The Dressmaker's Son (25 page)

CHAPTER 59

Solomon lay on his
bed opening the first of the two letters he had received.  The first one was from
his father.  “Wow,” Solomon said loud enough for Roger, the soldier on the bunk
next to him, to ask what had happened.

“My dad became a
citizen,” he answered proudly. “What a nice surprise.”

“How long has your family
been in this country?”  

“Around nine
years,” Solomon responded.  “I think he really did it because I joined the army.
 He feels America has been good to us.”

            “That’s nice.  Where
are you from anyway? Your accent is so slight it is hard to tell.”

            “Russia.  We came here
when I was thirteen.  I worked hard to learn proper English.  My parents
insisted.”

“Good for them,”
Roger replied, going back to the book he was reading.

            The other letter was
from Kathleen.  This was the second letter she had written, and he opened it
eagerly.  Then he read it slowly.

Dearest
Solomon,

Thank
you for your wonderful letter. I love you, too, and it sounds like you are
doing well in your training.

I
have so much to tell you that I find it difficult to begin.

            First
of all, my parents now know that we are married. Don’t be upset.  I will get to
the reason for my telling them in a minute. My mother took it well, but my
father was really upset.  The ironic part is that he isn’t upset that I am
married to you; he is upset because as a very devout Catholic, he now believes
I will go to Hell.  I’ve no doubt he will calm down, but as I said, he isn’t
angry; he is worried about my soul.

            That
having been said, as for the reason I had to tell them, well, there is no other
way to tell you except to be direct.  We are going to have a baby.  At first I
thought that I was late because of all the trauma of your leaving, but I
finally went to the doctor and there is no question about it.  The rabbit died!

            I
have no idea how you will react to this.  I know that we talked about having a
family and that we would wait to do so.  These things happen regardless of
intentions, though, and I am happy to be having our child and hope you will be
too.

            My
parents will stand beside me and help so I will not be alone.  I wish we could
tell your parents, but we can talk about that when you come home on your first
leave.

            Meanwhile,
I am feeling fine and working is no problem.

            I
miss you and love you so much.

Your
loving Kathleen

“Oh, my God,”
Solomon exclaimed.

“What now,” Roger
asked, laying his book on his chest.

“I’m going to be a
father!”

“Well, Mazel Tov,”
Roger said, getting up and offering his hand to Solomon.

“Mazel Tov?”
Solomon questioned. “How do you know ‘Mazel Tov’?”

Roger smiled.  “I’m
from a little town in Minnesota.  My father is a fur trapper.  When my parents
came to America, they went there because my father had been a fur trapper in
Poland. Not many Jews in Minnesota, so my father shortened our name from
Berkowicz to Berk.  It raised fewer questions, but they still remained ultra-Orthodox.
 I was born here so I have always been Berk.  How about you? Where does
Shearmon come from?”

“It’s a long story.
 The conscription period for Jews was sometimes twenty five years when my
father was a boy in Russia. My father was sent to live with a family swhose last
name was Lachevetsky.  They didn’t have any sons so he didn’t have to go. When
we came here my father kept trying to tell them his name was Lachevetsky, but
was getting nowhere.  My Uncle David told my father to say ‘Shearman” because
that was the original family name shortened from Shermonsky.”

“Interesting.  Anyway.
 Congratulations on the baby thing.  I hope everything goes well.”

“Thank you,”
Solomon answered and, still in a state of wonder, he picked up Kathleen’s
letter to read it again.

CHAPTER 60

Rebekah and Samuel
slept for over an hour.  Misha did not want to sleep.  He had to create a plan
to get them safely off the train and to a place they could hide.

He knew that the
ticket agent had most likely been released quickly and had contacted Boris.  Even
a town this size had a police department, and Boris had probably notified them
to meet the train.  They would be looking for three people: a man, woman, and
child traveling together.  Finally a plan began to gel in his mind.  Gently he
got up and slipped Samuel onto the seat.  He picked up his bag and went into
the bathroom where he changed back into his uniform.  It wasn’t as wrinkled as
he thought it would be although the hat was a little crushed.  When he returned
to his seat, Rebekah was up.  She moved Samuel onto her lap so Misha could sit
down.  

“Are you feeling
better, sleepyhead?”  Misha asked, turning to Rebekah.

“Yes, as a matter
of fact.  I didn’t realize how tired I was.  I felt like I had been up for
days, but it is only since this morning.”  Noticing his uniform she continued,
“Why have you put your uniform back on? Don’t you think that will make it
easier for them to recognize you?”

