Run, Boy, Run(51)

He opened his eyes. He could remember his mother.

***

Jurek was excited and nervous when he went the next week to say goodbye to the Kowalskis. Hearing the hammer from the smithy, he went there first.

"I've come to say goodbye," he said.

Pan Kowalski went on shaping a piece of iron. Tadek glanced at him and resumed working. Jurek waited.

Pani Kowalski saw Jurek through the window and came from the house. Pan Kowalski put down his hammer and wiped his hands. Then he wiped his brow. "He's come to say goodbye," Tadek told his mother. Jurek gulped and said, "I'm staying on in the Jewish children's home."

"It's up to you," Pan Kowalski said.

"God watch over you," said Pani Kowalski, kissing him on his head.

"It's the same God as ours," Pan Kowalski said.

Jurek put his hand in his shirt and felt his neck. There was nothing there.

Pan Kowalski gave him a left-handed handshake.

Tadek walked him to the train station. He couldn't read, either. They had to ask directions. Jurek bought a ticket to Warsaw. The platform was crowded with passengers. When the train arrived, he pushed his way to a window. Tadek was standing on the platform. He grinned at Jurek. Jurek grinned back.