Aharon Appelfeld - Adam and Thomas

The peasant angel left them a pitcher of milk and half a loaf of bread. They put drops of milk in Mina’s mouth. She opened her eyes for a moment and then quickly closed them.

Miro wouldn’t stand still. The narrow space they were trying to seal off from the cold seemed to oppress him. A couple of times he was about to leap, but Adam stopped him.

Finally he freed himself and jumped. Adam wanted to run after him, but he realized he couldn’t catch up with him. Miro raced quickly, as though pursued, into the interior of the forest. They watched him fearfully. The darkness, which had fallen, separated them from Miro.

“Where did Miro run to?” Thomas asked in a trembling voice.

“Miro wouldn’t run off for no reason. Danger doesn’t deter him.”

Adam bent very close to Mina’s face and whispered, “Just another small effort, Mina. We’re getting close to the end of the war. In a little while, just a bit, the Red Army will come and liberate us.”

But the night continued, long and dark. The cold grew more intense from hour to hour. Mina wasn’t breathing well. From time to time grunts of pain escaped her lips. Her mouth wouldn’t accept liquids, and the boys were afraid for her life.

Adam said, “In the morning we’ll go down and light a fire.”

Thomas agreed with him. “We mustn’t stay up in the nest and freeze.”

Trembling with fear and shivering with cold, at the first light they saw two people in the distance, stumbling through the snow, and Miro was running in front of them.

“Miro,” Adam called with all his strength.

Miro heard his voice and stood on his two hind legs, which was what he used to do when he had something to announce. “Miro,” Adam called again in a voice that shook the nest.

They were about to climb down, but they didn’t want to leave Mina alone. From above they observed the figures as they approached.

Fortunately the snow stopped and the visibility improved. Adam called out, “Mom!” and shook the nest.

“Are you sure?”

“I can see her.”

They wrapped Mina in blankets and the canvas and slowly, from branch to branch, they brought her down.

They were about to run together to their mothers, but they stopped their legs.

When their mothers were close to them, with Miro in front of them, Thomas couldn’t restrain himself and started running. He didn’t get very far. The deep snow stopped him. Their mothers were also struggling with the snow. They advanced slowly. The distance between them and Thomas grew shorter, but still a gap remained.

Adam called out from where he was, “Mom, not much more, just a little bit.”

The mothers arrived, out of breath, and fell onto the snow. Adam’s mother let out a loud moan such as Adam had never heard from her. He gripped her and called out, “Mom, it’s all over.”

She managed to say, “My hero,” before she fainted.

Adam put a few drops of milk on her lips. His mother opened her eyes and said, “Whom should I thank?”

Thomas’s mother didn’t say a word. Thomas hugged her hard and finally shook her and said, “Mom, why aren’t you talking?”

Adam’s mother asked, “Who’s the girl on the twigs?”

Adam answered with a stifled voice, “She’s Mina, a girl from out of this world. In the days when we had no food, she brought us bread and corn pie. She’s sick, very sick. The peasant who hid her beat her and threw her out of the house.”

“Good God!” said his mother. “We have to bring her to the Red Army infirmary right away. Where is the girl from?”

“She was in our class. We have to save her,” Thomas said.

Adam told her, “She’s our age, but she was always short. The peasant who hid her mistreated her, but she risked her life and brought us bread and corn pie, and thanks to her, Mom, we’re alive.”

“She’s an angel. I have no doubt she’s an angel,” said his mother, and her head sank down.

They didn’t delay. They wrapped Mina in blankets, laid her on the canvas, and carried her. It was hard to advance. They had to stop every few steps.

“Thomas, forgive me for not coming to get you. I couldn’t leave your grandparents to their fate. At the railroad station there was a commotion, and it was mobbed. Your grandparents could barely stand up.”

“Mom, I forgive you with all my soul.”

“I left you alone,” her voice quivered.

“Fate sent Adam to me. He is my friend in heart and soul, and in the past months Mina brought us food.” Thomas wanted to ask about his father and grandparents, but he stopped himself. Like Adam, he felt they had to save Mina first.

After walking for two hours, trying to put a few drops of milk in Mina’s mouth, they reached the infirmary of the Red Army.

“Who are you?” asked the doctor, a tall, thin man. He wore glasses and looked like Brother Peter in their school.

Thomas’s mother answered: “We’re Jews, and we’re mothers. We were in camps, and our children hid in the forest. Our daughter is sick and she was beaten. The peasant who hid her abused her, hit her, and finally threw her out into the cold.”

“We’ll examine her immediately,” said the doctor.

Now they could see the blue bruises and red welts on her little body.

The doctor was shocked by the seriousness of her wounds and called out, “Good God, there’s no limit to cruelty,” and he instructed a nurse to wash her.

“Sit down. We’ll do everything we can to save this precious little girl.” He asked one of the medics to give them soup and a piece of bread.

For a long time not a sound was heard in the infirmary. The mothers wanted to know everything that had happened to Adam and Thomas during their long months in the forest, but fatigue and weakness overcame them, and they fell asleep.

At noon the doctor emerged from the infirmary and said, “The girl opened her eyes, and that’s a good sign. We’ll keep an eye on her for the time being. How old is the child?”

“She’s nine,” Thomas’s mother answered.

“Good God! Only a man without God in his soul is capable of such cruelty,” said the doctor.

“Will Mina recover from her illness?” Thomas’s mother asked in a trembling voice.

“With God’s help,” the doctor answered. He looked more and more like the school priest.

The cold outside was fierce, but it was warm in the tent. The doctor stood and looked at them with wonder. Adam felt like saying, “Again we met an angel, this time in the figure of a doctor,” but he didn’t say it.

The next day the doctor didn’t deny that there were some hard moments in bringing Mina back to life. In the end the good angels won out. The girl was out of danger.

“Thank God,” said Thomas’s mother.

“Thank the medical team that made an effort,” the doctor replied.

Adam’s mother was alarmed by the doctor’s correction and said, “Sorry.”

That night the doctor announced, “The girl, thank God, is showing good signs of recovery.”

“Is she talking?” Adam’s mother asked. “She’s talking a little.”

“Can you understand what she’s saying?”

“Absolutely.”