The Dressmaker's Son (18 page)

            When they were ready,
Rebekah made her way to the stairs, and they walked down five flights which
took them to the basement.  Rebekah peeked in one of the doors and saw workers
ironing bed linens.  She closed the door quickly and pulled Samuel toward a
door which looked like it led outside.  Quietly, they slipped away into the night.

CHAPTER 37

“Miserable bastard!”
 Misha muttered to himself when he finished the telegraph from his
father-in-law. It was very short: “Your Jew-bitch whore has taken Misha. I am
doing all I can to find him.”

“I underestimated
my little Rebekah,” he said to himself. “I knew she was clever, but I didn’t
think she was strong enough to pull off something like this.”

He thought back to
when he had first met Rebekah and how startled he was by her beauty and
restlessness.  Immediately he had wanted her, but he felt more than lust once
they had spent some time together.  She shared his love of music and she was
very bright.  Her parents had made sure she and her sister were schooled, which
wasn’t always the case for peasant girls.  He had found himself wanting to be
with her more and more.

Yelizavetgrad was
one of the largest cities in the Pale, with over sixty-five thousand people.  Most,
of course, were Jews with businesses or farms.  Misha knew that there was a lot
of Bund and Bolshevik activity brewing there, but he also knew that Rebekah
would not take Misha there.  Now that she had his son, he knew what she would
do: take him back to America.

             “But how will she get
there?” he thought.  “The train system is a mess and travel across borders is
not permitted at all in some places and extremely dangerous in others.”

            But in his heart he knew
she would try.  She was a very determined woman; it was one of the things he
found appealing about her.  She had her own mind and the courage to speak it.

            He sent a telegraph to
Boris at once asking him to be relieved of his duty and assigned to the Secret
Police so he could come back and try to find his son.

            Four days later he
received a telegraph in return.  It read: “Your replacement will arrive shortly.
 When he arrives return to Petrograd at once.”

            Misha didn’t know if
Boris had arranged a position with the Secret Police or whether he was going to
send him somewhere else, but he did know that even if he had to desert, he was
going to find his son.

CHAPTER 38

Lara opened her
eyes to the sun streaming in the window and rolled over to see if John was up.  To
her surprise he wasn’t there.  “Right,” she thought to herself. “He had
‘business’ to take care of.”  Pasha had long been a philanderer who couldn’t
resist a pretty face.  She was sure she knew where he had ended up.

            Lara came from a
well-to-do family and was courted by many suitors.  Much to her parents
delight, she had actually fallen in love with Pasha.  He was a rising star in
the Russian Ministry.  But not long after their marriage, she realized that he
had no intention of being faithful.  She complained to her mother who said, “He
comes home to you, Lara.  That should suffice.  That’s just how men are.  You
need to deal with it.  God knows I have.  Give him children.  That is why this
type of man marries into good stock.”

            Lara was shocked at
this revelation by her mother.  But the children never came and Pasha grew
distant.  Their lovemaking was without passion.  After five years, their
marriage had become a sham.  Pasha kept up the show, but she knew he was
restless.

            She dressed quickly and
went down to the lobby on the chance that he might be there or in the café
having breakfast. He wasn’t.  Feigning concern for the woman and her little
girl, she asked the desk clerk for a key to their other room.  “We’ll be glad to
check the room for you, ma’am,” the desk clerk told her.

            “That’s okay.  I
wouldn’t want her to be embarrassed.  I knocked on her door, but she and the
little boy were probably exhausted from their trip.”

            “Not a problem, ma’am.  Lucky
we have this extra key.  Your husband picked one up last night.”

            Keeping her composure,
Lara took the key.  ”Yes,” she said. “Thank you for your help.”

            Lara opened the door
slowly and stepped inside.  The room was filled with sunlight, creating a
cheery atmosphere.  She quickly glanced around the room realizing at once that
the woman and her child were gone.  Then on a small chair near a little writing
desk she saw what she knew was Pasha‘s jacket.  Her eyes moved towards the bed
where his pants were on the floor.  She saw that someone had the covers pulled
over their head.  “I can’t believe this,” she thought.  “He fell asleep and she
snuck out during the night.”  Taking several steps toward the bed she saw a
pool of blood coming out from under the covers.  Timidly she pulled back the
covers to discover Pasha’s body.

