Chapter 5 Summary

After a few weeks working at the gypsum mines, life begins to settle down. The exiles even get used to waking up in the converted schoolhouse, slipping from sleep to wakefulness barely noticing the difference. When Esther develops a fever, Samuel finds her a straw mattress, but when Popravka finds it, he rips it out from under her. Soon after, they are told to meet at the front of the building for a meeting. They are told that every Sunday, six people would be allowed to go to the village at the permission of Makrinin, another one of the commanders at the mine.

Esther is immediately excited by the news and after working on her parents, she asks and receives permission to go the village in two weeks with her grandmother. The time comes and the two set off, walking for about three...