26 Abba-Avi

  Soon, they reached the edge of the village, and Sara saw people moving around industriously. But in their moving around, they occasionally looked over their shoulders or around corners. Sara heard a child run through the village, saying something she couldn't understand. And now it seemed that the people who were on the street just moments ago were gone.

  "What kind of place is this?" Sara asked.

  Dov nodded. "You noticed. Good. Again, if you want to ask, ask Abba-Avi when you two are alone. But I will tell you this. Questions are not good in this place. As I said, these people are afraid. For the last several years, their Lord has become well, let us just say he was bad before, but he's gotten worse since…no, no." Dov shook his head. "I will not speak of it. Even now, it's dangerous, and I will not speak of it. I will not be one to put myself or anyone else in the hangman's noose. Besides, I would probably make a pretty ugly corpse, and I look bad enough the way it is."

  "Ha ha ha!" Dov laughed.

  Sara nodded but thought the humor was a little dark.

  Once they were fully inside the village, an older man came walking up towards them in peasant garb. His clothes were a little better than some of the others she had seen just a moment earlier, but only slightly. He walked with his staff. Sara could see, the staff wasn't there because he needed it for protection, but for walking. He had a slight limp on one leg and a scar on the side of his face. The smile that came to the man’s face as they got close hid the scar, and if it wasn’t for the limp, he had the bearing of Lord Odom, the one person Sara knew who truly cared about her as a person and not as the princess.

  “Abba-Avi,” Dov said with a smile.

  “So, my friend, have you found something else that I can’t live without?” Abba-Avi said, looking at Sara.

  “You have always had a good eye and a generous heart,” Dov said as he reached out his hand and shook Abba-Avi’s.

  “That is two compliments in one sentence.” Abba-Avi replied, “I hear a request coming.”

  Dov looked over at Sara and said, “Not for me, but for this young lady who could really use some help and no questions asked.”

  Though Abba-Avi was a little shorter than Sara, he reached out and put his hand on her shoulder, which caused Sara to flinch just a little.

  "Yes,” Abba-Avi dropped his hand but looked intently at Sara, then said, “I see that, my friend, come, come quickly."

  Despite his limp, Abba-Avi moved rather quickly to a house, not far from where they stood. As they moved towards the house, Sara could see down the road to the other side of the village. The homes were built along the road. The houses were just about fifty to sixty feet apart, and the farm each household managed was behind them. Sara guessed there were twenty houses on each side of the road. Near the center of the village, there was a wide spot in the road. Sara guessed this may have been designed for a place of worship, but either it was never built or was destroyed long ago.

  Sara walked over to the house, which had probably seen better days, and entered. The house was the size of the one she had lived in in the valley. It didn’t feel like the house in the valley. Sara wondered why this place felt different, then it dawned on her; it wasn’t just a house; it was someone's home.

  Abba-Avi waved over to a table and chairs as he sat down in one of them.

  Dov shook his head, "No, my friend, if I sit on one of those chairs, I will break it. I will stand here; you two sit."

  Abba-Avi shook his head, "In all the time I've known you, my friend. You have never been willing to sit in one of my chairs."

  "You do not have enough chairs for me to break," Dov said. “Especially if I sat down every time you invited me to.

  Abba-Avi laughed. "No, no, I suppose not. And I know you're stronger and heavier than you look, but we won't discuss that."

  Sara sat down at the table, and Abba-Avi looked around as if wondering if he should ask a question.

  Dov nodded. "It is okay, my friend. Sari is a girl you can trust. She has some of her own secrets, and I have warned her not to ask too many questions herself."

  Abba-Avi nodded, “All the same, sometimes even your closest friends will let people know what you say. It's more dangerous than before."

  Dov nodded, “Yes, yes, but will you take on this challenge? Abba-Avi?"

  “You know she looks like Zissel, my youngest.” A smile crossed his lips, but his eyes spoke of sorrow. "Yes, yes, I will be glad to take her."

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  Sara could see the smile and yet a sadness in that man's face and guessed his youngest daughter must have died.

  "I thank you," Sara said. "I truly do need some help for a time." Sara paused and looked over at Dov, who nodded, and she continued, “I don't know how long I will stay. There are places I must get to, people that I need to connect with.” Sara paused again, thinking of the right words, then said, “People who look to me as family, you might say, but I don’t know where they are."

  Sara paused again, and Abba-Avi said, "Sometimes the less said, the better.” Abba-Avi nodded, then continued, “Yes, yes, daughter. Enough said, enough said. I understand."

  Looking at Dov, Abba-Avi said, "But what is this challenge? Because I guess it's not the fact that she needs a place to stay and is going to leave sometime."

  "No, no, it is not," Dov said, leaning back against a wall which creaked just a bit as his back made contact. "It seems that this poor girl was made a slave by a dragon."

  “A dragon? Do you mean the thing that I've been seeing flying around lately?” Abba-Avi smiled, “I knew it. It's actually a dragon. The creator be praised.” But then Abba-Avi paused, then frowned. “But a dragon wouldn't hold a girl hostage. It's not in their nature!"