            She muffled a cry and
sat down on the little chair.  A wave of nausea came over her which she fought
to control.  Taking several deep breaths she rested her face in her hands.  She
stood and drew the covers back up to cover John’s face.  “You found one who
didn’t want you, didn’t you, Pasha?” she thought. She felt no emotion.  A calm
came over her and she began pacing in circles, trying to decide what she could
do to manage the embarrassment she knew this would cause.  She didn’t want to
be the laughingstock when she got home.

            Slowly Lara formulated
a plan.  She backed out of the room and locked the door behind her.  The first
thing she needed to find was the paper that Pasha claimed he had found about
the girl, if indeed there was such a paper.

            Back in the room she
opened his briefcase and right on top was the letter about the woman and her
child.  Picking up the phone, she called the front desk.  “May I speak to the manager,
please?”  She asked politely.

            When the manager got on
the phone, she feigned being distraught.  “This is Mrs. Duchovny.  Please call
the chief of police.  My husband has been murdered and I want to speak only
with him.  Have him stop at my room to get me.”  Then she quickly packed
everything up and waited for the chief of police.

            The police chief
knocked gently on her door within fifteen minutes.  Slowly and deliberately,
Lara told him what she believed to have happened.

            “My husband was
suspicious of this woman and child whom we let have our extra room.  He knew he
had read something about a woman who had kidnapped a little boy.  After looking
through his papers, he found an official letter confirming his suspicions. The
little boy was disguised as a girl and John had questioned the mother's looks.  He
went to her room to confront her.  She was a very beautiful woman and I think
she must have seduced him.  During the process she stabbed him several times in
the back, covered him up with a blanket and fled with the little boy.  He was
right about the child being a little boy because the mother left the little
girl’s hat and wig in the room.  Here is the letter I found.”

            “I’m so sorry for your
loss, ma’am,” the police chief said when she paused.  “I will do everything I
can to handle this discreetly for you.”

            “I’m sure you will.  You
must know that for a man in my husband’s position this could cause great embarrassment
for the family.  I would appreciate it if you would get his pants and jacket
back on before having him moved.  I can give you a description of the woman and
a little bit about the boy so you can try to find them, but they are probably
long gone.”

            “That will be most
helpful.  What are your plans? Can I get someone to help you?”

            “No thank you.  If you
will just get me his effects from that room, I am going to take the first train
back to Petrograd.”

            “I’ll do that at once, ma’am.
 No need for you to go back to that room.  I will bring it to you shortly.  Then
I will have someone take you to the train station.”

            When the police chief
returned with Pasha’s effects, Lara thanked him.  “I will make sure that your
discreet attention to this matter is rewarded,” she told him, as she slipped
him a goodly sum of money. “Maybe even a promotion,” she added in a lowered
tone.

            He smiled broadly. “Thank
you, ma’am. And now I will have someone take you to the train station.  I wish
you a safe journey.”

CHAPTER 39

As Rebekah and
Samuel approached the train station, Samuel, now wide awake, pulled at his
mother’s hand. “Look, Mama. Two bears.”  On either side of the entrance was a
statue of a large bear on a pedestal.  The train station had been designed by
the same architect who designed the Helsinki Central Railway Station that had the
same type pedestals with statues of male human figures on either side of the
main entrance.

            “It’s a good thing they
aren’t real, Samuel,” she joked, hurrying him inside.

            “If they were live,
Mama, we’d be dead,” he answered seriously.

            Rebekah smiled as she
ushered him up the steps.  Although it was the middle of the night, there were
quite a few people sitting around waiting for a train to move them forward on
their journey.  Rebekah approached the ticket window.  There was a different
gentleman there than the one last night.  “I have tickets to Helsinki,” she
told him.  “When do you think the next train will be here?”

            “Supposed to be in
about nine this morning, ma’am.  But you never know lately what they are doing
with the schedules.”

            She found two seats
side by side and sat down with Samuel.

            “How long till we get a
train, Mama?” he asked as they settled in.

            “It will be a while,
Samuel.  Try to go back to sleep.  The time will go faster.”

            “But I’m all awake
now.”

            “I see that, but if you
close your eyes and try, the tiredness will come back.”

            “Okay,” he answered shutting
his eyes tightly and leaning against her shoulder. “I’ll wait for the
tiredness.”