“Actually, no.  I
think that the ticket clerk probably told them I was in civilian clothes with a
brown cap, if he is smart enough to remember the color of the cap.  So I think
that is what they will be looking for.”

“You are probably
right.  What are we going to do, Misha?  What kind of town is Lappeenranta?  Do
you think they will have soldiers or police when we get there?”

 “Lappeenranta is
a small town that has a spa resort that has been in existence for years.  For
decades it has been the vacation choice of the wealthy and the nobility.  Catherine
went there often with her parents when she was young.  It also consists of
peasants farming land for the nobility and the usual array of shop keepers, restaurants
and beer halls.  I don’t know if there is a hotel in addition to the spa, but
if not there are probably inns or rooming houses.  The best we can do is pose
as a family on their way to Helsinki or there for vacation.”

 I don’t think
there will be soldiers in this small town, but they have probably notified the chief
of police.  We’ll be dealing with the police force of a small town.  Orders
will most likely come from Catherine’s father.  The bulletin had his name on it.
 But his real objective is to get me so he can try me for desertion.  He doesn’t
have that much concern for you or Samuel.  Well, maybe Samuel, if Catherine
wants him back.”

“But I have a plan,
Rebekah.  When the train stops, I will get off with those soldiers sitting a
few rows up from us.  You hang back and try to get off with a group.  Then,
instead of going into the station, walk around to the back of the building. I
will meet you there and we can determine our next steps.”  He stopped and
looked in her eyes.  “I want you to promise me something.”

“What, Misha?”

“If something happens
to me, you need to take Samuel and find a place to hide anywhere you can.  If I
need to create a diversion, I will.  The most important thing is for you and
Samuel to somehow get to Helsinki so you can find a way to get back to
America.”

“Nothing must
happen to you, Misha,” she answered taking his face in her hands and kissing
him gently on the lips.  “It just can’t.”

Misha sighed.  “I
pray you are right, Rebekah.”  He took her hand and held it.

As Samuel dozed on
and off on Rebekah’s lap, they spent the rest of the trip talking about America,
her family, and how he had found her and Samuel.

He even told her
about his confrontation with Rose.  “I’m afraid I have to tell you about my
meeting with your mother.”

“My mother?”  Rebekah
questioned.

“Yes. I was crazy
trying to find you.  I checked the house and there was another girl living
there.  I checked the cobbler shop and they told me Michael was dead and they
didn’t know where you were.  So then I went to your mother’s eatery.  I was
abusive to her, Rebekah.  I don’t know if I can face her if I come to America.”

“Abusive? You hit
my mother?”

“No, of course not.
 But I was beside myself that my son was gone, and I threatened her.”

“What did she
say?”

“She was quite the
spunky one.  She told me that she had lived through three pogroms and nothing I
could do to her could hurt her.  She told me nothing.”

“Sounds like Mama.
 She is the one who made me go to America, Misha, even though it would leave
her all alone.  For her it was all about her children and her grandchildren.”

“Now I can
understand that.”

“But don’t worry. As
long as we come home with Samuel, it will be okay.  Mama has a forgiving heart.
 It’s almost biblical with her.”

“I’ll have to
trust you on that, Rebekah.”

They continued to
talk about Samuel, America and their future together.

CHAPTER 61

April 1917

Solomon and Roger
sat together at a table with two other soldiers.  The canteen was really full
and everyone was discussing the same thing: “America had declared war on Germany.”

            “We all knew it was
just a matter of time,” Solomon said to the group.  “I’m surprised it didn’t
happen sooner when the Lusitania was sunk.  What the hell were they waiting
for?”

            “You're right,” one of
the soldiers replied.  “And now we wait to see when they start shipping us
out.”

            “We’re bound to be
among the first because of our training,” Roger interjected.

            “Rumor has it that guys
are flooding the recruitment centers to sign up,” Solomon said.  “But, it will
take time to get them trained.  I hope we get some leave to go home before
anything happens.”

            “Of course we will,”
Roger replied.  “Don’t panic, Sol. You’ll get to see your wife before they send
us anywhere.  We just need to wait.  I’m sure we’ll be hearing something soon. It’s
only been a few days since we declared war.  Be patient.”

