Heinrich hears about the search

Heinrich spent a few minutes at the stable checking out the horses and gear; finally he paid the fee and deposit. Before heading out he considered the route home. He didn’t want to take the same way and possibly see the boy again, so he turned to the right and headed around the center of town avoiding the more popular streets. He went to the south of town thinking that the boy would likely be between there and Zahna. The logic must have worked because he didn’t see him. Despite the detour he made sure to stop at the store to pick up the food items that Freyda had asked for. The circuitous route took a bit more time but he finally came to his house. He opened the gate and lead the horses to the rear of the shed and got them settled for the night.

Heinrich opened the door about an hour after the ladies had their episode with the constable. He could tell by their faces that something had happened, so he asked, “What is it?” Freyda said, “someone came to our door today and said they heard a Jewish girl was staying here.” Heinrich replied, “What did you tell him?” “I said you rescued a girl from danger and she spent the night, but she wasn’t here anymore. Because I knew that Rebekah was hiding outside, I invited him to come in and search the house, but he was under orders to do that anyway. Fortunately he didn’t see anything that gave him pause. During this whole time Rebekah had sneaked out the back door and went to the shed and then into the woods.

At this time, Rebekah gave her perspective, “I hid like a criminal in the bushes near the path that you two scouted out. I finally took a chance and went to a larger tree and peeked around the side. I saw the man walking away from the house and I waited until he was out of sight. I knew it was him because he had that silly hat on. Freyda added “he said someone told them that a Jewish girl was here. Who would do that? Could it have been one of our neighbors?”