Last Train to Istanbul (41 page)

“Fine, bring me all the tickets and passports. You’ll find me in the first carriage right at the front. I won’t let you go without seeing all of them.”

“Don’t worry, I’ll find you.”

“I hope there isn’t anyone on the wanted list.”

“You think I’d go through Germany with a wanted person in my group?”

The official left the compartment, and Ferit and the man in the cap looked at each other for a split second. The man wiped his forehead with his handkerchief. Rafael stood by the door, pale faced.

“Rafael, you’d better collect up the passports and tickets from everyone in the carriage,” said Ferit. “I’ll go and find those still outside.”

Some who had gotten off were walking back slowly. Ferit stood by the carriage door, waving at them to hurry back, then he got off and ran toward the toilets to warn those who were there. About thirty people were waiting on the platform to board the train. They were getting agitated and jostling one another to get on.

When Selva saw the man with the SS band in the carriage, she broke out into a sweat. She was exhausted, both from fear and from carrying Fazıl. Immediately, she got their tickets and passport ready for collection. Rafael collected everything from those who had gotten back on board. Everyone was back in their places except Perla, who was sitting upright in the seat by the door with an odd look on her face.

“You should really be sitting in your own seat, Peri. That’s Marcel’s seat,” Selva said, but Perla didn’t move. “What’s wrong with you? Were you very scared?”

The girl didn’t reply.

“Perla, Peri, my darling, are you all right? Why don’t you sit in your own seat?”

Perla stood up, and Selva saw the bloodstain spreading across her blue-checked skirt.

“My God! What happened? Don’t tell me you’re…Don’t be afraid, Perla; you’ll be OK, my pet. I’ll help you,” she said.

Perla stood there, mortified.

The train continued its journey…
Clickety-clack
,
clickety-clack
,
clickety-clack
…lulling them all into a daze or even to sleep. Their nerves were drained, but they felt more relaxed than when they first boarded the train. They had gotten past one episode. They realized that such events could be dealt with. Perla had settled down with the help of Margot and Selva, and she had changed her skirt. She still felt a twinge of pain in her groin, but more than anything, she felt embarrassed. She sat quietly by the window, avoiding eye contact with her fellow passengers.

They were speeding through land covered with woods of dark trees, and cows and sheep grazing the hills. The houses they passed had red-tiled roofs, window boxes, and magnificent gardens separated by well-groomed hedges. Only a sensitive eye would notice they were passing through a country that had been invaded.

“If we don’t have something to eat, we’ll starve to death,” Selva said, taking her food basket down from the luggage rack. The sadness they felt leaving Paris and their fear leaving Reims had made them lose their appetites. Now there was solidarity among the
passengers, who shared the same destiny, and that had made them feel more relaxed.

Margot and Constance followed suit and got their food down too. They offered the men, who appeared to only have dry cakes and apples, some of theirs. David Russo was the only one of the three men with a bagful of things to eat; everyone’s mood rose when he pulled out two bottles of very good red wine to go with the food.

“I’ll find Rafo,” Selva said to Margot. “I bet he’d like something to eat too.”

Rafo appeared to be quite happy, sharing all the goodies on the table in his compartment.

“If you fancy some wine, pop in to see us,” Selva said to her husband.

“If you fancy some cognac, you’d better pop in to see us,” Rafo said in Turkish. “There’s a young man in here who has a bag full of bottles. I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s an alcoholic.”

“He probably needs it to relax his nerves,” said Selva.

Seeing that Rafo was happy, she returned to her compartment feeling better.

Passengers who had started the journey feeling suspicious were now more relaxed and at ease with each other. They were mingling together and asking all sorts of questions. Everyone was talking except Perla, who still felt embarrassed and just looked out the window, and the man Margot thought she knew. It was gradually getting dark. The lights of the distant cities started twinkling, like stars in the sky.

Suddenly the train screeched to a halt, causing the passengers to jolt sharply. Shots were heard in the distance. Everybody looked at each other with fear in their eyes. Fazıl started to cry. David Russo got up, lowered the window, and leaned out. The whole compartment was filled with the smell of coal.

“We’re not in a station. We seem to be in the middle of nowhere,” David said.

Others jostled him to look outside. It was very dark, and there was nothing much to be seen, but it was obvious that the pretty places they had passed through during the afternoon were long gone.

“I must find Rafo. I wonder what’s going on,” Selva said, leaving the compartment. When her son saw her leaving, he started to cry.

“Come on then,” she said. Fazıl toddled toward her, held her hand, and together they tried to walk down the corridor. It was full of people who’d rushed out of their compartments to see what was going on. Selva picked up Fazıl and held him in her arms to prevent him from getting crushed. She looked into each compartment as she passed by. She saw neither her husband nor Ferit. Her heart felt heavy. She walked back to the carriage exit. Marcel was standing by the door. They tried to force the door open and eventually succeeded. Marcel stepped out onto the running board and looked toward the front of the train.

“Madame Selva, there are some armed men standing by the side of the train.”

Selva leaned out to have a look too. There were some soldiers holding lamps gathered around the engine at the front of the train.

“My God, maybe they’ve taken Rafo away. I can’t find him anywhere!” she said.

“I’m sure he must have gone to find out what’s happening. Why should they pick on him among all these people?” said Marcel. “Besides, hasn’t he got a Turkish passport?”

“You’re probably right. I’m just so on edge. All the same, I’d better walk up to the front just to see.”

“Are you out of your mind?” Marcel said. “Go back inside.”

Selva felt embarrassed and decided to return to her compartment. As she turned around, she bumped into David Russo, who was right behind her. Although it was dark, she could see the terror in his eyes; they were jutting out like organ stops.

