Page 13 of In Just a Year
“I can go!” Ben said, and all eyes fixed on him. “I’m supposed to leave for university. Nagy won’t know where I am.”
“He could easily find out that you’re not in Edinburgh,” Pavel said sternly. “And you can’t take another year off your studies.”
“Aaron and Peter are there. We can trust them. They’ll cover for me. My handwriting resembles Aaron’s. We’ve often exchanged … never mind.” Ben swallowed his words as his mother sank onto the chair beside his father.
“This isn’t child’s play, Benny. It’s not about having your brother do your homework,” his father said.
“Nagy’s dangerous.” Gideon clutched Rosie’s hand as if remembering the perils Nagy’s lackeys had put her through.
“He made it clear he won’t stop until he destroys us,” Ben’s mother added.
Eve walked to her and placed her hand on her shoulder. Chawa Klonimus and Eve Pearler were brazen matriarchs when it came to reigning the jewelry empire their families had built, but when it came to the safety of their children, they cowered together, guarding each other’s hearts from breaking with fear that anything might happen to their children.
“Can you be ready in the morning?” Greg asked Ben.
Ben nodded, but his gaze went to his mother, who covered her mouth with both hands and collapsed onto his father.
“If it’s a race for the treasure, when do you think we’ll be back?” Ben asked Greg.
“We should be able to make it in just a year.”
CHAPTER7
Later that night, Esther sat at her vanity table and eyed herself in the mirror. She brushed her hair, forgetting to count the strokes. Considering how momentous the day had been, she thought she should look as different as she felt. Glancing over her shoulder to check nobody else was around, Esther turned back to the mirror and closed the distance to the cool pane. The mirror fogged up. Ben had been this close to her. She’d felt his breath. Already, the memory of it became a dreamy haze, yet she knew it had happened. She’d been pining over him for so long she couldn’t remember, but what now? What would happen next?
Gideon had caught them but he didn’t say anything. When Hannah had been caught with Arnold, they got married. Would Esther marry Ben now? Would he even want to?
A knock startled her. It wasn’t from the door.
Esther put her hairbrush down on the vanity table and blinked into the dark. Her second-floor window faced the alley between theirs and their neighbor’s house, but London had been illuminated, and the streetlights let her see the goings on outside.
Pling!Then,another knock.
Spooked, Esther wrapped herself tighter in the shawl. Had a bird flown into the window? That would certainly be a bad omen, even if she didn’t pay much attention to such superstitions. Aunt Rifkah used to have comments about any unusual happening, attributing meaning where none was due. For instance, when Esther was flushed from playing outside, Aunt Rifkah said her ears must be burning because someone spoke of her. If the elderly women in shul paid her and her siblings compliments, Rifkah mumbled something about evil eyes, “A git Oyg.” And when Esther had a loose thread of yarn on a button, Rifkah told her to wrap it around her finger and recite the alphabet. If she stopped on a certain letter as she recited the alphabet, it was the first letter of her future husband’s name as if a girl’s sole and highest goal were to achieve being wed. But Hannah had shown her a woman could do more. She’d married for love, transcended every obstacle that society and the community posed, and opened a button factory. She was an entrepreneur and a female leader of the community. If Hannah weren’t her sister, she’d be so in awe of what she’d accomplished that she’d probably never have the nerve to speak to her. As her little sister, however, Esther was pressured to follow her example. She couldn’t just get married but not strive for a higher goal. Yet, she wanted more from life.
Whoosh!
Startled by the sound and a figure in the shadows behind her window, Esther fell off the stool, heart pounding.
A face appeared outside her window.
Unsure whether to stay or to run away, she grabbed her silver hairbrush like a weapon and stepped closer to the window.
“Let me in!” a familiar voice said.
Esther leaned against the window, and gaped. She unhooked the window latch and pushed up the windowpane. “Ben, what are you doing here?”
Ben’s hands clutched the window sill, and he pulled himself halfway up. “This would’ve been much easier if there were a tall tree in front of your window like in books.” He pressed himself up and jumped over the sill into her room. “Are you going to brush me to death now?”
“Benjamin Klonimus, don’t you know how to use a door?”
He chuckled and raked a hand through his hair.
“Why didn’t you knock?” Esther kept her voice low, lest they be found out. The mischief in his eyes matched that in her heart; she wouldn’t miss it for the world.
“I did. Albeit, by throwing a pebble at your window. It was hard to find just the right size. I didn’t want to break the pane.”
“This is most improper, Ben.” Esther crossed her arms over her chest, suddenly aware she was in her nightshift and robe. She wasn’t even wearing any shoes.
