We are deep into routines—ambushes, patrols, and raids—and we’re glad that the big assault on us, which Kamil speaks of endlessly, hasn’t yet happened. While we secretly hoped that the Red Army would reach us before the attack, there arrived, as if borne by the wind, a medium-sized dog, which sniffed around, located Maxie, and sprang toward him.
“Edward!” Maxie cried out in shock and joy. “What a surprise! How did you find me?”
This was our first, tangible greeting from home. Maxie had adopted Edward as a puppy, and all through university the dog was at his side. After he married, he and his wife, Magda, shared their love for him. They had no children, but this did not mar their love. They took good care of their home and worked together in the pharmacy.
“How did you get here? How did you find me?” Maxie got down on his knees. The entire base was excited. A dog that makes a journey of more than fifty miles in search of his master is no small thing.
After the great excitement, Edward sat at Maxie’s feet and looked around alertly, as if to say, “I did it. Even I don’t believe that I did it. I got lost many times, but I finally found the way and got here.”
Edward is not a purebred dog; those dogs are spoiled, self-absorbed, and want only to be pampered. Edward is a simple dog who loves his master more than himself. Because of this loyalty, he was able to get all the way here.
Maxie, like all of us here, doesn’t tell much. He did reveal to Michael that he had a dog named Edward, but nobody except Michael knew he existed. Maxie does not glorify Edward. He keeps saying that he’s a levelheaded dog who is willing to put himself in danger. Thieves once broke into his house, and Edward attacked them. He was badly injured but didn’t let up until the thieves ran away. Maxie cared for him for weeks, and there were days when it seemed that Edward would succumb to his wounds, but he rallied, and since then, his loyalty to his master has grown sevenfold.
Magda, Maxie’s wife, was caught up in one of the first transports. After Magda disappeared, Maxie didn’t budge from Edward, but his life without Magda lost its meaning. He would talk a lot to Edward, torment himself, and wish he were dead, but fate desired otherwise. Kamil came to him and said that he and Felix had decided that when they returned that evening from work, they would slip away and escape to the forest. Maxie didn’t hesitate; it seemed to him the right way to end his life. He was going to leave Edward in the hands of his Ukrainian neighbor but then realized the man would likely turn him in. Maxie went to work the next morning without saying goodbye to Edward. Kamil and Felix carried out their plan, and the three of them found themselves in an open field.
FOR A MOMENT it seemed that Maxie was about to speak to Edward and tell him everything that had happened since he left home that morning and ask his forgiveness for abandoning him. That was a wrong impression. Maxie sat motionless, caught up in his thoughts, without saying a word. His initial happiness waned, and sadness swept over him. Fortunately, his friend Salo approached him and said, “Let’s show Edward to Grandma Tsirl. She’ll surely take an interest in him and say something worth hearing.” Maxie cast his eyes downward, took Edward in his arms, and followed Salo silently.