Page 43 of In Just a Year
“Have you met—” Raphi gestured to Esther to introduce her, and she got ready to curtsy politely as she’d been taught.
The mossy leprechaun, however, paid her no heed and padded his pocket where the paper was. Esther imagined the ink was bleeding even further but Ben needed this.
As if he’d heard her thoughts, the mossy stranger straightened his back and gave Raphi such a piercing and venomous look that Esther feared he’d curse them.
“I’ll be off, Klonimus. But I shall return!” He rose from Gideon’s chair and turned to the door. “I’m going to intercept your shipments and stop your supply.”
Esther couldn’t hide her horror as she locked eyes with Raphi. She drew a circle between her index finger and thumb, then made a blossoming motion with one hand, indicating the Dreidel of Destiny, and cut a look at Ben’s workstation. She padded her chest to indicate where Nagy had put the paper. Raphi inclined his head, confused at first, then raised his eyebrows, mouthing “aha.”
Drip!
Water fell from the coat as the man picked it up from Gideon’s desk.
“Mr. Nagy, shall I dry your coat?” Esther said in a sweet voice, submissive as a servant.
Surprise washed over Raphi’s face until comprehension cleared his mien. He played along, pretending Esther was a servant. “Let me bring you a hot cup of coffee before you go back out into the cold, Mr. Nagy. Esther can dry your coat against the fire.”
He took Nagy’s coat and handed it to Esther. The momentous look shared between them spoke louder than anything they could have said.
The old man lifted his bushy grey eyebrows. “With cream and a piece of apple strudel?”
“Certainly. Esther, when you dry his coat, could you check if there’s any strudel, please?” Raphi spoke to her with feigned authority. He hadn’t introduced her and she could continue to pretend to be a servant girl. Was he protecting her identity from the intruder?
“And cream!” Nagy called to her. Typical. Some gentiles treated girls as if they were invisible because they held no importance for them.
Rebellion stirred within Esther, she shared that with her sister, Hannah, however, in this moment, it was more important to read the man’s notes. Why did he have the symbol from Ben’s letter?
“Before I go, Mr. Klonimus,” Esther said with gravitas as she hung the coat over Gideon’s chair, “I shall stoke the fire.” She used the moment to fumble for the bellow and quickly reached into the coat pocket. Nothing.
Thus, Esther pumped the bellow to stoke the fire and made excessive noise.
Even though Raphi furrowed his forehead, she continued, took another log from the basket on the side, and set it in the fireplace. She unhooked the tongs from their spot on the wall and rearranged the logs in the fireplace.
Raphi squinted at her. Good. She had his attention.
She raised a brow and patted her chest again. Then she made a “no” sign with her index finger and laid her hand on the coat.
Raphi deflated.
He was in on it now and looked at Nagy’s vest.
Esther worked on the fire. A blazing wave of heat blew toward her.
Nagy tugged at his collar as he seemed not to tolerate the heat well.
She looked over her shoulder and Raphi signaled that it was working with a twitch of the corner of his mouth. Esther pushed the bellow again. Another wave of heat shot out. As Klonimuses and Solomons, they didn’t need words to organize a practical joke, even though the situation wasn’t funny at all. Nagy had to get so hot that he’d either take off his vest or give them access to take the paper from his pocket.
Nagy’s forehead glistened with tiny pearls of sweat.
Esther pushed the bellow again. A few long strands of hair fell out of her loose, twisted bun from the effort and movement. She hung the bellow back on the nail on the wall and lifted her hands to her head to hook the strands back under a pin. A few minutes passed and the room grew rather hot.
Beads of sweat rolled down Nagy’s temples. He wiped them with his hand.
“I’ll bring the coffee, Mr. Klonimus.” She set the bellow aside, picked up the coat, and hung it over her arm as the servants did.
“Esther, please bring the apple strudel first. It’s one of our guest’s favorites.”
She nodded her understanding—he’d sent her to the kitchen to his mother.
