Run, Boy, Run(31)

"I had a bastard for a doctor," Jurek said.

"So I've heard," said the man. "I was told he wouldn't operate because you're a Jew."

"I'm not."

The man didn't argue. He just said, "Jurek, the Gestapo will come for you. You know what they do to Jews. Go to Dr. Zurawski. Talk to him."

Jurek went to the doctor's office.

"Yes, Jurek. How is your arm?"

"The one I don't have? I don't know. The one I have is fine."

The doctor smiled. "What can I do for you?"

"Send me back to the village, Doctor."

"I can't."

"Why can't you?"

"I'll tell you the truth. I had a call from the Gestapo. They told me to keep you here until they come for you."

Jurek tried planning an escape. Yet not only did it turn out that there was a guard at the front door, but the nurses had no clothes for him.

"We burned them," he was told. "They were full of lice."

He waited impatiently for the next visit from the village. When a farmhand brought him a package with regards from Pani Herman, he pleaded, "Take me with you."

"Are you allowed to leave?"

"I have to leave."

"I'll ask the doctor," the farmhand said.

"I can't let him go," said Dr. Zurawski. "I have orders from the Gestapo to hold him here."

"Doctor," the man said. "I've heard that Jurek is a Jew. That's hard for me to believe, because we got him from the Gestapo. But if it's true, you know what the Gestapo will do to him."

The doctor frowned. "Medically speaking," he said, "he can go."

"Then I can take him?"

"No. But there's a big window in the bathroom on the floor above us. It faces the back of the building. And I haven't said anything."

Jurek and the farmhand went to the corridor. "Wait beneath the window," Jurek told him.

"But how will you get down?"

"I'll find a way."

Jurek climbed the stairs and entered the bathroom. There was a big window just like the doctor said. He opened it and looked out. The farmhand was below, looking up. Jurek climbed onto the window sill and called down, "Catch me!"

He jumped.

The farmhand caught him. They both fell to the ground. The man rose, picked Jurek up, and ran into the street with him.

Nowy Dwur was on the banks of the Narew River, near where it joined the Wisla. The farmhand carried Jurek to the river and put him in a rowboat. He freed the mooring line and began to row. They headed downstream and moved quickly. It was a whole new experience for Jurek. The farmhand told him to take the rudder.

"Me?"

"It's easy."

He took the rudder.

"I'll say left, right, or straight ahead. Can you tell your left hand from your right?" \

The man regretted the question at once. But Jurek just grinned. "Of course I can. It's easy to remember now."

Jurek quickly saw that he could steer with one arm. He sat watching the tugboats and small craft on the river.

"You're bleeding," the farmhand suddenly said in alarm.

The bandages on Jurek's stump were soaked in blood, staining his hospital gown.

"I must have hurt myself when I jumped."

"Does it hurt?"

"No."

"Pani Herman will take care of you, don't worry," the farmhand assured him.

Pani Herman, too, was alarmed by the blood stains. She relaxed only when she changed the bandage and saw it wasn't serious. Instead of sending Jurek back to sleep in the barn, she put him up in a small room in the house.

"You could still mind the cows," she told him the next day. "But when my boyfriend hears that you ran away from the hospital, he'll come looking for you. Now that you only have one arm, I don't know what he'll decide to do with you."

She had her seamstress make Jurek a shirt and a jacket with one short sleeve. The missing sleeve felt like an insult. Then she brought him socks and new shoes.

"I found shoes your size," she told him.

For the first time in his life, Jurek owned a pair of shoes that fit him. Pani Herman made him sit while she laced them. Then she hung a knapsack on his shoulder.

"Don't worry," she said, seeing the concern in his eyes. "Everything you had in the pockets of your old pants is in here. There's a bottle of water, too. Do you need anything else?"

"Yes," Jurek said. "Some rope, matches, and my stick."

Pani Herman sent someone to bring him a length of rope, several boxes of matches, and his walking stick.

"God look after you," she said.

Jurek kissed her hand and left.





12. With One Hand


Jurek was afraid to go back to the forest. What would he do there? How would he survive? How could he climb a tree or hunt with his slingshot? He could live for a while on berries and mushrooms. But he could also work as a cowherd and earn his keep, if only he could find someone to take a one-armed boy.