The Dressmaker's Son (23 page)

CHAPTER 52

Rebekah and Samuel
sat side by side on the crowded train which had not yet left the station.  The
train was dirty and smelled of all the bodies that had been crammed in it time
and time again.  The smell from the bathroom had seeped into the seats and the
air around them.  As Ivan had instructed, she was sitting at the back of the
train.  She could see Daniel standing at the front of the car.  One of the last
ones on, he was scanning the car to see if Rebekah and Samuel were there.  He
caught her eye and she smiled.  There was a guard at the back of the car and
one at the front, both of whom Rebekah recognized from Shlissel’burg.  It was
so early in the morning that it was still dark.  The guards had awakened them
less than an hour before they began to herd the prisoners onto the train.

Ivan had been the
one to come to awaken her.  She and Samuel were the only two being transferred
from that cell.  He had awakened her gently, but she still jumped, startled out
of her dreaming sleep.  Now she sat going over their conversation.

“Rebekah,” Ivan
said in a whisper. “Get your things. You and Boyachick need to come with me.”

“Ivan, please,”
Rebekah said as she nudged Samuel and picked up the suitcase she had already
packed.  “Don’t put us on that train.”

“Just come,” he
answered guiding her and Samuel through the door and locking it.

Rebekah leaned against
the door.  “Ivan,” she began moving closer to him and trying to put her arms
around his neck. “Please. I will do anything you want me to do for you, but you
have to help me.”

Ivan looked in her
eyes.  He saw the fear only a mother can have for a child and knew she would do
anything to save Samuel.

Taking her hands
gently from his neck, Ivan replied. “Rebekah, please, I thought you knew I wasn’t
like that.  I am a married man.  I have a son two years older than Boyachick.  I
know you are a good woman so I am helping you.”

“I don’t know what
to say, Ivan,” Rebekah answered, tears slipping down her cheeks.  “I know you
are a good man.  I am sorry if I have offended you.”

Ivan gave her a
hug.  “It is all good!” he exclaimed.  “Now, here is what is going to happen.  I
will take you and Boyachick to the train.  First we will stop by the kitchen
where I have packed some food for you to put in your suitcase.  There will be
two stops.  The guards will get everyone off at the first stop, but you will
not get off.   There will be a guard with a bald head and bushy red beard.  He will
let you know when the first stop is coming.  His name is Sergei.  You and Boyachick
will hide in the bathroom until the train leaves the station.  It could be a
while.  Don’t come out until the train has been moving for a while.  Then maybe
you can try moving to another car where there are passengers.  This is the best
I could do.  I have paid him well so he should be dependable.  The next stop is
Vyborg.  Get off there.  Maybe with the money you said you have you can still
get to Helsinki.”

“Oh Ivan, how can
I ever thank you enough?”

“Just get away,
Rebekah, and keep Boyachick safe.”  He handed her a folded piece of paper. “Hide
this,” he said. “And someday when you are free, write and let me know.  It is
my home address.”  Then he bent down to Samuel.  “Boyachick,” he said. “You are
a big boy.  You help take care of your mama, okay? And don’t forget about
Ivan.”

Samuel looked up
at Ivan, “I won’t, Mr. Ivan,” he answered. “And I brought the red ball you gave
me so I would have something to play with.”

Ivan gave Samuel a
hug and stood up. “He will be a fine man, Rebekah,” he said, his voice filled
with emotion.

Rebekah read the
address. It would be easy to remember. She handed it back to Ivan.  “It will be
dangerous for you if I am found with this, Ivan. I have memorized it and will
write it down in some kind of code.”

“God bless you,
Rebekah,” he answered.

“And you too, Ivan.
 We will never forget all you have done for us.”

Suddenly the train
started moving, bringing Rebekah back to the present.  She peered out the
window to see if she could see Ivan, but he was gone.  “Mama,” Samuel said,
tugging at her arm. “How long will we be riding on the train?”

“Not too long,
Samuel,” she answered. “We are going on another adventure.”

“Will we get to
the boat this time, Mama?”

“I hope so,
Samuel,” she replied. “We’re going to try.”

CHAPTER 53

As tired as he
was, Misha spent a restless night.  Thoughts of what had happened to Rebekah invaded
his dreams.  He knew she would do anything to protect little Misha, and to him,
that was a good thing.

