The Last Song

to cry. “I couldn’t bear losing you, too!”
    “You haven’t lost me … and you haven’t lost Papa. Torquemada promised to free him.”
    I told her everything then – how long Fray Armand kept me waiting, how afraid I had been, how I had persuaded Torquemada to promise to send Papa home.
    “At first he paid more attention to his monkey thanto me, but that changed when I told him about Sara’s letter to Miriam.”
    “Do you trust him? Do you believe that he’ll let your father go?”
    “He will. He doesn’t want their majesties to find out that he is a New Christian. Papa will be home three days from today!”
    “From your mouth to God’s ears!” she said.
    The days that followed seemed like an eternity. My mother and I tried to keep each other’s spirits up.
    We were sitting on a stone bench in the rose garden when Sofia appeared.
    “There is somebody at the door to see you, young mistress,” she said with an impudent smile.
    “Who is it? What are you grinning at?”
    She threw a quick glance in my mother’s direction and didn’t reply.
    “What’s the matter with you, Sofia? Tell me who is at our door!” I demanded.
    “Who is our visitor?” Mama asked.
    “Yonah, the silversmith’s son.”
    I got up from the bench but then sat down again. I didn’t know what to do. Should I talk to him? He said that we couldn’t see each other again. Why did he come?
    Mama took the decision out of my hands. “Bring the boy to the garden.”
    Sofia returned with Yonah in no time and then withdrew. Yonah bowed deeply and then he stood silent, fiddling with his cloak. His color was heightened and he refused to meet my eyes. I forced myself to sit still, with my hands calmly in my lap.
    “Doña Catarina, Isabel, my father sends you his greetings,” he finally mumbled. “My father and I just heard that Don Enrique was arrested by the Inquisition.” His voice became more confident. “What can we do to help?”
    “Both you and your father are very kind,” Mama said. “But you have enough troubles of your own without involving yourself in ours. We are hopeful that my husband will be a free man very soon.” She turned to me. “Isabel, tell Yonah about your interview with the Grand Inquisitor.”
    Yonah’s eyes grew wide as I recounted my tale and told him that Torquemada, Papa, and I shared the same blood. I told him what I had earlier told Mama – that Torquemada wouldn’t want the king and queen to discover his Jewish background.
    Yonah shook his head. “Somehow it all seems too easy. Why would Torquemada give in so easily? He must have some tricks up his sleeve.”
    “He may be the cruelest of the cruel, but he is a man of God. Surely, someone in his position must be a man of his word,” Mama replied.
    Yonah still looked unconvinced.
    “If he keeps his side of our bargain, I will give him the letter. I keep my promises.”
    “I pray that Isabel is right,” Mama said. She stood up. “I must go to the kitchen to consult the cook about dinner.”
    I rose to go with her. A small smile quivered over her lips.
    “You stay. The two of you must have a lot to say to each other.”
    With a wave of her hand, she was gone. I was astonished. What had happened to my proper mother, always so strict about conventions?
    “Doña Catarina is a kind lady. I am grateful that she gave me the opportunity to tell you what fills my heart.”
    I remembered my tears, the sleepless nights, and all the dreams and hopes I had bid farewell to. I realized that Yonah was trying to protect me, but I felt that he gave up on our dreams too easily. I turned my face away.
    “There is nothing to talk about,” I said. “You told me that you couldn’t see me again. That I should marry Luis.”
    He took my hand. I tried to pull it away, but he wouldn’t let it go.
    “Don’t you understand? I wanted to save us heartbreak, and I was right. In a week’s time, my father and I will leave Sefarad, never to return. We will be going to Cartagena, and from there we will sail to Morocco to start new lives. That is my destiny. Yours is to stay here with your parents and marry Luis and become the mistress of a great estate. I came to say good-bye. We’ll probably never see each other again.”
    A lone tear trickled down his cheek. It melted my heart.
    “I am here now,” I whispered.
    Then he kissed me.

C HAPTER 16
 
S UNDAY , J ULY 8, 1492 –
W EDNESDAY , J ULY 11, 1492
    T he sun was rising and the sky was turning a