I Kill Monsters: Fury (Book 1) (32 page)

I lied to my father.

Feigl
, I told him. I had earned the
shoes in the domestic employ of Feigl, cleaning his cottage,
sweeping the floors, mucking out their nags. I knew the answer
would hurt my father’s pride as assuredly as the truth, perhaps
more so. But I was also aware that my father would accept this
explanation, that his pride—coupled with his disdain for the
Ashkenazi—would keep him from confronting the other.
When
was
this
done
? he asked me. I compounded my
lie, saying it was at night when we went to the stream, that I
would excuse myself from Leonid and the others and visit Feigl’s
household.

My father sat there for what seemed some
time, considering what I had told him, considering me. I wondered
if he would strike me. I would not begrudge him if he did. Finally
he raised his jug and drank, a hearty quaff that he gagged down,
the liquid no doubt burning his throat. When he had swallowed he
forbade me from visiting the stream ever again, adjuring me that I
spend my nights in his company. That was all he said to me, all
there was to it. I accepted his punishment with some relief. I had
narrowly escaped a second beating that day.

However, I was troubled. Forbidden from
visiting the stream,
ever
again
. I was young and had
no real idea what forever meant. I imagined the lord would be
disappointed. There would be no way I could continue in his service
when my evenings were restricted to the four walls surrounding me.
The gold has seemed unreal. Yet it was real. I had secured the
handful of coins I had already earned in a spot known only to
myself, unbeknownst to all others. There would be no new coins, I
sighed, looking out the door into the night, imaging Leonid and
Mina in the water up to their knees, Viktor turning over rocks
looking for fish, and Sasha pleased to be with her brothers and
sister in that idyllic spot.

The next morning they rode into our village,
boyars from the west. There were eight of them, each with his
attendants and personnel and their arrival doubled the size of our
village. They wore elegant robes, the richest and most decorated
clothing any in my village had ever seen. There were red boots, and
yellow leggings under blue tunics. They wore ornately-decorated
gorlatnyi on their heads and beards on their faces. On their hips
were curved swords and their horses—what fine steads—their horses
were plumed and armored. Nothing like them had ever been seen in my
land and most of my people, unsophisticated and provincial, shied
from these obviously cultivated and urbane visitors.

I was wondering which one or whose attendant
I should approach and extend the lord of the manor’s invitation
when Feigl took it upon himself to greet them. We watched him bow,
groveling low. We watched how he deferred his eyes as he spoke to
them. Though we were too far to hear his words, his unctuous manner
was conveyed across the distance. Only one of the boyars spoke to
Feigl and at the end of their short conversation the riders rode on
and Feigl returned to the small crowd of us that had gathered.

They were returning delegates from the Boyar
duma in far off Muscovy, Feigl lorded the information over us, like
a cat with a particularly scrumptious bird in its mouth. There was
a question of the land ownership following the death of the former
lord, and these men were here to settle it.
A
question
of
the
land
ownership
?
I wondered to myself. How, when the proper lord of this land was
ensconced in the splendid manor house? The lord Vinci. I was a
child. It would have been inappropriate to speak these thoughts
unbidden in the company of adults. I had no desire to converse with
Feigl. If I did, and my father espied it. I had already wounded his
pride, in truth and with a fabrication.

The boyars and their entourage settled on the
land behind Feigl’s cottage. They erected enormous, colorful tents
and their cooks began at once to stoke a mighty fire for their
noontime repast. They were the talk of our village until there was
no one left in our village to talk, an event whose propinquity was
upon us.

Emboldened, perhaps, by the encampment of
boyars behind his home, Feigl’s imperiousness increased ten fold in
the days following their arrival. Daily he rushed about the
village, barking orders to others, directing the women and children
to haul water from the stream to the boyar camp, brokering a
purchase price for the few emaciated goats owned in our village, a
sale none had asked him to adjudicate. His officiousness in those
days knew no bounds. No doubt he received some remuneration for his
efforts, though he offered no compensation to those whom he
directed about.
This
is
our
chance
, he
told anyone who cast him a suspicious eye,
our
chance
for
the
village
to
shine
in
the
eyes
of
the
Muscovites
! Caught up in the excitement the presence of the
strangers engendered, no one pressed the Ashkenazi, though none
doubted he was interested less in the standing of our village than
his own aggrandizement.

The mood of the father rubbed off on his
sons. I had decided that I would bear stoically any indignity
Gerald and his brothers visited upon my person, much as Leonid had.
But then one morning, two days after the boyars descended on our
village, events took a turn I could not ignore. Leonid and Viktor
were in the fields with our father. I was accompanying Sasha and
Mina to the stream to fetch water for the boyar camp. We were taken
with the foreigners and needed no excuse to get as close to them as
we could, whenever we could. Their manner of speech, their dress
and fearsome horses, all were magnets drawing us to their bivouac.
Enheartened, no doubt, by Feigl’s mood, Gerald, Ezra and Symeon
waited for us as we struggled to the camp, water sloshing in the
wooden buckets we hauled.

Bid
your
father
avoid
the
spirits
on
the
evening
after
the
morrow
, Gerald
sneered at Mina,
as
my
father
will
call
upon
him
. The way he ignored me, as if I
were not worthy of notice. I was the oldest male present on our
side, and his disregard was purposeful.
I
cannot
imagine
what
our
father
would
discuss
with
yours
, was Mina’s riposte, and
for a moment I was cheered by her sass. But then Gerald spoke and
his words deflated my spirits.
He
calls
upon
your
father
to
discuss
the
terms
of
your
dowry
. The way Gerald
said it, the ice in his voice, the lasciviousness. Mina was visibly
taken aback, but she gathered herself and managed to ask
the
terms
of
what
dowry
?

