They continued up the hill, past the vendors selling nut cakes, past the sausage man, past a group of young men vaulting over barrels, and past the eager girls in their white robes.
When they reached the dancing, Esther joined in. She danced around the circle twice, scanning the crowd. After the third time, she spotted Joseph, so close that she could see his V-shaped hairline. She closed her eyes, swayed her long hair seductively, and smiled her most dazzling smile. She felt eyes on her: a tingling sensation on the back of her neck. The music tapered off, and she slowly lifted her gaze.
But it wasn’t Joseph’s face staring back at her; it was Lazar’s, the silversmith, with beady eyes buried beneath thick eyebrows. He had a swarthy complexion and a stocky build. His hair was the color of mud. Flustered, Esther tried to get away, but he blocked her path.
“First you flirt, and then you flee?” he asked, leaning in so close that she smelled the wine on his breath.
She felt as if she had swallowed her own voice. Where is Joseph?
“You’re…mistaken,” she spit out.
“I don’t think I am.” His gaze traveled down her face until it rested on her chest, which rose and fell as she tried to catch her breath.
“I didn’t mean to…for you to—” Esther fumbled for words, desperate to make him go away.
“I know you were dancing for me, Esther, daughter of Hanan.”
“Not for you, for someone else,” she insisted.
Lazar stiffened. “I know your father, and I know your older brothers. Didn’t they tell you that girls shouldn’t play women’s games?”
“I’m not playing games.”
“You are, but not very well. You can’t be innocent and a Lilith at the same time.”
Lilith was a demon who seduced men and spawned devil children. Esther hadn’t even looked at Lazar!
“Perhaps,” Lazar said, brazenly ogling her body, “I should speak to your father.”
Esther turned away. She spotted Miriam in the crowd and ran toward her. “We need to leave. Now!”