They made a short list, and Sabine was able to reel off her measurements from memory, but Gregory's had to be taken from his much soiled dinner jacket suit. For two suits 'off the peg', readymade underclothes, two dressing gowns, toilet articles and a cheap suitcase to pack them in, Huldah reckoned that a thousand pengoes should prove ample; and Gregory
having given her that sum she went off to shop for them while they spent a drowsy morning in bed.
Once when Gregory turned over and his body came in contact with Sabine's warm thigh, he thought for a second that he was back with Erika. Realization that he was not came as a sudden shock, but he quickly put it from his mind and dozed off again.
It was half past two before Huldah brought them their lunch, and she explained that she had had to wait until she could get rid of her two boys for the afternoon with a neighbour. While they were eating she brought in a second-hand suitcase and produced from it the purchases she had made for them. Then she said:
'Now you have clothes, Leon suggests that you should have dinner with us this evening; then I shall be able to give you a hot meal. My woman goes at six and I shall have the boys in bed by half past seven; so by eight o'clock the coast will be clear.'
'We should love to do that,' smiled Sabine, 'but isn't there a risk that one of the boys might be taken ill, or come along to you for something, and find us with you?'
'No. You must continue to be very careful about using the bathroom in the daytime, although Rosa is unlikely to come to, this end of the apartment; but it wouldn't matter if one of the children found you with us this evening. We should simply say that you were two friends we had asked in to dinner.'
When Huldah had left them they saw no point in getting up and, even without the aid of some books she had brought them, they found no difficulty at all in whiling away the afternoon most pleasantly. Soon after seven they roused from a nap and started to dress. The clothes were a long way from being the type they would have chosen for themselves, and Sabine groaned at having to put on garments in such flamboyant taste; but Gregory pointed out that being so far removed from the creations in which people were used to seeing her made it much less probable that she would be recognized when she had to go out in them.
Levianski came for them at eight and took them along to a lounge which was overfull of modern furniture showing the same flamboyant taste that his wife displayed in clothes. There he introduced them to his mother-in-law, a Mrs. Klitzberg.
She was a very fat woman of about sixty with a sallow wrinkled face and, although she was almost cringingly polite to Sabine, they could see that she did not at all approve of their presence. For that, Gregory did not blame her in the least, as it was very understandable that she should fear they would bring trouble on her daughter's family. In the hope of reassuring her a little, he remarked that now they had clothes they must not abuse the hospitality which had been so generously extended to them for a moment longer than was absolutely necessary.
Their host was pouring glasses of Baratsch for them. Looking up quickly, he said, 'I think you will have to remain here a few days yet; but it would be better if we put off discussing plans for you until after dinner.'
It was not an altogether happy meal. Huldah's anxiety to do her guests well had led her to give them too many courses and, as she and Leon refused to allow them to wait upon themselves, this resulted in the constant break up of conversation. Moreover, Mrs. Klitzberg remained covertly hostile, and Huldah persisted in calling Sabine 'gracious lady Baroness' although Sabine protested that she was now Madam Tavenier, and that she would prefer such friends as the Levianskis had proved themselves to be to call her by her Christian name., Leon alone of the three behaved naturally, and they wished that it had been possible for them to have dined with him without his womenfolk.
Soon after dinner Mrs. Klitzberg relieved them of her presence, and they tackled the subject which was uppermost in all their minds. Gregory opened the matter by asking Leon if he could buy them a reliable second-hand car.
'I could,' he replied 'but I am doubtful if you would be wise to stick to your idea of trying to reach the frontier that way. In the first place, our one serious shortage here is petrol; and it is not easy to obtain even on the black market.'
'Oh, we'd be all right for that,' Sabine assured him. 'I was given a special allowance, and have more than enough coupons.'
He shrugged his broad shoulders. 'That is not the only thing. Owing to the petrol shortage there are far fewer cars on the roads these days, and they are hardly ever used for long journeys. It seems to me that you would run a great risk of being pulled up and questioned about where you obtained your petrol. Then, if your description has been circulated, it would be all up with you.
Gregory pulled a long face. 'That hadn’t occurred to me; but I'm afraid you are right.'
'How do you propose to get across the frontier if you can get to it?' his host asked.
'We have passports; but of course we wouldn't dare to use them now. I had intended to abandon the car in a wood and that in the middle of the night we should make our way across by stealth.'
Leon shook his dark, curly head. I feared as much, and the dangers you will encounter there are a lot greater than these others I have mentioned. Have you considered, too, the terrible demands that such a journey would make on a lady. I am told by friends of mine who know about such matters that the patrols not only keep watch on the frontier but also range for several miles in depth behind it. That means that from a long way back you would have to avoid all tracks, and so be faced with a most exhausting tramp through woods or across marshes. You would not dare to use a torch and might easily lose your way. Even if you succeeded in evading the Hungarian patrols, you might run into the Yugoslavs on the other side and be turned back.'
Gregory had crossed frontiers clandestinely before; so he knew, only too well, that Leon was not exaggerating the difficulties. Had he been on his own he would have backed himself to get through; but he realized now that during the past twenty-four hours his thoughts had been too distracted by more pleasant matters for him to give due weight to the handicap that having Sabine with him must prove. The abrupt awareness of what it would entail came as a very nasty shock. Now he was seized with a sudden fear that to do as he had planned would prove next to impossible.
Journey into Trouble
Chapter 20
With a sinking feeling Gregory faced up to the gulf that lay between crossing the frontier on foot and, as they had originally intended, in a car. It would mean a whole night of desperate strain and endeavour; perhaps more, as dawn might catch them before they were across, and that would mean having to lie up for the day. For hours they would have to crawl flat on their stomachs through scrub and along ditches; and if they were spotted they would have to run for their lives to the nearest cover. Sabine had plenty of courage, but she was just not the sort of girl that Girl Guide Captains are made from. Physically she was incapable of standing up to such a gruelling ordeal. Uneasily, he admitted:
'You're right. The dice will be loaded against us. But it seems there is no alternative.'
Leon leaned forward. 'You remember our first talk at the cafe? I mentioned to you then that Eichmann had already set up an office for so called 'Jewish Emigration' in Budapest. For us Jews that is the red light. We still pray that Hungary will protect us and that there will be no great persecution here. Most of us feel this to be so much our home that we prefer to take a chance on that, rather than give up everything and face a new life abroad almost penniless. But some, who have money or relatives in foreign countries, are already leaving from fear that the Nazis will force Admiral Horthy to abandon us to them. For those who wish to go it is not easy; because in wartime the Government will grant no exit permits, except in very special cases. In consequence, those who are leaving have to do so in secret. Some of them are doing as you suggest and attempting to cross the frontier at night. But for those who are rich enough there is an easier way. They are smuggled out in the big barges that go down the Danube to Turkey.'