Chapter 19
Like the first crisp breeze announcing the approach of autumn, Bradamante felt the change coming.
It began in the night and blew with full force by morning.
It was a night when both girls were permitted to eat. Bradamante sat on the floor beside Jara, both of them dipping their small hunks of bread into bowls of clear broth. At the table, Elias and Jacol ate thick meat stew and a loaf of bread apiece. Elias’s wife settled her ample seat onto the bench and helped herself to a chunk of Jacol’s bread. The boy menaced her with his knife. Elias chuckled as his wife withdrew her empty hand.
The knock on the door stiffened every one of them. Jara shrank as far as she could into the corner. Elias and his wife exchanged a glance before she rose and pulled the boy into the back room.
