Wolf by Wolf

Yael has been given a list of resistance contacts who can help her along the race route. She needs to request background information on Felix and Luka at the Prague checkpoint, but there is no time since Felix is watching her closely. That night, when she prepares for bed, Yael finds a piece of paper folded into the shape of a star tucked under her pillow. She smiles and decides to keep it in her pocket.

As she drifts off to sleep, she thinks about her second wolf tattoo, which is dedicated to her mother. In the winter of 1945, little Yael is still being subjected to Geyer’s injections, and her appearance has begun to change dramatically: “Women whispered about the strange blaze of her eyes, the phantom-wash of her skin and hair. A girl who was disappearing right before their sight…being replaced by…something else” (83). The inmates have begun to refer to her as a monster. Yael’s mother and her older sister Miriam defend her. When she comes down with a fever, Yael’s normal appearance becomes even less recognizable. By the time the girl recovers, her mother succumbs to the same illness. In her final moments, when she looks at her daughter, all Yael’s mother can see is a monster.