Young Warriors by Tamora Pierce

in the Tsar’s army. So when I say ‘Quiet!’
you
shut up, and when I want a woman,
you
bring her to me on a silver platter. Or else, make no mistake, I’ll thrash you within an inch of your miserable life!”
    Eli couldn’t help it; despite his being a man, hot tears rose to his eyes. First Leah, now this. Yevgeny no longer looked so fine on his big stallion. Taking a closer look, Eli saw that the cuffs of the uniform were frayed and the horse hadn’t been properly curried, and suddenly Yevgeny looked only like a middle-aged man pretending to be brave and young.
    Leah had said nothing during this exchange, but now she walked up to the soldier and began caressing his thigh. Her fingers moved higher, and the soldier’s breath quickened. When he moved to dismount, though, she abruptly sank her teeth into his leg and held on until he managed to knock her away.
    â€œAarrgh!” he roared as the horse reared back to attack. “You—you—you crazy Jewess!” He looked over at Eli and drew his sword, yelling, “Crazy! She’s mad! You were right, boy!!”
    Eli saw with horror that Yevgeny was ready to kill her, so he rushed toward Leah and knocked her down just as the sword whistled past her head. He sat on her so she could not move, babbling, “Please, sir, please; she’s mad, it’s true; she doesn’t know what she’s doing. I’ll take her home right now, sir, her mother will know what to do with her. Just a child, sir, a poor unfortunate child; she’ll not bother you again, I promise!”
    The soldier paused, looked down at the tear in his pants leg, then at Eli sitting in the dirt, yarmulke askew, covered in dust and perspiration. He began to laugh. “Bitten by a crazy Jewess whose brave defender is a boy barely out of diapers! I guess this’ll be a good one for the barracks.” He drew himself up on the horse and sheathed his sword. “All right, boy, but keep her in the village, hear? One more misstep and she’s dead!” With that, the horse turned and cantered away.
    â€œGet off me, you great lump!” Leah hissed, twisting suddenly and throwing Eli off her back.
    â€œWhat?! I just saved your life, you little fool!” Eli was getting angry now, the humiliation and fear eating at him, making him angry enough to forget that this woman was a malicious soul of great power.
    â€œHmph!” she snorted, tossing her hair at him. “I didn’t need your help. I was handling the situation.”
    Eli looked at her in wonderment. “Handling the situation ” indeed! She’d almost gotten herself killed, that was all. This dybbuk had the ego of a princess—she thought she knew everything!
    Thought she knew everything . . . Suddenly, an idea came to him. The important thing was not to look scared. If he could be brave, maybe it would work. Thinking of Daniel facing the lions’ den, Eli slowly rose to his feet and offered the dybbuk his hand. She looked at him suspiciously, but took it and rose, facing him.
    â€œLook,” said Eli with a trace of impatience, “I don’t know where you come from—maybe a big city like Kiev—but things just aren’t the same here. You don’t know what you’re doing. You don’t know how to behave. You’re going to give yourself away in five seconds once you get back to the village.”
    The dybbuk looked at him, surprise and annoyance on her face. “Don’t know what I’m doing?! Why, I’ve traveled all over this country! I’ve had coaches, and footmen, and jewelry so fine you’d have to close your eyes to keep from being blinded! And I’ll have you know that I’m smart, very smart, probably the smartest person you’ll ever meet!”
    Eli looked at her skeptically, then shrugged his shoulders. “Suit yourself. But things are different here, I can tell you that much. Without a guide,