The Apprentice's Masterpiece

The Apprentice's Masterpiece by Melanie Little

Book: The Apprentice's Masterpiece by Melanie Little Read Free Book Online
Authors: Melanie Little
Tags: JUV016070
. The Inquisition.
So we’ve been asked to bring him along.
Can you guess what he’s done?”
    I can’t begin to, but that
does not seem to be called for.
He goes on, barely stopping
for breath.
    â€œHe tried, the poor man, to convert to our faith.
Strange, in these times, is it not?
But he said that the Church, which roasts
men like meat, is no place for him.
So he went to a synagogue in Toledo
and asked for instruction.
The rabbi he talked to was no braver
than we who carry these arms.
Fearing for his life, he reported our friend
to the Office.
    â€œNow it is Jews who must jail him,
adding stranger to strange.
We daren’t say no.
And besides, what other work
is there left for Jews in this land?
    â€œBut he’s just passing through us.
A ghost passing through
a wall of more ghosts.
    â€œThough fit enough food
for the Holiest fires.”

Pockets
    I’m astonished.
They bother with autos-da-fé
in the midst of their war?
    â€œOf course! And why not?
The Queen sees the stake and the sword
as tools with one purpose—
a pure Christian Spain.
And the King says the Inquisition is fire—
if you’ll pardon the expression—
for his men’s morale.”
    â€œNot to mention the means
to buy all these toys!” A man
with a button-round nose has piped up.
“No one’s buried with full pockets, my friend!
As long as backsliders are burned at the stake,
there’ll be money to grease the costly machine
of this war with the Moors.”
    My head reels.
It all seems an endless circle.
    I recall Ramon’s words.
This bloodthirsty place .
    At this rate, we’ll all have to wait
till we die to escape it.

Trade
    The captive won’t tear his gaze
from the ground.
I can’t seem
to stop staring at him.
    His clothes are those of any Christian.
He wears no sanbenito . Not yet.
“Trade up,” the men urge me.
They eye my red Mudejar badge, my turban,
my ankle-length robes.
“You can’t pass the armies
of the King wearing those!”
    â€œAren’t you forgetting,” I ask them,
“one little thing? Shall I say
my dark skin is a sunburn?”
    The men laugh.
“There is many a Christianized Moor on the side of the King.
They are prized, in plain fact.
They can talk to the traitors who sneak
from inside to sell news of the city.
Though no one’s suggesting that you
would do that .”
    Still, I refuse. How much worse for this
man if he’s seen in my clothes.
A Judaizing Christian in Mudejar robes!
    That night, there’s a party.
The men drink sweet Juarez wine
from the cask.
    The wretch runs. I see him, and pretend
I’m asleep. But he trips. Someone wakes.
An arrow pierces his back
before he can get to his feet.
    â€œNow will you take his clothes?”
    Allah forgive me.
Yes.

Gift
    It’s the last thing I do
with his body.
I’ve already dressed him
in my turban and robe.
    But before I depart
I give one final gift.
    Bea’s square of white linen
—and her little tooth.
    I feel sorry for leaving
this legacy.
    I just want it gone.

Praying
    After two weeks of wheat fields,
they’ve finally vanished!
Lush vineyards spice the moist air.
Olive trees speckle
the rolling green hills.
    These are the banks
of the River Xenil.
We’re making progress:
the Axarquian Mountains
spike the distance.
    As much as we can,
we camp near a stream.
These have extra value for me,
for my prayers.
I plunge hands and feet
in the cool water.
At last, I am clean for my God.
    I bring my sack with me, the money I earned.
Some of the men in our party
have little to lose.
    But one day while praying
I pay for my doubts.
    I turn round as a bandit—not one of the Jews—
streaks off.
    With him, my satchel.
All I have in the world.

Not
So
    I still have Hafiz!
    He is inside the blanket I use as a pillow,
just where I stowed him last night.
    His worn cover mocks me.
    This is the sum of your worldly goods now!
    I open the

Similar Books

HOWLERS

Kent Harrington

Commodity

Shay Savage

Spook Country

William Gibson

Some Like It Hawk

Donna Andrews

Kiss the Girls

James Patterson

The Divided Family

Wanda E. Brunstetter

After Glow

Jayne Castle