and spirit of the rose, and in the attempts and failures gradually he evolved from the craftsman he had been into the artist he would be.
Finally, he had created a flower of glowing gold. Its petals curled with a fresh softness that was perceived by the eye instead of being sensed through touching. It was a believable flower, as if a master horticulturist had achieved a natural rose of a perfect golden color. Below the flower was a single golden bud. The stem and twigs and thorns and leaves were of bright silver, spoiling the illusion, but Helkias had five months until the date of delivery demanded by Count Vasca, and he allowed time to do its work. The gold retained its color but the silver darkened with tarnish until it took on color characteristics that made the flower believable.
Count Vasca was visibly surprised and pleased when he saw what Helkias had wrought. 'I will not give this away as a prize. I have a better purpose for it,' he said.
Instead of paying Helkias he gave him a large order for more objects, and then still a third order. Ultimately he became Helkias's largest debtor, and when the Jews were ordered to leave Spain the Vasca debt had led to their present grave difficulty.
The castle was large and forbidding as Yonah and Helkias approached it. The bars of the great gate to the keep were down. Helkias and Yonah stared up at the sentry station atop the high stone wall.
'Halloo the guard!' Helkias called, and presently a helmeted head appeared.
'I am Helkias Toledano, silversmith. I wish to speak with His Excellency the Count Vasca.'
The head withdrew but in a brief time it reappeared. 'His Excellency the count is not here. You must go away.'
Yonah stifled a groan, but his father persevered. 'I come on a matter of important business. If the count is not here, I must speak with his steward.'
Once more the sentry went away. Yonah and his father sat on their horses and waited.
Finally, with a squeal and then a groaning, the barred gate was lifted, and they rode into the castle yard.
The steward was a slender man who was feeding strips of meat to a caged falcon. The meat had been a white cat. Yonah could see the tail, which was still whole.
The man scarcely looked at them. 'The count is hunting in the north,' he said in an irritated voice.
'I seek payment for articles which I made on order and delivered to him,' Helkias said, and the steward cast him a glance.
'I pay no one unless the count commands it.'
'When shall he return?'
'When he wishes.' Then the man relented, perhaps to rid himself of them. 'If I were you, I should come again in six days' time.'
As they directed the horses back to Toledo, Helkias was quiet, lost in troubled thought. Yonah tried to recapture some of the pleasantness of the earlier ride.
'"Oh, the wolf shall dwell with the lamb ..."' he sang, but his father took no notice, and they rode the rest of the way mostly in silence.
*
Six days later Helkias made the trip again, by himself, and this time the functionary said the count wouldn't return until fourteen days hence, the twenty-sixth day of the month.
'It is too late,' Aron said in despair when Helkias told him.
'Yes, it is too late,' Helkias said.
But the following day there were tidings that the monarchs in their mercy had granted one extra day for the Jews to leave Spain, moving the final date from the first day of August to the second day.
'Do you think? ...' Aron asked.
'Yes, we can do it! I shall be waiting at the castle when he arrives. We can leave as soon as I am paid,' Helkias said.
'But to make the trip to Valencia in seven days!'
'It is not that we have a choice, Aron,' Helkias said. 'Without money, we are doomed.'
When Aron sighed, Helkias placed his hand on his brother's arm. 'We shall do it. We shall push ourselves and the beasts, and we will find our way.'
But even as he spoke, he was considering the uneasy fact that August the second was the ninth day of the Jewish month of Ab, an
Finally, he had created a flower of glowing gold. Its petals curled with a fresh softness that was perceived by the eye instead of being sensed through touching. It was a believable flower, as if a master horticulturist had achieved a natural rose of a perfect golden color. Below the flower was a single golden bud. The stem and twigs and thorns and leaves were of bright silver, spoiling the illusion, but Helkias had five months until the date of delivery demanded by Count Vasca, and he allowed time to do its work. The gold retained its color but the silver darkened with tarnish until it took on color characteristics that made the flower believable.
Count Vasca was visibly surprised and pleased when he saw what Helkias had wrought. 'I will not give this away as a prize. I have a better purpose for it,' he said.
Instead of paying Helkias he gave him a large order for more objects, and then still a third order. Ultimately he became Helkias's largest debtor, and when the Jews were ordered to leave Spain the Vasca debt had led to their present grave difficulty.
The castle was large and forbidding as Yonah and Helkias approached it. The bars of the great gate to the keep were down. Helkias and Yonah stared up at the sentry station atop the high stone wall.
'Halloo the guard!' Helkias called, and presently a helmeted head appeared.
'I am Helkias Toledano, silversmith. I wish to speak with His Excellency the Count Vasca.'
The head withdrew but in a brief time it reappeared. 'His Excellency the count is not here. You must go away.'
Yonah stifled a groan, but his father persevered. 'I come on a matter of important business. If the count is not here, I must speak with his steward.'
Once more the sentry went away. Yonah and his father sat on their horses and waited.
Finally, with a squeal and then a groaning, the barred gate was lifted, and they rode into the castle yard.
The steward was a slender man who was feeding strips of meat to a caged falcon. The meat had been a white cat. Yonah could see the tail, which was still whole.
The man scarcely looked at them. 'The count is hunting in the north,' he said in an irritated voice.
'I seek payment for articles which I made on order and delivered to him,' Helkias said, and the steward cast him a glance.
'I pay no one unless the count commands it.'
'When shall he return?'
'When he wishes.' Then the man relented, perhaps to rid himself of them. 'If I were you, I should come again in six days' time.'
As they directed the horses back to Toledo, Helkias was quiet, lost in troubled thought. Yonah tried to recapture some of the pleasantness of the earlier ride.
'"Oh, the wolf shall dwell with the lamb ..."' he sang, but his father took no notice, and they rode the rest of the way mostly in silence.
*
Six days later Helkias made the trip again, by himself, and this time the functionary said the count wouldn't return until fourteen days hence, the twenty-sixth day of the month.
'It is too late,' Aron said in despair when Helkias told him.
'Yes, it is too late,' Helkias said.
But the following day there were tidings that the monarchs in their mercy had granted one extra day for the Jews to leave Spain, moving the final date from the first day of August to the second day.
'Do you think? ...' Aron asked.
'Yes, we can do it! I shall be waiting at the castle when he arrives. We can leave as soon as I am paid,' Helkias said.
'But to make the trip to Valencia in seven days!'
'It is not that we have a choice, Aron,' Helkias said. 'Without money, we are doomed.'
When Aron sighed, Helkias placed his hand on his brother's arm. 'We shall do it. We shall push ourselves and the beasts, and we will find our way.'
But even as he spoke, he was considering the uneasy fact that August the second was the ninth day of the Jewish month of Ab, an
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