In desperation, I wanted to tell her how I felt but I managed to get a grip on myself.
“Fine,” I said. “This is an emergency. Laevskaya offered to take the children in if something happened. And it’s only one of them. True, he’s poorly but that doesn’t matter. I’ll try and persuade her. She won’t say no.”
Lyuba thought rapidly and agreed.
I don’t know myself why I brought Laevskaya into it. Especially with Jewish murderers in the hospital and Laevskaya too, let’s be honest, was one-hundred-per-cent Jewish. I’d got her on the brain and just blurted it out. Then immediately regretted it. But there was no going back.
Lyuba brightened up. She asked me to run over to Polina Lvovna, negotiate with her, win her round.
I hurried off to Laevskaya’s.
I took every short cut I could. She lived i
