“You’ll find a bottle of chloroform and cloth to use as a gag—enough for the two women.”
Shayndel was furious. “You’re just telling me now?” she protested. “My girls are going to be frightened enough without this going on,” she warned him as sternly as she could, to hide her happiness at having Esther’s fate in her hands.
“This is not a discussion,” Nathan snapped. “The action begins in a few hours and you have your orders. There’s a wristwatch in the bundle, too, so you can keep track of the time. Take care of our little problem after midnight. The most important thing is to keep everybody quiet and get them out fast.
“I’ll see you later, Shayndel,” he said, and kissed her hand before she had a chance to stop him. “Be strong.”
As the men lined up for the roll call, Shayndel noticed that there were no jokes or games. Nathan’s captains stepped up smartly and everyone else fell in behind them.
“Finally learning your p’s and q’s, eh?” smirked Wilson. After they were dismissed, however, the men took a very long time getting back to their barracks, stopping to chat or tie their shoes, and pretending not to hear the guards shouting at them to move along. The girls joined in, making a show of their independence, strolling oh-so-slowly on their way to bed.
Shayndel found Leonie and took her arm. “Tonight there is going to be a breakout from the camp,” she said quietly.
“Tonight?” Leonie gasped. “You are leaving?”
Shayndel drew closer. “Everyone is leaving.”
Leonie stopped. “Everyone? Surely not that German?”
“No, not her,” said Shayndel, and explained how they would quiet and bind her.
“And what about me?” Leonie said, thinking about Lotte’s threat to reveal her past.
“Of course you,” said Shayndel. “Don’t be afraid. I’ve taken people over much worse terrain than this, and in the winter. The Palmach knows the countryside.”
Shayndel continued, “Your job is to help me get the other girls in the barrack ready to go. Tedi and Zorah will be helping as well.”
“I will try not to disappoint you.”
“Disappoint? You underestimate yourself, Leonie. You are calm. You have courage. In a country like this, you cannot be so meek. You have to stand up for yourself.” Shayndel stopped herself, but Leonie heard her words for what they were: parting advice.
When they reached the barrack, Shayndel brought Tedi and Zorah to her cot and told them the plan.
“I knew something was up,” Tedi said, her eyes bright. “This is wonderful. Another week in this place and I would have been barking at the moon. What do you want from us? What do we do?”
“There will be a knock just after one o’clock. We must get everyone up, dressed, and ready to go as quickly as possible. They are to carry nothing. Quiet, light, and quick, that’s our job. The Palmach will lead us out. I suppose they’ll cut the fences, and then take us … I don’t know where.”
The door opened and Lotte fell into the barrack, pushed by two of the British guards, their faces flushed and angry. “Next time, we won’t be so gentle,” said one.
Lotte spit at them as they left, screaming, “Ass-lickers, idiots, weaklings.” She wheeled around. “You are ass-lickers, too, all of you,” she yelled.
After she got in her cot and pulled the blanket over her head, Zorah leaned over to Shayndel and asked, “Is everyone going?”
“All but that one,” said Shayndel. “I have rope and chloroform for her.”
“And Esther?”
Shayndel shrugged. “People make too many assumptions about how much Hebrew I really understand. But the truth is, I don’t want you mad at me.”
Zorah smiled. “No, you don’t.”
As the time for lights-out approached, a kind of storm rolled through the barrack, with flashes of temper and tension breaking like thunder. Two girls got into a loud and stupid argument about a piece of fruit. Someone dropped a book and everyone jumped. Jacob started running up and down between the beds, like a wild kitten.
“Can’t you control that little beast?” someone asked.
“Control your mouth or I’ll fix it for you.” Zorah glowered.
A loud knock startled everyone into silence. “Is everyone decent?” A moment later, Goldberg’s head appeared in the door. “Everyone is present and accounted for, yes? Well then, sweet dreams, my little ones.”