Fever Season (7 page)

Because he had been on the ice more than anybody, Newsy Lalonde was on the bench when the overtime period began. Amos Arbour, his replacement, lined up to take the faceoff instead.

Arbour proved faster to the puck than the Quebec centre, but instead of drawing it behind him he pushed it forward. Then he sped ahead to control the loose rubber. He had only taken a few strides forward when Hall came rushing toward him. But Arbour was ready for him. He slipped the puck over to Pitre just before Hall could reach him, and when they collided, it was Bad Joe who fell to the ice.

The crowd roared its approval and continued to shout as Pitre outraced the other Quebec defenceman along the side boards. Hall scrambled to his feet and chased after Arbour to keep him covered. Another player had Laviolette tied up. With no one to pass to, Pitre cut in toward the net.

“Shoot! Shoot!”
the crowd cried.

But Pitre continued to hold on to the puck as he moved across the front of the goal.

“He's waiting too long!” David shouted.

And it seemed that Pitre had … until the Quebec goalie finally moved with him. When he did, Pitre struck instantly, whipping a shot to the far side. The netminder reached out with a padded hand, but he wasn't fast enough to stop a cannonball.

The puck bulged the twine in the corner of the net. Pitre had his fourth goal of the night. The Canadiens had won the game!

But just as the referee was raising his arm to signal the goal, Hall took a swing at Arbour. The young Canadiens player wasn't even looking. Hall was about to punch Arbour again when Laviolette stepped in his way.

“You want some, too?” Hall growled, and he reached out to grab Laviolette. Within seconds the other players on the ice had gathered around, pushing and shoving at those on the other team. It took a while for the referees to get things under control, and when they did, a line of policemen formed at the gate to make sure there was no more trouble on the way to the dressing room.

“It doesn't require much bravery to hit someone when he isn't looking,” said the man beside David's father. “If Hall wants to fight, he should go over to France.”

But Joe Hall didn't go to France.

David's father did.

C
HAPTER
5

ATTESTATION PAPER

CANADIAN OVER-SEAS
EXPEDITIONARY FORCE
QUESTIONS TO BE PUT BEFORE
ATTESTATION

1. What is your name?

Michael Saifert
_______________

2. In what Town, Township, or Parish,
and in what Country were you born?

Lodz, Poland
_________________

3. What is the name of your next-of-kin?

Maude Saifert_(Wife)
___________

4. What is the address of your next-of-kin?

1960 Chabot St., Montreal
________

5. What is the date of your birth?

Sept. 26, 1879
_________________

6. What is your Trade or Calling?

Factory Worker
________________

7. Are you married?

Yes
_________________________

8. Do you now belong to the Active
Militia?

No
__________________________

9. Have you ever served in any Military
Force? If so, state particulars of former service

No
__________________________

10. Are you willing to be attested to
serve in the Canadian Over-Seas
Expeditionary Force?

Yes
__________________________

DECLARATION TO BE MADE BY
MAN ON ATTESTATION

I,
Michael Saifert
, do solemnly declare that the above are answers made by me to the above questions are true, and that I am willing to fulfill the engagements by me now made, and I hereby engage and agree to serve in the Canadian Over-Seas Expeditionary Force, and to be attached to any arm of the service therein, for the term of one year, or for the remainder of the war now existing between Great Britain and Germany should that be longer than one year.

Date:
August 4, 1916
Michael Saifert
(Signature of Recruit)

With that you were in the army, as long as you were healthy enough to pass the physical.

CERTIFICATE OF
MEDICAL EXAMINATION

I have examined the above-named Recruit and find that he does not present any of the causes of rejection specified in the Regulations for Army Medical Services.

He can see at the required distances with either eye; his heart and lungs are healthy; he has the free use of his joints and limbs, and he declares that he is not subject to fits of any description.

I consider him
fit
for the Canadian
Over-Seas Expeditionary Force.

Date:
August 4
,
1916
James Duplacey
(Medical Officer)

DESCRIPTION OF RECRUIT ON
ENLISTMENT

Age:
36
years
7
months

Height:
5
ft
11
ins.

Weight:
179
lbs.

Complexion:
Fair

Eyes:
Brown

Hair:
Dark Brown

Religious Denomination

Church of England_______________________________

Presbyterian_____________________________________

Methodist________________________________________

Baptist or Congregationalist______________________

Roman Catholic_____________________________________

Jewish
Yes
_______________

Other denominations____________________________________
(Denomination to be stated)

“We're Jewish?” David asked when he read his father's Certificate of Medical Examination. “Like Sammy's family?”

“Your mother and I aren't religious people,” his father said. “That can happen when you grow up without your family.”

“Mom's Jewish, too?”

“No. Her family was Protestant from the north of Ireland. Most of the Irish in Montreal are Catholics. She went to a Catholic church when she lived in the orphanage, but she never felt like she belonged there. She stopped going as soon as she was on her own.”