He checked out
early after questioning the morning deskman about Rebekah.  He knew little of
the details except that there had been a murder, the circumstances of which
were quickly covered up.

At
the station Misha scanned the ticket counter for the new agent.  As he walked

closer, he noticed a bulletin on
the wall behind the counter.  He was sure that that was his picture on it. He
was also sure that it had not been there yesterday.  It must have been in the
morning delivery. Before the agent noticed him, he headed for the bathroom.  There
he changed into his civilian clothes and quickly shaved his head.  He had
brought a cap with him that completed the outfit.

Approaching the
counter he studied the bulletin and saw that there was also a picture of Mishka.
 He remembered when Catherine had taken it.  “Boris is really going all out
here,” he thought to himself.  “He wants all of us.”

“Help you, sir?”
the agent asked.

“Yes,” Misha answered.
“I see in the bulletin they are looking for a woman and a boy. The agent on
duty last night said you might have seen what train she got on.”

The agent turned
to look at the bulletin. “Yeah,” he answered.   “He said someone was asking
about it.  But he said it was a soldier.”

“Actually, I’m
with the Secret Police,” Misha said, flashing his badge quickly. “I’ve been
assigned to help find her.  Can you tell me where the train she was on was
headed?”

“According to the
guards we talked to, they were headed to Shlissel’burg Prison.  I tried to warn
her she was getting on the wrong train, but she just ran and jumped on with the
little boy.”

“Is there a train
there today?” Misha asked.

“Yes, sir.  At two
thirty.  It goes to the town.”

“Book me a ticket,
please.” Misha requested. “The name is Peter Petrovitch.”

CHAPTER 54

It was after about
two hours that the guard with the bushy red beard approached Rebekah.  He bent
down and whispered to Rebekah, his foul breath almost making her gag.  “In
about five minutes we will be at our stop.” he said gruffly.  “A few minutes
after I walk to the front of the car, do what Ivan told you.”

“Thank you so
much,” Rebekah said. “You are probably saving our lives.”

“Don’t thank me,”
he answered, still whispering softly.  Rebekah could hear the hatred in his
voice.  “I don’t understand why Ivan would spend all his money to save a couple
of Jews.”

Rebekah didn’t
respond.  Looking straight ahead, she waited calmly for him to walk back down
the aisle.

When he left
Samuel asked, “Is the guard mad at us, Mama?”

“No, Samuel.  He
is mad at the world.  In a minute you and I are going to go into the bathroom,
okay?  We will have to stay there a while.”

Samuel could hear
in her voice that Rebekah was nervous. “Yes, Mama,” he replied, looking in her
eyes.  “Everything will be okay. You will see.”

Rebekah smiled.  “You
are such a big boy, Samuel.”

They stayed in the
bathroom about twenty minutes.  Rebekah could hear the prisoners getting off
the train.  She thought about Daniel and wished she could save him.  He would
wonder what happened to her and Samuel.  After the train had been moving for a
while, she and Samuel came out and made their way to the next car.  It was
empty too.  The prisoners must have taken up both cars.  They kept going to the
next car where they were fortunate enough to find two seats.  They settled in
for the rest of the trip.

When the train
stopped at Vyborg, they got off with the rest of the passengers.  Scouting the
platform, she didn’t see any guards or policemen waiting to arrest them.  As
they entered the station, she didn’t notice anything unusual, but just being
back in Vyborg made her nervous.  She looked down at Samuel. “Let’s go to the
bathroom for a minute, Samuel, so we can freshen up a bit.”

He smiled. “Another
bathroom, Mama?”

“Yes, Samuel, just
for a few minutes until I can figure out how to get us tickets to Helsinki.” 
She couldn’t explain it, but she felt like someone was watching them.  As they
approached the bathrooms, she guided Samuel into the men’s bathroom.  “We’ll be
safer in here,” she told him.

Misha couldn’t
believe his eyes when he saw Rebekah and Samuel walk into the station.  At
first he thought he had been dozing and was dreaming, but as she passed by him,
there was no mistaking that they were real.

He watched as she
and Samuel headed for the bathrooms.  She was still a beautiful woman.  It
surprised him how emotional he now felt seeing her—and how Mishka had grown
since he had last seen him.

