The Rescue

This is the fifth of my Zichron Yaakov stories. I want to write a short story for every decade that my home town has existed. And since the town was established in 1883, I have still quite a few stories to write! The Rescue takes place in 1885 and is thus the ‘first’ Zichron Yaakov story. Note though I do not really write the stories in chronological order. This story was inspired by Rehamem Levi, a 100-year old citizen of our town who told me about the “animals” that scratched at their doors in the middle of the night when he was a child.

“I think I am going to kill myself.”

“Can you stop with the drama Sarah and stop pacing about, we knew it won’t be easy to live in in Eretz Israel.”

“Not easy?! Not easy?! Hiding from the goyim on a pogrom wasn’t easy! Vomiting up my insides on the boat to Haifa was not easy. Travelling to this god-forsaken hill-top in the middle of nowhere was ‘NOT EASY’! But this, this stupid little life we have here in all this MUD in not meant for human beings”.

Victor looked around the small shack that they have lived in the past six months. They were so happy to move out of the tents but the living conditions in the shack were not much better. It was an exceptional wet winter that year in Zichron Yaakov and the dirt floor was muddy and smelly. Wet clothes strung out throughout the hut, blocking the light from their only lamp and casting long shadows on the walls.

He himself missed the comforts of their homes in Romania. His family were farmers and not rich city Jews but they still had a much more comfortable life back in the old country. There was a small synagogue, a bakery that opened on Fridays to make challah for Shabbat and even a mikve. Here in Zichron Yaakov they don’t even have tiles for their small huts.

He sighed. It was doubtful that he ever would have left his small village if it wasn’t for that horrible night. The night that he lost his family and everything else dear to him… Victor physically shook himself to force those memories out of his head and tuned to his wife.

“I should never have married you and moved to this hellhole!” Sarah continued, “I wished I never came to this unholy place!”

“Enough!! Shut your mouth woman! This is Eretz Israel and the country where God said we should live.”

Suddenly a loud scratch and a bump against the shack’s door froze the couple in their steps. Sarah and Victor stared at each other, not making sound. Once again there was a bump, this time a bit softer and accompanied by a strange whine. It sounded like a dog and yet it didn’t.

Sarah whispered softly her husband, “Do you think it is a wolf?”

The animal or whatever it was seemed to have heard her and whimpered a bit louder.

“Maybe it is injured and need our help…?”

She tiptoed to their only window and peered outside but their usual evening view of darkness was the only thing that she saw. Even the stars were blocked out by dark rain clouds. And with the window built right across from the door to create a breeze in the hot summer months, there was no chance to see who, or what, was bumping at their door.

“I cannot see a thing. Do you think we should open the door a little bit and peek outside? Maybe someone needs our help.” Sarah asked Victor. He did not answer her.

“Victor. Victor! What must we do?” Sarah tugged at him but he didn’t move. He was frozen in the exact same spot he was when they heard that first loud bump at their door. His eyes were staring unblinking into front of him and he didn’t seem to hear his wife’s cries or feel her pulling at his sleeves.

She knew that he lost both of his parents a couple of years ago in a particularly vicious pogrom attack but it was the first time that she had ever seen him like this. He was the one who looked after her when she was so sick on the boat coming over. He bought and packed up everything for their journey to Zichron Yaakov. And then he worked tirelessly so that they could move into this shack. He was also the first one of their small settlement to start a vegetable garden.

Sarah wondered if the strange noises at the door brought back the memories of that terrible night in Romania. But then there was another bump at the door. As if to call her away from her frozen husband’s side.

Afterwards, when everyone asked how she dared to open the door, she could not answer them. It was as if some deep instinct inside her compelled her to leave Victor alone, walk over to their door and open it.

At first she didn’t not see anything but then another soft whimper near her feet made her look down. A strange animal was sitting at their doorstep looking up to Sarah with the most unusual yellow eyes.

She had never seen such an ugly animal in her life. Its shape reminded her of a wolf even though it was not a wolf nor a dog. Its ugly fur and legs were covered in stripes and a short striped mane grew down its neck all the way to its tail. It was however the ugly animal’s sharp teeth and the most awful smell coming from its mouth that made Sarah recoil back into the shack with her hands covering her mouth to keep from vomiting.

She was just about to slam the door in the creature’s face when it stepped into the shack, took Sarah’s dress in its mouth and pulled her backwards, out into the yard.

For a few seconds Sarah was stunned but then she realized that the animal did not attack her. It seemed to want to tug her outside of the shack. She did not know what to do. She looked over to her husband again and whispered to her husband so as not to irritate the creature, “Victor. Victor — wake up! What must I do?”

The wolf-like creature growled and tugged a bit firmer on her dress when she didn’t follow it. “Victor!”, she tried a bit louder this time, “wake up! Help me!”

The creature grew even more insistent and pulled harder on Sarah’s dress, making small tears where the smelly teeth gripped her dress. Sarah realized that the only way to get out of the creature’s grip is to allow it to drag her outside. Their shovel was propped up outside against the wall near the small vegetable patch. Once she is outside, she will tear her dress out of the animal’s mouth, run around the shack, grab the shovel and smack it as hard as she can over the creature’s head.

