Page 52 - Devil's Arithmetic by Jane Yolen

the gifts as if she were the bride herself.
Looking surprisingly beautiful in a dark green dress
with a broad white lace collar, Gitl made sure all the
tributes were piled onto two wagons: crocks of butter,
lengths of cloth, a white lace tablecloth, wooden bowls,
and a pair of truly ugly silver candlesticks that Shmuel
announced had been sent over by the rendar himself.
Even the cages of chickens went into the wagons, one
in each. Gitl kept rearranging the gifts, making them
seem to be twice as numerous, saying again, "Those
schnorrers in Viosk will know we honor our own."
Near the barn, Shmuel and the other men stood
smoking and laughing at one joke after another. When
Gitl disappeared inside for a moment, Hannah thought
she'd stand next to Shmuel, since she really knew no
one else. But when she got close, Yitzchak shooed her
away as if she were one of the chickens, waving his
massive hands at her and saying, "Men-talk is not for
young ladies."
Embarrassed at being singled out that way, Hannah
spun around, right into the arms of a girl her own age,
who looked at her with great, startled green eyes. Han-
nah was so relieved to see another girl, she almost cried
out.
"So—you are Lublin Chaya," the girl said, her voice
catching strangely in mid-sentence. Before Hannah could
deny it, the girl had threaded her arm through Han-
nah's, calling out to a knot of girls who were standing
by a newly arrived wagon. "I have found her, Lublin
Chaya."
They came over at a run, hair ribbons flying.

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