  Dov looked at Abba-Avi, nodded, then said, "I know, but it seems that something strange is going on. I can tell you this. This girl is not evil, and the story of why a dragon would kidnap her and make her a slave sounds impossible, but in the last several years, things haven’t been like they were…”

  Abba-Avi waved his hand to dismiss the next thing Dov was going to say and said, “Yes, I can also tell this girl is not evil, and there seems to be a humility and a sweetness about her."

  Sara blushed at hearing Abba-Avi's description and looked down.

  Dov spoke again, “Why a dragon would kidnap her is something I cannot explain. But you must protect her from it and from whatever else may come around.” With those last words, Dov looked around the room as if eyes were watching them.

  Sara realized that maybe the paranoia in this village was deserved, if Dov was afraid to speak in the home of a man whom he trusted.

  "Well," Abba-Avi said, "it's been some time since I've had to stand up against wrong. If this dragon comes, I will protect her. Don't you worry. Though I'm sure the people of the village will wonder why a dragon might come here. Most of them would think it's a sign of good."

  "Yes,” Dov nodded, “Yes, that is a good idea. Make sure you are the one to speak to the creature. Quietly. And maybe people will take it as a blessing that the dragon stopped by and not see its relationship to Sari here."

  Abba-Avi shook his head. "I always knew that my time wasn’t over. It will feel good to stand and protect someone, even if it is by deception."

  Dov nodded, "Yes, well, you make sure to speak to the creature. Quietly. And maybe people will think that Sari is the blessing that the dragon brought you."

  Abba-Avi looked at Sari and smiled, “Maybe she is? The creator works in mysterious ways.” Then he looked at Dov, “I will do my best."

  "Thank you, my friend," Dov said, then he reached out his huge hand and shook Abba-Avi’s hand.

  Dov turned to Sara, “I need to get moving. You will be safe here. I will be back in a month to check on you, and I will see what information I can bring you.”

  Seeing that Dov was straightening up and moving towards the door, Sara stood and reached out her hand to him. As they shook, Sara said, “I appreciate you helping me.”

  “What kind of man would I be if I could not help a person in need. I wish you the best, Sari?”

  Dov made the name more of a question than a name, but Sara didn’t ask anything as the man left the home.

  Sara turned around and looked at Abba-Avi, who said, "My girl, you look like you could use something to eat. And at least for today, I believe it would be best if you stayed in here." He looked around and pointed to the mantle over the fireplace. "You will find some bread over there, under that cloth."

  Sara could see on top of the mantle, there was a plate, across it was the cloth in question, so Sara asked, "Is that some of your daughter's famous bread?"

  "Oh, how I wish!" Abba-Avi said, "No, no, that's from my granddaughter. She does well enough, but no. Bat-Avi's bread is made once a week, and all of it is usually taken to the manor or by the soldiers.

  Sara looked over and said, “Soldiers?”

  "Yes, yes." He shook his head. "Again, another question. Not to ask. They are a new arrival. It seems that our new princess has acquired a taste for greater wealth, and so some of her soldiers, along with our lord’s, make their way through and liberate some of our supplies."

  Sarai shook her head, "but that doesn't"

  Abba-Avi raised his hand. "Questions are dangerous here, my girl. You don't mind if I call you my girl or my daughter, do you? It is just that you do remind me of her.” And he sighed. “She also asked a lot of questions."

  Abba-Avi shook his head and waved his hand. "I've got things to do. If you need something to do, you could straighten up a little bit for me. We'll find you what you need around here, and I’ll be back after a bit. Some clothes over there need mending, if you don’t mind. These hands aren’t what they used to be."

  Sara looked and saw the clothes piled with some thread and a needle sitting beside them. This was another new thing she had learned. She had to. Because in the valley, if her clothes tore, she was the one who had to fix them. Though she remembered the first time David tried to teach her. His huge hands trying to hold the small needle; it was funny to watch, and only after a couple of stitches, she took the needle from him and said, "Just tell me what to do," to which he did.

  Sara wouldn't have called herself a seamstress, but seeing what needed to be done, she knew this was something she could do. She looked back at Abba-Avi, who was obviously prepared to leave, and confessed, "I’m no seamstress, but I’ll do what I can. It’s the least I can do, and thank you, sir. I appreciate you taking me in.”

  Abba-Avi nodded, “You, my daughter, stay here. At least for today, do not go out. If you have other business to take care of, right outside the door and down the field a bit, you’ll find the privy, but other than that, don't leave. It won’t be safe."

  Sara nodded, wondering what kind of place she had fallen into. What was so dangerous that even going outside could be trouble? Why were the people here so afraid?

  But Sara already knew, by hearing the conversations that Dov and Abba-Avi had, that this was true. This place was dangerous because of their lord, and there might be more going on than that if Sara’s instincts were correct. She just wished her instincts told her what it was rather than just a feeling of danger. Sara thought, why do I feel there is more danger here than with Draco. What could be more dangerous than a temperamental dragon?

  Sara wished now more than ever that she was back in her kingdom, Rishona, a kingdom of laws, a place that respected people and their rights.

  Yes, she knew that some of her lords were not as good to their serfs as others. But at least there, she knew laws were enforced.

  Before she could think any more about laws, Sara heard a roar. She knew that roar, knew it well. It was Draco, and he didn’t sound happy.