Читать книгу Mother of Jesus - Ilia Grinberg - Страница 6

“Mother, stop him,” Maria shouted. “They are real robbers. The one I saw, the donkey on the lead led laden. They, probably, already killed someone and robbed! This is understandable.”

“Listen to me, my girl,” Anna whispered in her daughter's ear, pressing Maria to her chest. “I will not catch up with this young idiot. He, of course, is a pity, but he himself chose his fate. Soon you will calm down and realize that you and I have many more problems that need to be urgently addressed than the pursuit of this passionate dunce. Look at the shadow of the post, remember, father taught you to determine the time from it? See? Lunch is coming soon, and he, if in the city, never misses it. Do you want him to see you in all his glory and find out what happened? Maybe we can still hide everything from him. We washed you, changed the dress. Now I will tie up your cheek so that he does not notice a bruise. You lie down and tell him when he comes that the tooth is sick ... Or maybe it is better to leave before his arrival? Then we say that went to the witch. That would be luck. He will return in the evening, it will be dark already. In the morning, leave early again. And for the day we think of something.”

Anna spoke and spoke without stopping. It seemed that the incident completely knocked her out of the rut. However, this was not the case. She really could not control her tongue, but surprisingly, her head was clear and she understood very well what she was doing. Despite the fact that she was shaking all over, she quickly tied her daughter's cheek with a clean piece of fabric, and looked at her with satisfaction:

“Well, that's it, let's go. Boy, let's go,” she called to the donkey, which the household used for household needs. In the mane of an animal, old but still strong, gray hair was already visible, but it remained a boy from the very times when Joachim brought a foal into the yard, which had damaged his leg. “Poor Boy,” the donkey Anna then regretted tying up his leg. Having recovered, he settled down in the household, so for life and remained a boy.

The woman helped Maria to sit on the animal, and they drove through the gate.

“Daana,” Anna cried, approaching the neighbour's gate.

The wicket was opened immediately, and from there looked about forty years old woman in a simple dress and a basket in his hands. Anna was once again surprised that the neighbor always responds to the call almost immediately. She has long had the impression that Daana, the wife of a neighbor, the potter Gideon, doesn’t do anything at home, but only sits at the gate to react in time to any significant event on their street.

“But I got ready go to the baker, I don’t want to mess around with the dough today. You know, my Gideon bread eats in such quantities as if there is no other food. Something happened?” immediately rattled lover gossip.

“Maria's tooth ached, they went to the healer, to Delilah. I thought you would be at home, you would not go anywhere, but tell him where we are, so as he doesn't lose us. Well, since you leave, then I will come to Ephraimia, I will ask her.”

“Yeah, she will go to Euphremia! What came up with. She can't remember her name in the evening, she always forgets everything. And you are going to trust her so important. Joachim, as usual should come to dinner? So soon. So I will wait. Nothing linger for long. I will help you like a neighbor. I will give him everything as you said. Do not worry” continued Daana without pause. “And what about our girl with a tooth?” the curious woman literally sang in a sugar voice, having stolen up to Maria, and already stretching her hand to the bandage.

“Thank you, dear neighbor” Anna replied to her, squeezing between the potter’s wife and daughter and at the same time hitting the boy with a whip. “That helped out! If you need anything, come in, I will be happy to help.”

“Well, well, well,” murmured Daana, watching her neighbor and daughter with a close look. “Tooth sicks, you say. So ill that husband did not wait, ran to the healer. So ill, that sick on a donkey was lucky. And what is it that our patient with a tooth on his cheek does not hold? And not even oyknula once. Oh, Anna, something you are dark, honey. Well, oh well, I did not take those out of the clear. - And glad that I found a new interesting activity for myself, I closed the gate behind me, immediately clinging to the gap, seeing Anna and her daughter moving away with a curious glance.