Recap: Aliza and Dovid took Zevi to watch some fishermen early in the morning, and when Aliza turned around, Zevi wasn’t there. She and Dovid are frantically trying to find their little brother.
Dovid was racing down the dirt path ahead. I was huffing and puffing to keep up. I pointed to the dock where the two fishermen were still fishing. One of them turned towards us. He was wearing a red plaid shirt. “Did you find your brother?”
I shook my head.
Dovid kept running ahead.
“Where are we––”
He stopped in front of the cabin we’d seen yesterday with the large sandbox.
He hurried over and knocked on the door.
A lady wearing a lavender tichel answered.
“Did a little boy wearing a navy––“
Zevi appeared behind her.
“I was just going to call the park office to try to locate his family,” the lady said.
I strode towards him. I wasn’t sure if I wanted to hit him or hug him.
“How could you run off like that?” I yelled.
Zevi shrugged. A little boy around the same size ambled over, holding a big toy pick-up truck.
“This is my brother and sister,” Zevi said.
“Please come in. You must want to call your mother.”
That was a logical thought, but our family is so different. “Well, actually, she’s not even here right now, but I will call Carol our housekeeper. She notified the police.”
“Oh, my. I’m Aviva Talshin. Your brother was playing in the sandbox early this morning. I didn’t know who he was, but I told him to come inside. He hit it off with my nephew Reuvie.”
“I’m so sorry for the trouble,” I said, thinking how it was my fault for not being more responsible. “Zevi wanted to watch the fishermen and—”
“No worries. Hashem meant for us to meet. Would your family like to join us for Shabbos lunch? You can ask your parents. My husband is Rav Dovid Talshin, the rosh yeshivah of the kollel that just started near here.”
“it’s very nice of you to invite us,” Dovid said. “I’ll try to reach my mom, but I’m almost sure she would be happy to accept.”
She showed Dovid where the phone was, and he had luckily memorized our number at the cabin and he called to tell Carol we found Zevi.
A baby was crying and Mrs. Talshin excused herself. Two toddlers appeared carrying blankies.
Dovid told me that Carol was crying with relief. She said she’d call the police and tell them everything was all right.
I thanked Hashem. Really, I was so lucky that Zevi was here in a safe frum cabin. Anything could have happened.
There was a knock on the door, and the fisherman with the red plaid shirt stood in the doorway. “My brother and I wanted to make sure you found your brother.”
“Yes, thank you.”
The man nodded and left.
“That was nice of him,” I said.
Just then, the phone rang, and Mrs. Talshin rushed back into the room, cradling a newborn baby.
She answered the phone. “Yes, that would be great. Okay, Shaya. Fine. Looking forward. Bye.”
“Daddy coming?” Reuvie asked. “Yes, that was your father. He’s coming back early from his trip.”
We thanked Mrs. Talshin and told Zevi it was time to go back to our cabin.
“I wanna stay and play with Reuvie.”
“Reuvie will be here for Shabbos, so you can play with him then,” Mrs. Talshin said.
“We look forward to seeing you on Shabbos. Mrs. Talshin wrote down their number with one hand straddling her baby girl with the other.
“Just call to confirm. We’re looking forward.”
Zevi and Reuvie were both smiling and waving at each other as we left.
We headed back down the dirt path with Zevi in tow.
He didn’t seem to understand he had done anything wrong, and I was too drained emotionally to start yelling at him. Really that was a job for my mother.
When we got back to the cabin, I asked Carol to please watch Zevi. I needed a break.
“Dovid, this morning was horrible. Mommy should be here.
This is so—”
“Look, I hear how you feel, and this morning was upsetting. Please take a look at the journal. It will help you understand why Ima does what she does.”
I didn’t have anything else to read and I wasn’t in the mood to write a story. That’s my favorite thing to do, but I was too upset from what happened. “Okay.”
Dovid brought me the journal and I sat down to read it.
To be continued…
Susie Garber is the author of an historical fiction novel, Flight of the Doves (Menucha Publishing, 2023), Please Be Polite (Menucha Publishers, 2022), A Bridge in Time (Menucha Publishing, 2021), Secrets in Disguise (Menucha Publishers, 2020), Denver Dreams (a novel, Jerusalem Publications, 2009), Memorable Characters…Magnificent Stories (Scholastic, 2002), Befriend (Menucha Publishers, 2013), The Road Less Traveled (Feldheim, 2015), fiction serials and features in Binah Magazine and Binyan Magazine, “Moon Song” in Binyan (2021-2022), and Alaskan Gold ( 2023-2024).
