“Why did you shave?” she asked him again. She stood at the bathroom door, the steam hot on her cheeks, her back cold from the unheated room.
He rinsed off his hands and face and then splashed water over his chest and under his arms. He grabbed a towel off the rack and dried himself, smearing it with the blood from his shaving cut. Then he stuck a little tissue on the wound to stem the flow and when he was satisfied he looked over at her. His eyes were black and cold like pebbles. “We broke into a police warehouse tonight.”
Her face went flat. “Why?”
“They had guns and we needed them.”
“But I thought—”
“I know what you thought.” He pushed past her and left the bathroom. She followed him into the bedroom and found him searching through the armoire. “There was a boy. Not much over eighteen. We thought he was experienced. We were told he was reliable and would make a good lookout, so we stood him outside, across the street from the warehouse.” He found a shirt and put it on, squaring his shoulders to make it fit better, and then started buttoning it up.
Down below in the alcove off the foyer the telephone began to ring. They stopped when they heard it. Hershel went to the door and listened. He left her standing in the open doorway and called down: “Who is it, Vera?”
Vera had been taught never to shout and ran up the stairs to deliver her message properly. “He didn’t say, Excellency. Only that he wishes to speak with His Honor. He said it was urgent.”
Hershel glanced back at Berta and then followed Vera downstairs. Berta waited for him in the hallway, while her heart began to pound. She had no idea what was happening, but she knew it was something awful, something to be feared. Her world was under assault, that much was clear. Her beautiful house in the Berezina, her family, her friends, and all her precious things were vulnerable and could be taken away. Hershel had gambled with them and, judging by his behavior, had lost.
When he came back to her he was carrying a small suitcase. “What is it? What’s happening?” she asked.
“It’s Scharfstein.”
“Who?”
He went back into the bedroom and she followed him inside. “They ’ve arrested him. There’s no time to pack now. Get the children ready. We’re leaving in ten minutes.” He was fumbling with the button on the back of his stiff collar.
“Leaving? Where?”
“To America.”
She stared at him. “I’m not going to America.”
He draped his tie around his collar and looked at himself in the armoire mirror while he tied it. “You have to come. You have no choice.”
“I’m not leaving my home, Hershel. Everything is here. My life is here. You expect me to walk right out the door on a moment ’s notice?”
“Yes, I suppose I do. Now, hurry, we don’t have much time.”
“Well, I won’t do it. I just won’t.”
He sat down on the bed and began pulling on his boots. “You’re going to have to, Berta. We can’t stay here. If we do, I’ll be arrested.”
Berta couldn’t believe this was happening. Everything seemed so unreal, slowed down, as if underwater. He was telling her that her life in Cherkast was over, that everything that was important to her was gone and there was nothing she could do about it. “Then you go,” she said firmly. “I’ll come later.”
He stopped and looked over at her. Then he stood and stamped his feet, working his toes into the boots. “I’m not going without you.”
“But you have to.”
The door burst open and Olga raced in on bare feet, laughing and squealing. Berta turned on her. “Get out!” she screamed. “Get out of this house.”
Olga stopped and stared at her, momentarily shocked into silence. She held up her hands and patted the air. “Yes, kotik, now don’t get excited.” She backed out of the door. “I’m going. We’re all going. Calm down.”
Berta slammed the door after her. They could hear her down the corridor telling the others that Berta had lost her mind and that they all had to leave immediately. There was a clamor of voices, questions and answers that faded down the stairs and out through the parlor door.
“Berta, listen to me.” Hershel tried to take her into his arms, but she pushed him away. She took a seat in the chair near the armoire and dropped her face in her hands. He sat across from her on the bed and leaned in. “There’s no need for this. There’s a new life waiting for us in America. We’ll stay with my sister. I hear Wisconsin is a beautiful place. It’s true we won’t have much at first, but I’ll find something.”
“What will you do there?” she asked through her tears.
“I don’t know. It’s a big country. Plenty of opportunity. It could make our fortune.”
She shook her head slowly. “I know how people live there, Hershel. You’re not fooling anyone. Is that what you want for us? For your children. To live like that?”
“There are all kinds of people and they live all kinds of ways.”
“I saw pictures of those horrible tenements in a magazine.”
“That was New York City. This is Wisconsin. It’s different. Now come, get up and tell Galya to get the children ready.”
She watched him through a haze of tears as he threw some clothes into the small case. She had heard about the tenements in New York City. She knew how people lived there. She wondered if Wisconsin was any better. Maybe it was worse. Maybe they ’d be hungry and cold and crammed into a few filthy rooms like the pictures in the magazine.
“Berta…” he said, slipping on his jacket.
“What?”
“We have to hurry.”
She drew a breath. Then she sat up and wiped her face with both hands. “I told you I’m not going,” she said grimly.
“Don’t be ridiculous. You are coming with me.”
She shook her head.
“Then I’m not going either.”
“But they’ll arrest you.”
“Undoubtedly.”
She was about to argue with him when they heard the sound of sleighs coming up the road. “Hershel…”
“Shush!”
The horses turned in at the drive and soon they were pulling up to the front door. He looked at her and smiled. It was the bitter half smile of defeat. “Well, it seems it’s too late now,” he said quietly.
“Oh my God. You have to hide.”
“I don’t think that would work. I’m not Samuil.”
“What are you going to do?”
Someone knocked at the bedroom door. “Go away,” Berta shouted.
“Madame…”
“Tell them to go away, Vera.”
“Who, Madame?”
“The men at the door.”
“It is only the cabs.”
“What?”
“For the guests, Madame. The cabs to take them home.”
And then, as if to confirm this fact, they could hear excited chatter and laughter in the foyer. There was a high-pitched squeal from Olga and a girlish shout from Yuvelir. Berta ran to the window and looked out on the drive. Hershel came over and stood beside her. From where they stood they could watch the guests make their way down the snowy steps and pile into the cabs.
“Go now, Hershel,” she whispered. “Please, what are you waiting for?”
“Are you coming with me?”
“No… not now.”
He gave her a level look. “I could insist, you know.”
She held his gaze. “I know.”
He looked at her a moment longer and then down at his hands. “I always knew you were like this. But I thought if ever the time came…”
“Hershel, please, it happens all the time. You know that. Men go first and the women and children follow.”