My Guardian Angel Read Online Free PDF

fight!”
    â€œLike those two housewives I saw in the market the other day!”
    Elvina looks first at one of the girls, then at the other. She sees the mischief glinting in their eyes. Suddenly laughing, she pulls their braids.
    â€œSorry to disappoint you, but we will not give you the pleasure of watching two girls scratching each other’s eyes out and pulling out clumps of hair.”
    Muriel draws back, and then, in a voice dripping with honey, she meanly asks, “Where are your eggs? Have you broken them?”
    The twins don’t give Elvina time to answer. They each take her by the hand.
    Naomi says, “This winter my mother gave us each a package of eggs for the first time. It was dreadful. We didn’t dare run or even walk —”
    Rachel interrupts, “But we had a brilliant idea. We put our eggs under Grandfather’s blankets. He never leaves his bed. Our mother was too busy to notice, and one morning, three weeks later, Grandfather started yelling! Guess what? His bed was full of chicks!”
    Naomi pulls a face. “Did we get a beating!”
    The twins’ sweet expressions inspire Elvina to give Muriel a kiss. “Shall we make up?” Elvina asks.
    At first Muriel turns away, but then she can’t help laughing along and kisses Elvina back. They have been friends forever, almost like sisters. They have quarreled and made up hundreds of times.
    Elvina continues, “You guessed right. I did break my eggs, for a change. But tell me, what are Bella and the twins doing here?”
    The twins are no longer laughing. In an instant, their faces seem shrunken, turning strained and pale. They huddle together and Rachel answers, “We were too scared in the village.”
    â€œThe Crusaders came to our place yesterday morning and stole all of our sheep. When my father begged them to leave us at least one ewe, they pushed him so hard he fell over, and then they insulted him,” Bella explains.
    Naomi starts crying and Rachel joins her. Elvina takes them in her arms, strokes their tearstained cheeks, and dries their eyes with her sleeve.
    â€œCouldn’t he fight back?” she asks Bella.
    â€œFight back? How? You think Jews can fight back? There are thousands of Crusaders. They camp in our barns, in the forest, in the fields, on the roads. If they only steal our sheep without killing us, we can count ourselves lucky! That’s what my father says.”
    Muriel turns to Elvina. “The streets are deserted, as you have seen, but the houses are all bursting with people. The Jews in the countryside and the outskirts of Troyes are terrified. Last night Simonet brought his wife and daughters to our Uncle Nathan the tanner’s, just three doors from here.”
    She adds quietly, “Bella saw Peter the Hermit as close as I see you now, didn’t you, Bella?”
    Bella hesitates, and the twins reply for her, “She saw nothing at all. Tell the truth, Bella.”
    â€œThe truth is that our elder brother spoke to someone who did see him.”
    Elvina is curious. “So what does he look like?”
    â€œHe looks like a donkey.”
    â€œA donkey? Are you telling me the truth, Bella?”
    â€œYes. His face is thin and longer than most people’s. He has a filthy long gray beard, and he’s barefoot and ragged — like a beggar. And he rides a donkey.”
    â€œWhich looks exactly like him!” chorus the twins. They pause a second for effect, then cry, “And the donkey speaks as well as his master!”
    The color has returned to their faces and their eyes are open wide, but whether in horror or in wonder it is hard to say.
Probably both,
thinks Elvina as she realizes how much she would like to have two little sisters like Rachel and Naomi, who change so easily from tears to laughter.
    â€œWhat does the donkey say?” asks Elvina.
    â€œThat I can’t tell you,” replies Bella.
    â€œWe