Adam read the letter again and again, and tears filled his eyes.
“What did your mother write to you?” Thomas approached Adam.
“Sorry, Thomas. It’s hard for me to talk now,” said Adam and pressed Miro against his body.
Chapter 19
The next day Adam milked the cow and filled the thermos bottle. They sat near the brook, and Miro joined in the meal. Miro didn’t leave Adam’s side. He brought little barks up from inside himself. They were familiar, but Adam couldn’t decipher them. Adam knelt down and asked again, “What happened to Mom and my grandparents? When did they leave the house?”
Miro apparently knew a lot, too much to communicate what he knew to Adam with little barks. A day and a half had passed since his arrival, but he still hadn’t calmed down.
Miro wasn’t a big or purebred dog. He was black with white patches. He wasn’t particularly handsome, but he was solidly built. His jumps were powerful, and he ran with long strides. He liked to be petted, but he didn’t beg to be pampered, and he didn’t annoy you by barking for no reason. Adam’s father called him a “serious dog.”
Adam kept rereading the letter that Miro had brought him. He felt the pain between the few sentences that his mother had written to him. His father was carrying iron tracks on his shoulder and collapsing under the weight of the burden. His mom and his grandparents were somewhere in Poland. Only a short time ago we were all together, and now everyone is somewhere else.
Thomas also thought about his father, who had been taken for forced labor, and about his mother, who was watching over the grandparents.
Suddenly Thomas turned to Adam and asked, “Is God watching over us?”
“Why do you ask?”
“Our situation worries me,” said Thomas.
“My grandfathers are close to God. They pray to him and read holy books.”
“Do you feel God?” Thomas surprised him.
“When I’m with my grandparents, I feel him.”
“And you yourself, do you feel close to God?”
“Sometimes it seems like he is hovering above me,” said Adam, and wonder filled his face.
Adam’s answers didn’t bring Thomas close to God. But Thomas felt that Adam wasn’t making things up. He wasn’t exaggerating. He was trying to convey his feelings.
“Adam, thanks for sharing your feelings with me.”
“It’s hard for me to talk about secret things. I don’t have the right words,” said Adam.
“I understand,” said Thomas.
Mina hadn’t forgotten them. Once again she left them a few pieces of corn pie and some cheese. She wrapped the package in newspaper and left it near the tree.
“If only it was possible to thank her,” said Thomas.
“Nobody must see us with her. She’s living a hidden life now,” said Adam in a whisper.
“You’re right,” said Thomas, impressed by Adam’s way of thinking.
That day Thomas managed to write in his diary:
Yesterday in a miraculous way Miro, Adam’s dog, came to us. His surprising arrival strengthens my faith that the war is nearly over, and after it we’ll meet. Miro is a wonderful creature. He wandered in the forest for many days before he found Adam. Adam found a letter from his mother in Miro’s collar. His mother told him that she hadn’t been able to find a hiding place for his grandparents, so all of them would go to the railroad station. Did you and my grandparents take the same path?
Until a short time ago forest fruit nourished us, but it’s disappearing. Luckily for us we found a girl from our class, Mina, who’s hiding with a peasant. She brings us bread or corn pie and cheese from time to time, and she’s saving us from hunger.
Adam keeps saying: God sent Mina to us. It’s hard for me to say a sentence like that. Adam comes from a religious family. Faith in God was planted in him. I can’t forget what Dad always said, Human beings — only the good of human beings — is our concern. We don’t deal in conjectures.
To tell the truth, Adam and I don’t argue. We’re busy from morning to night with strengthening the nest and getting food. It isn’t easy to stay alive in the forest. Adam is a good friend and an optimistic boy. If it weren’t for him, I doubt I would have lasted.
Chapter 20
Meanwhile it started to rain, heavy rain that forced them to go up into the nest and cover themselves with the shepherd’s cloak. Miro was content. He clung to Adam, and for the first time he barked happily.
“It’s a good thing we have the cloak to shield us.
Miro will also protect us,” said Adam.
The rain lasted all day and all night. The first time it stopped, they climbed down to see whether the cow and the calf were grazing in the field. They weren’t there, but a small package, wrapped in a rag, was laying under the tree. There were a couple of slices of corn pie in it, a piece of cheese, and dried fruit.
Adam called out enthusiastically, “God sent us Mina.”
“Adam, I’d like to believe in God, too.”
“You have to be patient. Everyone comes to him in their own way.”
“Dad says that faith in God has passed from the world,” said Thomas.
“Thomas, your father is a man of integrity. He is devoted to his students heart and soul. He serves God in his own way.”
“I guess I’ll have to find my own way, too,” said Thomas.
They climbed up to the nest and ate. Since Miro came, Thomas’s mood changed. He no longer sank into sudden sadness. Miro seemed to feel affection for Thomas and let him pet him.
But the nights weren’t peaceful. From time to time they heard the footsteps of someone running away, and sometimes they heard shots. From the distance heavy, dull noises could be heard, sounding like a mixture of lightning and thunder.
While they listened to the rain and the sound of explosions above them, once again they heard a man groaning in pain.
“Let’s go down and see what happened,” said Adam, immediately taking iodine and bandages from his backpack. Thomas took the thermos bottle with him and the remains of the corn pie.
Not far from the nest a man lay, tormented by pain. Adam recognized him right away: the music teacher.
“What happened, Mr. Braverman?” Adam leaned over him.
“Who are you?” he was roused from his pain.
“We’re Adam and Thomas, your students.”
“Sorry,” he said, and his head sank to the ground.
“Are you wounded?” Adam whispered.
“In the leg.”
“We have iodine and a bandage.”
Adam rolled up his pant leg. He could see the blood and the wound despite the darkness.
“A bullet hit me, but it seems to have missed the bone.”
After they washed the wounded area and put iodine on it, Mr. Braverman opened his eyes and said, “Thank you, boys.” Miro kept walking around them, complaining because they weren’t including him in the rescue.
When the first lights filtered into the forest, Mr. Braverman raised himself on his arms and said, “Thank you, boys, for your fine and devoted help. Now it’s daytime, and you have to return to your hiding place.”
“Please drink some water and have a bit of corn pie,” Adam said.
The teacher sipped some water and tasted the corn pie. Then he said, “Dear children, go back to where you were. We’ll meet after the war.”