The
endowment
for
your
hand
, a vile grin crossed Gerald’s face,
and
that
of
your
sister’s
.

Sisters? Sasha stood there, all of five
years, clutching her single bucket. Did she comprehend what was
said and its import? I could only hope not.
Father
has
decided
, Ezra spoke up, his tone no less
rancorous than his brother’s,
that
we
should
be
wed
.
Come
, Mina hurried us along, ignoring
Feigl’s boys. But I could tell, she was distressed. Surely, I
thought, our father would rebuff any offer Feigl made. But would
he? Our father was not an old man but life on the land sapped one
of his vitality quickly. This, coupled with the death of our mother
and his having to raise the five of us alone, had aged him beyond
his years. His incessant drinking did not help.

Mina was of marrying age. Mother had been
betrothed to father at an age younger than she. And Feigl was
materially stable, if not prosperous, if not desirable. Mina may
not know happiness beside Gerald, but nor would she know hunger and
deprivation. I shuddered to think that my father would find the
offer attractive. I looked upon Sasha, little Sasha, my dearheart.
No! I vowed to myself silently as we delivered the water to the
attendants. It must not come to pass. I would not allow it.

I spent the remainder of the day considering.
How could I derail this plan before it had a chance to reach
fruition? I could not talk to my father. I was a child. He was
their guardian and this was not my place. I thought of running away
with Mina and Sasha, but Mina would never leave my father and the
village. Sasha and I would not survive long in the inhospitable
mountains with their wolves and other inhabitants. I thought about
it long and hard, and then, quite serendipitously, it came to me.
Feigl’s avarice, a greed he had passed down to his sons, would be
their downfall. I knew what I must do.

The next day I hurried off to the stream
before my sisters, filled my buckets, and made for the boyar camp.
There were rumors of talks, of discussions in the evening between
the boyars and the lord Vinci. The talks were held outdoors, in the
camp. Feigl whispered, to all who would listen, that if the lord of
the manor, this Italian dog, Vinci, did not turn the estate over to
this nobility it would be taken from him.

Gerald and his brothers were gathered outside
their cottage, doing no work, as usual.
Look
,
Gerald
,
Ezra’s words were a taunt meant for my ears,
our
future
brother
-
in
-
law
. I veered from my
path and approached the three. Ezra and Gerald looked at one
another and the latter snickered. Symeon had his hand in the pocket
of his breeches and was amusing himself with something there.

I spoke before they could find the next
insult.
If
we
are
to
be
family
, I said the words like I accepted their
inevitability,
then
our
time
would
be
better
spent
seeking
some
accord
than
bickering
. Gerald looked at me,
immediately suspicious.
What
do
you
have
in
mind
? he asked guardedly.
My
father
is
a
poor
man
, I
admitted.
He
will
never
be
able
to
offer
yours
a
dowry
worthy
of
my
sisters
. I continued
before they could comment.
But
I
know
where
great
wealth
may
be
had
,
like
that
which
I
bore
the
other
night
. At the mention of
a bounty the faces of Feigl’s boys lit up, even little Symeon’s.
Whatever suspicions Gerald harbored were banished by his cupidity.
Of
what
do
you
speak
? he
pressed, enmeshed in my deception.

I told them that the gold coin they had taken
from me, I had stolen from the manor house.
It
is
as
I
thought
! Ezra blurted but Gerald hushed
him.
Go
on
, the eldest of Feigl’s three louts
encouraged. I told them of vast riches unsecured in the stately
house, of an abundance of treasure. A surfeit, whose slight
diminishment would surely escape attention. The look in Gerald and
Ezra’s eyes told me I had them.
Tonight
, I confided,
the
lord
will
be
away
,
will
he
not
?
Negotiating
with
the
boyars
. The manor house would be unattended.
There was no need for me to say any more.

Gerald and Ezra talked excitedly among
themselves in their father’s language. The little one, Symeon, made
a show of understanding the matters of which they spoke, but he was
daft and would be drawn along into scheme. I continued along my way
to the camp, satisfied that I had done my part.

I sat in the dirt and tossed pebbles at
twilight, watching my brothers and sisters walk off to the stream.
I felt a certain sense of satisfaction knowing that even now
Feigl’s sons were plotting what would be their demise. My father
sat in the cottage and drank until he snored. I waited in the night
for Leonid, Mina, Viktor and Sasha to return, and when they did we
retired for the evening.

The entire day and the next the village was
abuzz. Feigl’s boys had disappeared overnight. They were nowhere to
be found. Where had they gone? Voices were hushed less Feigl
overhear. Perhaps a demon had absconded with their souls? If such
were true, it was asked, then whence the bodies? There were some
who suspected the boyars. But Feigl had insinuated himself into
their camp, and it was felt that even if they recognized him for a
sycophant, they would not harm his children. Could the boys
themselves have snuck out into the night? Was this possibly some
practical joke on their part?

There is one detail I have left out of my
account and a second that was unknown to me. A day or two before
they disappeared, Gerald and his brothers had accosted my siblings
on their evening perambulation. This was nothing new. What was
unique and noteworthy was Sasha’s response. The constant
indignities aimed at Leonid, Mina, Viktor, and—when I had
accompanied them—myself, were not lost on our littlest sister.
Though but five herself, and a delicate five at that, she
understood well the intent of their barbs and minacity. And that
night, a night I was absent, my youngest sister rose to the
occasion when Feigl’s boys assailed them.