It didn't take us long to get tired of that ship. Day after day we got the same thing to eat—cooked cabbage and potatoes and watered-down soup. There wasn't much of anything to see or do. But, unfortunately, there was plenty to smell. More by the day. Most of the food that people had brought along was rotting by now. On top of that, all the unwashed bodies, cooked cabbage, people getting seasick, and who knows what else, made a powerful smell.
But one day, I heard some faint music. So beautiful! It sounded like heaven.
"Benyomin, where's that music coming from?" I looked around, although I knew it wasn't from anywhere nearby.
"Upstairs." He lifted his eyes.
I nodded. "Maybe the rich people are having a dance." I pictured them in fancy clothes dancing to this beautiful music. I tried to imagine what they must be smelling up there—all kinds of delicious foods, no doubt. Naturally, I didn't only imagine how good their food must smell. I also began to imagine how good it must taste.
"I'm getting awfully tired of cabbage and potatoes," I said quietly—even though we were far out of Ma's earshot. "And I'm sick of that watery soup they give us." I wrinkled my nose.
"Me, too," Benyomin agreed.
"I wonder what the rich people are eating." I eyed the big, heavy door to the stairs.
Who knows what we'd find upstairs. Maybe a little bit of something delicious. Maybe we'd even sneak some back in our pockets.
I glanced over at Ma. She was busy talking with some other women. She wouldn't notice if we were gone for a little while. Neither would our sisters. They were chatting away with some other girls. Of course, Hannah was mostly listening. But her back was to us.
Benyomin looked at me. I looked back at him. "I'll go if you do," I whispered, wondering if he'd dare.
He looked over at Ma. She was still talking. To my surprise, Benyomin nodded. "All right. But just a quick look."
"We'll be back before anyone notices," I agreed.
We sneaked over to the heavy door, yanked it open together, and slipped through.
The door shut solidly behind us. We were in total darkness.
I felt around with my foot and found the steps. Carefully, carefully, I started climbing. With each step, the music grew louder and the air grew fresher. My heart galloped and my mouth watered as we hurried up flight after flight.
Finally, we came to a door. Without thinking twice, I pushed it open. Suddenly we were in glaring daylight, so bright I couldn't see at first. But once I got used to it, what a world it was!
Endless ocean in all directions. More water than I'd ever imagined. Now I could see for myself that Kvola had been right. This ocean was way too big for any bridge to stretch across it.
We looked over the railing. It was awfully dark down there. And deep! I held on tight. Just looking at all that water made me breathless. If someone fell in, by mistake, that would be the end of him for sure. But we were safe with this strong, sturdy railing. I looked around. No one else was out here. Everyone must be at the dance.
I took a big breath of fresh air. What a treat! Of course we had other treats in mind, too.
"Come on," I urged. "Let's see what we can find."
"Yeah, but which way do we go?" asked Benyomin.
We listened carefully and started down a hallway. The music grew louder. At the far end, there were large double doors. I pushed one open just a crack and peeked in.
We'd found it all right. There were people in fancy clothes and tables covered with white tablecloths and, oh, such delicious-looking food! So many kinds of cookies and luscious creamy sweets—just waiting to be plucked off those big platters. My mouth watered.
All we needed to do was scoot in and slip over to that table. I licked my lips. Even a tiny nibble would be worth the risk. I opened the door a crack more and took one careful step forward.
"Stop right there!" growled a deep voice behind me.