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  Once Sara had regained her composure, Abba-Avi explained his plan, “I'll lead you out and introduce you to the rest of the village in a couple of days. I will tell them that you need to rest and that you came with Dov. After what the dragon said, most people will see your presence here as a blessing." Abba-Avi looked over and whispered, "I will not tell them everything else."

  Sara shrugged her shoulders and said, "I'll try to do some of this mending, and if you want, I could make something to eat later? I had a surprisingly good chef teach me a thing or two.”

  With the mention of food, Sara’s stomach betrayed her, and it growled.

  "Have you eaten anything yet?"

  Sara didn't want to answer, so she just dropped her head as her stomach answered for her again.

  Abba-Avi laughed, "Have some bread, my daughter. There'll be plenty tomorrow. And I'm going to go ahead and try and get a little bit more. Besides, I can't have you going hungry.”

  Abba-Avi smiled, “especially not if you're going to take care of my things," he said, waving at the clothes that she was planning to mend.

  “Well,”

  Sara stood there.

  "Go! It’s on the mantle. Get something to eat!"

  Sara got up and walked over to the mantle. She moved the cloth and cut a slice of bread from what was left of the loaf.

  “Cut at least two! You'll need them, and to make it better. I didn’t make the bread."

  Sara looked back and nodded, and cut another slice, taking the loaf from a half to a third.

  "All right, eat!" he said

  Sara took a bite and started chewing, then she said, “It is very good.”

  Abba-Avi nodded and smiled, pleased that she was enjoying it.

  Sara moved back to the table. Between taking another bite, she said. “I’ll try to get these all done as soon as I can,” waving her hand with the half-eaten slice of bread over the clothes on the table.

  "Thank you, my daughter," Abba-Avi said. "I appreciate that."

  Abba-Avi held up his hands and said, "They just don't do what they used to." It was clear to Sara that Abba-Avi must be suffering from some disease, or someone had injured his hands.

  "I appreciate the opportunity. It's the least I can do since you are helping me,” Sara said.

  Abba-Avi waved his crippled hand around, “You’ll need to tell me more about what you can do. I won’t treat you like a slave, but if you're going to live around here, you'll find there’s a lot that needs doing."

  "I’ve learned how to work hard,” Sara said.

  Abba-Avi shook his head and said, "But I see you already know what work is but saying you’ve learned how to work sounds a lot like something that could raise questions.”

  Sara realized her mistake but asked, “I thought that most people won’t ask questions?”

  “No, they won’t, but that doesn’t mean they won’t try and guess what a comment like that means. You see, everyone that we know, except maybe the nobility, has only known hard work.”

  Sara's eyes went wide, realizing that her one comment already told Abba-Avi that she grew up around nobility.

  Abba-Avi waved his hand and moved toward the front door, “Just because I think I know something doesn’t mean I will share it. Even Bat-Avi won’t get anything out of me but watch what you say.” Abba-Avi shook his head. “There is a spy among us, and we haven’t figured out who it is.”

  “I’ll be careful.”

  Abba-Avi pointed at her knife. "Hide that,” he said. “Weapons are not allowed, so hide them. Keep it with you but hide it so people can’t see it.” He patted his side. “We all have one, but you don’t want to be seen with one."

  Sara nodded. "Yes, sir. I will do that.”

  “Good, I’ll be back.” Abba-Avi reached out and opened the door, but looked back and said, “I need to get out and talk to the rest of the village. A dragon landing in the village is enough to make many of them want to ask all kinds of questions.”

  Sara nodded.

  Abba-Avi thought, and knowing our luck; the soldiers will be back before we’re ready.

  Abba-Avi turned, opened the door, and then looked back one last time said, "Oh!" He pointed to the corner of the room. "In that corner, you will find an entrance to a cellar. If you hear soldiers coming into town, go into that place. Do not ask any questions. Do not come out to look, just go! If you feel something is wrong, go! Do not wait. I cannot help you if the soldiers catch you.”

  This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

  “Yes, at the first sign.” Sara said, looking intently at the corner, but not seeing anything that looked like an opening to a cellar.

  “I'll be back."

  Abba-Avi opened the door and proceeded out. Once he was out of the door, Sara wasted no time eating the bread she was given. It was good. As good as any she had tasted in the castle. It reminded her of the bread she had when she first entered the valley, and she wondered if Draco and David had stolen it from the soldiers who came and got it every week.

  Thinking of making bread reminded her of the time she tried to make bread. She gathered wild rye from the fields surrounding the valley. She separated the grain from the rest of the plant. and ground it into flour. It was hard work. For all of it, there was only enough flour for one loaf of bread. The results were not what she hoped for. She ate it, but only because of the work she had put into it. It was also the last time she tried to make bread.

  If she had a chance, she was going to get Bat-Avi or even Abba-Avi’s granddaughter to show her how to make bread like this.

  Sara began sewing and stopped, amazed again at the changes in her. She was sewing and happy about it and hoping she could learn how to bake bread. Sara laughed. “Who would have thought, a few months ago, that I would want to learn how to bake bread?” she looked at the mending that sat before her, “Or be excited that there was a chore to do.”

