Read In the Garden of Iden for Free Online Page B

now. He’s been recalled to the Bishop for a reprimand. And you certainly know that Fray Valdeolitas isn’t your friend. He thinks you’re guilty. I, on the other hand, know you’re innocent.”
    “You mean I’m not a secret Jew?” I was dazed.
    “No, of course not. You’re only a little girl who has been treated badly for no reason at all. I think that’s unfair. I’d like to help you, Mendoza.”
    “Then why didn’t you stop the priest?”
    “I couldn’t, then. His rank in the Holy Office is a lot higher than mine. But look, I’ve hidden you away here; and I am prepared to offer you even more safety.”
    “How?” My heart beat fast.
    “Let’s talk a little first.” He pulled his chair closer. “You know by now what happens to people when the Holy Office finds them guilty, don’t you?”
    “Yes,” I whispered. “They burn in a big fire.”
    “And you don’t want that to happen to you.”
    “Oh, no.”
    “Right. But suppose I let you walk out of here right now. You’ve lost your mama and papa. Who will take care of you? Where will you sleep when night comes?” My eyes filled with tears, and the Biscayan patted my hand soothingly. “It’s scary, isn’t it? But you know what’s even more scary than that? Listen to me, Mendoza.
    “You’d go out of here and maybe you’d starve to death in a week or two, because you haven’t got any money, have you? Wouldn’t that be awful? To escape from here and die anyway.”
    “Yes.” I was glassy-eyed: New Horizons in Fear.
    “But, suppose you didn’t die so soon? Suppose you lived to be twenty years old. That’s good, yes? Except that it’s still very hard to stay alive. You’ll have to do things you don’t like, bad things maybe. And what if you get killed by the plague or soldiers? Terrible, terrible.
    “Maybe you’d be lucky. Maybe you’d live to be thirty. Another ten years. That’s not very long, is it? But do you know what happens when you live to be thirty?” He took my hand and held it up. “Look here, look at your nice smooth skin. Some morning you’ll wake up, and it won’t be smooth anymore. It’ll become cracked, crumpled. It won’t get better. And see, can you see the blue veins here that run up the back of your hand? One day you’ll think, Why are they sticking out so much? And why are my knuckles poking out so much?
    “Only little things, but more of them will come with every year you cheat death. Your teeth will begin to break and hurt. You’ll keep getting sick. Maybe you’ll be beautiful when you grow up, but then you’ll have to watch your looks slip away, year after year. Your flesh will hang and sag. One day you’ll see your reflection somewhere and see the flesh has pulled back from your bones and you’ll see ghosts: your mother’s face, your father’s, not yours anymore. You’ll be very frightened.
    “Do you know what happens then, if you live ten more years, or ten more? Such a short time, but do you know what you’ll be then?” He leaned close. “Did you ever see the old women with their black shawls who sit in the marketplace? Their mouths are loose and flappy because all their teeth are gone. They’re all bent up like little birds, their fingers are twisted like claws. Some of them are blind. All their bones hurt, and they never have any fun. They’re afraid to die, but the longer they live, the sicker and lonelier they become. But once, Mendoza, they were children like you. And some day, you’ll be just like them.”
    “No!” I burst into tears. He loosed the restraints and lifted me up against his shoulder consolingly.
    “Yes, I’m afraid so,” he went on. “If you don’t die young, that’s all you have to look forward to. But then the day comes when you die because your body is so old. Bad things happen to the dead. Have you seen dead men on the gibbet?” I had. I shuddered against him. “And if you’ve been good, then you go to Purgatory, and devils torture you with fire until