Slowly the train pulls away from the station. Livi rests her head on Cibi’s shoulder. They gaze out of the window at the bright spring day, the familiar fields moving slowly past. Several times the train stops with no indication of where they are: fields to the left and right, and the stunning, still snow-capped Tatra mountains in the distance, bidding their citizens goodbye.
The train conductor makes his way down the aisles, empty mugs hanging from the fingers of his left hand, while in his right he holds a jug of water. As he hands Cibi and Livi a mug each and proceeds to fill them to the halfway mark, he mouths a ‘Sorry’， giving them a sad smile. Cibi glares at him, but Livi says, ‘Thank you’， drinking down the water in single gulp and handing back her mug.
The train eventually pulls into a station, with signs telling them they have arrived in Poprad. The doors to the carriages are flung open. Hlinka guards step inside each carriage and shout, ‘Out! Out!’
On the platform, new Hlinka guards are wielding long black whips, snapping them into the girls’ faces as they disembark from the train.
‘They won’t hit us, will they, Cibi? We haven’t done anything wrong, have we?’ Livi whispers.
‘Of course we haven’t,’ Cibi tells her, hoping her voice doesn’t betray her own fear.
A few feet away from where they stand, waiting for the next set of instructions, a girl approaches one of the guards and opens her mouth to say something when the guard raises his whip and strikes her on the arm. Several girls react, yelling at the guard, dragging the injured girl away. Cibi grabs hold of Livi as more guards flood the platform, ordering hundreds of girls into long lines, ready to start marching once more.
They haven’t been walking for very long when they are stopped in front of an enormous wire and steel fence, on the other side of which Cibi spies a number of imposing, dark buildings.
As the girls enter what is obviously a military compound, they note the army insignias on the vehicles, the barracks lining either side of the solitary road running the length of the fenced-in enclosure. Cibi and Livi join a group of girls being herded towards a two-storey barracks. Once inside, the door is slammed behind them. Slowly, the girls sink to the floor, claiming a space to sit down, lie down or curl up in despair.
‘Do you think they will give us something to eat?’ Livi wants to know.
‘I don’t think we can expect anything more than what we got last night,’ Cibi answers.
‘But that was nothing.’
‘Yes, nothing. Let’s wait a little longer before we go back into our cases.’
Sobbing and whispering, voices rumble around this room and the room above. But there’s nothing to be done. Cibi and Livi lie down and using their jumpers for pillows, their coats for blankets, they eventually fall asleep, too tired to feel hunger, fear or longing.
*
The next morning, when there is still no word from the guards, the girls are subdued. Cibi believes being left alone in this room to imagine the worst is part of the Hlinka’s plan. Terrified, hungry women will be far easier to manage.
Livi grabs her suitcase and climbs onto it to peer through the window into the courtyard beyond.
‘What can you see?’ Cibi asks, as others gather around.
Pushing up onto her toes, Livi squints through the murky glass. Letting go of the windowsill with one hand she attempts to wipe away the dust with her sleeve. Losing her balance, her arm smashes through the glass before she tumbles to the floor, unleashing a shower of broken glass.
Cibi quickly pulls her away from the scene as the other girls also move into the depths of the room, wanting no association with the broken window.
‘Are you all right? Are you hurt?’ Cibi brushes fragments of glass from Livi’s hair, her coat.
‘I’m fine,’ Livi answers, quickly.
‘Well, let me look at you.’
Cibi begins examining Livi’s face for stray shards and then she takes Livi’s hands. There is a long, bloody gash running down the middle of Livi’s right palm. Blood drips onto the floor. Cibi lifts her skirt, grabbing the white linen petticoat underneath. Bending over, she sinks her teeth into the fabric, making a small tear and then proceeds to rip off long strips of cloth, with which she wraps Livi’s wound. Almost immediately, blood begins to seep through the white cloth.
In shock, Livi watches her sister wrap her injured hand. She feels no pain.
The door is flung open, and three guards enter. Without a word, each of them grabs two girls by the arms and drags them outside.
Everyone in the room watches in horror, girls clinging to one another as the door is once more slammed shut.