  Outside, Abba-Avi walked down the street shaking his head. She's so much like Zissel, he thought, no, not exactly, but. Abba-Avi tried to push the thoughts aside. In his heart, there was the ache that hadn’t gone away since Zissel’s death, but today it seemed lighter. He was sure that Bat-Avi would see it. If she did, then Abba-Avi would know it was more than his grief playing tricks on him.

  Yes, if Bat-Avi saw it, she would say something. Abba-Avi couldn’t help but smile, thinking about his talkative daughter. She would say what she saw, where her husband Abba-Asher wouldn't say anything, even if the girl was Zissel’s twin. Abba-Avi never quite understood how that quiet man ever caught the attention of his daughter. Not in a million years would Abba-Avi have expected his oldest, most talkative, and outspoken daughter would consider Abba-Asher. No, even as a child, the young Asher was a quiet boy and easy to overlook. However, Abba-Avi appreciated the man’s work ethic and his quiet consistency in caring for his daughter and their children.

  What Abba-Avi appreciated about Abba-Asher, more than anything else, was the way he managed to convince the lord to let Bat-Avi return to the village after her stint in the manor house.

  Abba-Avi was glad to see some of the men coming towards him. He could push away the stories of what happened to people who were taken to his lord’s manor house. There were too many bad memories in the past, but now there was hope.

  He remembered the feeling he had in his heart when he stood before the dragon and lied to the creature. Well, he told himself, I did not exactly lie, but I did protect a life.

  Abba-Avi thought about how he would tell the village about Sari. Then Abba-Avi realized that Sari was almost of marrying age. This was going to create other problems.

  Avi sighed, “I might have to start chasing away the young men.” However, it was a mixed feeling that brought a smile to his face. Seeing a young man come up to him and meekly begging to ask permission to speak with his daughter. Yes. Abba-Avi missed those days, even if it was his daughters who told him if he was to say yes or no. There was something special about that time, and who knew maybe he would have the chance again.

  The five men he expected were now only a couple of steps away, and Abba-Avi considered again the dragon's words. The words sounded like a blessing if they took care of Sari. That is what he would allow the people to believe, but the dragon’s words confused him. Why would such a majestic creature kidnap and enslave a young girl and then not demand her return? It didn't make sense, but Abba-Avi learned a long time ago that life didn't make sense. There wasn’t any time to consider this as Abba-Jabez mumbled out an unintelligible greeting.

  "Greetings! To you all.” Abba-Abi said, looking at the other men who were standing facing him in the center of the village.

  "I never believed I would see a dragon, maybe there’s still a chance I could get a wife,” Fishel shouted out, the only man in the group who had never been married.

  The men in the group groaned quietly because Fishel always found a way to mention that he wasn’t married. Yet, because he could hardly hear, he didn’t hear their groans or one of the men say, “No dragon can bring that much luck.”

  Abba-Jabez shook his head. "Ah! A dragon's blessing may be good, but what will happen when he hears about it?”

  All the men sighed and nodded, thinking about how their lord might react. They envisioned the lord sending men who would demand to know why a dragon would visit this village. They all hoped that the lord's desire to keep receiving Bat-Avi's bread would keep him from investigating too closely. It had protected them a little in the past, but they had never had a dragon come by before either.

  The one exception to the melancholy was Abba-Mendel, who smiled and said. “Everyone knows that a dragon means blessings, and who’s going to tell him? I certainly won’t, and neither will any of you?”

  “That is for certain.” Abba-Ilan agreed but then looked at Abba-Avi. “The question I have is who was this she the dragon talking about?”

  “And is she old enough to marry a guy like me?” Fisher asked, though no one looked at him.

  Abba-Avi ignored Fisher and explained, “Her name is Sari. Dov, the traveling merchant, brought her to me. She’s an orphan, and for some reason, the dragon wants her taken cared of.”

  “We can barely take care of our own families; how can we afford to take care of another person?” Abba-Jabez grumbled.

  Abba-Avi looked at Abba-Jabez. Abba-Avi had known the man's story. He lost two sons and a daughter to the lord. His questions to the soldiers about them brought him only a punch in the face and the words, “You won’t need to worry about them again.” He eventually learned from Abba-Asher that one of his sons died when he was out with the soldiers. The other son and daughter, like so many others, went into the manor and were never heard from again. Abba-Avi understood the loss and looked past the attitude and answered the question.

  “Sari is old enough to help around my farm and the village. She won’t be taking food from anyone’s mouth. In fact, she’s mending my clothes and cooking dinner as we speak.”

  The men nodded, then Abba-Gad spoke, "One thing is certain, we must protect this one. If her presence brought a dragon's blessing, we must not allow anything to happen to her."

  Abba-Jabez reminded them again of their fear. "Yes, of course we will, but if the Lord finds out, there won’t be anything we can do.”

  The men dropped their heads, all knowing this was true, but not knowing what else to say.

  It was finally Abba-Avi who broke the silence and said, "We'd better get back to work. If any of the women see us just standing around, dragon or not, we’ll never hear the end of it." With that, the men turned and walked back to their homes. Just one, Fishel, went back and didn’t work but sat down in front of his house, whittling on a piece of wood, creating something he thought was important.