Three Sisters (The Tattooist of Auschwitz #3)(84)

‘I don’t think so, Livi. We need to keep moving. We’ll come back one day,’ Magda says.

Livi leans back and shuts her eyes and lets the motion of the train lull her to sleep.

*

Arriving in Ko?ice, the group of six are aware of their friends also disembarking the train, but they ignore one another, as they have been instructed to do. The group is now on their own.

‘Only thirteen days to go and you’ll be on the boat,’ Vlad tells them, as they walk the city streets of Ko?ice. ‘Let’s find somewhere warm to spend the night.’

‘A hotel?’ asks Livi, hopefully.

‘A barn,’ he replies.

‘No soft blankets and feather mattresses for you, Livi,’ one of the boys teases. ‘Will you be OK or should we shoot some ducks and pluck them for your pillow?’

‘That would be lovely, thank you,’ Livi fires back.

It’s getting dark when they reach the outer limits of the city. They are on a deserted road, woodland to the left and right of them, but no sign of any barns. The boys want to camp in the woods, so does Vlad, but Livi wants to hold out for shelter.

All six heads turn round at the sound of the clip-clopping of a horse. Vlad’s hand goes inside his jacket. Livi tenses: this is where it falls apart, where they will be taken captive once again, punished for wanting more than a life lived in the shadows. Magda takes a deep breath, trying to control the trembling in her hands. She’ll never shoot anyone, she knows that now, because how can she, when, at the first sign of danger, she falls apart?

‘Where are you off to?’ A farmer whose cart is being drawn by a fine black mare has pulled up.

Vlad withdraws his hand and waves. Both Livi and Magda exhale.

‘To Trebisov,’ he replies.

‘You’re Jews?’

‘We are.’

Livi glances at Vlad, but his eyes are fixed on the farmer. If he’s not worried, then neither is she.

‘Hop on the back and I’ll take you as far as I can.’

They climb aboard. The cart reeks of animal dung, but they’re comfortable enough in the straw.

‘Sorry,’ calls the farmer. ‘I had pigs in the back.’

They trot along in silence for about an hour. Vlad holds himself erect the entire journey. He might as well be on a train or in a car, thinks Livi, adjusting her own posture. The farmer eventually pulls up at a fork in the road. ‘Trebisov is about ten kilometres down the road. You can walk there now, or you can sleep in my barn tonight – it’s up to you.’

‘It is getting late,’ Livi says, hopefully.

‘Thank you,’ says Vlad to the farmer. ‘We would be grateful. I promise we’ll be gone before you wake up in the morning.’

‘I doubt that.’ The farmer grins. ‘You ever run a farm?’ He winks.

With a flick of the reins, the horse continues down a narrow track to a small farmhouse, beside which looms a large barn.

‘Make yourselves at home in there,’ he tells them. ‘There are still a few pigs inside, but they shouldn’t bother you. And my wife will bring you some food in a bit.’ He offers a wave and strides off to the farmhouse.

‘Thank you,’ they chorus.

While they are making beds from the abundant piles of straw, the farmer’s wife enters the barn. ‘Will someone give me a hand?’ she calls.

Vlad and Magda help her with the mugs of tea and a huge plate of steaming potatoes and roast pork. There are six forks.

‘This is so generous of you,’ Vlad says.

‘Leave the dishes by the door when you’re finished, I’ll collect them later.’ The farmer’s wife pauses in the doorway before she leaves. ‘We’ve helped other groups, you know, just like you, and we’ll do what we can for those that come after you.’ With that, she is gone.

Still unused to the random kindness of others, Livi feels a lump in her throat.

‘Livi, don’t look so surprised,’ Vlad tells her. ‘Not everyone hates Jews!’ The boys and Magda burst out laughing. ‘Let’s eat.’

They gather around the plate of food. ‘Maybe she doesn’t know that Jews don’t eat pork,’ says one of the boys.

‘He did warn us he had pigs,’ sighs Magda. ‘But, Livi, do you remember the house with the Russians?’

Livi nods. ‘When we have no other food, we eat pork.’

The boys are still laughing when they all pick up their forks and dive in.

*

The next morning, the farmer wakes them with tea and fresh bread. He offers to take them to Trebisov.

‘Day two of fourteen,’ Vlad announces.

In Trebisov they buy food and head for the border. They are in Hungary. That night, they sleep in the woods. Livi would rather sleep in the open now, as far away from people as possible. While she has the skills to survive in the wilds of the countryside, her nerve for any confrontation with an enemy will fail her, she is sure. She wishes Cibi were with them – the promise that they will always be together weighs heavy in her mind. Are they tempting fate by leaving her behind?

Over the next ten days they hitchhike, walk, and travel by train until they arrive in Constanta, two days ahead of schedule. They have met little resistance and both Livi and Magda are wildly grateful. They have been lucky, they acknowledge this to one another, and pray this ‘luck’ holds out for the voyage.