"Why didn't you tell me you couldn't swim?" he asked.
"I thought I could figure it out myself," Jurek answered.
Before long he learned to do a one-armed sidestroke.
Sometimes he went to the Wisla by himself, when the other boys weren't swimming or playing pranks in it. He liked to sit on the bank and watch the boats. There were barges and tugboats and sailboats that looked like white butterflies. Someday, he thought, he would own a sailboat and sail far, far away to the sea.
***
One morning a taxi pulled up in front of the Kowalskis' house. Jurek, who was standing outside, went to have a look. Taxis were not a common sight in the neighborhood. An elegantly dressed man stepped out of it and asked for the Kowalski family.
"Right here," Jurek said.
"Are you Jerzy Staniak?"
"Yes."
The man introduced himself. He had a German-sounding name. Jurek thought he might be Jewish. He said, "I'd like to have a word with you. Get into the taxi for a minute."
He opened the door. Jurek hesitated. Something wasn't right. The taxi, which at first glance had made him curious, now seemed like a trap. He ran to the smithy and told Pan Kowalski, "Someone wants to kidnap me."
Pan Kowalski stepped outside with his hammer. The stranger introduced himself again. Pan Kowalski wiped a grimy hand on his work pants, and they shook hands.
"Can we talk in private?" the stranger asked.
"Of course," Pan Kowalski said, inviting him into the kitchen.
Jurek waited worriedly outside. A few minutes later he was told to come in. The stranger said to him, "I'm a Jew. I've come from America. My whole family perished in the Warsaw ghetto. I was saved because I went to see the world's fair in New York and couldn't return because of the war." He made it sound like an apology. "I'd like to adopt you. You'll be well off with me."
"I'm not a Jew," Jurek said. He put his hand on his cross and medallion.
"I was given your name by a Jewish organization in Warsaw," the stranger went on. "You're on a list of Jewish orphans. I'll take you to America. I'll hire the best private tutors for you until you're ready to go to school. You'll lack for nothing."
"No," Jurek said. "I'm not a Jew."
"I'm sure you are. You strike me as a clever boy. The war taught you to hide your origins. You're still doing it now. But in the end you'll return to your roots. I'm ready to take you and look after you. I'll be your family."
"I have a family," Jurek said. "I don't want to go to school. I want to stay here."
The man said goodbye and left. The taxi drove away. A band of barefoot boys ran after it and waved. When it was gone Pan Kowalski said, "We could have made a lot of money, but we didn't want to sell you."
"He thought I was a Jew," Jurek said.
"Never mind," said Pani Kowalski. "Jesus was a Jew at first, too. As far as we're concerned, you've been confirmed and you're a Christian."
"You should know, though," Pan Kowalski put in, "that from now on the Jews will try to take you."
"Let them try," Jurek said. "They can't make me."
He couldn't say his prayers that night. He didn't know which sin was greater: betraying Jesus and the Holy Mother or betraying his promise to his father.
Two or three more Jews came to visit. These were young ones. They spoke about a children's home, school, new clothes, gym lessons, as if these were the things that could make him happy. The more they went into it, the more frightened he grew. Everything they offered him seemed like some kind of torture.
***
One overcast autumn day, a small pickup truck drove up with two men in it. The cabin door opened and one got out. The driver remained inside. The man turned to Jurek and said, "Moshe Frankel."
Jurek knew at once what it was about.
"I'm not a Jew," he said. "And I'm not going anywhere with you."
Moshe Frankel tried to grab him, but Jurek was too quick. The man went off somewhere, leaving the truck and driver waiting. Jurek knew he'd be back.
"Tadek," he yelled. "Quick, bring the ladder!"
Tadek ran and brought the ladder and they stood it against the oak tree in the yard. Jurek filled his pockets with stones, climbed to a triple fork in the tree, and waited there tensely. Soon Moshe Frankel returned with a policeman. Jurek hadn't counted on that.
"Take away the ladder!" he told Tadek.
Frankel and the policeman entered the yard.
"Bring that ladder back," the policeman ordered Tadek.
Tadek refused. Meanwhile, the Kowalskis and some neighbors appeared on the scene. The policeman told Pan Kowalski to bring the ladder. He brought it and leaned it against the tree.