Discovered
Rabbi took her to the deep cave he lived in near the river bank. The inside of the cave was furnished with a bed and a chair, and neatly arranged on the walls were some weapons, ornaments and pieces of gold and silver jewelry he’d stolen from either the merchants who sold at market places, or from the pockets of the rich folk of Bandaria.
“Welcome to my humble abode,” he said as he led her inside.
“You have a beautiful place here,” she remarked as she took in the sight of his small home.
“Thank you.”
She began looking around. “Do you live here all alone?”
“My dad and I used to live here, but now it’s just me.”
“What happened to him?”
“He was stoned to death at the market square after he was caught stealing.”
“Oh, I’m so sorry about that.”
“No need to be, I hated him so I didn’t feel anything when he died, besides he doesn’t have to worry; he has a son who is much smarter than him and who will continue his legacy of emptying the pockets of the wealthy Bandarians, a son who’s life he ruined because the son of a thief couldn’t find an honest trade as a result of his fathers reputation.”
Susannah just stared at him blankly, unsure of what to answer him with. He then changed the topic.
“Enough of me, let’s talk about you now. I know you’re not from this town, else you would have hated me by now. Everyone does.”
“I don’t.”
“I know, that’s why I said you’re not from this town. So, where ARE you from exactly?”
She didn’t answer, just stared at him with the same expression she had the last time she was asked this question. She didn’t know whether to trust him or not, but then her mother’s warning resounded in her head and she decided not to.
“Fine Susannah, since you won’t tell me where you’re from, you can at least tell me something about yourself. One of the guards called you something… a witch. Is this true?”
“Why do you ask that?”
He furrowed his brow. “Well, if I’m harboring a witch in my cave, I at least deserve to know, don’t you think?”
“You can put your fears aside. The guard was wrong, I am not a witch, I’ve never even seen a witch before talk less of being one myself.”
He eased his face and then went towards a box of jewelry that lay beside the weapons in the corner, he opened it and removed a silver ornament from it, it glowed so brightly in Susannah’s eyes that she already started getting terrible headaches just by staring at it.
He handed her the ornament. “I’m glad to know that you are not a witch Susannah, and since that’s not the case, I suppose you wouldn’t mind holding onto this silver necklace for me???”
She began to tremble, any tiny contact she makes with that necklace would severe her skin even worse than the hottest lava from a raging volcano would. Rabbi truly was truly a smart one, lying to him again at this state would be impossible.
He held the necklace out in front of her. “Go on, take it. it shouldn’t bite,” he gave her a playful smirk as he let the words out of his mouth.
She stared between him and the necklace, unsure of what to do or say now.
“Susannah, you know I helped you escape, I could have decided to do otherwise if I wanted. Is that not enough reason for you to trust me? Are you going to tell me if you are a witch or not?”
Silence
“You know that if you want to leave this town safely back to where you came from, you’re going to need my help, right? The guards will be searching every nook and cranny for you now, and no one knows the hidden corners in this town better than me, now tell me the truth. ARE YOU A WITCH OR NOT?”
She closed her eyes, heaving out a breath of surrender. I’m sorry mama, she said in her heart before bringing the words to life.
“I am.”
“Aha!” Rabbi laughed as he went to put the jewelry back into the box and closed it before placing it back to its former position.
“See? That wasn’t so hard, was it? I knew something was up the minute you told me you wanted to escape with me, you shouldn’t have had anything to fear if you were sure you would pass the silver test, were you? …unless the guards were right!”
Susannah gave him a snarl. “Are you going to report me now that you’ve found out?”
“Oh, not at all dear, though I’ll admit you ARE very valuable for someone like me who loves gold, the king pays a hefty price for witches, and when he catches them, he either cuts their heads off or throws them into the flames.”
Susannah cringed, fear oozing out of her heart as well as the uncertainty of what Rabbi was thinking. She then felt his warm big hands cover hers, she opened her eyes to see him passing a smile in her direction, his blue eyes radiated warmth.
“Don’t worry Susannah, your secret is safe with me, I won’t tell anyone and I’ll make sure to protect you until you get home.”
She let out a sigh, unsure of whether to believe him or not.
“I give you my word Susannah,” he reassured her.
She then nodded her head, at this point, she had no choice but to believe him. After all, he did say he had the choice to help her or not and he chose to, that should have been enough reason to trust him, right?
**********
For the next few days, Susannah lived in Rabbi’s cave and their friendship waxed stronger, Rabbi was happy to have companion in his cave other than himself for once and Susannah, well Susannah had never known a real man in all her 200 years of existence, it was a different experience for her that she enjoyed being with him altogether. Things went well between the two until Rabbi started becoming aware of his feelings for her.