“But you're Jewish?”

“I'm Jewish,” his father said. “Or at least I was until I got to the Townships. There were no other Jews on the farm I worked at, and a fourteen-year-old boy can't keep kosher all by himself. Besides, everyone else on the farm went to church on Sunday, and I was expected to do the same. No one ever thought to ask me what my religion was, but even if they had, I doubt I would have told them. I was already different enough. When I came to Montreal, I stopped going to church, but I still haven't been back to synagogue since my family died.”

David was quiet, hoping his father would explain. But he didn't. Later, after his father left them for the war, David's mother told him what she knew about her husband's past. “He only told me the story once. It was shortly after we met. He lost his whole family in one night.”

“What happened to them?” David asked.

“It was a pogrom,” his mother explained. “An attack on the Jews. It began as they were all leaving the synagogue one Friday night. No one in their village would ride on the Sabbath, so when they heard the horses they knew right away. People began to run. Your father was only thirteen, but he was big and strong. But no boy, no matter how strong, can fight against men on horseback. So he ran when he heard the hoofbeats. He left his parents behind with his little sister. They couldn't get away …”

David's mother was close to tears, recalling the pain she'd seen on her husband's face when he told her the story. “He didn't see what happened, but he knew the men on horseback were swinging their clubs. He could hear the sound of broken glass, smell the smoke rising from the roofs they'd set on fire. It was the worst attack anyone in the village could remember. Maybe they'd only wanted to make trouble. Maybe they didn't really mean for people to be killed. But a lot of people in the village died. There's no way your father could have saved them. If he'd stayed with them, he probably would have been killed, too. Even though he doesn't speak about it, I know he thinks about it all the time. I know he feels guilty about it. I've often wondered if that's why he was so hard on you. If he'd been a small boy like you are, he might not have gotten away.”

David's father had never forgotten that night. It was the reason he wanted to fight in the war. “Because maybe,” he'd told David's mother, “when it's over, people like my parents and my sister won't have to be afraid anymore.”

“I knew he wanted to fight,” David's mother told him. “He would have enlisted at the very beginning of the war, but I asked him to wait. Even with his soldier's pay, there won't be enough money for the family. He's arranged with Mr. Salutin for me to go back to the hat factory. In a war we all have to do our part, but I didn't think it was fair to put another child through that, so I asked him to wait until Alice was ready for school.”

David understood that he was going to have to look after his sister once his mother began working again.

David's father left for the army at the end of August 1916. He was being sent to the Canadian military training camp at Valcartier, near Quebec City, where he would spend another month or so before going overseas. He'd already been given an army uniform — dusty green pants and a matching jacket. The wool fabric was stiff and scratchy. The uniform had been a bit too big when David's father first got it, but his mother had gone at it with a needle and thread and now it fitted perfectly. When he polished up the brass buttons, he looked as sharp as any officer, but David's father didn't have the brown officer's belt that draped across the jacket from the shoulder. He was only an enlisted man.

David, his mother, and Alice went to the train station with David's father when he left. There were no parades this time. No fireworks. Two years later and with no end in sight, the war was a grim business now. A small group of soldiers was waiting on the train platform. Alice tried to count them. “One … two … free … four …” She didn't get very far. She wouldn't be starting school for another week.

Most of the other soldiers at the train station weren't as old as David's father. They were young men like Sammy's brother, Aaron, saying goodbye to parents and siblings. Others were parting from wives or sweethearts.

“I'll write you every day,” David heard one woman tell her boyfriend. He could see that she was trying hard not to cry, but a single tear trickled from her eye and ran slowly down her cheek. Seeing it nearly made the soldier cry, too.

“Don't stare,” David's mother said quietly.

David turned away and gazed at his father. He looked uncomfortable in the itchy green wool, and the send-off was more awkward than emotional.

“Give your father a kiss,” David's mother said, nudging Alice forward.

The little girl gave her father a peck on the cheek.

She was nearly five years old, but still too young to understand where her father was going.

“Be a good girl,” he said to her.

David was eleven. Too old for kisses. His father shook his hand instead. “You're the man of the house now.” Then he got on the train and was gone.

C
HAPTER
6

Later it made David feel guilty to think it, but life was good after his father departed for the war. His mother did go to work at the hat factory again, and David did have to look after his sister, but that didn't involve much. One big bonus was that David got his bedroom back once his father left. His sister moved into the room with their mother.

Alice walked to school with David and Sammy. David still didn't really have any other friends at school, but at least Kevin Bull never bothered him anymore. At home David took care of Alice until his mother got home. His sister was usually happy to play with her dolls. Sometimes, if she got bored, David read her a story. Mostly, though, he did his homework. He still had to empty the tray from the icebox, but with his father gone there was much less mending. Soon, though, there was a lot more sewing to be done.