She is glad of the rush. She wants to be home, with Ernst, in a place where she can try and make sense of it all
Before she succumbed to sleep, Emmy told her, when we go and find Perla tomorrow, tell her a story from home. And so, all night, Hannah lay, staring at the ceiling, dredging up old stories. The next morning, when they arrive at Paulina’s tent and are refused entry, Hannah calls out: “Remember Gittele Frohlich?”
The tent door opens and the three of them bend and enter.
Paulina stands there, with her arms over her middle. “What about Gittele Frohlich?”
Emmy stares. “Who, Mama?”
“There was a young woman, Gittel Frohlich, who lived near us. There was an oak tree just outside her house where the children used to climb. One winter, she lost her husband. The next winter, she lost two of her children. Weak lungs.”
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