what she’d had in mind when she’d come to her mother at lunchtime, and they’d gone together to consult the wisest woman in the camp.
“I would go,” Sarah Liba replied with a smile, neither confirming nor denying Elky’s hunch. “But at my age, I don’t think I’m a very desirable guest.”
And that was all Naomi’s grandmother would say on the topic.
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