Young Warriors by Tamora Pierce Page A

you’ll be lost.”
    Intrigued, she searched his face. “And why, proud boy, are you willing to help me so suddenly?” asked the dybbuk. Then she looked down at her bodice and smirked. She gestured toward it with a satisfied smile. “Decided it was worth it, hmm?”
    Eli fought down nausea and shrugged again. “Didn’t say I was willing to help you. Just said you’d give yourself away.”
    Fire flared in her eyes. “Not if you’d show me what to do,” she argued.
    â€œAnd what do I get out of it?” he asked.
    â€œWhy, you stupid little boy—you get me!” She grinned, baring her lips and clenching her teeth as poor Leah tried to break through again with a moan.
    Eli ignored the struggle and laughed. “You? Remember what the soldier said—I’m too young to know what to do with a woman as accomplished as you!” he told her.
    Pleased at the compliment, the dybbuk smiled prettily and said, “Then what do you want?”
    He cast his eyes downward, trying to look embarrassed, and shuffled his feet like a little boy. “Um . . . I . . . er . . .”
    She smiled at him, a genuine smile, the smile of a cat who’s finally cornered her mouse. “Come, speak up!” she said. “I’ll strike a bargain with you, for I love a good game!”
    Eli frowned. “How do I know I can trust you?” he challenged.
    For one fleeting instant, the dybbuk actually looked pious as she gazed heavenward and said, “The Lord our God watches over everyone, as I learned to my eternal sorrow. Once I was like you, like her, but it wasn’t good enough for me. I stole and I cheated, and I left my family and never looked back. My punishment is eternal, and the rules of it are stricter than any parent could impose. Though I inhabit another’s body, I may not control her heart. What that heart would never do, I cannot force it to do. It would never break a promise; therefore, I cannot. We, too, are bound by certain laws.”
    Eli was intrigued. “And what happens if you try to break a promise?” he asked the dybbuk.
    She grimaced, then said, “A fate even more terrible than this one. My name will be stricken from the Book of Life, and no one on this earth will remember me. It will be as though I never had been.”
    Eli thought that over; it sounded like a good enough idea to him, though he supposed the dybbuk wouldn’t like it. “So once we strike a bargain, you have to keep it—or else?”
    She nodded, then said with a leer, “But I’m a lot older than you, my boy. A lot. I can remember before your great-great-grandparents were born. The chance of your being able to put one over on me is slim. However . . .” She paused, thinking. “However, I was always a gambler. So here is my offer. You may ask me one question—only one, mind you! It must be something a human can answer. And if I don’t answer correctly, I’ll do everything in my power to grant your desire, and you will be free of me forever.”
    Eli turned away, pretending to be deep in thought while hiding his exultation. She’d taken the bait! He grinned foolishly to himself, and acted as though he were thinking it over for a few minutes. Then he turned back to the dybbuk with a sigh and said, “All right. It’s a bargain.”
    They shook hands on it, and the dybbuk waited expectantly.
    â€œHere is my question for you,” said Eli, pausing dramatically. “It is this:
What is it that everything has
?”
    Then he sat down to wait. The riddle had been told to him years ago by his great-grandmother; he was pretty certain it hadn’t been repeated in the village since her death, but one never knew. He tried to calm his anxiety as he waited for her response.
    â€œHow many answers can I try?” asked the dybbuk, deep in thought.
    Eli was startled; she was still trying to cheat! “Only one, of