How could she? How could she be so cruel? Then again, what else to expect from a woman who has so much?

IS it anger that is stopping his sleep? Eliyahu throws off the thin sheet. Is it the heat? He washes his hands and face and steps out into the courtyard.

The moon is filtered through the pomegranate tree; the small fruit glow silvery-pink and Eliyahu reaches out and touches one. The smooth coolness calms him and allows him to think.

The great lady. That is what they all call Leonora.

And it is true. She does some great things. Certainly, she has magnificent ideas.

But the sight of those children, wilting in the heat, staggering forward as they beat the wet wool…

How could she? How could she be so cruel?

Then again, what else to expect from a woman who has so much? There must be a harshness to her, for her to have amassed so much wealth, so much power. They say she has people working for her all across Europe, and in Egypt as well.

He closes his eyes. Better to hide in a cave. Better to be alone and clean from ambition, to never live in the company of man than to use others, to wield power over little children in this way. He presses his forefinger against each tip of the pomegranate’s crown.

The children, he believes now, are safe.

It is not on their account that he cannot sleep.

So, what is it? He leaves the courtyard still barefoot, curls his toes slightly over the cobblestones so that he does not slip, for they are moist from the mist of the night, walks up the road and into the hills.

Leonora is not the only woman with ambition in the world. Everyone alive wants something. It is that desire that wakes them up in the morning. They can hide it or hide from it, but it is there and — he clambers over a stone, feels a pebble prick at his ankle but pays it no heed — and if one does not take care, it can lead a person to crush all those around him.