“Come here, boy!” A man with a long black robe beckoned from inside the carriage. “Get inside right now!”

Tzvi trembled before the cruel, cold gaze of Jan.

“Whatever I owe you, we can work out. If you have a little patience, a little heart, I can get you the money and we can settle the issues between us.”

“We’re past that now, Jew. Don’t talk to me about waiting after several months have gone by, in which you’ve selfishly decided to sit and study your ancient books while my coffers aren’t being filled with my rightfully deserved and owed rent!”

Jan grabbed Tzvi and shoved him to the door. “I know what the issue is, the heart of the matter, which is why I cannot stand the Jews who live here. You are all so crazy in love with your religion, your G-d, your Torah, that you neglect everything else and live in ways that cannot be sustained! What needs to happen is for you to wake up and snap into reality. Look at you, an old, hunched-over man, who has yet to realize that in This World, in our town, one cannot rely on G-d for everything and expect everything to be alright, and for money to fall from the sky and rent to be dropped off in my coffer by some angel floating down from heaven on wings! This is Sharayeh! Not some make-believe place, Jew!”

“I cannot remain silent in the face of those hurtful and untruthful words,” Tzvi said as he straightened himself up and looked Jan directly in his eyes. “G-d can do anything. Just because you do not have enough faith to do what we are doing, do not begrudge us for living on a higher level than you and your drunken cohorts!”

Silence reigned in the room as Jan’s jaw dropped. Then, his jaw clenched shut and anger burned in his black eyes.

“Get out of my house, Jew!”

Tzvi did not need to be told twice. He turned, fumbled for an awfully long minute with the handle, and then burst out of the house and ran as fast as he could in the snow. But he had deep misgivings. Jan would have his revenge. He was not a man to let anything slide, and he certainly wouldn’t remain silent after Tzvi had put him in his place like that, however justified the latter was.

But Tzvi could not have imagined how far Jan would go to prove his point and have his revenge…