Recap: Zevi and Jordie decide to leave the tree hiding place and go retrieve the important envelope from Shaindy. They get the envelope and then they receive a message from Zevi’s aunt to not come back to the house. She tells them to meet a taxi at a certain location. The driver will say the code word and he’ll have tickets for them to Eretz Yisrael.
We headed into the terminal. We saw families and lots of Jewish people standing in line, lugging luggage or speaking on their phones.
Jordie opened the envelope from the cab driver. “Okay it’s Gate 35. Stop looking nervous. Security will pick up on that. Act calm.”
“How?”
I tried to act calm, but my heart was beating a mile a minute. I was heading to an airplane. I’d never flown before and I was going to Israel with a secret document that terrorists were after. This wasn’t exactly a calming thought.
We waited in a long line in security. “Jordie,” I whispered. “We don’t have our passports.”
“There’s something on the boarding passes. I think it will let us through.”
When it was our turn, the guard said, “Passports!”
Jordie showed him the boarding passes.
He studied them for a minute. Then he looked at both of us. “Okay,” he grumbled.
I wondered what sign there was on the boarding passes, but Jordie had already tucked them into his shirt pocket.
I glanced around the line. People were removing their shoes and electronics. I noticed some Arab families.
I whispered to Jordie. “There are Arabs going on this flight.”
“They’re not all terrorist,” he whispered back.
Before going through security, Jordie took me aside and we went into a secluded corner. He took the brown envelope we were hiding and slid it into his knapsack. Then, we went through the security and then we sat down to put our shoes back on.
A lady came over to us. “S’lichah, do you speak Hebrew?”
Jordie shook his head.
“I do,” I said.
Jordie frowned at me. I guessed I shouldn’t have volunteered that. It was better not to speak with anyone.
She asked if we could take a box for her onto the plane.
“I’m sorry, Ma’am. I cannot do that,” I said.
She pleaded and explained it was important.
I knew enough not to take a box from some stranger. Especially not now.
She finally left and approached someone else.
“I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have talked to her,” I said.
Jordie was already hurrying towards a store. “Let’s get those plane pillows. It’s a long flight and we’re going to want to sleep.”
Sleep? I couldn’t imagine sleeping. Not on a plane headed to Israel with all that was going on.
“Do you think we’ll see our parents?” I asked him.
Jordie shrugged. “That would be amazing, but I am not counting on that.”
“So far no one gave you the code,” I whispered.
“Shhh!”
I definitely wasn’t so good at this spying thing.
We each bought a bottle of water and a pillow.
“How much cash do we have?” I asked after we had paid.
“Enough, but I want to conserve for when we get to Israel.”
We found seats by the gate. Some of the families we’d seen at security were seated with their children or spouses. I stared out the big plate-glass windows of the airport at the planes outside. I was actually going to get onto one of those and go up in the air. The thought made my stomach clench.
“Jordie, what does it feel like to fly?”
“You never flew before?”
“No, and honestly, I don’t really want to fly now. I’m not so fond of heights.”
“It’s like taking a boat or a train. It’s just that you go up in the air. Really, you’ll see it’s not that scary.”
That was easy for him to say.
We sat for a long time. Jordie was busy reading a magazine he’d bought at the store about trains.
I decided to recite T’hilim. At one point, a man came over and asked if we’d like to join a minyan.
“Let’s do it,” I said to Jordie. I was thinking we needed all the z’chuyos we could get.
Jordie was hesitant but he followed me. I think he was afraid of people noticing us.
After we davened, we headed back to our seats.
A short while later, a lady announced that the plane to Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion Airport was boarding.
“You go without me,” I whispered to Jordie.
“No way. We’re in this together. Come on. I’m telling you flying is not bad.”
When the flight attendant looked at our boarding passes, he looked surprised.
“First class seating,” he said. Then he added, ”Nice weather for kayitz, no?”
“Milder than aviv now,” Jordie replied.
When we got to our first-class seats and sat down, I whispered to Jordie. “Was that the co—”
Jordie interrupted. “Nice day we’re having for flying,” he said.
The flight attendant came over and asked if we’d like coffee or tea or a cold drink. We both ordered iced tea. “This is the life,” Jordie said. “Look at this roomy seat we got.”
I tried to appreciate it, but my stomach was still fluttery. I was scared of flying and of terrorists.
Passengers kept boarding and walking down the aisle.
“I’ve never sat up here before. This is so cool!” Jordie said.
I wished I could feel his enthusiasm. I just kept gazing out the window and wondering what it would feel like to take off.
Suddenly, Jordie was elbowing me. Across the aisle from us was a woman wearing a black burka walking down the aisle.
I felt a chill go through me. Her face was covered except for her eyes.
“It can’t be her,” I whispered, as I slunk down in the seat.
“It is her,” Jordie whispered back. “Her right index finger has a mole on 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).
