Touch the Sky (Young Underground #8) Read Online Free PDF Page B

’ s vest pocket.
                  “ Aren ’ t you going to have any cake, Peter? ” asked Lisbeth, who was cutting another piece for herself and Uncle Morten.
                  Peter nodded and inched closer to the group. “ Sure, ” he replied cautiously. “ Just a little piece, though. ”
                  “ You ’ re still growing, ” she told him. When she smiled and sliced a thick piece onto a plate, there was no way Peter could say no. “ You can handle it. ”
                  Peter sighed and nodded, then listened as the adults started talking about politics. Usually he didn ’ t want to listen to anything like that, but Matthias ’ s voice echoed throughout the kitchen.
                  “ We ’ re going to change all that in Palestine, ” he told them. “ Just think. The chance to make a whole new country from scratch. ” He caught Henrik ’ s eye and winked. “ And it ’ s the perfect place for a young man like you to celebrate your Bar Mitzvah . You ’ re thirteen, aren ’ t you? ”
                  “ I ’ m almost fourteen, ” answered Henrik, trying to swallow a bite of cake. “ But we decided I wasn ’ t going to have a Bar Mitzvah. ”
                  Matthias stopped chewing, stared at Henrik, and put down his plate. He glanced over at Mrs. Melchior, who looked away.
                  “ You ’ re not? ” Matthias had become the judge and jury, and he looked ready to pass sentence on the boy who said he wasn ’ t going to go through with the traditional Jewish coming - of - age ceremony for boys. Henrik leaned back, his fork in midair.
                  “ This is something all Jewish boys go through, is it not? ” continued Matthias.
                  Everyone kept silent, and Peter felt as if he could have sliced through the tension in the kitchen with the fork he held in his hand.
                  “ Matthias, ” began Mrs. Melchior, “ we had plans, years ago, when Henrik ’ s father was still alive, but then ... you know ...”
                  “ Yes, I know, ” replied Matthias, taking a long sip of coffee. The steam rose around his face, and Peter wasn ’ t sure if it was from the coffee or from Matthias ’ s ears. “ And this is a perfect example of what I ’ ve been telling you, Ruth. That is, you raise your children in a foreign country, and they turn into foreigners. ”
                  “ Now, Matthias, ” objected Henrik ’ s mother. “ That ’ s not quite fair —”
                  Matthias held up his hand to silence her. “ It would be different in Palestine, ” he continued, sounding like a preacher warming up to a fiery sermon. “ There we could raise our children as Jews, as we should. There would be no questions over Bar Mitzvahs, or anything else. ”
     

3
     
    M ystery Cargo
     
                  In bed that night, Peter tried to make sense of the confusing day while Tiger lay purring at his feet.
                  “ So tell me, Tiger, ” he whispered to his cat. “ Are Mrs. Melchior and Matthias really going to get married? ”
                  Tiger only burrowed deeper between Peter ’ s ankles.
                  “ Huh, boy? ”
                  Peter wiggled his toes and tried to think, but the more he thought about it, the more confused he became. As he closed his eyes, his thoughts turned into a prayer.
                  I don ’ t get any of this, Lord , he prayed in the dark. I need some help .
                  He reached down to the floor beside his bed and pulled out his well - worn pocket Bible. But even with a flashlight, he couldn ’ t make his eyes focus on the fine print. Finally, he gave up and let his eyes close.
                  Only for a minute to rest , he told