The Children’s Train

At Stephen’s old house in Berlin, Sylvia rocked Baby Lilly and patted her back. Nora sat still as her husband carefully unfolded a letter from Stephen. They all huddled together as he read it aloud.

“Dearest Mutti and Vati, Hans is here with me at Dovercourt.”

Nora jumped up, clapped, and danced. “They made it! Praise be to God!”

Jacob smiled and continued to read. “It’s a summer holiday camp. The beds are hard. The food is bad, but we are fine.”

Sylvia leaned over and grabbed Jacob’s arm. “Where are Becca and Peter? Does he say?”

Jacob read again. “We wait for families to pick us. They want the little ones, like Becca. A family chose her right away, and she is living in London. Peter was with us for a while, but he was recently chosen by a farm couple in Coventry.”

“Becca and Peter are not together?” Sylvia asked incredulously. Shaking, she pressed her face into Lilly’s little body for the comfort of knowing she at least still had her baby.

Nora hugged Sylvia. “At least they are safe.”

Jacob went back to reading the letter. “We play football with the local boys who are our friends, now. Sometimes we win. The English boys don’t seem to mind that we are Jews. I think they might actually like us.”

Jacob’s voice quivered, and he stopped reading. “God bless the English children.”

He cleared his throat and took a deep breath, then kept reading. “Please, don’t worry about us. We hope all is fine at home and that you will have good news for us soon. I am sorry I was not a good son to you. Now I know that you sent me here to keep me safe, and I was not grateful. Please forgive my selfishness. Your loving son, Stephen.”

Jacob quickly wiped away a tear and folded up the letter. He looked at Nora sadly. “Our son is becoming a man without us.”