As soon as Sarah allowed the animal to pull her outside the shack, she realized however that there is no way that she will be able to run for the shovel.

Dozens of similar nightmarish creatures surrounded the shack and every single one of them stared straight at Sarah with their strange yellow eyes. They all seemed to grin at her with open mouths filled with sharp yellow-stained teeth. The stench coming from them was awful.

One of the larger creatures walked up to Sarah to sniff at her dress. He then padded around her and started to push her from behind just as the creature in front of her continued to pull at the front of her dress. Slowly the two of them were guiding her further away from the shack and her husband.

Sarah took a large gulp of air and screamed as loud as she could. “VICTOR!!! Please wake up! Help me!!”

Her cry tore against darkness and for a few seconds her words seemed to hang silently in the air. But then it was followed by the terrible cries and yips of the creatures. They all started to mock her cry for help with the strangest sounds that sounded nearly like …was it laughter?

Sarah was terrified. What are they going to do with her? And what is this terrible mocking laughter? Why would these monsters with their sharp teeth and horrible stench trick her to come out their shack, drag her away from her husband and then mock her pleas for help?

The two creatures continued to pull and push Sarah further and further away from Victor and the shack, while the rest of them bayed and yipped. She was sure that she would never see her husband again when suddenly Victor came charging towards them with his eyes wild, swinging their shovel above his head.

“Arrrgh” he yelled and tried to hit the creature that was pushing at Sarah. But then the rest of the pack jumped up against him and pushed him to the ground where he bumped his head with a loud crack. He laid so quietly in the mud that Sarah was sure the bump to his head had killed them.

The creatures must have had the same thought because they circled around him hesitantly. One of them stepped forward to sniff at Victor but then he groaned. As soon as they heard his groan, three creatures stepped forward to grab Victor by his clothes and then started to drag him away from the shack too.

The earth was muddy from the large amount of rain and Sarah often slipped and fell but the creatures were relentless. Another one took hold of her dress’s sleeve and helped the other two to drag her away, not caring if she was on her knees or had managed to half stand up again.

They were being dragged further and further away from their shack. The lamp was still lit but its light was becoming smaller and smaller until it finally disappeared. The creatures now dragged Victor and Sarah in total darkness over rocks and through shrubs without stopping for a second.

Sarah slipped again in the mud but did not bother to try and stand up. She just laid on the ground looking up into the heavens. She was sure that they are going to be eaten and she did not want to walk another step to her death. The dark rain clouds that covered skies seemed even closer than before. Lightning started to flash around them and thunder threatened more rain.

A close flash lit up Victor’s face and Sarah could see him for a few seconds lying in the mud with his eyes closed. She wondered if he was still alive. A few seconds later sheets of rain started to pour down on them. The creatures stopped dragging the couple for a few seconds but a loud yip from the leader made them tighten their grip again. They dragged Sarah and Victor a bit further and then stopped under a large carob tree. There the creatures finally released the couple.

As soon as Sarah felt their hold on her loosen, she crawled over to Victor and gathered him in her arms. The rain continued to pour down and Sarah huddled as close to the tree trunk as she could, hugging Victor tightly to her. She rested her forehead against his and closed her eyes.

— — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —

Chirping birds woke her early the next morning. Victor laid like a dead weight on top of her and had a bad cut on his head but thankfully was still breathing. She placed him gently on the ground next to her and slowly struggled to a stand. The creatures had dragged her and Victor higher up to one of the neighbouring hills. There was devastation everywhere. It looked as if their entire settlement had been flattened down by a giant hand.

Sarah could make out a few bits of clothing, planks from the shacks and tree trunks all jumbled up together at the bottom of the hill. If she and Victor had stayed in their shack last night, they would have been part of that mudslide. She laid down against her husband and huddled against his side. Just before she fell asleep again she wondered what happened to the creatures.

“Halo, halo. Are you alive!?”

Sarah slowly sat upright. It was much later in the day now and the sun was already high in the sky. In front of her stood Mohammed from the neighbouring Arab village. He had helped Victor built their shack. Even though they could only afford to pay his wages for one week, he had seemed grateful for the work.

Sarah ran her tongue over her dry lips and tried to speak. She only managed to croak.., ”the creatures, the creatures saved us.” Mohammed looked quite concerned but gave her his water bottle and gestured that he would return.

He appeared an hour later with Yosef and Abravaham, two of the men from their settlement. They had brought with them a horse pulling a sled and soon moved the still unconscious Victor unto it. Abravaham supported Sarah over the rough terrain as they all slowly made their way back to Zichron.

He told her that all the shacks built on the north side of the settlement had disappeared in the landslide. She and Victor were the only survivors.

— — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — -

Years later a zoologist stayed with them for a few weeks while he researched the animals of the area for his book: “Mammals of the Holy Land during the Ottoman Empire Period.”

Sarah described the creatures in detail to him, still wondering if such an animal really exists or if she had imagined everything about the night.

“Ah yes”, replied the zoologist, “those are definitely hyenas. They are extremely vicious creatures. It is a good thing that they are no longer found in the Holy Land.”
— — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —

Here are links to my other Zichron Yaakov stories:

1900: The Girl who could Fly
1940: The Yemen cobbler’s son
1980: Simson and the sheep
2010: The ghost of Sarah Aaronsohn