Simon's Escape by Bonnie Pryor

Author:Bonnie Pryor [Pryor, Bonnie]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 978-1-4645-0149-4
Publisher: Enslow Publishers, Inc.
Published: 2011-10-15T00:00:00+00:00

chapter nine

Mama Petroski

The room was dark except for one small candle. Simon climbed out, stretching his cramped muscles. “We had to wait until people were asleep,” Irena said softly. “I saved you some dinner.”

“I need to use the bathroom,” Simon said, embarrassed.

“Oh, my. Of course you do,” she laughed. She led him to a tiny bathroom at the back of the house. When he returned to the kitchen, she had set a plate on the table, piled high with a good, thick stew of vegetables and meat.

“Eat quickly,” she said. “Dominick will take you in a few minutes.”

“I am very grateful,” Simon said around bites of stew.

The woman shrugged. “It is not so much that we love Jews, as it is that we hate Germans.”

Dominick came into the kitchen. “You don’t walk with me. I will lead, you follow, but not so close that it looks like we are together. I will try to keep you out of danger, but if a patrol comes, you are on your own. Duck into an alley, or just run. The streetlights in this part of town were ruined in the bombing, so you should be able to get away. When you get where we are going, you forget me. Understood?”

Simon nodded solemnly.

“Let’s go, then,” Dominick said tersely. He stepped out of the door and, after a quick look around, started off at a brisk pace. Simon followed a short distance behind.

It was a dark, moonless night, and a cold wind blew between the darkened houses. They passed a few houses that had been reduced to rubble by German bombs. Simon shivered. The stew churned in his stomach. He glanced warily at each house as they passed. What if someone were to look out and see them?

Without warning, Dominick ducked into an alley. Simon quickly followed, and then strong hands grabbed him. “Get in the outhouse,” Dominick hissed. At the same time, Simon heard the rumble of a truck coming slowly down the road.

A dilapidated outhouse was perched behind a house nearby in the alley. Simon slipped inside. He saw Dominick head for the rubble of a bombed-out house. Simon reached for the door but then changed his mind. The Germans might not search if the door was standing open. He flattened himself against the wall and listened as the truck made its way down the street. Now he heard the sound of boots, and there was a flash of light across the outhouse door. Four soldiers walked up the alley, flashing their lights into garbage cans and wooden sheds. Suddenly, the light came on in the house and a voice called, “Who’s there?”

The soldiers laughed. One of them said, “Go back to bed, old man. We are looking for escaped Jews.”

“Good,” the old man answered. “Catch one for me.” Then he said, “I might as well relieve myself since I am up.”

He opened the door and stepped in, pulling the door closed behind him. Simon’s heart nearly stopped beating and he trembled in terror.

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