The Dressmaker's Son (21 page)

CHAPTER 47

March 1917

Martin looked at
the envelope that Miranda had brought him.  It was postmarked from someplace in
Russia and the return address said “Shlissel’burg, Bldg. IV, Cell 7,” in the
upper left-hand corner.  He knew it had to be from Rebekah even though the handwriting
did not look familiar.  Opening it up he found just one letter.  Before, there
had been a letter plus an envelope to take to Jacob and Rachael.  He read the
letter slowly.

February 20,
1915

           
My Friend,

            I
write to let you know that I am now in prison. I am hoping this is a temporary
situation. Although the labor is difficult, I am okay. My son Samson is with me.
I tried to discourage him from following me in what I was doing, but he would
not listen.  He is fine.  The young can survive so easily. I hope all is going
well for you and your family in America.  

With my best
wishes,

Daniel

After reading it
several times, he believed he had figured out what the letter meant.  Rebekah
was in prison and Samuel was with her, but they were okay.  Like before, she
was afraid to write under her own name for fear of being found by Misha.  He
knew, of course, that he had to take this to Jacob and Rachael at once.

It was already
after four.  He collected the papers he needed, put them in his briefcase and
headed out.  As he passed Miranda’s desk, she asked, “Will you be coming back,
Mr. Weissman?”

“No, Miranda.  I
am going out to see Rebekah’s family.  It will be too late to come back.  I
will see you Monday.”

On the way to
Jacob’s store he reread the letter several times.  He was sure he was right.  It
had to be from Rebekah. And he knew how upset Rachael would be with this news.

Jacob was at the
register when Martin came in. “Coming to check on Rebekah?” he asked with a
smile.

“No, Jacob. Actually
I have received a very strange letter that I believe to be from Rebekah.”

“You look so
serious, Martin.  Come.  Show me the letter.”

Martin got the
letter out of his briefcase and gave it to Jacob to read.  When he finished
reading it, Martin asked, “What do you make of this, Jacob?”

Jacob didn’t
hesitate.  “I think it is from Rebekah and she has either made up this Daniel
person or asked him to write this for her so she could let us know she is in
prison. She had it sent to you so we wouldn’t be involved in case Misha was
watching us again.  Rachael will be beside herself when she sees this.”

“Sees what?” Rachael’s
voice called out as she approached Jacob and Martin.  “Nice to see you,
Martin,” she said and repeated, “Sees what, Jacob?”

“Martin has
brought a letter he received today.  We believe it is from Rebekah, Rachael.”

 “What do you mean
‘believe’?”

 “Jacob is this
it?” she asked, reaching for the letter which was still in Jacob’s hand.

Jacob handed it to
her. “Yes, Rachael.  It is signed by a man named Daniel, but Martin and I both
think she had someone send it so it couldn’t be traced back to her.”

Rachael read it
carefully several times.  “Is there an envelope?” she asked.

Jacob handed it to
her.  “Shlissel’burg,” Rachael said softly. “Not a nice place.  But I agree,
Jacob.  It is from Rebekah.  She is in prison and Samuel is with her. I can’t
imagine how she ended up there.  Martin, perhaps you can write back to this
Daniel.  Maybe we can find out more.  It sounds like she is okay.”

“I’m sure she is,
Rachael,” Martin said trying to comfort her. “And I will write back to that
address right away.”

“It was kind of you
to bring it to us so quickly, Martin. We’ll be having dinner shortly.  Why
don’t you join us?”

“I wouldn’t want
to intrude on your Sabbath dinner, Rachael.”

“Don’t be silly.  Jacob’s
brother David and his family will be here in a few minutes and they would like
to meet you.  I always have plenty.  And we can talk about how to respond to
this letter from Rebekah.”

“Then I accept,”
Martin replied.

“I’ll go finish up.
 Dinner will be in about thirty minutes, Jacob.  All the children are already
here except Sollie.”

“No problem.  I’m
ready to close up in a few minutes.”

Jacob and Martin
had a drink while Rachael and the girls finished getting everything ready.
David had joined them and they talked about the war and how close America was
to entering the fray. When it was time to eat, Sollie still hadn’t arrived.  “This
isn’t like Sollie to be late,” Rachael said.  “We’ll wait a little while before
we eat.”

After another
fifteen minutes Rachael announced it was time to sit down.  Rachael said the
blessing over the candles and Joshua recited the blessing over the wine.  As
Jacob finished the blessing over the challah, a loud “amen” came from the
doorway.  There stood Sollie.  He was dressed in a soldier’s uniform.

