Three Sisters (The Tattooist of Auschwitz #3)(85)

At the port the ship is already docked, awaiting its cargo of excited migrants. The evidence of a war recently fought surrounds them: many buildings sit in heaps of rubble still waiting to be cleared, but in town the ancient buildings still stand tall and proud, untouched by the chaos that rained down on the port.

A day later, the one hundred trainees from the Moravian Karst forest camp, the first to arrive, are joined by hundreds more from other camps across Europe.

Magda and Livi feel a thrill of exhilaration as they mill around the port, caught up in the anticipation and excitement for the journey ahead.

‘Everybody on board and be quick about it!’ Vlad is rounding up the young men and women, urging them towards the ship.

Magda takes Livi’s hand at the foot of the gangplank. ‘This is it, little sister,’ she says. Her eyes are shining. Livi knows Magda’s tears are for Mumma, for their grandfather, but they are also for herself and Livi too. They are not only about to embark on a voyage across the ocean, but they are crossing over from one life into another.

‘I’m ready,’ says Livi. ‘Let’s walk up together.’

Livi thinks of the three sisters on the platform of the train station in Bratislava, on their way back to Vranov. They had been so scared they had clung to each other the whole way. She doesn’t feel like that now, she isn’t scared, and she is glad Magda is beside her, but then Livi feels a familiar tingle up her spine, a note of dread. Again, she wishes Cibi were with them, the constant protector who kept her alive in Auschwitz through sheer will and determination. Not now, she tells herself, but how do you embrace the future with an open heart when that same heart has been broken over and over again, the shards of it hammered into dust? Maybe that’s what this is all about, Livi thinks, as the ship pulls away, putting our hearts back together. Cibi is safe with Mischka and Karol and soon they will honour the promise and follow them to the promised land.

Hundreds of young men and women line the decks, hanging over the sides to watch the waves roll away. Livi puts a hand in her pocket and feels the gun. Her fingers move past the weapon to find the tiny knife, her talisman. It is as much a part of their struggle to survive as their mother’s spiritual presence.

‘Magda,’ she says, quietly. ‘I’m going to chuck my gun into the sea.’ It doesn’t belong with the knife. While they could both kill, the knife has only ever come to her aid.

‘What? Don’t be so stupid, Livi. Someone will see.’

‘They’re not looking at me.’

‘You can’t know that for sure. Please, leave it alone.’

And before Livi can take the gun out of her pocket to launch it into the waves, they are joined by a couple of the girls they had trained with. ‘Did you hear?’ says one, breathlessly.

Magda, instantly on the alert, stares into the vast expanse of empty sea, the port in the distance growing smaller and smaller, and then into the clear skies. No Communists or British ships in sight. So far, so safe.

‘There’s not enough bunks below for all the passengers so they’re looking for girls to sleep on deck with the boys.’ Magda can tell from the glow in their eyes, the pink of their cheeks, that they’re excited, thrilled by their daring. ‘We’re going to say yes. Do you want to join us?’

Magda allows herself to feel the same thrill. ‘Sure,’ she says. ‘Why not? Livi?’

‘I signed up for adventure,’ says Livi, taking her hand out of her pocket. ‘Of course I’ll sleep on deck.’

‘We’ll be in Israel in less than a week,’ says Magda, staring at the unending sea ahead of them. ‘I think five nights under the stars is a great way to prepare ourselves.’

‘Let’s go and find the perfect spot,’ urges Livi.

‘Well, that will be wherever the boys are, right?’ says the breathless girl.

‘I was thinking as far away from the engine as possible, if we’re to get any sleep,’ says Magda, sensibly.

‘Who wants to sleep?’ asks the girl. ‘I don’t think I will ever sleep again.’

Livi takes Magda’s hand as the girls lead the way to their new sleeping quarters. ‘Please tell me you’re excited, Magda,’ says Livi.

‘I am, I really am. But I’m scared too, Livi. I really hope we make it without any trouble. But, I guess’ – Magda pats her pocket – ‘we have these guns.’

The girls duck under a rope and Magda follows, unaware that Livi is hanging back. When she realises her sister is no longer by her side, she turns round to see Livi facing a man with greasy black hair. He’s older than the sisters, and there is something wrong with the expression on his face. He’s sneering not smiling. Livi and the man don’t move. They look like statues.

‘Livi!’ shouts Magda. ‘Come on. What are you waiting for?’ Magda starts forward, ducking back under the rope until she’s standing beside her sister.

‘Well, well,’ says the man to Livi. ‘Who do we have here?’

‘Stay away from me.’ Livi’s voice is trembling.

‘Livi. What’s going on? Who is this man?’ Magda takes her sister’s arm to pull her away, but Livi doesn’t move.

‘Going to the promised land, are you?’ he hisses. Magda shivers as she sees his mouth open in a leer to reveal chipped yellow teeth. He takes a step towards the sisters.