Page 60 - Devil's Arithmetic by Jane Yolen

She had been holding Hannah's arm, but pulled away
half a step to look longingly toward the front of the
line.
For a moment, Hannah was almost annoyed at having
her audience distracted. "Don't you want to hear any
more?" she asked.
"Never mind her, Chaya," Rachel said smoothly.
"How are you to guess Yente knows songs like you
know stories? She will leave the dinner table, even, at
the sound of a clarinet. So ignore her and finish about
this witch. Does she push Gretel in the oven or not?"
But the mood was broken and a new mood took over
the villagers as the sound from the clarinet reached
them. The pace of the walk, which had become lei-
surely, quickened. Even the horses picked up their step.
The constant chatter stopped. Everyone seemed to be
straining to listen.
Then another instrument joined in. It took a moment
for Hannah to realize that the second was a violin. It
certainly wasn't like the one she had labored on in
Suzuki class so long and with so little result. This violin
had a piercing, insistent sweetness of tone, almost like
a baby crying.
The wagons came to a halt as the klezmer band came
around a bend in the forest path. Hannah saw that there
were three musicians in all: the clarinet, the violin, and
an accordion. The music was fast and full of a wild
energy.
The band members strode down the line of villagers.
Behind them came Shmuel, dancing with abandon, his
hands above his head and his black hair a dark halo

53