“Sorry I’m late,
Mama, but things took longer than I thought they would.  I’ve enlisted in the
army.”

Rachael’s face
turned pale.  Jacob was the first to speak. “We can see that Sollie.  Without
discussing it with us first?”

“I’m sorry, Papa.  I
knew you and Mama would say no, and this is something I felt I had to do.”

Rachael found her
voice.  “Sit down, Sollie.  Dinner is getting cold.  We will talk later.  This
is Mr. Weissman.”

Sollie interrupted
her, “I know Mr. Weissman.  I met him when I delivered gowns for Aunt Bekka.  Nice
to see you again, sir.”

“Likewise,” Martin
replied, rising to shake Solomon’s hand.

Sollie went around
the table to kiss his aunt and uncle and cousin Sarah.

After dinner,
Jacob invited Martin and David into the parlor for some schnapps.  He asked
Sollie to join them.  “Mr. Weissman came to see us because he has received a
letter we both believe is from Aunt Bekka.”

“Is she okay,
Papa?”

“Well, we hope so,
Sollie.  We believe she is in prison with Samuel.”

Sollie gasped, “No!”

“I’m afraid it’s
true, Sollie,” Martin said.  “We think she is okay and Samuel is with her.  She
sent a letter under someone else’s name.”

Jacob reached in
his pocket and took out the letter and handed it to Solomon.

When he finished
reading it, he looked at Jacob.  “If I had known this, Papa, I never would have
enlisted.  I would have gone to find Aunt Bekka.”

“I’m sure you
would have, Sollie.  I don’t know which would have been more difficult, that or
your enlisting; your mama is pretty upset.  Go spend some time with her.  I’ll
be there in a minute.  Together we’ll calm her down.  While I hate to see you
go to war, I’m really very proud of you for doing what you believe in.  That is
why we came to America.”

Solomon said good-bye
to Martin and left the room.  Martin stayed standing.  “You need to go spend
time with your family, Jacob.  Say my good-byes to Rachael and tell her I
haven’t had such a wonderful Sabbath dinner in a long time.”  He turned to
David and extended his hand, “It was so nice to meet more of Rebekah’s family.
She had told me how you helped her set up her books with Solomon. I hope to see
you again.”

“Thank you,
Martin. My niece is very bright.  It didn’t take her a minute to see how it all
worked, but she left the accounting stuff to Sollie so she could concentrate on
her design.”

Martin nodded, “I
will pray for her safe return, and Solomon’s too.”

After he left,
David had another drink with Jacob. “Now I’ll go collect my women and leave you
with your family, Jacob. It’s been quite a day. I’ll see you in shul tomorrow.”

Jacob walked with
David to the kitchen. Ruth was sitting at the kitchen table with Solomon and
Rachael. “I’ll get Sarah,” she said as she stood up. “She’s playing with the
girls.” Leah and Miriam always took time with Sarah. Even though she was a
little younger than Leah, she was their only cousin and as they got older, the
age difference didn’t seem to matter. It was hard to believe that Leah was
thirteen and Miriam seventeen.

After they all
left, Jacob joined Solomon and Rachael at the table.

“He leaves
Tuesday, Jacob.  They certainly don’t give you much time to change your mind.”

“I don’t think I
would change my mind, Mama.” Solomon answered.  “Please try to understand.  I
know telling you not to worry is like telling you not to breathe, but just try
to believe and trust that it will be okay.  I promise I will write. And Tuesday
I just go to basic training at Fort Sam Houston in Texas.  I will be home again
before I am sent anywhere.”

Rachael smiled,
“You sound just like your father.  Of course, I’ll believe, Sollie.  I just
hope that’s enough.”

CHAPTER 48

When Misha found
that there was no more information to be had from Vadim at the train station,
he knew the only thing he could do was go to Vyborg to try to pick up Rebekah’s
trail.  The decision made, he went home to tell Catherine.  

He worried about
Catherine.  Misha believed that ultimately the czar would fall.  Even though
Bolsheviks were being arrested, they appealed to the masses.  Wounded soldiers
flocked to their cause, and now soldiers were deserting rather than going to
fight in a war in which they didn’t believe.  He also worried that his
father-in-law had turned on him because he felt Misha was perhaps not loyal to
the czar.  But he felt he had no choice in this decision.  He would tell her immediately.

After dinner, he
poured them each another glass of wine.

“Catherine,” he
started. “I am going to be going away.”

“What do you mean?”
She broke in.

“I’m not going to
tell you,” he answered. “You are better off not knowing.  If you don’t know, you
can’t tell anyone.”

“You mean like my
father,” she retorted.

