“No? How come? Did more players get sick?”
“No. Their moms won’t let them play. They’re afraid they’re going to get sick.”
“Well, that’s a shame. I hope this strain of illness goes away soon.”
Eli turned off the lights and started to leave the room when Izaak said, “Papa, did you like Adinah?”
“Yes, of course I did.”
“She’s nice. She smiles like Mama. Could we ask her to come over for dinner someday?”
“I don’t know much about her, Izzie. She may have her own children to attend to.”
“Then they could come, too. Please.”
“We’ll see. Good night, Izzie.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
FÖHRENWALD DP CAMP
AMERICAN ZONE
NOVEMBER 1946
When the last of the dinner dishes had been washed and put away, Eli said, “I have to go to a meeting for a little while tonight. Do you have homework to do?”
Izaak nodded and made a face. “English class. It’s impossible. I don’t know how American kids ever learn this language.”
Eli chuckled and said, “They might think Polish is hard.”
“No, Papa, English is harder, because they make rules and then they break the rules. You memorize one thing and then you find out it doesn’t work. Like the letter c. It can sound like a k in cookie, or it can sound like an s in center. How are you supposed to know? If you put the t and the h together, it can sound like tooth, where teacher says you put your tongue between your teeth. Or it can make a buzzing sound like a bee in that. Or an s can sound like a snake in soon, or it can be a z in because. And plurals? Forget it. They tell you that the rule is to add an s to the end of a word and then other times the whole word changes, like person and people. Who made up that stupid language?”
Eli smiled. “You can’t get by with Yiddish on the streets of America. We all have to learn the language if we’re going to live in America. You’ll surely need English if you want to play football with the other boys?”
“Soccer, Papa. That’s what they call it in America. Soccer. Do you think we’ll ever get there?”
“Absolutely. Do you know what the Yiddish expression is for America? Die Goldene Medina. The Golden Land, where all your dreams come true. We’ll get there, Izzie. And that’s a promise.”
“I hope so,” Izaak said, “and I hope that Mama gets there with us.” He turned his head and coughed.
Immediately, Eli said, “Are you all right? How long have you been coughing?”
“I’m fine. I think I have something in my throat. It’s nothing.”
“Do you have a sore throat?”
Izaak shook his head. “I’m not sick, Papa. I didn’t catch anything. I feel fine. I just had something in my throat.”
“Well, let’s keep an eye on it, okay? If you keep coughing, I want to know. It’s starting to snow outside. That wind’s whistling down from the Alps. You can already see the snowcapped mountains over Garmisch. I want you bundled up when you go out tomorrow.”
“I will, I will.”
“And tell me if you get a sore throat or you cough anymore tonight.”
“I know. I will. Go to your meeting.”
* * *
Bernard and Daniel were waiting when Eli arrived at the assembly hall. “Olga received a message from Max,” Bernard said. “He’s bringing the visas. He wants Chaim and David to personally accept their visas, he wants Zygmund to bring his fee and he also wants to meet Dr. Weisman and make a deal for two more visas. There will be two U.S. MPs standing by and watching the transactions.”
Eli’s heart started to thump. “When and where is this meeting going to take place?”
“I have instructed Olga to set the meeting at her house. It’s right in the center of the camp.”
“I have to be there, too, Bernard,” Eli said. “I have unfinished business with Maximilian.”
“I don’t like it,” Bernard responded with a shake of his head. “If he is the same man you know from Lublin and if he sees you, he’ll call the whole thing off.”
“I’ll stay out of sight until after the exchange, but when the MPs grab him, I want time alone with him.”
“Eli, I know you have some ancient vendetta going on here, but the prime objective is to catch Max and his U.S. contact and to stop the black-market visas.”
“Vendetta?” Eli said angrily. “You bet your ass I have a vendetta! But that’s not the main reason I need to confront him.”
Bernard was confused. “Then what is it?”
“It’s about Esther. Maximilian knows what happened to her. He vowed to protect her. I paid him to protect her! If I have any hope of learning what happened to my wife or of finding her if she’s still alive, that bastard will have the information, and I have made a solemn vow to get it out of him.”
The door swung open, and Olga walked into the assembly room. “Max says he wants the meeting at the café in Wolfratshausen and he won’t come into Föhrenwald. He’s skittish. He thinks it’s too dangerous for him.”
“Olga,” Bernard said, “when we spoke…”
“I did what you told me to, Bernard. I told Max that it’s too hard for everyone to get out of the camp and get transportation into Wolfratshausen, but he said he’s not coming into Föhrenwald. He’s going to do it his way or not at all. If they don’t like it, they don’t get a visa.”
“When does he want to meet?”
“Next Thursday night. Nine p.m.”
“He’s bluffing,” Daniel said. “He won’t cancel; he wants the money. It’s much easier to arrest him here in the camp. The military police don’t have jurisdiction in Wolfratshausen.”
“Yes, they do,” Bernard said. “It’s in the American occupation zone. I don’t want to take the chance of losing out on this opportunity. Olga, confirm the meeting at the café for next Thursday at nine. I will arrange for the MPs to locate themselves in and around the café. I will also talk to Chaim, David and Zygmund and arrange for their transportation. We will all meet here at Olga’s at eight p.m. Daniel and Eli will ride with me.”
* * *
A silver Volkswagen and an army jeep sat outside Olga Helstein’s residence with their motors idling on Thursday night. Bernard and Eli stood on the sidewalk waiting for the participants to take their places.
“I see David and Zygmund,” Eli said. “Where are the rest?”
“Olga’s inside the house. Daniel is bringing Dr. Weisman and should be along at any time. I don’t know about Chaim. I stopped by his house, and he wasn’t at home. I hope he hasn’t backed out of the meeting.”
“He’s not essential, is he? If Maximilian brings the visas, the others can make the exchange. That should be sufficient evidence.”
“It would, but I’m concerned about Chaim. At our meeting he was so desperate, so distraught.”
Joel Weisman and Daniel approached. “Are we all here?”