            And Roger was right.  About
ten days later, four platoons were selected by Major General Pershing himself
to be the first troops sent overseas.  As commander of the Army’s Southern
Department at Fort Sam Houston, Texas, he was asked to select four infantry
regiments and a field artillery regiment for overseas service.  He chose the 6
^th
Field Artillery and the 16th, 18th, 26th and 28th infantries.  He addressed
each platoon with a pep talk and then the commanders gave out their orders.  They
would have a two week leave and then be sent overseas.  Some would go from New
York and some would go from New Jersey or Newport News, Virginia.  Everyone was
ordered to pack up their gear and head home.

Solomon was in the
16
^th
infantry division.  He immediately got on one of the long phone
lines where everyone was trying to call their families to let them know the
news.  Finally he got his turn.  First he called Kathleen.

“I’ll be home in a
few days,” he told her.  “I have two weeks leave.”

“And then?”

“And then my
regiment will be sent overseas to France.”

For a minute there
was silence.

“Kathleen,”
Solomon asked. “Are you okay?”

He could hear her
take a deep breath. “Yes, Sol,” she answered.  “I knew this was coming, but I
guess I really wasn’t ready for it.”  She brightened her voice.  “I can’t wait
to see you.  Let me know when you will be here.  I love you.”

“I will.  I love
you too Kathleen.”

When he hung up he
called his parents.  He had decided not to tell them everything, just that he
was coming home.  Jacob answered the phone in the store.

“It’s me, Papa,”
Solomon said.

“Sollie,” Jacob
exclaimed.  “You sound so good.  Your mama will be so disappointed that she
wasn’t here to talk to you.  She has gone to the market.”

“That’s okay, Papa.
 I am just calling to let you know I will be coming home in a few days for a
two week leave.”

“That’s wonderful,
Sollie.  Then what?”

            Solomon hesitated.  “Well,
Papa.  I was going to wait until I came home to tell you, but maybe it’s better
to tell you now.  I will be going overseas to France.”

            Like Kathleen, Jacob
was silent for a brief time.  “No, Sollie.  It is good you told me.  This way I
can tell Mama and give her a little time to get used to the idea.”

            “You’re right, Papa.  How
is everyone?”

            “Fine, Sollie, and they
will be so glad to see you.  Miriam is in college and dating a doctor.  But
this call is expensive.  I will tell everyone you called.  Come home safely.  I
love you.”

            “Me too, Papa.”  Solomon
said and hung up the phone.

CHAPTER 62

It was late
afternoon when the train pulled into Lappeenranta.  As it was arriving Misha
made his way to where several soldiers were seated and began chatting with them.
 

The gentleman across
the aisle from Rebekah started a conversation with her.  “How old is your boy?”
he asked Rebekah in a fair Russian.  “He is so well-behaved.”

“I’m going to be
eight on my next birthday,” Samuel blurted out.  They both laughed.  “My name
is Mikko Koskinen,” The gentleman said extending his hand across the aisle.

“I’m Rebekah,”
Rebekah answered.  “And this is my son Samuel.  Where are you headed Mikko? ”

            “Back to Finland.  I
have come all the way from Petrograd where I went to do business, but things are
so bad there it wasn’t possible, so I turned around and I’m going home.”

            “I’ve heard it was bad.
 I started from there originally myself quite a while ago.  What is happening?”

            “There is fighting in
the streets.  Soldiers who are supposed to be keeping order are standing on the
side lines and not firing or joining the strikers and revolutionaries.  There
is no food coming into the city and people wait for hours to get a loaf of
bread.  It isn’t safe.  All types of thugs are running around looting and beating
up on people.  Since Nicholas was forced to abdicate last month they have had a
provisional government, but it is fast being threatened by the Bolsheviks. But
I go on.  What about you? You sound like you are from Russia.  Where are you
and your boy going?”

            “To Helsinki.  I have
some people there who will try to help me get to Norway so that Samuel and I
can go back to America where my family is.”

            Rebekah noticed the
train coming to a slow stop.  When it stopped, she waited a few minutes for the
people, including Misha, to exit the train.  Then she picked up her bags.

            “Let me help you with
those, please,” Mikko offered.

            “Thank you, but perhaps
you could take Samuel’s hand,” she answered thinking that if they got off
separately they would have a better chance of getting away.

            “Of course,” Mikko
replied taking Samuel’s hand and letting Rebekah get in front of him.

