Benjamin Weiss and the Divine Prophecy by J.A. Robertson

Author:J.A. Robertson
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: BookBaby
Published: 2023-03-20T12:13:49+00:00

Chapter Ten

Appointment in Samarra

Grady and Miriam turned their eyes toward Ben as the awesome import of those two words settled over them. Ben, for his part, sat quietly, lost in the painful image of his powerless father screaming “No!” from high up in Heaven as he watched Becky being abducted.

Fear shot through him, enervating him. Not only did the lives of all those children depend on him, but now Becky’s did, as well. Who was he kidding? He was just a child himself—bar mitzvah or no bar mitzvah. How could he expect to go up against a Nazi and win?

Becky’s gift to him popped into his head. A set of magic tricks. He pictured the inscription in her card: “i am giving you this cause you can do any thing love becky.” Oh, how he wished that were true.

Grady, Miriam, and Rabbi Greenblatt were discussing Heaven and whether people there really kept an eye on Earth, but Ben couldn’t follow what they were saying; G-d’s injustice dominated his thoughts. How could He be so callous, Ben wondered, as to give them the benefit of a warning and yet still make Becky’s disappearance inevitable? That foreknowledge was nothing but an instrument of psychological torture. What good was it to know a bear was coming if it was still destined to eat you and you knew it?

Ben kept seeing his sister’s face, all aglow with her faith in him. In her eyes there was nothing he couldn’t do. She was such a good girl, so full of love and trust. How could he let her down? He couldn’t. He wouldn’t. Where he had felt a hot, fluttering fear, a cool wave of resolve washed through. He would do anything for her. He would do whatever it took.

To the rabbi, he said, “What do I need to do? Teach me. How do I rescue the children?”

Grady stopped in the middle of the question he had been asking Rabbi Greenblatt, and not just because he had been interrupted. He had heard something new in Ben’s voice, a strength, a power. What Ben had said to Rabbi Greenblatt was more a demand than a request. Miriam had heard it, too, and they both turned to Ben to see who he had become.

His face flamed with determination, and his friends followed his eyes to the rabbi, who said, “I cannot tell you how to do it. I have thought and thought about how to get you safely into that house, and I have come up with nothing.”

Ben’s mother returned and reclaimed her seat, saying, “Becky’s back asleep.”

Rabbi Greenblatt nodded her way and resumed speaking to Ben. “As I was saying, I have come up with nothing. There is so much danger, Benjamin. You see, if I know you are the one meant to save the children, I must assume the Gunthers know, as well.”

“Why?” Ben said. “I mean, how would they know?”

Stroking his beard, the rabbi said, “Who do you think left a copy of Dr.

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