Run, Boy, Run(7)

What happened next was unexpected. The farmer strode out of the house, saddled the mare, and rode off. The little foal ran after them. The dog jumped to its feet and went with them. The boys excitedly watched them go. Then Avrum said, "Now!"

They jumped from their hiding places and ran to the farmyard. The large baskets of vegetables were standing by a wall, next to a smaller basket of eggs. Avrum grabbed the eggs while the others snatched cucumbers, tomatoes, carrots, and radishes and stuffed pockets and bags of cheesecloth with them. The geese shrieked. The boys took off at a run. The teenage boy looked out from the pigsty to see what was happening and yelled, "Yids! Thieves! Mama!"

His mother stepped out of the barn.

"The eggs!" the Polish boy yelled.

They all ran as fast as they could, with Avrum and Shleymi taking the lead. The Polish boy gave chase and caught up with a straggler who had started to run a moment too late. He tackled him and pinned him to the ground. The boy screamed and cried. The woman went on chasing the rest of them, falling farther and farther behind until she gave up.

They stopped to catch their breath, grinning as they inspected the vegetables. Their mouths watered when they saw the eggs in Avrum's basket. No one mentioned the boy who was caught.

"In the city we only stole when it was dark," Srulik said.

"You can't steal in the dark from the fields," Itsik explained. "You have to see what you're picking."

"And if you're looking for something to wear," Yosele added, "you have to see what's hanging on the clothesline."

Now Srulik understood where Yosele's clothes came from.

"This isn't the city," said Shleymi. "Everything is different here. You have to be careful not to do anything dumb."

"Like what?" Srulik asked.

"Like talking to Poles. Or swimming naked in the river. You mustn't ever take off your pants."

Srulik had never heard of such a rule. But although he couldn't think of the reason for it, he didn't want to ask Shleymi.

They passed a farm. Some pear trees stood in front of the farmhouse. "They're real pears," Itsik said of the fruit. "Not like the little sour ones you sometimes see by the road."

They crept up stealthily. There was no barking.

"There's no dog."

"Let Srulik pick some pears," Shleymi said.

"Why Srulik?" Avrum asked.

"Why not? It's time he did something."

"Can you climb a tree?" Avrum asked.

"Of course."

Itsik gave Srulik a small bag. The boys watched him tensely. In Blonie, Srulik had climbed trees all the time. He scrambled up a fence and shinnied into a tree. But the dog had only been asleep. Now it woke behind the house and began to bark. An old farmer stepped outside and saw Srulik in the tree. Srulik jumped back over the fence and ran. The farmer freed the dog and they ran after him.

"Stop, thief!" the farmer shouted.

The boys lit out before Srulik reached them. Although he could easily outrun the farmer, the dog was catching up. He stopped short, took a pear from the bag, and flung it at it as hard as he could. It hit its target and the dog howled and stopped, too. But it didn't stop barking, and Srulik didn't know what to do. If he started to run again, so would the dog, and if he didn't, the farmer would soon be there. Avrum, seeing his predicament, turned back to lend a hand. Shleymi grabbed him.

"Don't! The farmer will catch you both."

"Let go of me," Avrum growled and broke loose.

He ran back and hit the dog with a stick. The dog lunged at him. But Avrum had been in fights with village dogs before. He whacked it on the snout and it ran off with its tail between its legs before the farmer could reach them.

Srulik couldn't stop thinking about the boy who had been caught.

***

The boys came to a broad meadow and walked through the grass. Cows and horses were grazing in it. Three other boys were sitting by a fire. Avrum halted. He gave Yosele two small coins and said, "Go ask if they'll sell us some matches."

Srulik went with him.

"Do you have any matches?" they asked.

The Polish boys shook their heads.

"We'll pay you for them," Yosele said.

"Then I reckon we've got some," said a boy.

Yosele examined the box of matches he was given. It wasn't full. The boy filled it from a second box, and Yosele handed him the coins. Colored bottles were lying by the fire. Some were broken, and others were neatly sliced in half.

"Are you making glasses from those bottles?" Srulik asked.

"What's it to you?"

Yosele leaned down and took two broken bits of bottle.

"You have to pay for that too."

"Try to make me," Yosele said.

The Polish boys said nothing. From time to time they cast suspicious glances at the bigger boys standing on the path.