            When they got off the
train Rebekah thanked him and told Samuel to walk close to her.  She didn’t see
Misha anywhere.  As they walked closer to the station she turned to Samuel.  “I
am going to ask you to be a really big boy and do something for me, Samuel.”  She
pointed to the right.  “I want you to walk toward that side of the station and
go around to the back.  You’re father and I will meet you there.  If there is a
place to hide where you can’t be seen, hide there.  Do you understand?”

            “Yes, Mama.  Should I
go now?”

            “Yes, Samuel.  We will
see you in a few minutes.”

            Samuel turned and
walked toward the right of the station. Rebekah watched him for a minute and
then headed to the left side of the station.  When she got around back, she
didn’t see Samuel.  “He is smaller,” she thought to herself.  “It will take him
a little longer.”  Several minutes passed and she still didn’t see him.  She
started toward the right where he would be coming from.  After a few steps she
heard him.

            “Mama, I’m over here,”
he said stepping out from the edge of the woods behind the station.  “I was
hiding behind a big tree.”

            Relief flooded over her.
 She ran and hugged him.  “You are so smart, Samuel.”

            “I know, Mama,” he said
proudly. “That’s what Father used to tell me.  Look! Here he comes.”

            Misha was walking
toward them from the same direction that Rebekah had taken.  He hugged them
both.  “So far, so good, Right?”

            “Yes, Misha, but I
think we will have to wait until it is dark and most of the people have left
before we do anything.”

            “I found a place to
hide, Papa.” Samuel interjected. “Behind a big tree.”

            “How smart of you,
Samuel.  Why don’t you go there now and we will be along in a minute.”

            Samuel beamed. “Yes, Father,”
he answered and Rebekah and Misha watched to see exactly where he was going.

            And then a shot rang
out and suddenly Misha was on the ground clutching his chest.

            “I knew you were the
soldier in this picture,” a man dressed in some kind of police uniform shouted
in a language neither Rebekah nor Misha understood. But he had the crumpled
bulletin in his hand and glanced down at it.

            In the split second the
policeman looked down at the picture, Misha was able to draw his gun.  He shot
him right between the eyes.

            Rebekah ran first to
the policeman.  He was dead, a hole in the middle of his forehead with blood
trickling out.  She picked up his gun and went to Misha.  At the same time she
saw Samuel emerging from the woods.

            “Go back behind the
tree, Samuel,” she ordered.

            “But what is wrong with
Father?”

            “He’ll be okay, Samuel.
 Please, go back behind the tree now.  And don’t move or come out until I tell
you.”

            Samuel turned and went
back into the woods.

            Rebekah slid her hand
under Misha’s head.  “How bad is it Misha?  Look at all the blood.”

She stood up and
reached under her skirt and slipped off her petticoat.  Ripping the seams she
got a strip of material and pressed it on the wound.

            “Rebekah, listen to me.
 Someone could have heard the shot. I’m sure they didn’t send just one
policeman. I can stand.  My wound is bloody, but not fatal. We need to drag his
body into the woods and hide there.”

            Rebekah helped him up
and together they managed to drag the dead body into the woods.  They had no
idea how deep the woods were, but they knew they needed to go in as far as
possible. They left the body so Samuel wouldn’t see it and then called him to
join them.  When they felt they might be safe, Misha sat and leaned against a
tree.

            Samuel saw the blood on
Misha’s shirt.  “What happened, Father?” he asked with alarm

            “I was shot, Samuel.  But
it is not a bad wound.  It will be fine.”

            Samuel looked at the
blood on Rebekah’s dress and her hands. “Mama,” he asked urgently. “Are you
shot too?”

            “No, Samuel. This is
from your father’s wound. I am fine.”

            She turned to Misha. “You
need to take off your jacket and let me look at your wound.  I’ll use the rest
of my petticoat to put a bandage around it.”

            “I’ll be right back,” Misha
said, getting up from the ground.

            “Where are you going,
Misha?”

            “I need to try to cover
up some of the blood with leaves.  I don’t think there is a lot.  If they don’t
see any blood, they might not come into the woods.  The wound can wait a few
minutes.  I don’t think it hit any major organs.”

            “Let me go, please
Misha.”

            “No, Rebekah.  You need
to stay with Samuel.  It won’t take me long.  I’ll be right back.”  Then he put
his hands on her shoulders.  “But if for any reason I’m not.  Don’t come out of
the woods until it is dark.  It is almost dusk now.  Maybe you should even wait
until morning. Meanwhile go further back into the woods. I will find you.”

            “Please come back,
Misha.  I don’t want to lose you now.”

            He smiled, kissed her
lightly on the lips and left.