The Last Song

to get back to our studies,” the rabbi said. “Who can tell us what happened to the Jewish people after they escaped from slavery in the land of the pharaohs?”
    Alberto stood up and adjusted his fine silk collar. “Moses went up Mount Sinai – ”
    Suddenly heavy footsteps boomed overhead. Alberto fell silent. We could hear banging and loud men’s voices, but we couldn’t make out what they were saying. Rabbi Abenbilla snuffed out the candle. We sat in the thick darkness, afraid even to breathe. Over and over, I murmured the Hail Mary to myself. I was glad of Yonah’s hand sneaking into mine.
    After what seemed like hours but couldn’t have been more than a few minutes, it was quiet again. The trapdoor lifted and Pedro’s face appeared.
    “You can come up now!”
    When I reached the top of the ladder and came to stand with the others, I saw that Pedro was bent over, clutching his stomach. Blood ran down his face from a cut above his eyes, staining his clothes. The little bakeryhad been destroyed. The table that had held the freshly baked bread was on its side, its legs broken. The bread dough had been hurled against the walls and ceiling.
    “What happened?” Rabbi Abenbilla asked, looking around at the shambles.
    “The Inquisition was here,” Pedro said in a hoarse whisper. “Three familiars came into the shop. They asked me if I sold bread to Jews. When I said that I did, they beat me with their clubs. After they had their fun with me, they took their clubs to my shop. May the bastards be cursed!” He spat on the floor. “They said that if I let Jews into my shop again, I would have to appear before the Inquisition.”
    Rabbi Abenbilla took a handful of coins out of his pocket and held them out to Pedro. “I am sorry we can’t stay to help you clean up. It would be too dangerous. The money will help rebuild your shop. We will find somewhere else to meet.”
    The baker pushed aside the rabbi’s hand. “I don’t need your charity,” he said gruffly. “I don’t need to be paid to help you. You can come back here. Just be careful.” He shook his hair out of his eyes. “Those bastards might return. Go now! It would be worse for all of us if they found you here.”

    As we made our way through the busy streets, I was glad of Yonah’s arm under mine, guiding me. I took a deep breath and held my face up toward the sun. The world seemed a more vivid, a more colorful place than ever before. My body felt light, as if I could fly, without my heavy velvet clothes to weigh me down.
    Yonah stopped when we arrived at the Bisagra Gate at the walls of Toledo.
    “Look!” he whispered. Amid a noisy crowd, the town crier and a familiar in distinctive black clothing were nailing a proclamation to the gate.
    “Attention, one and all!” shouted the town crier.
    The familiar pulled out a rolled-up document from beneath his doublet. He undid it and began to read. “Citizens of Toledo! I speak to you on behalf of the holy Inquisition. I bring you this Edict of Grace at the behest of the Inquisitor General Fray Tomás de Torquemada. The Inquisition requires those of you who have fallen away from Christ to come forward out of your own volition and to confess your heresy in front of the holy Inquisition. Their excellencies have given you a term of grace of thirty days. If you admit your wrongdoings in front of the holy Inquisition in less than thirty days hence, you will be allowed to repent and you will be treated mercifully by their excellencies, the Inquisitors of Toledo. Only voluntary confession willsave your souls from everlasting damnation and the long, just arm of the holy Inquisition.”
    When he paused to clear his throat, excited chatter erupted in the crowd. He held up his hand for silence before nudging the town crier in the ribs with his elbow.
    The town crier turned to the proclamation on the gate and began to read. “It is your duty to report the transgressions of false Christians to the holy Inquisition. You will know that your neighbor is a heretic if he is a Christian who lights candles on Friday nights before sunset. You will know that your neighbor is a heretic if he bathes before the Jewish Sabbath. You will know that your neighbor is a heretic if he is a Christian who wears clean clothes and does not light a fire in his abode on the Jewish Sabbath. You will know that your neighbor is a heretic if he is a Christian who refuses to eat pork. You will know that your neighbor is a heretic if