Page 34 of The Watchmaker of Dachau

‘If you want to help him then I wouldn’t bother asking for anything. The infirmary will kill him quicker than if he stays here the night.’

‘So there’s nothing we can do?’

‘You’ll be the death of me, Isaac, I can tell,’ Jan said, then turned from him and walked quietly down the aisle of sleeping men on their bunks towards the rear of the bunkhouse. Within minutes he was back, and he placed something on Elijah’s forehead, so that he immediately fell silent.

‘What have you done?’ Isaac made to get out of bed.

‘Shhh, stay where you are.’ Jan turned to glare at him, then went back to concentrating on Elijah.

‘What are you doing?’

‘There’s a secret I have at the back – a hiding place under a loose floorboard. I’ve been keeping clean snow in there, in cups, so we have a little extra water. All I’ve done is place some on his head – it is taking the fever down.’

Jan soon climbed back into bed and Isaac lay on his side, his eyes fixed on his friend.

‘Thank you,’ Isaac said.

‘We’ll see if it helps. I gave him a small remedy too.’

‘A remedy?’

‘My father was a chemist. I know plants, what their properties can do. When I am at work each day, I take bits of flowers, weeds, anything that I can make into a salve or a painkiller, anything that may help us. What I’ve given him will either break the fever, or it is too late. We will see how he is in the morning.’

Come morning, Elijah’s face was still pale, but his breathing had become softer. Isaac placed his palm on his forehead, the cool skin underneath signalling that Jan’s remedy had been effective.

‘It worked!’ He turned to smile at Jan who was lacing his shoes.

Jan stood and leaned over the sleeping Elijah, pulling back his eyelids, then placing two fingers on the side of his neck to check his pulse. ‘I’m not surprised. I’m good at what I do, you know.’

‘You were a chemist like your father?’

Jan shook his head. ‘I was studying to become a doctor. But then, things changed.’

Isaac thought of Jan and the hollow-cheeked man – how they had branded him like Adam the Kapo, how he had felt unnerved by them, scared even, and yet now he saw Jan caring for Elijah as if he were a newborn baby, stroking back his lank hair still laden with sweat, how he dipped his finger into the water and ran it over his cracked lips.

‘I’m not what you think I am,’ Isaac said.

Jan looked at him, his large forehead creasing as he thought of his response.

‘They just have me fix things,’ Isaac continued. ‘Watches mostly.’ He held his hands open, palms facing up, as if lifting a prayer or a promise to God.

The crease deepened in Jan’s brow, then disappeared as he relaxed. ‘I believe you, Isaac, I do. The others are suspicious – of course they are. But I believe you.’

‘Is it morning?’ Elijah suddenly croaked. He looked at Isaac and managed a weak grin.

‘It is indeed.’ Isaac returned the smile.

‘You’ll feel weak for a day or so. We’re on the same work detail, building a road. I’ll help you today.’ Jan patted Elijah on his arm. ‘You’ll be fine.’

‘Thank you, Jan,’ Isaac said.

‘We have to look after each other here,’ Jan said.

‘We do,’ Isaac agreed.

Isaac backed away and allowed Jan to take care of Elijah, a knot in his stomach as he thought of the things the others had been saying about him. All of a sudden, it felt as though everyone’s eyes in the bunkhouse were on him, tracking the way he moved, questioning who he really was.

The sun made a rare appearance that afternoon, lightening the chill in the air, the snow yielding to its warmth, its crystals winking in the glow as they melted away.