Suddenly he wasn’t
sure what he wanted to do or say.  So many things had changed.  He couldn’t
return to Petrograd with a price on his head.  Nor could Rebekah.  He needed to
talk to her and make a plan.  Casually he headed for the bathroom.

            After checking the
women’s bathroom, he went into the men’s bathroom.  “It’s just like her to go
in here,” he thought to himself.  “So clever.”  When he entered the men’s room
Rebekah and Samuel were at first nowhere to be seen.  Then Misha looked under the
one enclosed stall and saw their legs.

            “You can come out now,”
he said. “The train has left the station.”

            Rebekah didn’t answer.

            He waited a few minutes.
“Rebekah, please,” he said, keeping his voice level. “You can come out now.”

            Rebekah was startled.  The
voice sounded familiar, but she couldn’t quite place it.  Finally, she answered.
 “Who are you? How do you know my name?”

            “It’s me. Misha,” he
replied in a whisper. “Please come out.  I’m not here to hurt you or Mishka.”

            Rebekah froze.  She
thought that she recognized the voice. Suddenly Samuel called out, “Is that
you, Father?”

            Misha laughed. “Yes,
son, it is your Father.  Come out with your mama.”

            Rebekah opened the door
and stepped out clutching Samuel to her side.  Misha had taken off his cap and
she was shocked to see him bald and without his uniform.

“How did you ever
find me?” she asked.  “How could you possibly have known I was here? Did
someone from the prison notify you?”

            Misha knelt down and
hugged Samuel.  “You have gotten so big,” he said.

“I’m almost
eight,” Samuel replied.

Rebekah waited.  Misha
stood and took her by her shoulders. “It’s a long story,” he started.  “I have
been tracing your steps to find you since you left Petrograd.  That’s what led
me here.  I was waiting for the train to Shlissel’burg because the ticket agent
said you had gotten on a train headed there.  How did you end up back here?
Were you and Mishka in prison?”

“Yes we were in
prison.”  Rebekah answered.  “We were just on a train taking us to Novgorod
Provincial Prison.  We were switching trains here, and with the help of a guard
who was bribed by a friend of mine, we managed to escape.”

“And where are you
trying to go?” Misha asked.

There was
something different about Misha.  He was more like the person she had first
known.  She thought she might as well tell him the truth.  If he was going to
take Misha and turn her in, there wasn’t much she could do about it; but her
instincts told her differently.  “Helsinki,” she answered. “I have been
referred to some people there who will help us get what we need to pass through
Sweden and get to Norway where we can take a ship back to America.”

Suddenly the door
burst open.  The ticket agent was standing there with the bulletin from the
wall in his hand. “I knew it!” he exclaimed.  “There is no mistaking the boy.  And
you are the soldier, although I wouldn’t have guessed it the way you are
dressed.”

Before the agent
could say another word Misha had grabbed him, spun him around, had one arm
behind his back and was pushing a gun against his ribs.  The agent tried to
squirm out of the grip.

“In case you
haven’t noticed,” Misha told the agent. “This is a gun I’m jabbing into your
side.”

The agent went
still.

“Now,” Misha said.
“I don’t want to kill you.  I’ve had enough of that.  But I will need to put
you out of commission for a while.”  In one move, he spun the agent around and
knocked him out.

“We’ll need to tie
him up,” Rebekah said.  She opened her little suitcase and pulled out a belt.  “Maybe
this will do for his hands.”

Misha took it and
secured the agent’s hands behind his back.  Reaching into his pocket he took
out a handkerchief and stuffed it in the agent’s mouth.  “Now let’s put him in
the stall,” he told Rebekah.

They pushed him
into the stall and had Samuel crawl under the door to lock it.

“We need to get
out of here,” Misha said picking up the bulletin that the agent had dropped. “Hopefully
there aren’t many of these around.”

As they walked out
of the bathroom, a young man was walking in. “The stall is occupied,” Misha
announced to him.

Obviously, there
was no agent behind the counter.  Misha went behind and tried to figure out how
to do a ticket.  He had his ticket to Shlissel’burg and quickly used it as a
guide to fill out three tickets.  He put Rebekah’s ticket as his wife, and
Samuel as his son.  The schedule on the counter showed that the train that was
on the track was going to Lappeenranta.  He did the best he could and grabbed
Rebekah. “We’re getting on that train,” he said. “We’ll figure out what to do
from there.”