Young Warriors by Tamora Pierce Read Free Book Online Page B

her entire body began to tremble and twitch. She moved like a drunken marionette, lurching forward, then jumping back, her arms flailing, until looking out at him from frightened eyes was Leah, the real Leah. As he rushed toward her, he heard her cry out, “Eli! Eli! For pity’s sake, help me! Help—”
    One of her hands reached up with a jerking movement and covered her mouth, and the eyes changed back to another’s, filled with rage and cunning. In one convulsive movement she tore open her bodice, exposing her breasts. Eli hastily looked away and began to pray.
    â€œThere, little
pisher—
go and rouse the village now! Bring them back here—bring them all! This is what they’ll find— poor Leah, ravished by the boy who refused to marry her, used and then cast aside!” She laughed triumphantly.
    Eli looked at her in dismay, and she moved toward him like a snake, rhythmically swaying her shoulders and hips. Her eyes glistened in the setting sun.
    â€œCome on, honey, it’s better this way. She was a boring child, such a do-gooder! Nothing but blintzes and challah all day long, and ‘Mother, can I help with the soup? Father, can I get you your slippers?’ What a bore she was! Oh, I promise you’ll like it better with me! A little kiss, a little fun—no one will ever know.” Again she pinned him with her eyes, and again he could not move. He continued to silently pray for someone, anyone, to rescue him from this demon. Surely God in His heaven would answer somehow!
    There was the sudden clatter of horse’s hoofs, and with a sigh of relief Eli saw his friend, the soldier Yevgeny, trotting up the path. Leah turned to look, and Eli, now free again, began running toward the horse, his arms waving frantically, shouting at the man to stop. Leah ran after him, beginning to loudly cry and wail.
    â€œYevgeny, help, she’s mad!” Eli shouted. “Completely mad! I tell you, she’s possessed by a demon!” Heaving and panting, he stopped beside the horse, with Leah not far behind.
    â€œWhat’s this, young Eli?” asked the soldier, noting the disheveled Leah and Eli’s ashen pallor. “What’s all this? I thought you people didn’t go in for this sort of fun!” He smirked as Eli babbled loudly over Leah’s wails.
    â€œA demon, a demon has possessed her! You must help me!” he cried.
    â€œA demon?” The soldier snickered. “Nonsense! You people have too many superstitions, boy. Just out for some fun, eh? And now that you’ve been seen, you have to make up some excuse, is that it?” He laughed again, then fixed his eyes firmly on Leah’s bosom.
    Eli stopped talking and looked up at the tall soldier on his fine horse, the man he’d so often admired. Yevgeny smiled at Leah, now silent, then said, “Come here, girl, let’s have a look at you.”
    Leah slowly walked toward him, hips swaying, lips parted. He leered at her in return. “What’s a pretty girl like you doing with a child like him?” Yevgeny asked, making a contemptuous motion toward Eli. “You should taste a real man, instead of wasting your time on this baby.”
    Eli couldn’t believe it—a baby?! He was a man in every sense of the word, legally and physically. He was ready for marriage, and this idiot called him a baby? No, not an idiot. Yevgeny had been good to him, had always given him sweets and allowed him to feed and water the horses. Yevgeny just had no idea what was really happening. Eli wanted to protect him, to save him from the dybbuk, so he grabbed the soldier’s arm and tugged at it to make Yevgeny listen. Instead, Yevgeny reached over with the other arm and dealt him a casual back-handed blow that landed Eli in the dust. The soldier looked at him sternly.
    â€œLook, boy, I’ve let you play with the horses, but make no mistake—you’re a Jew, and I’m a soldier