She knew why Mama had told her so many times she couldn’t count Bubby gave the same answer Your uncle Avram can’t take care of two babies himself He needs your mama to help him and she can’t travel that far alone Miriam still didn’t understand It wasn’t as if Mama would get lost All she had to do was board a ship to Germany and from Germany travel by train to the Old Country Uncle Avram would meet her at the station in Borisov and together they would bring Gabriel and Rafael back to New York Papa couldn’t help with the babies so why did he even need to go Your mama has never been to Borisov Miriam Bubby reminded her She doesn’t speak Russian Papa had lived in Borisov until he’d moved to New York fourteen years earlier A cousin of a cousin of a cousin had found him a job operating a pushcart Cousin Mendel also had a pushcart he sold paper and pencils Papa sold buttons and thread which is how he had met Mama 4 Debby Waldman
Your mama needed pewter buttons Not silver Not gold Not tin They had to be pewter Papa told Miriam whenever she asked to hear the story which was often What did I know from pewter He knew from pewter Mama would say laughing He just pretended Miriam liked the idea of Papa being so in love with Mama that he purposely did not try too hard to find the special buttons to keep her coming back to the pushcart By the time I found those buttons your mama was as in love with me as I was with her Papa said proudly Now Papa and Mendel ran a dry-goods store together Mendel had brought the rest of his family to America Papa wanted to do the same but his parents Miriam’s other grandparents had died soon after he left Borisov within a few months of each other His brother Avram had never really wanted to leave the Old Country Uncle Avram only changed his mind when his wife Tante Chaya died of a fever two months after the babies 5 Miriam’s Secret
were born Miriam said a silent prayer to keep Papa and Mama and Uncle Avram and the twins safe and get them back to America as soon as possible It was her fifth such prayer of the morning If only Lindbergh’s flying machine was big enough for an entire family Miriam said with a sigh Bubby reached across the table and patted Miriam’s hand A ship is much safer than a flying machine Miri she said But a ship is so much slower Miriam said She remembered when Papa had shown her the newspaper story about Charles Lindbergh flying across the ocean from Long Island to Paris in only thirty-three hours It was her eighth birthday and Papa had brought home the newspaper as a keepsake keepsake She still had that newspaper in a trunk at the foot of her bed with her other treasures I thought you were excited about coming to stay with us on the farm Bubby said You can have all kinds of adventures here Mama had whispered almost the same thing into Miriam’s ear the previous day The farm is full 6 Debby Waldman
of surprises You’ll be so busy the time will fly Papa and I will be home with Uncle Avram and your cousins before you know it Bubby was still talking so much you can do here that you can’t in a city full of cars and sidewalks sidewalks and buildings and noise How can you sleep with such noise Here it’s so peaceful and quiet Miriam shook her head No it’s not she said I heard a train last night Ach the train Bubby said leaning back in her chair You’ll get used to it By next week you’ll sleep right through it Does it come every night Miriam asked Trains go up and down that track every night and every day Bubby replied They travel from Canada to Florida and everywhere in between Like Utica And New York City Miriam asked Bubby nodded Miriam was confused After breakfast the day before she and Bubby had climbed aboard a train at Grand Central Station in Manhattan When they stepped off in Utica it was time for dinner 7 Miriam’s Secret