“Yes, among others.
 I don’t know when or if I will be back.  Petrograd is a mess and it is
dangerous.  Food supplies are diminishing, and angry citizens are just looking
for trouble.  The revolution is real, Catherine.  You should go to the country
and stay with your brother.  He will look after you and you will be safer
there.”

“But surely I’ll
be safe here with the servants, Misha.”

“You don’t
understand. You can’t trust even the servants. When the time comes, they will
turn on you.”

“But you will be a
deserter.  How can you live with that, Misha?”

“Easily,” he
replied.  “I don’t believe in this war or all this violence, and I also don’t
believe that the czar has the right to repress groups of people, like the laborers,
peasants, and Jews.”

“It all comes back
to the Jew-Bitch, doesn’t it?”

Misha rose and
raised his hand to strike her but stopped in mid-air.  She cowered in her
chair.

“Maybe it does,” he
said lowering his hand, “But I’m not going to die in a war that makes no sense,
and I’m not going to rest until I find my son and can make sure he is safe.  I’m
sorry, Catherine.  I’ll leave tonight.”

Catherine just sat
there stunned.  “I need to go to my father,” she said.  “He’ll know what I
should do.”

“He always does,”
Misha responded with sarcasm.  As he walked out of the room, he turned to
Catherine.  “I’m not proud of what I am doing to you Catherine.  You have been
a good wife, but our worlds have grown apart.  I will always pray for your well-being.”

“I must go to my
father now,” she replied.

 “I can’t let you
do that right now, Catherine,” he said in an even voice.  “Your father would
have me arrested before dawn. You are going to have to stay here until the
morning.”

“What are you
going to do?” she retorted, “Tie me up?”

“As a matter of
fact,” he replied moving toward her, “I am not.  But I am going to lock you in
our bedroom.  I will leave the key to the door on the table just outside and
when the maid arrives in the morning, she will let you out.  That will give me
time to leave the city.”

He guided Catherine
to the bedroom and locked the door behind him.

Quickly he changed
into his officer’s uniform.  Until some kind of an alert was issued for him, he
could get further as a major in the Secret Police than as a civilian.  He
packed a small bag taking a change of civilian clothes, some shaving gear, and
an extra weapon.

            Before he left, he went
to the kitchen and got a bottle of vodka, some crackers and a glass with ice
for Catherine.

“This will help
the time pass,” he told her.  “I wish you well, Catherine.  Very hard times lie
ahead.  I hope you can weather them.”

She just stared at
him.

He went out,
locking the door behind him.  After he taped the key to the bedroom door, he
left his home in Petrograd for the last time.

And as soon as the
maid arrived in the morning, Catherine was ready to head to her father’s.

Boris waited
patiently for Catherine to finish her story.  She was sobbing hysterically.

            “Slow down, Catherine. 
Are you telling me that Misha is gone?”

            “Yes, father,” she
answered trying to compose herself. “He has gone to look for little Mishka.  He
says nothing matters but that he find him and keep him safe.”

            “When did he leave?”

            “Last night around ten.
 I would have called, but he locked me in my room so he could get a head start.
 I had to wait for Alisa to get in before I could come here.”

            Boris slammed his fist
on the desk.  ”Damn that bastard.  He’s nothing but a social climbing, arrogant
asshole.  I always knew it, but you said you had to have him.  Now look where
you are.”

            “But is it true what he
says, Father?  Will the czar be overthrown?  Am I not safe here?  The streets
are full of raucous groups.  Alisa said that the shelves are almost empty at
the grocers.  By the train station I saw soldiers on horseback scattering the
people gathered there.”

            “Yes, Catherine, it is
true.  Between the Mensheviks and the Bolsheviks, who knows what will happen.  It
is true soldiers are deserting.  And the czar is weak.  He goes to lead the
troops instead of staying to run the country.  Meanwhile, his wife consorts
with Rasputin, the man who is really calling the shots.  I am loyal to
Nicholas, but I am fearful that his demise could happen.”

“What should I do,
Father?”

“Going to the
country to stay with your brother might be the best thing.  In fact, you might
take your mother.  As I said, I am loyal to Nicholas and will do what I can to
keep him in power.  I will not have time for you and your mother.”

“What about
Misha?”

“When you leave I
will make sure notices go out for his arrest.  Every railway station,
government office, and military unit will be notified that he is a deserter who
must be captured and returned to be tried.  If they can’t take him alive, they
will send back his dead body.  But there are so many deserters, Catherine; I’m
not sure what will happen.”

Catherine shuddered.
 “Frankly, father, I could care less what happens to him.  I will go and make
plans with Mother to go to Peter’s.”