Free Rashi's Daughters, Book II: Miriam by Maggie Anton Page B

felt a stab of pain as she remembered Benjamin and the foolish risks he took. “If silly ladies can learn these things, a serious student like you should have no trouble.”

    During the next month the weather stayed mild, allowing Miriam to ride with Emeline nearly every day. Marona encouraged her to continue joining Countess Alice’s ladies for chess as well as riding. Life seemed like a continual festival, and Miriam worried about the work she ought to be doing in Troyes.
    But when Joheved and Meir brought little Isaac to Ramerupt to celebrate the last two nights of Hanukkah with his grandparents, Joheved wouldn’t hear of Miriam leaving.
    At Joheved’s first glimpse of her sister, she stopped in her tracks, her face suffused with pleasure. “The air in Ramerupt must agree with you, Miriam. Your hair is shiny again and there’s color in your cheeks.” She gave her sister a fierce hug. “It feels like you’ve gained back some weight too.”
    “That’s not the air.” Meir kissed Marona’s cheek. “You can thank my mother’s cooking and ale.”
    “Whatever it is about Ramerupt, Miriam must stay for another month at least.” Joheved took her sister’s arm and walked toward the house.
    “I agree,” Marona said.
    “But Joheved,” Miriam said. “I can’t leave all the chores at home to the rest of you.”
    “Of course you can. This is the slowest time of year in the vineyard.”
    “So how are Mama and Papa?” Miriam asked. “And Rachel?”
    “They are well, may the Holy One protect them, but there’s a new family in Troyes I want to tell you about,” Joheved said. “Moses haCohen and his wife Francesca, from Rome—a doctor.”
    “He should be an improvement over our old doctor,” Meir said, handing his son into Marona’s outstretched arms. “Moses has studied at Salerno’s school of medicine, as well as with Saracen physicians in Bavel.”
    Once they were seated in the salon, Marona motioned for a servant to pour everyone some ale. “Any doctor would be an improvement over your old one,” she said, wrinkling her nose.
    “One of the first things he did was call on Aunt Sarah,” Joheved said. “He was so polite, inquiring about the herb dealers and apothecaries she considered the most adept.”
    Marona raised her eyebrows, intrigued.
    “She talked to him for quite a while about his medical studies, especially those under the Saracens.” Meir paused to take a long drink, then turned to his mother. “Mama, nobody makes ale as good as yours.”
    Miriam leaned forward. “Did you hear what he told her?”
    “I only heard her ask if it were true that they performed autopsies there,” Meir said. “Then I had to go back to my students. But after he left, Sarah told us how pleased she was that a skilled physician was taking up residence in town.”
    “Francesca is younger than Moses, about our age,” Joheved added. “She attends synagogue every day, but she rarely speaks to anyone except me.”
    “Do they have any children?” Miriam asked, her attention focused on Marona cuddling Isaac.
    “Not yet, but Francesca is eager to meet you.”
    Joheved hoped to avoid any subject that might remind Miriam of Benjamin, but eventually she felt obliged to report how the recent vintage had turned out. And Miriam wanted them to share whatever Talmud the yeshiva students were studying. But all in all it was a good visit. Joheved was glad to see that, though her sister did get choked up occasionally, the only time Miriam actually cried was when Joheved bid her adieu.
     
    Once Miriam realized she was going to remain in Ramerupt, she began to chafe at being so useless. “Surely you can find something for me to do besides spinning wool,” she told Marona.
    “This is a slow time for us too,” Marona said. “But if you wait another few weeks, we will be busier here than you could possibly imagine.”
    “Busy with what?”
    “Soon the ewes will begin dropping their lambs and some of them will need