Serializing a new novel.
Chapter 25: Eli and Fay Tell their Story — Part
1
Daniel has been acting very strangely, since he has seen
the New York mobsters who threatened him on the streets of
Jerusalem. Eli and Fay, Daniel's parents, have also come to
Jerusalem. They went to the Kosel for forty days to
daven to find their son, and now Eli and Daniel have
met.
*
Eli hovered over his father. He found a chair pushed behind
him and he sat down. For some time they were wordless. Simply
gazing at one another. Finally Eli said, "Come, we must go to
your mother."
They crossed the street and walked a short distance up the
road and entered an apartment building. Eli went in first,
motioning Daniel to remain by the open door. "Come Fay, I
have a wonderful surprise for you. Our prayers have been
answered."
Daniel heard his mother say, "You have news of Daniel! But
how? So early in the morning? Where?"
"No, better than news. He is here."
With that he beckoned to Daniel to enter the apartment. Fay
looked from her son to her husband and then back to her son.
"At last," was all she could manage, as Daniel walked towards
her.
Now Daniel thought about the events of the previous evening.
He recalled the fear when he had seen the men and the way he
had behaved to his wife. There was still a sense of danger
when he thought of these men. However, now that he was
reunited with his parents he felt the fear dissipate. Now
that his parents had been miraculously restored to him he was
sure there was a logical explanation for everything. Together
with his parents he felt he could deal with any problems.
Daniel said, "I am married. You must meet my wife. I will
call her."
He went to the phone to call his wife at her parent's house,
but the line was busy. After a few tries he called Rav Dov,
to tell him the news.
"My parents. They are alive. They are here with me now," he
said.
The reply was not what he expected.
"Your wife is with us. She slept here last night. Why are you
behaving towards her in such a cruel fashion, sending her
back to her parents?"
"I was so afraid for her. I saw those men here in Jerusalem,
the ones I told you about, the ones chasing me with their
guns. My parents have a story to tell about their absence and
how they were rescued. Perhaps they will be able to explain
why these men are pursuing me and what can be done about it.
I will walk over now to collect Esther and bring her home to
meet my parents."
All this sounded to Rav Dov stranger even than the tale that
Esther had told him the previous evening — the tale
about frightening strangers. Now it was parents who suddenly
appeared in Jerusalem! Something was wrong with the young
man.
"No, I will accompany Esther to your home," Rav Dov said.
Daniel responded with delight. "That's even better. Yes,
that's good. Come. We can all of us together hear what
happened to them during these last years."
Daniel walked with his parents to his apartment. They walked
through the store, where Daniel introduced his mother to the
now-beaming store owner. They went up the stairs to the
apartment and quite soon Esther arrived together with Rav
Dov.
Esther felt herself moving in an unreal dream as she was
introduced to the delightful couple who Daniel said were his
parents. It was a bit difficult to take it all in after the
strange secret way he had refused to talk about his
family.
Esther insisted on making hot drinks. She passed around cake
and cookies. The domestic activity helped to calm her and she
sat and began to listen as the story unfolded.
As Esther listened, first to his parents and then to Daniel,
she understood everything. She understood why Daniel had not
wanted to talk of his parents when they had first met. She
understood why he had not wanted to speak to the man who had
recognized him. She realized why he had not wanted to spend
Shabbos in a hotel packed with American tourists. She
understood his reaction the previous night.
Everything became clear. It was as if she had been observing
a scene through opaque glass and now suddenly a clear pane
had been put in its place.
Rav Dov listened intently to all that was said. When the tale
was told he spoke.
"Daniel, when you came to my office that very first day, as
you showed me the money I noticed a folded slip of paper with
them. Perhaps that was the note that your father spoke
of."
Daniel pulled open a drawer and from it took a file,
containing everything he had taken that day from his parent's
safe. He took a brown envelope and in it there was a pile of
dollar notes. Between them, just as the Rav had said, there
was a slip of paper. Taking it Daniel opened it and then
handed it to his father.
"Yes, this is the note I made Fred Smith write that day. Here
it is, confirmation that he told me that he drew three
thousand, not three million, dollars. This note will clear my
name."
Esther's sketchbook was lying on the desk. Daniel's mother
had opened it and was glancing at the pages. Daniel watched
as he mother looked at one page after another and made
complimentary remarks. Then he heard a gasp and saw her pass
the book to his father. His father looked and then said, "Did
you look at these latest pictures Daniel? No? Come look here.
Who do you think this is?"
Daniel saw a sketch of a young man sitting at a table,
handing a small packet to a young girl opposite him. "It's
your assistant, the one who went to Brazil with you. It's
Fred Smith!"
