Michael couldn’t help but laugh. He saw Melissa roll her eyes and sigh.
“I’m sorry,” he said. “I really am. I didn’t know this, though I thought she might be faking this stuff. I’ll talk to her about it and try to make her understand she can’t do this anymore.”
Melissa smiled again.
What a beautiful smile, Michael thought before he could catch himself.
“Do you want to schedule our parent/teacher meeting now?”
“Um, ah . . . I don’t know. Can’t this count as the meeting?” Michael saw Elizabeth through the hallway window into the nurse’s office. He waved to her to come out.
Melissa frowned slightly. “Well, it can, if you want,” she said as Elizabeth opened the door, “but I was looking forward to talking to you more.” She smiled at him again.
Is she interested in me? Michael wondered as he took Elizabeth’s backpack.
“Hi, Daddy!”
“Ah, hi.”
He was flustered. “Okay,” he said to the teacher as he grabbed Elizabeth’s hand and started to walk away.
Melissa stood there in the hallway, wondering whether that was a yes or a no. Little did she know then that Michael would never schedule that appointment or any other for the rest of the year.
“Leah! We haven’t seen much of you. How are you?” the woman called to them when Elizabeth and Leah were nearly finished filling the first jug of water.
Leah straightened up before slowly turning to greet the woman. “Rachel! Good to see you. I’ve been very busy.”
Rachel looked at Elizabeth quizzically.
“Oh, this is my cousin’s daughter, Elizabeth. They are here to celebrate the Passover festivities with me.”
Elizabeth slowly turned and nodded meekly to Rachel from behind the veil.
A commotion erupted nearby as soldiers descended upon the area. Leah tried to focus on the faces of the ones on horses nearing the well. She thought there was one with a piece of cloth in his helmet, but she couldn’t be sure.
“Oh, dear!”
“What’s wrong?” asked Rachel.
“I’ve got to go,” Leah said, grabbing Elizabeth’s hand and squeezing it hard.
“What’s going on?” Elizabeth asked as Leah handed her an empty jug.
“I think it’s that soldier,” Leah whispered, directing them toward the house.
Elizabeth quickened her pace and felt her insides go numb. She dropped her head low so her face would be better covered by the veil.
“Not too fast,” said Leah. “They will be suspicious if we walk too quickly in this hot sun.”
They safely made it through the gate into the courtyard, although they felt little peace until they were back in the kitchen. Leah’s face was flushed as she put the water jugs away. Elizabeth carried one over to her but then slumped back against the wall in the kitchen.
Realizing that Leah was staring at her, Elizabeth finally asked, “What?”
“I’m so sorry. I don’t know why I said you would be fine with me. I was so foolish, and you could have been badly hurt. Please forgive me.”
Michael heard them downstairs and swiftly descended the ladder. But when he reached the bottom, both Elizabeth and Leah just looked at him. There was a tense silence. He waited for one of them to speak.
“What was all the noise about?”
Elizabeth and Leah looked at each other, although Leah quickly turned away.
“We broke a jug out by the well, that’s all,” Elizabeth lied.
Leah’s head shot up as she looked at Elizabeth in astonishment.
“Oh, I thought you might have seen some soldiers, given the way you two have been acting.”
“No, no, Dad. We didn’t see any.”
The three ate lunch in silence. They had salted and buttered cakes of crushed, malted grains. Elizabeth nibbled on some raisins but avoided the mulberries and nuts. Michael ate heartily while Leah barely touched a thing.
“I am going to get more water,” Leah said, watching Elizabeth’s eyes widen. “We need water.”
“I thought you had already gotten the water,” Michael said.
Leah didn’t answer. Michael and Elizabeth looked up from their bowls to watch her as she quickly descended the ladder.
“Are you ready to go today?” Michael asked Elizabeth, but she didn’t answer. “Hello? Elizabeth?”
“Yes, Dad, I’m ready.”
“It doesn’t sound like you’re ready. Everything okay?”
“I’m not sure . . . there were soldiers at the well.”
Michael stood up. “You said there were none,” he replied, raising his voice and staring at her. Without warning he turned and ran up the ladder. As he reached the roof, he lay on his stomach and began to crawl its length. With barely a sound he made it to the far side and peered over the edge, looking toward the well.
Leah had followed curiously behind him. She looked at him from the top of the ladder. “What are you doing?”
“Shh. There he is,” Michael whispered, motioning for her to be quiet. “Or at least I think that’s him. It’s hard to tell. But I see a soldier over there talking to one of your neighbors.”
“What?”
Before Leah could finish her sentence, Michael put one finger to his mouth. “Quiet, I’m trying to listen.”
He slid his body another few inches forward and raised his head slightly. Leah could hear some muted voices, but she could tell by Michael’s rigid form that he could hear every word. Once he was sure that the soldier had left, Michael gestured for her to go back downstairs.
d“What’s wrong?”
“Go down,” he whispered as he began to crawl back toward the ladder.
Elizabeth was waiting at the bottom. “Dad, what’s wrong?” she asked worriedly.
“In a minute, Elizabeth. I have to ask Leah something.”
He grabbed Leah’s arm and guided her into the first room of the house. “The soldier was asking questions about me and Elizabeth,” he said urgently. “Your neighbor told the soldier that she was a relative.”
Leah nodded. “This is fine. Don’t worry. They won’t bother you then, knowing that you’re a relative. It will make sense to the soldier, knowing the festivities are taking place this week.”
Michael shook his head. “How many soldiers did you see outside by the well?”
“There were some but I couldn’t tell how many.”
“Great,” Michael muttered, then added in resignation, “Well, we have to stay for now.”
“I’m sorry. If I had known it would cause any danger to you or Elizabeth, I would have never asked her to come with me.”
Michael rubbed his temples wearily. “Just give me some time to think.”
“Can you ever forgive me?”
Michael took a deep breath and looked into her eyes. “Yes, yes, of course.”
“Thank you,” she said in a whisper, her voice faltering a bit, before leaving him to climb back to the second floor.
Michael leaned against the wall and watched Cassie stand to stretch. “Sometimes I wish I were you, Cassie. No worries about your daughter, no worries about keeping her safe . . . no worries at all.”
He stood there quietly for several minutes, pondering his next move. Was it safer to remain or more dangerous now?
His train of thought was broken by the sounds of Leah talking to Elizabeth upstairs about weaving, asking her if she would like to try to make her own basket. Michael strained to hear his daughter, who wondered aloud if she would really be able to learn how.
“Of course,” Leah replied.
The lamb was braying to be let out of its stall, so Michael unhinged the gate, poked his head out cautiously, and followed it out into the courtyard. Sitting in the shade beneath the tree, he could hear Elizabeth and Leah giggling upstairs. Something about Leah’s teaching Elizabeth to weave made him feel both peaceful and restless.
“Now watch me, Elizabeth,” Michael could hear Leah calmly instruct. “First soak it . . . now pull it up tight . . . no, no . . . good . . . oh, good, Elizabeth . . .”
“How is she doing up there?” Michael shouted to them from outside. He could hear Elizabeth giggling.