            Rebekah smiled.  He was
an amazing child.  She leaned her head back, but kept her eyes open.  She had
no idea when Pasha’s body might be found and she needed to stay awake.  The
memory of what she had just done flashed before her and her body began to shake.
 “Get a grip, Rebekah,” she told herself.  Slowly the shaking stopped and she
reconstructed the night’s events.  “I really had no choice,” she thought to
herself.  “He would have taken what he wanted and then turned me in.  He knew
who I was and that I had kidnapped Samuel.  They would have sent me to Siberia
and taken Samuel back to Misha.  I couldn’t let that happen.  He is my whole
life.  But his poor wife.  I’ve made her a widow.  And if he had children, they
now have no father.” Ultimately her exhaustion took over and she dozed off to
sleep.

            She had no idea how
long she had been asleep, but when she opened her eyes, Lara was standing in
front of her.

            Before she could say
anything, Lara asked bluntly, “Why did you kill him?”

Rebekah just
stared at her for a minute.  Looking at Lara she noticed that she didn’t look
distraught.  Her eyes were clear and her manner calm.  “Maybe she’s in shock,”
she thought. Finally she answered. “Do you have children?”

“No,” Lara replied,
standing still as a statue.

For some reason
Rebekah felt a sense of relief. “He was going to have me arrested and take my
son away.  I couldn’t let that happen.”

Lara sat down next
to Rebekah.  “Tell me everything that happened.  And don’t leave anything out.”

Rebekah gathered
her thoughts.  “This is my son, Samuel,” she started. “His father is a Russian
soldier who took advantage of me several years ago when I was very vulnerable.  My
sister and her family had moved to America and my marriage was miserable.  When
I discovered I was pregnant, and this soldier found out, he went away.  One day
he came back and knew at once that Samuel was his son.  He wanted him.  I fled
to America to be with my sister and her family to be safe.  Eventually he
followed me and kidnapped him.  I came to Petrograd to find him and take him
home to America.  It has taken me almost a year to get him.  We were on our way
to Finland to make our way through Sweden to Norway to sail home when we all
were forced off the train to make way for the troops.  I don’t know how your
husband knew who I was, but he came to my room and threatened to turn me in.  I
told him I would do anything to keep from being turned in so I could return
home to America. He took advantage of my offer.”

            “You mean you seduced
him,” Lara interrupted.

            “You could call it
that, I suppose. I’m sorry, but I could tell by the way he looked at me that
that was what he wanted.  I knew, though, that a man like him would take what
he could get and probably turn me in anyway.  I couldn’t risk that.  Samuel is
my whole world.”

“How did it
happen?”

“We never had sex.
 He was on top of me and groping everywhere.  I had a knife under my pillow and
I stabbed him with it several times.”

Lara sat there, silent,
her face now even paler.

“There are no
words that can tell you how sorry I am.  I will have to live forever with what
I’ve done.”

“Yes, you will,”
Lara answered. “He really wasn’t a bad man, but he could never resist a beautiful
woman.  Maybe if I had given him children, he would have behaved differently.”

            “Don’t blame yourself
for that.  Maybe it was he who couldn’t father a child. And your mother is
wrong.  There are men who are faithful.  We just don’t hear about them.  My
brother-in-law, Jacob, would take a bullet before he would be unfaithful to my
sister.”

            “I can’t believe I’m
sitting here talking to Pasha’s murderer.  Somehow I feel that if we had met
under different circumstances we would have liked each other.”

            “I do like you, Lara, and
I wish I could undo what has happened.  I was brought up that a life is
sacred.”

            Suddenly Lara stood up.
 “Pasha knew about you because he had a letter from the chief of police in
Petrograd that was sent to all traveling government officials.  It described
you and your child.  He recognized you from the description.  I gave that
letter to the police chief at the hotel.  I’m surprised they aren’t here
already looking for you.  If I were you, I’d get on that train that is in the
station now and get as far away from here as you can.”

            Rebekah stood up,
shocked. “I don’t know what to say.”

            “Don’t say anything.  Just
go before I change my mind.  I really don’t know why I’m doing this.  Selfishly,
I think this is a chance to have a new life and maybe find a man like your
brother-in-law.”

