The Dressmaker's Son by Abbi Sherman Schaefer Page A

little
delicatessen that her mother had run since her dad died.  It didn't take him
long to find it.  When Rose saw Misha coming in she was not surprised.  She
knew it was just a matter of time before he would show up looking for Rebekah
and Samuel.
    She greeted him
calmly.  “Misha, how nice to see you again. Have you stopped for something to
eat?” she asked innocently.
    “I’ve come for
what is mine,” he answered harshly.
    “I’m afraid I
don’t have anything of yours,” she replied, still playing her little game. It was
mid-afternoon, and the restaurant was empty except for two women who took their
packages from the counter and left.
     Misha grabbed
Rose’s arm and demanded to know where Rebekah had gone with his son.   
    Rose would not
tell. “They are gone and they are safe,” she replied.  “Leave them in peace,
Misha.”
    He gritted his
teeth and pushed Rose against the counter.  “I will destroy everything you have
until I find them,” he threatened.
    Rose just looked
at him.  She had been through three horrible pogroms; her husband was gone and
her children were in America.  “You don’t frighten me, Misha,” she said calmly.
 “I have nothing you can destroy.”  He raised his hand to slap her across the
face, but stopped in mid-air.
    “We’ll see about
that,” he almost hissed, and walked out of the store.
                Rose leaned against the
counter.  She wasn’t scared.  She was tired.  There was nothing left for her in
Yelizavetgrad.  She would have to find a way to go to America.
    Rebekah had
continuously told Misha how lonely she was without her sister here and how they
had gone to America, so it was no stretch for him to go down that road first.  His
first stop was at the police chief’s office.  At first, the police chief acted
as though he knew nothing of this girl Rebekah, but Misha threatened him with
his life and the lives of his family.  The police chief knew Misha would harm
them.  He had no choice but to tell him that Rebekah and her son had gone to
America.
    “I have no
knowledge of where she went,” he told Misha. “I only know that she took the
train to Amsterdam to go on the steam ship.”
    Methodically Misha
began to check all the manifests from the major port in Amsterdam, but to no
avail.  He had no way of knowing that Jacob had secured the tickets for Rebekah
and Samuel under different names.
     But he also had one
of his soldier’s intercept Rose’s mail and that is how he finally found out exactly
where Rebekah and Samuel were.  Then he made his plans to go to America to
claim his son.
    He was traveling first
class. The crossing was calm and Misha spent all his time planning how he would
bring Misha home.  In his papers he already had tickets for both of them to
return to Russia in three weeks.  He believed that would be sufficient time to
accomplish his goal.
    As he sat on deck
he couldn’t help but think of how anxious Catherine was about his leaving.
    “Please, Misha,”
she had pleaded. “Let me go with you.  How are you going to travel back here
with a small child by yourself?  You know nothing about children.”
    “I’ll be fine,
Catherine,” he told her.  “I am the child’s father.  What do I need to know? 
He isn’t an infant.  He is almost four years old.”
    “But what if he
won’t come with you,” she asked. “What if he is afraid of you because he
doesn’t remember you?  He would more easily go with a woman.”
    “He will come with
me, Catherine.  I will find a way to entice him.  I have commanded hundreds of
troops.  I can handle one little boy.  Don’t worry about this.  Just make all
the preparations necessary so you will be ready for us when we come home.  You
said you have to redo the room because he will be older, and you have to find a
tutor for him for when we return.  Start working on those things and the time
will pass quickly.”
    Catherine knew
better than to argue with