“Did you say there are armed soldiers up front?” he asked.

“Yes, somewhere near the engine.”

“Step aside. Please step aside,” he said to Selva and Marcel. “I want to get off.”

“To go where?”

“Wherever. Where I go isn’t important. I must get off immediately.”

Selva and Marcel looked at each other.

“But we are not in a station. Where on earth will you go?” Marcel asked.

“It doesn’t matter. I’m going to get off and walk toward those lights in the distance.”

“But you don’t know where we are, David. You’re bound to get lost.”

“I can follow the railway lines.”

David Russo jumped down without using the steps. Marcel and Selva, holding her child, followed him off the train. Marcel tried to hold on to David’s arm, and the two began pushing each other.

“You’re putting all of us in danger. Get back on the train immediately!”

“I can’t bear being put back into a camp,” said David. “Never again, never!”

“Hold on. No one’s taking you to a camp.”

David freed himself from Marcel. He started running toward the back of the train. Selva and Marcel ran after him. Fazıl, who appeared to be enjoying the chase, began screaming with joy. Suddenly they heard the sound of footsteps running after them. David started running faster, then a shot was heard! Suddenly, he stopped, Selva and Marcel ran into him, and they all fell over. The footsteps got nearer and nearer and then came to halt beside them. Two armed soldiers were pointing their guns at them.

“What’s going on here?” asked one of the soldiers.

“We fell,” replied Marcel.

“Were you running away?”

“What for?” said Selva.

“Where were you going then? On a picnic?”

“My son wanted to pee,” explained Selva. “These gentlemen wanted to do the same and needless to say, they felt they had to distance themselves from me.”

“Aren’t there toilets on the train?”

“Of course there are, but they stink. What’s more, there’s a line. The carriage is very crowded.”

“So why the hell were you running after these men who wanted to take a leak? Why were you running with your child in your arms? How come you fell?”

“I was trying to help my son do his business by the side of the train door. I heard a shot and I panicked and grabbed my son. I was running away trying to prevent him from being shot, when I ran into them.”

“What shot? What are you talking about?”

“There was a shot,” said Marcel. “Didn’t you hear it?”

“Oh, that! That’s the peasants trying to scare wild boar from their fields,” one of the soldiers said. “Get up!”

They looked funny trying to disentangle themselves before they stood up. Selva saw Rafo and Ferit looking openmouthed and petrified behind the soldiers. She couldn’t help laughing.

“I don’t see what’s so funny,” Rafo said, reprimanding her.

Selva just couldn’t stop laughing. Tears were streaming down her cheeks. Ferit held out his hand to help her get up, and Rafo picked up his son, who seemed to be having a whale of a time. He was trying to say something to his father while clapping his hands. Ferit also helped Marcel and David get up.

“Return to your carriage at once,” said the soldier. “I’ll also want to see your identity cards. We’ll see how much of all this is true.”

“What do you want from my wife?” asked Rafo.

“She was running away.”

“What? Don’t make me laugh,” he said.

“We’ll find out soon,” the soldier replied.

Back in the carriage, the other passengers were all hanging out of the windows trying to see what was happening. When Selva returned to the compartment with the soldier, the other occupants started panicking. The man in the cap was totally unaware of what was going on; he was sleeping with his cap pulled down to his nose.

“Right! I want to see all three tickets and your identity cards. I want to see the child’s as well,” said the soldier.

“The child is registered in my passport,” Selva said, then she turned to her son and pretended to scold him. “All this is because of you,” she said to Fazıl, who looked surprised. “Just because you couldn’t hang on for a little while.”

Rafo took out his passport too. Ferit rambled on with an explanation of what
they
were doing outside while the soldier scrutinized Selva’s, David’s, Marcel’s, and Rafo’s passports and tickets.

“Hmm…You’ve bothered us for nothing,” one of them said. “You’d better use the toilets on board next time you want to relieve yourself!” Then they turned their backs and marched away. As soon as they left, the man in the cap pushed it back and sat upright. David was sitting in his seat as if in a trance.

“What the hell were you doing outside?” Rafo asked furiously.

Selva couldn’t reply, because she was scared of bursting into laughter again.

Marcel explained what happened and turned to David. “Didn’t I tell you you’d get us all into trouble!” he shouted. Tears started running from David’s empty eyes.

“Why are you so scared?” Selva asked, approaching him.

David didn’t answer.

“You mentioned a camp. Did they take you to a camp before?”

“Yes, I just came out of one.”

Selva sat beside him and put her arms around him. She gently stroked his hair. Everyone in the compartment was totally silent. Eventually, Marcel broke the silence.

“So, why did we stop? What did the armed soldiers want?”

“Apparently we are waiting for some soldiers to board this train. They are being transported somewhere.”

“I wonder how long it will take?” asked Margot.

“It seems that we may be spending one or two nights here,” said Ferit.

A murmur of discontent spread through the compartment.

“I’d like to have a word with you outside,” Rafo said to his wife. Fazıl, who was sitting on Perla’s lap, started to make a fuss when he saw his parents leaving the compartment, but one look from his father put a stop to that. Rafo and Selva stood in the corridor face-to-face.

“Listen to me, Selva. I’m warning you for the last time: if you bite off more than you can chew trying to help others again, I promise I’ll divorce you the minute we get to Istanbul!”

Selva turned her back on him and returned to the compartment, slamming the door in his face.

The next morning, even though the sun was low, the rays disturbed David and woke him up. The sedative the old man had given him last night had sent him into such a deep sleep that he woke up totally rejuvenated and happy. When he was wide-awake, he remembered the previous night’s incident and blushed. He had behaved like an idiot. Even though his traveling companions had treated him with compassion after hearing his story, he couldn’t help feeling ashamed.