Page 67 - Devil's Arithmetic by Jane Yolen

The wagon bumped along the road, swaying from
side to side. Hannah wished she could get down and
looked longingly at the ground:
"What is it, Chayaleh?" Fayge asked.
"Is it much longer?"
"Around one more big bend and we will be there.
At my village. At Viosk. Would you believe it? My
village for but a few more hours and then my village
no more. And would you guess that as excited as I am
about marrying my beloved Shmuel, a part of me is
also afraid?"
Hannah laughed out loud. "Shmuel said the same
thing this morning."
"Did he? Did he?" Fayge's eyes lit up and suddenly
she looked very young, not that much older than Han-
nah. "Tell me exactly what he said."
Hannah closed her eyes, trying to remember. "He
said . . he said . . ."
.
"Yes?"
"He said he wasn't afraid of being married, only of
getting married." ,
Reb Boruch cleared his throat loudly.
"Oh, Chaya," Fayge said, ignoring her father, "thank
you for telling me that." She gave Hannah a hug. "We
are going to be such friends, you and I. Best friends.
Life will be good to us forever and ever, I know."
The wagon made a wide turn around the bend in the
path, the horses straining mightily. One blew out its
nostrils, a loud huffing. Ahead, where the path widened
out, was a meadow and beyond it a town.

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