Hiding Edith by Kathy Kacer Read Free Book Online

filled the early evening air. Edith inhaled deeply. Anemones were Mutti’s favorite flowers; finding them was like finding a piece of Mutti herself.
    Edith and Sarah brought armfuls of flowers into the dining room, where girls were polishing candlesticks and laying down white tablecloths and special dishes. They finished arranging flowers in pots and vases on every table just as the rest of the children entered to take their seats.
    “Shabbat Shalom,” whispered Sarah. “I wish you peace on this Sabbath.”
    “Shabbat Shalom,” replied Edith. “Peace for us all.”

CHAPTER 10
Help Your Neighbor
    As she had promised, Edith visited Gaston every day, always wearing her bravest face. She never said a word about the raids or the camping trips. She smiled and made him believe that everything would be fine.
    “Papa will come home soon, Gaston,” Edith said one day, as they sat together on the front stoop of Gaston’s house. “And when he does, Mutti will bring us home, too. And aren’t we well taken care of? Mutti was very clever sending us here.”
    Slowly but surely the fantasy rubbed off on Edith. She realized that if you pretended that things were okay, eventually you began to believe it. Besides, nothing terrible
was
happening. People didn’t call her bad names; in fact, the townspeople were friendly. There were no arrests of Jews in Moissac, no beatings on the street. Even when Shatta and Bouli talked about the war — Jews being arrested in Romania, Yugoslavia, and Greece; more and more concentration camps being built — the events felt far away. Of course there were still difficult times, especially in the quiet of night when the sadnessof being without her parents would creep into Edith’s dreams. But she would force herself to shake off the thoughts and carry on.
    That became easier because there was so much to do: chores, school and homework, and choir, which Edith now enjoyed. But camping skills — the knowledge that could save their lives — always came first. After all, the house in Moissac was established on the philosophy of the Scouting movement. “Be prepared,” Shatta had told Edith the day she arrived. The young residents learned how to build a fire and tie knots, to follow a trail and tell time by the sun. And every day the children exercised to build their muscles and endurance.
    “Scouts must be strong, alert, and knowledgeable,” Bouli explained one day, as he led Edith and the others on a hike. “Stay together,” he commanded as he walked quickly up a steep hill. “Push those legs. Breathe that fresh air.” Edith struggled to keep up, overwhelmed by memories of her escape from Vienna through the forests. Her legs throbbed, just as they had during that long flight. And this time, Papa was not there to carry her.
    Yet, with each passing day, Edith’s body felt stronger and her pain lessened. She was developing her leg muscles, and a healthy glow had appeared on her cheeks.
    One warm spring afternoon, during a short break in their hike, Bouli invited the children to gather around him. The sun was still high in the sky, its bright rays beating down on the heads of the young hikers. Edith sat down, picked up a small flower, and absently pulled off the petals.

    One is for Mutti,
Two is for me,
Three is for Papa
and my family
.
    “What are you thinking about?” asked Sarah. “You look a million miles away.”
    Edith felt far away. She hadn’t thought of this silly poem since family picnics in the countryside around Vienna; and now the association triggered an intense longing for her family. She never knew what would set off these yearnings, and they cropped up quite unexpectedly — while eating breakfast, or walking to school or even dusting her room. Edith shook her head, trying to shake the aching away. “It’s okay, Sarah. I’m back now.”
    Bouli called for everyone’s attention and then began to talk. “Children, what is the purpose of Scouting?”
    “To learn new