“Oh. Elizabeth. Let’s save my brother-in-law for another day.”
They walked a few more blocks before Elizabeth turned to him again.
“What did you really think of Leah?”
“I thought she was nice.”
“Well, I really liked her. I spent a lot of time with her. She taught me how to weave. She always asked me how I was doing and whether I needed something to eat or drink. I liked it when we sat down and had dinner together, the three of us. She made me laugh a lot, not because she was different or funny or anything. But, I don’t know, she always seemed to know how to make me smile.”
“Yeah, I know what you mean.”
“Yes, Dad, you know exactly what I mean,” Elizabeth said with a coy smile.
“What are you getting at?”
“I went up to check on you last night, and Leah was up there with you.”
Michael stopped walking. “You did what?”
“Relax, Dad. You were both sleeping when I went up there. I didn’t see anything.”
“Elizabeth, nothing happened.”
“Well . . . do you love her?”
Michael rubbed his forehead, looking down at the ground. “There’s no easy answer here, Baboo. I don’t know if it even matters. . . .”
Suddenly he started walking at a faster pace. “Let’s get home. We’re almost there, right through this alley. Man, it’s kind of eerie no one’s around.”
“Leah said it was the Sabbath, Dad. And she was right: I haven’t seen any soldiers.”
“Good, because the tunnel is right around this corner.”
They took a few steps out into the street.
“Hold on!” Michael gasped, pulling his daughter back into the alley. “Look!”
Elizabeth leaned in close next to him so that she could peer around the corner, too. “Oh, no!”
A soldier was stationed about twenty feet away on their side of the street with his back to them. His weapon glistened in the morning sun, the shiny blade glaring back at them. The metal helmet disguised his face, but they could clearly see the white cloth attached to it.
At this close distance, Michael could also see the scar on the back of the soldier’s leg. Finally, he could make out the design: a Roman coin branded into his skin.
How sick, Michael thought, totally repulsed by him.
“He’s waiting for us,” Michael said, looking at the bank of six half-mooned sewer grates embedded in the side of a building across the street. “The tunnel’s right there, I think. But I don’t see the shirt!”
“What shirt?”
“I tied a piece of your T-shirt to the grate we came from.” Michael kept his eyes on the soldier. “This isn’t good, Elizabeth. We’re the prey. We’re the prey!”
They watched the soldier leaning there comfortably against the wall, not making a move.
“Dad, how are we going to get back now?”
Michael shook his head. “I don’t know. I really don’t. Let me think.”
He watched Elizabeth peer around the corner again, obviously terrified that the soldier would find them. Pointing in the opposite direction, Michael said, “I’m going to make a run for it over there. You stay hidden in this doorway. When he passes you, I want you to sprint to the tunnel.”
“No!”
“Shh,” said Michael, placing his hand gingerly over her mouth. “Quiet!”
Elizabeth shook her head several times.
“I’m not leaving you,” she said, wrapping her arm around his.
“Please, Elizabeth.” He hugged her close. “Please!”
She began to cry. “What if I can’t make it? What if he hurts you? How will you get to me? I don’t want to be alone. Please, Daddy, please.”
“Okay, okay. Please, don’t cry. I need you to be strong. Let’s think of something else.”
Michael felt a hand on his shoulder. He jumped.
“I can help.”
“Leah?” Michael said, turning around. “What are you doing here?”
“You and Elizabeth need to get home. Let me help you.”
“How?”
“Listen to me. I’m going to get the soldier to follow me. I know what he’s capable of and I’m not afraid,” Leah said defiantly as she pulled the ripped Springsteen T-shirt out from under her robe and put it on. “You must not let him stop you.”
“Elizabeth, give me your veil,” she demanded, taking the white veil and handing Elizabeth the black one. “Put this one on.”
“We can’t let you do that. You’ll be in too much danger. That soldier would kill you when he finds out you’re not Elizabeth.”
Leah fastened the white veil around her, then helped Elizabeth with the black one.
“Please don’t do this,” Elizabeth begged. “There has to be a better way. Right, Dad?”
“Yes, we’ll think of something,” he said, turning to Elizabeth. He felt a quick kiss on the cheek before realizing that Leah had walked into the street.
“No!” he gasped, watching as Leah strutted straight toward the soldier.
As she passed him, the soldier’s head snapped up, though the rest of him didn’t move. He was staring at her like a tiger ready to pounce. After a moment, he pulled off his helmet and tossed it to the ground. He let her get about ten yards in front of him before he started in pursuit.
“Daddy, do something!”
Turning to her, as if just realizing she was still there, he yelled, “Elizabeth, go to the tunnel now.”
“No, Dad, no!”
“I’ll help her, but you go, now! Do you know which grate it is?”
“I think it’s the third one.”
“Halt!” the soldier shouted to Leah. “I’ve been expecting you.”
The soldier held up a piece of the T-shirt, the one that Michael had tied to the grate.
“Oh, no,” Michael muttered.
Terrified, he implored his daughter to run. “Go now!” Michael motioned to Elizabeth, who immediately sprinted across the street.
Michael followed her for a few steps, then stopped. He could see her ahead, struggling to open one of the grates.
The soldier was nearly upon Leah. “Where have you been hiding?” he hissed. “I’ve been waiting for you. I knew you’d come back to me.”
He tore at Leah’s veil, then stepped back in surprise.
“Leave her alone!” Michael screamed, taking several steps toward him.
Leah spun around, shrieking, “Michael, go!”
“Shut up!” With the shaft of his spear, the soldier knocked Leah to the ground. He fell down on top of her, holding the spear across her neck.
“Dad! Daddy, I can’t open it!” Elizabeth shouted from the grate, struggling to break it.
The soldier spun around, lifting his spear from Leah and staring back at Elizabeth. “There she is.”
“No!” Michael yelled.
“Go!” screamed Leah, hitting the soldier on the back of the head. He staggered a moment, then rushed toward Elizabeth.
“Oh, Lord, oh, Lord, please help us,” Michael repeated over and over, fumbling at the grate. He slammed it once with his shoulder, jarring it open slightly.
Elizabeth stood up and kicked it with her foot. The grate fell through.
“Get in!”
“Stop!” the soldier yelled. He threw his spear at them. It skidded off the ground past Elizabeth’s head, striking the wall behind them.
Michael pushed Elizabeth into the tunnel. Turning one last time, he got a quick glimpse of Leah as she darted into a side alley and was gone.
Michael jumped down through the opening, landing on the grate.
“Go, go ahead, now, Elizabeth!”
“I’m going, Dad! I’m going!”
“Keep your hand on the wall, but run!” He watched her disappear into the darkness ahead.
Michael sprinted after her, his fingertips outstretched against the walls to try to guide him through the dark tunnel. He heard footsteps all around him.
Is he following us?
Michael didn’t stop to listen. He heard only the pounding of his own feet. After a while, he slowed down, out of breath.