‘Step aside so we can come in,’ another guard demands, clearly impatient with the back and forth.
‘Shut the door behind you. You’re letting in the cold,’ says Mrs Trac.
Magda listens as footsteps move away from the front door and head towards the kitchen. She holds her breath as she now hears pacing directly beneath the ceiling space in which she is hiding. Might they spot any skid marks from the chair?
‘I hope you don’t expect me to make you tea,’ says Mrs Trac.
‘We’re fine, we don’t need anything,’ Laszlo replies.
‘Have you seen anything of the Meller girl from across the road?’ the other guard asks.
‘I have children of my own to worry about, never mind anyone else’s,’ Mrs Trac replies sharply.
‘We are just asking if you have seen her recently. She has been spotted in town from time to time, but she’s never at home when we call round. What can you tell us about her?’
‘Well, she is a very beautiful girl. Are you interested in asking her to go out with you?’
‘Please, Mrs Trac.’ Laszlo’s voice again. ‘Do not impede our investigation. You must let us know if you see her. We have urgent questions for her.’
‘Why? What can that girl possibly know that you don’t?’
‘Come to us if you see her. That’s all we’re asking.’
‘I’m looking around right now, and I don’t see her. Do you?’
‘Thank you for your time. We will see ourselves out.’
Magda hears the footsteps head away, and then the front door click shut. She picks up the bread and lies down on one blanket, covering herself with the other. She is glad Mrs Trac can still afford fuel for her wood burner – she feels the warmth of it through the ceiling. The smell of woodsmoke is comforting too.
*
The scraping of the chair along the wooden floorboards below wakes Magda the next morning. She hears the tap, tap, tap of the broom handle on the trapdoor.
Magda is stiff from her night in the confined space, and she descends slowly. Pulling shut the trap she heads for the bathroom, and then joins Mrs Trac in the kitchen, who is drinking a cup of tea.
‘Thank you for the bread and cheese. I ate the bread, but do you mind if I take the cheese home for Grandfather? He misses it.’
‘You must. I can give you some more if you would like?’
‘No, no! This is more than enough’。 Magda nods at the cup Mrs Trac is raising to her lips. ‘Linden tree tea?’
‘Would you like a cup, my dear? I have plenty, thanks to your mother.’
‘No, thank you. We still have some and I had better head home. Mumma and Grandfather will be worrying.’ Magda touches the woman’s shoulder. ‘Thank you, Mrs Trac. I don’t know how .?.?.’ Her words catch in her throat.
‘Don’t thank me, girl. Just give my love to your mother and grandfather and I will see you next Friday. All right?’
‘I will. But let’s see how the weather holds up. I might be able to go into the forest now that it’s getting warmer.’ Magda leans over and kisses Mrs Trac on the cheek.
‘Any news of your sisters?’
Magda shakes her head. She has no words to express her desperate concern for her sisters.
*
Preoccupied now with fresh concern about her missing sisters, Magda doesn’t immediately respond to her mother’s questions about the night she spent across the road, and the guards’ visit.
‘Magda, please come back down to earth,’ pleads her mother.
‘Grandfather!’ says Magda, emerging from her trance. ‘Where’s Grandfather? I have something for him.’
‘I’m here, Magda. What is it?’ Yitzchak walks into the sitting room from the backyard and holds out his hand for the gift Magda is offering him.
‘It’s from Mrs Trac,’ she announces.
Yitzchak stares at the small, yellow block of cheese.
‘She shouldn’t have,’ Yitzchak says, in a muffled voice.
‘Well, I can’t take it back.’
Yitzchak meets the eyes of his granddaughter and daughter. Pain is etched into every line, every wrinkle, on his face. There should be five people in this room with whom to share this unexpected treat.
Chaya reaches out and strokes his arm.
‘Come and sit down. We’ll share the cheese,’ he says. ‘Chaya, will you make us some tea? I think there is a little Shabbat bread left over from yesterday. We will have a feast; we will give thanks for our good fortune.’