Night was already falling, and he was supposed to be in before dark. He knew that Mama and Papa worried when he was late—after all, they lived in Montreal now, no longer in a small village where everyone looked out for everyone else. But he and his new friends, Abie, Benny, Louie and Milton, had been having so much fun playing hide and seek, he’d completely forgotten about the time. It was only when the gas lamps were lit that he had noticed the gathering darkness. He burst in the door. “Mama, Papa, I’m sorry, I—” He stopped short. Everyone was crowded together in the tiny kitchen, and there was a woman Yossi didn’t recognize sitting at the table. “Yossi,” Mama said in a tense voice, “come and meet Mrs. Belnick. She’s from the landsmanschaft.” Yossi’s first feeling was relief—he wasn’t going to get in trouble, at least not in front of company. But then he began to wonder why Mama sounded so strange. He had no idea what the landsmanschaft was, but plump Mrs.
