Rivals for the Crown by Kathleen Givens Page B

talked with the innkeeper, who had no family and worried about keeping a roof over his head as he aged. The innkeeper had been on the brink of closing the inn and had welcomed Jacob's offer to buy it.
    "Gilbert will stay on and help us in exchange for his room and board," Papa had told them last night.
    Rachel had frowned.
    "Do you want to continue traveling?" Mama had asked sharply. "Have you already forgotten what we went through to get here?"
    "No," Rachel had said, thinking of the harrowing journey, of the many moments they'd lived in fear of their lives. She was ready to find a new home.
    "But what about Shabbat?" she'd asked. "We cannot run an inn in a Christian manner and still observe Shabbat."
    "We talked about that as well," Papa had replied. "Gilbert will work on Friday evenings and Saturdays when necessary. And we'll have to hire help. We will handle the rest of the week."
    "Which means we do the extra work before Shabbat, or after it," Mama had said with a warning glance at Rachel. "Just as we always have."
    Rachel had nodded, not at all convinced that the plan would work. Her father had never worked with his hands; it had been his mind that had fed them.
    "It will be good, Jacob," Mama had said, with another stern look at her daughters. "We will make it all work. We'll learn how to run an inn. And even if we fail...." Mama had said, waving the hem of her skirt, "all is not lost."
    Rachel had been comforted at that. Her mother, on the day of King Edward's edict, had sewn her jewellery and gold coins into the hems of their clothing. It was their buffer against starvation. None of it had seen daylight yet, but it was good to know they would not starve even if the inn failed.
    "We will learn," Papa had said. "Now let us pray together."
    Rachel had said the words of the prayer by rote. Her father prayed three times a day, as every devout Jewish man did, but she could not concentrate on prayer while their future was so unsettled. They would learn to change in order to survive. Now she stared at the inn, wondering what her father thought they could make of it.
    At least here in Berwick they would blend in with the other immigrants. The city was full of Dutch and Flemish traders, and Scottish and English sheep farmers and wool merchants. The
    French, while tolerated, had never been welcomed in the city, so the de Anjou family had become the Angenhoff family, and Jacob of Anjou had ceased to exist. But what matter? Names were not that important.
    There were other Jews in Berwick, merchants and tailors and those who had fled north as they had at least one rabbi among them, which would mean there would be temple. Berwick, full of people from every part of the world, took them in with barely a notice. Sarah would blend with the Scots—her hair was fair, her eyes light blue. She could be from anywhere. Rachel, on the other hand, had the blackest of hair and pale skin. Her looks and her name would give her heritage away every time.
    "Rachel!" Mama's tone brooked no argument now.
    Rachel quickly climbed the steps and went inside. She tried to ignore the filthy rushes on the floor and the mice scuffling in the corners of the room. Not to be sickened by the smell of mold and mildew, of decay and disuse, of urine, and worse.
    Mama gave her a brittle smile. "We'll get settled and start cleaning at once. Shouldn't take us long," she said as she moved to the back of the inn. "I think we can be open within a fortnight."
    Sarah and Rachel exchanged a look.
    "Look," Mama said, pointing to the tables and benches. "They're sturdy enough. All this place needs is a good cleaning and a new coat of plaster. The floor is firm and the walls may lean.
    but they don't move. Jacob, tell them to bring our things in. We're ready to be home."
    Home, Rachel thought. At least in Scotland they would be well out of King Edward's reach. They would be safe.
    Rachel surprised herself, and no doubt her parents, by quickly learning the tasks required of her.