Forever Torn

C10: The Boat Journey (1/2)

CHAPTER TEN: The Boat Journey

Avram was to take the boys to the coast and see them safely on the boat; as part of the ticket price a woman waited for them there and would travel across with them and look after them until they disembarked in London where their Grandfather and Uncle Joe awaited them.

For months now Orcik had been impatiently waiting for the day of his grand adventure – he couldn't wait to leave Linkuva (the place only held sad memories for him now) and to get away from Nachama.

The only people he would miss were Avram and Mushke and some of his school friends, but weighed against that was the excitement of seeing his grandparents again and meeting his cousins.

The older girls had written to him saying they eagerly looked forward to his and Solly's arrival and although it wasn't something he could express at this time of his life, in his heart Orcik missed having an extended family around him.

But why was it taking so long to organize??? His uncle in England was arranging papers and the ticket of course and money had been sent also for clothes. He and Solly had gone out with Uncle Avram and Mushke to be fitted for several new suits of smart clothing which he admitted they needed as his old clothes were getting tight and Solly was wearing his hand me downs.

Nachama had come with on the first occasion but seeing that her eldest stepson had refused to accept her opinion on any clothes had wisely left the shopping up to the others and contented herself on selecting the bed linen and blankets for the boys to take with. She had also donated several old pots and pans for them although Orcik failed to see why he had to go dragging pans all over the place!

On the 8th of July 1930, very early in the morning the boys were woken and made to dress in the travelling clothes Nachama had put aside for them the night before (everything else of theirs was packed) and after a very quiet breakfast they went outside into the street. Nachama and Mushke cried and hugged the boys and Solly clung to her for ages, also crying.

When it came to Orcik's turn to hug her, he decided as this was the last time he would see her, he might as well be gracious about it. Funnily enough as she held him, he felt a pang of sadness inside him and clung tightly and kissed her goodbye. Then they climbed inside the front cab of the lorry and with waves and shouts goodbye to the women, Avram drove them away.

Orcik was still in wonder about the lorry and however his father's best friend had managed to get it! He had only been in a motor vehicle a few times before in his short life. He decided he liked the feeling and one day would have one of his own!

The truck ride was a relatively short one – just a few towns away to connect up with the railway service that would take them to Kovna (Kaunas) and there they stayed the night at a small guesthouse before getting on another train to the coastal town of Memel (now known as Klaipeda).

As the train chugged merrily away and their destination grew closer, the boys sat either side of Uncle Avram, tired now after some hours of frenzied activity. Yesterday and this morning they had jumped up and ran around the train, sometimes pausing to look at the scenery go by outside the windows, but mostly on the move and making a nuisance of themselves so that the conductor had to shout at them and insist they stay in their compartment. Now they were exhausted and each boy leant with heads drooping against Avram.

He in his turn sat and reflected on the past. In his mind's eye he saw the trenches of the Great War and the smiling face of his best friend. Images flitted through his mind – here they were fighting in the war, then in Raskalnov's Brigade, then he saw them eating, drinking, talking at various times – on the line, in cafes and bars, with Petrov and later sitting across a table watching Golde bring her man something refreshing to drink after a hard day's work.

The love between them ... gone now and he felt so sad and in an instant his mind skipped a track and suddenly it was a hot day in Jerusalem and he was sitting on a roof top smiling and joking with Ruth as they smoked and looked out across the city. He felt like his heart would burst with the memories of the beloved dead.

Instinctively his arms tightened slightly around Orca and Solly, the former of whom murmured softly in his slumber. In a few short hours he would say goodbye to his friend's sons and wave them away as they started the last leg of their journey towards a new life in England.

Then what would he do? Return to Linkuva. For what? The place held nothing for him now and his meager belongings were in his pack in the train's luggage compartment. He felt he would go on ... somewhere, a place where the memories were not so powerful. Westwards maybe ... Paris. He had always wanted to see Paris and then maybe the Iberian Peninsula and after that ... he didn't know.

Avram would keep moving, hoping that one day he would have moved beyond the pain and the loss.

They would be in Memel in two hours and although he felt that he too could sleep, he wouldn't. Not until he had seen the boys safely on board the ship. For now and until then he would stay awake and treasure each second that remained with the children of his friends Dovid and Golde.

When they arrived in Memel, it was a short walk from the train station to the docks where the S.S. Baltannic was berthed. Orcik and Solly walked every single step with their heads constantly swiveling and eyes agape as they tried to take in every one of the strange and wonderful sights, sounds and smells.

This was a grand adventure indeed and they had never had an experience to match it.