            “I hope you do, Lara.  I
will never forget what you have done for me and Samuel.  God bless you.”  

            Lara nodded. “Good luck
on your trip,” she answered and sat down in Rebekah’s seat. She smiled to
herself. She had stopped at the ticket window and already knew that the train Rebekah
was boarding was going to Shlissel’burg Prison.

Rebekah grabbed
Samuel and almost ran over to the ticket window.  Pointing to the train and
showing him her tickets she asked the attendant, “Can I use these tickets on
that train?”  

“Yes, ma’am,” he
replied, “But...”

Before he could
finish, Rebekah grabbed Samuel’s hand and almost dragged him to the train.  There
was a soldier and a police officer standing near the steps, but she ducked
behind them and boarded the train.

The train was
completely full with some people standing in the aisles.  Rebekah moved toward
the back of the car.  Suddenly the train lurched forward and she almost fell.  A
man in an aisle seat stood up. “Please, ma’am. Take this seat.”

Rebekah thanked him
and pulled Samuel on her lap.  In a few minutes the train was rolling along
smoothly.  Rebekah pulled on the gentleman’s jacket.  “Can you tell me, please,
where this train is going?”

“You don’t know
where we’re going?” he asked in disbelief.

“No, sir. It’s a
long story.  I had to leave in a hurry.”

The gentleman
knelt down next to Rebekah.  An older gentleman, his face was long and thin and
his spectacles hovered at the end of his nose.  His hair was very dark brown
with some gray starting at his temples.  Rebekah noticed that his clothes were
of good quality although worn.  He took Rebekah’s suitcase and moved it even
closer to the seat and placed his on top of it.

“This train is
headed to the next station where I believe we will be transferred to the train
that will take us the rest of the way to one of the prisons.”

“Prisons!” she
almost shouted.

“Yes, ma’am.  Look
around you.  We are all prisoners on this train.  Revolutionary dissidents, a
few criminals, and probably some murderers.”

For a second, Rebekah
thought he was joking with her.  Then she looked around at the people and
noticed the guard with a rifle standing in the front of the car.  “But this is
a mistake. I’m not supposed to be on this train.  I’m going to Helsinki.”  She
stood up and put Samuel in the seat. “I’ve got to speak to the guard.  He has
to let me get off at the next stop.”

The gentleman
tried to stop her, but she headed to the front of the car.

She approached the
guard confidently.  “Excuse me, sir,” she began. “I am not supposed to be on
this train.”

He looked her up
and down.  “Everybody who is on this train is supposed to be on this train.”

“No, you don’t
understand.  I am supposed to be going to Helsinki with my little boy.”

“Why were you
arrested?”

“I wasn’t
arrested,” she answered with growing frustration. “I thought this train was the
one going to Helsinki so I got on with my son.  He is sitting back there,” she
said pointing to Samuel.

The people in the
seats nearby were staring at her.

“Everyone who is
on this train is supposed to be here,” he repeated. “Please take your seat.”

“But my ticket
shows that I am going to Helsinki,” she insisted. “I can go and get it.”

“You can sit down
is what you can do,” he ordered gruffly. “Don’t make me tell you again or I’ll
have to put you in restraints.”

Petrified, she
turned and walked back to her seat.

Samuel got up so
Rebekah could sit down and the child climbed back on her lap.  The gentleman
who had been talking to her looked down.

“It doesn’t look
like you had much luck,” he said quietly.  

“What am I going
to do? He wouldn’t even listen.  I can’t go to prison.  I’ll have to try to get
away when they switch us to the other train you told me about.”

The gentleman
knelt down next to the seat.  “My name is Daniel,” he said holding out his hand
which Rebekah took. “I don’t want to scare you, but that is a really bad idea.  Four
people were shot at the last stop when they tried to get away. They don’t care
who they shoot.  Even children wouldn’t be allowed to run.  At least if you go
to a prison you will be alive.  Then there is always hope of getting released.”

Rebekah sat there
not answering.  She realized she couldn’t let Samuel see her so upset.  She
hugged him to her.  “We are going on an adventure, Samuel,” she told him.  “It
will be a long train ride to a new place.”

“Will we get to
take the boat, Mama?”

“Not yet, Samuel,
but one day.”

Samuel leaned
against her. “Okay, Mama, long as we take the boat.”