Part 2 (2/2)
He dropped his chin to his chest, defeated. ”I promised her.”
Sunny's gaze s.h.i.+fted to Berta. Her eyes lit up. ”Franz, look!”
He turned to see Berta cradling the baby in her arms and singing softly. For a moment, Franz wondered if the song was a prayer of mourning that he didn't recognize, but her words were in Yiddish and the tune was that of a lullaby. Then Franz heard what sounded like mewing. And then he saw something move. It was the baby's hand.
CHAPTER 5.
February 23, 1943 Sunny peeked through the curtains that separated Esther's bed from the others on the ward. She watched with affection tinged with envy as Esther eased little Jakob's head up to her breast. The infant rooted around for a moment or two before his mouth latched on to the nipple.
Sunny had not expected either mother or child to survive the traumatic birth. And yet, less than a week later, both were thriving. Esther's skin was still pale, almost translucent, but she had recovered as quickly and resiliently as her son had.
Esther smiled bashfully. ”He seems to be finally grasping the concept.”
”I would say so,” Sunny said as she watched the baby suckle with gusto. ”How are you, Essie?”
”Tired. Lost. Useless.” She sighed contentedly. ”And still so very grateful for the nes-the miracle-of this little one's survival.” She shook her head. ”Sunny, if not for you and Franz . . .”
Sunny raised her hands in mock denial. ”It had far more to do with your stubbornness. Both of you. Your insistence on surviving, despite the odds.” She stepped forward, letting the curtains fall shut behind her. ”Do you have any pain?”
”Nothing worth complaining about.”
”Have you been eating?”
”Here and there,” Esther said as she gently rocked Jakob. ”He doesn't give me much time for such luxuries.”
”But you must, Essie. Otherwise there will be no milk for Jakob.”
”Of course.” Esther wrapped her other arm protectively around her son.
Sunny studied the baby's face. His rosy cheeks stood out against Esther's pale flesh. ”He's beautiful.”
Esther laughed. ”You really think so? To my eye, he looks a little too much like his father.”
”He could do worse.”
The smile slid from Esther's lips. ”I wonder if Simon even knows.”
”Joey went out to the camp to tell him.”
Esther looked away. ”Knowing might only make it that much harder for him.”
Sunny could not disagree and lapsed into silence as she continued to watch Esther feed her baby. After a few minutes, Jakob's eyes closed and his lips stopped smacking. Esther gently pried him free of her breast. She looked up at Sunny. ”Would you burp him for me?”
Sunny eagerly tucked Jakob against her chest. As his warm body undulated with his gentle breathing, the longing for a child of her own stirred inside her.
Esther's eyes brimmed. ”He likes you.”
Sunny patted Jakob's back and rocked him back and forth. She pressed her cheek to his smooth head. The scents of talc and baby only intensified her heightened emotions. ”Let's hope he does. The poor little fellow has to live with us for the foreseeable future.”
Esther frowned. ”Sunny, I have been thinking about our living arrangements. I wonder if it would not be best-” She stopped in mid-sentence as the curtains swooshed apart.
”Simon?” Sunny gasped, shocked to see his tall frame filling the gap.
Simon's hair stuck up in messy spikes. His pinstriped suit was stained across the sleeves and torn below one pocket. He looked thin, frail and exhausted. But he sported a huge smile as he rushed to his wife's side. ”Gorgeous! Oh, I can't even trust my eyes! I must be dreaming!”
”Simon, I . . . I don't . . .” Esther sputtered as he swallowed her up in an embrace.
Simon smothered her face with kisses before straightening and turning to Sunny with a wild grin. ”Hiya, Sunny!” He kissed her on the cheek and then held out his hands for Jakob. ”May I?” His voice was thick.
Sunny pa.s.sed Jakob to his father, who cradled him gingerly, as though holding loosely packed crystal. Without taking his eyes off his son, he muttered, ”Can you believe it, Essie? Our beautiful boy!”
Esther reached up and clutched her husband's arm. Her eyes misted over. ”How, Simon?” She cleared her throat. ”How is this nes possible?”
Simon shrugged. ”A stroll in the park after what you and little Jakob have been through.”
Esther tugged at his sleeve. ”Simon, tell me.”
Before he could answer, the curtains parted again and Franz stepped through. ”So it is true! How did you get out, Simon?”
Simon laughed. ”I'm not feeling particularly welcome back home. All anyone cares about is my escape.”
”Escape?” Esther blanched. ”Oh, Simon, you didn't!”
Simon swaddled Jakob more tightly in the blanket and held him closely against his body. He leaned forward awkwardly and kissed Esther on the lips again. ”After I heard what you went through, Essie, there was no way they were going to keep us apart.”
”And the j.a.panese let you just waltz out of prison?” Franz asked.
”Not sure that the j.a.ps are big on waltzing.” Simon chuckled again. ”But Chapei camp is no Bridge House. The guards are enlisted men, not those Kempeitai s.a.d.i.s.ts.”
Franz frowned. ”It's still a prison, is it not?”
”The j.a.ps only ever call it the 'Civic a.s.sembly Center.' Then again, it's not like they treat us that well. My old springer spaniel would have turned his nose up at the slop they feed us.” Simon sighed. ”But it doesn't feel much like prison. There are even some kids inside. Security is pretty loose. Joey smuggled me in some cash. For ten bucks, the night guard in my barracks looked the other way. I snuck out just after curfew.”
Esther struggled to sit up, using her husband's arm for support. ”They will be looking for you.”
Simon waved away the suggestion. ”They've got tens of thousands of Allied prisoners to worry about. What is one less to them?”
”You are not just any prisoner,” Sunny pointed out. ”Everyone around here knows who you are, including the j.a.panese.”
”So I guess I will just have to become another nameless refugee,” Simon replied in almost accent-free German as he snuggled Jakob closer. ”Who's going to know any better?”
”Colonel Tanaka will,” Franz said, wiping the cheerfulness from Simon's expression.
Tanaka, the leader of the Kempeitai in Shanghai, had enthusiastically overseen the two men's torture at Bridge House. There was little doubt that Tanaka would take a personal, and possibly lethal, interest in Simon's recapture.
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