35

On the wharf outside the warehouse, I touched the hollow in my throat where the amulet had nestled. The ship’s sails were going up. The steward remained on the pier. I could change my mind, join him, and board when he did.

Alone, how would I get home?

The sails filled. I wondered why the steward remained. The ship glided away from the docks. My choice would last forever.

Bela, do you despise me for what I did?

Through tears I saw the steward—really a dark shape in the night—head toward me. Didn’t stewards go with their ships? Terror stopped my tears. I dashed into the warehouse and raced for the far door.

I crashed into a pile of sacks, caromed off it, and raced on.

“Loma! It’s only me.”

Hamdun! I stopped and called, “Why didn’t you go with Belo? He needed you!” He needed me.

“Where are you?” he said.

“Here I am.”

“Your abuelo told me to stay with you.” He held up his hand to stop my objection that Belo couldn’t speak. “He told me with his eyes and his hand that kept shooing me after you.”

My tears returned in a flood. I crouched on the stone floor and sobbed. Would he live? Would he find a haven in Naples? Would I ever see him again? Would he speak to me if I did?

Hamdun patted my shoulder.

I got out, “I’m not an angel.”

“I don’t know what an angel would do.”

When I finally stopped weeping, I sat on a sack, and Hamdun lowered himself next to me. Even through the door, I heard the rush of the wind.

“Thank you.” That was inadequate. Without him, we would be dead or baptized. “I don’t know how to thank you.”

“Your belo and especially your papá have always treated me kindly. I don’t have a family of my own.” He breathed in deeply. “This is my confession: I didn’t want anything bad to happen to either of you, but when misfortune came, I rejoiced to be able to make it less terrible.”

I wept again, more softly this time. Trouble still lay ahead, but Hamdun, as much as he could, would continue to make it less terrible. I thanked him again and thanked the Almighty for him, too.

After a few minutes, we became practical and decided that we should leave the wharf now, while it was still dark. On the avenue that led out of the city, we faced into the wind. When we reached the cathedral square, I stopped to look around, wishing that God would send a flash of light to reveal a scrap of food or a few overlooked ducats.

Neither was revealed.

We kept walking. The blocky shape of the fortress above the city interrupted the starry sky. If we were lucky, we’d overtake a caravan we could join. If we weren’t, our best strategy would be to hide during daylight and walk at night until we reached Señor Qays and Señora Yasmina, who would help us.

But just beyond the north gate to the city, a caravan slept. We picked our way along its edge, passing men on the ground wrapped in their cloaks, hugging their belongings and lying near their sleeping beasts.

A campfire flared somewhere in the middle of the caravan. I heard a drinking song and, when it ended, a burst of fury: “You dirty cheat!” Sounds of a scuffle followed.

Gambling. I thought of Pero.

Eventually, we sat on dry, spiky grass a few yards from a mule, lying on its side.

“Sleep,” Hamdun whispered. “I’ll watch.”

“Thank you.” I couldn’t wrap myself in my cloak, because our cloaks had been with our donkeys. I lay back.

But I couldn’t sleep, because my crime against Belo and my worries tormented me. Even counting brought no relief. Hoping to distract myself, I whispered, “Hamdun?”

His shape, indistinct in the dark, stirred. “Yes?”

“Why don’t you have a family?”

“I’m poor, and I wouldn’t want my children to starve as I did. When I can, I put a little aside from my wages.” He chuckled. “By the time I’m as old as Don Solomon, I’ll have enough, and I’ll find a widow with grandchildren.” He paused. “For now, I have you and your brother Jento. Sleep.”

I was comforted by an idea, which allowed me to drift off.

My nose woke me. Hamdun crouched, holding close to my face a thick slice of bread mounded with farmer cheese. I sat up and extended my hand. “How?”

He gave me the bread. “There are other servants and also slaves. They’re generous.”

“Thank you!”

Last night’s wind had diminished to a breeze. The caravan had awakened and become a twitchy mass of energy: beasts stamping; men feeding their animals or leading them to drink in the river that accompanied the road.

People passed by us, leaving or entering Málaga on foot, on beasts, driving carts, the stream of them squeezed to an urgent trickle by the caravan, which took up half the road and the field beyond it.

Hamdun said the caravan was waiting to be joined by more people and beasts. The leader was already here: Señor Gonzalo.

“They say he’s shrewd, greedy, pitiless—”

My hand went for Bela’s pendant, then dropped to my side.

“—and very brave. They say it could be worse.” Hamdun grinned. “They say he could be a coward.”

“Do you know where the caravan is going?”

“Toledo.”

Toledo was good.

“By way of Granada.”

Near where the monarchs were and where Don Miguel would return to.

I tugged off my rings, unclasped my bracelet, and buried them in my purse. If the purse had been big enough to accommodate it, I would have added my necklace. “Where is Señor Gonzalo?”

“I think he’s behind that horse.” Hamdun pointed.

We threaded our way through the throng, and I was terrifyingly noticed. Men made kissing noises and said things they should have said only to their wives. I blushed from my forehead all the way down my neck.

Finally, we reached the horse and went around it.

Señor Gonzalo, a stocky man who reeked of sweat, was tying a saddlebag. From his girth, he liked to eat, which I hoped meant the people in the caravan would eat, too.

I offered him my golden belt. In exchange, he agreed to let us travel with them, to feed us, and to protect us from bandits and from the men in the caravan.

When he agreed to all that, he said in a gravelly voice, “Give me the necklace, too, and your purse.”

My face reddened again, this time out of fury. “We had a bargain!”

“We do. Now give me the rest.”

Hamdun and I could leave, though I didn’t know what the other men would do. We needed this bully. My fingers trembled with rage as I unclasped my necklace. I filled his hand with my purse.

“And I’ll take your slave.”

I sensed Hamdun stiffen.

I managed to keep my voice level. “He’s a servant.”

“Not anymore. I’ll take him.”