Between Shades of Gray Read Online Free Page A

our house.
    “Hurry!” shouted Miss Grybas, gesturing to us. “This is the Vilkas family,” she said to an officer holding a clipboard. “They’re in this car.”
    Mother stopped in front of the car and scanned the crowd intently. Please , said her eyes as she searched for our father.
    “Mother,” whispered Jonas, “these cars are for pigs and cows.”
    “Yes, I know. We’ll have a little adventure, won’t we?” She boosted Jonas up into the car and then I heard the sounds—a baby crying and a man moaning.
    “Mother, no,” I said. “I don’t want to be with those people.”
    “Stop it, Lina. They need our help.”
    “Can’t someone else help them? We need help, too.”
    “Mother,” said Jonas, worried the train would begin to move. “You’re coming in, aren’t you?”
    “Yes, darling, we’re coming. Can you take this bag?” Mother turned to me. “Lina, we haven’t a choice. Please do the best you can not to frighten your brother.”
    Miss Grybas reached down for Mother. What about me? I was frightened, too. Didn’t that matter? Papa, where are you? I looked around the train platform, which was now in complete pandemonium. I thought about running, running until I couldn’t run anymore. I’d run to the university to look for Papa. I’d run to our house. I’d just run.
    “Lina.” Mother stood in front of me now and lifted my chin. “I know. This is horrible,” she whispered. “We must stay together. It’s very important.” She kissed my forehead and turned me toward the train car.
    “Where are we going?” I asked.
    “I don’t know yet.”
    “Do we have to be in these cattle cars?”
    “Yes, but I’m sure it won’t be for long,” said Mother.

9
    THE INSIDE OF THE car was stuffy and full of personal smells, even with the door open. People were wedged in everywhere, sitting on their belongings. At the end of the car, large planks of wood approximately six feet deep had been installed as shelves. Ona lay on one of the planks, peaked, the baby crying on her chest.
    “OW!” The bald man smacked my leg. “Watch it, girl! You almost stepped on me.”
    “Where are the men?” Mother asked Miss Grybas.
    “They took them away,” she replied.
    “We’ll need men in this car to help with the injured,” said Mother.
    “There aren’t any. We’re sorted into groups of some kind. They keep bringing people and shoving them in. There are some elderly men, but they haven’t any strength,” said Miss Grybas.
    Mother looked around the car. “Let’s put the little ones on the top plank. Lina, move Ona on that bottom plank so we can fit some more of the children.”
    “Don’t be a fool, woman,” barked the bald man. “If you make room, they’ll just cram more people in here.”
    The librarian was shorter than me and stocky. She was strong and helped move Ona. “I’m Mrs. Rimas,” she said to Ona.
    Mrs. ... She was married, too. Where was her husband? Perhaps with Papa. The baby gave a blistering yell.
    “Is your little one a boy or a girl?” asked Mrs. Rimas.
    “A girl,” said Ona weakly. She shifted her bare feet on the wooden plank. They were cut and full of dirt.
    “She’ll need to eat soon,” said Mrs. Rimas.
    I looked around the car. My head felt detached from my body. More people pushed into the small space, including a woman with a boy my age. I felt a tug.
    “Are you going to sleep now?” asked a small girl with hair the color of pearls.
    “What?”
    “You’re in your nightgown. Are you going to sleep?” She thrust a tattered doll toward me. “This is my dolly.”
    My nightgown. I was still in my nightgown. Jonas was still in my baby blue coat. I had completely forgotten. I pushed toward Jonas and Mother. “We need to change our clothes,” I said.
    “There’s no room to open our suitcases,” said Mother. “And there’s nowhere to change.”
    “Please,” said Jonas, pulling my coat tightly around him.
    Mother tried to move toward the corner of the