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“No!” Alfredo hurried to bar the door, but Donato Nuts pushed it open, with Mario Cow-Cheese right behind him.
“Give us the goats!” Donato Nuts brandished a big knife, and Ginevra and the girls fled to the far corner of the room.
“Get away!” Alfredo stood in front of his girls.
“You heard me!” Donato Nuts shouted. “Your goats or your life! That’s the deal!”
Alfredo felt a bolt of terror. “I’ll die first! You’ll have to kill me!”
Mario Cow-Cheese brandished a knife, too. “Give them to us! I can make cheese as well as you!”
“No, they won’t produce for you!” Alfredo thought fast. “Why do you think everyone loves my cheese? Why do you think it cures stomachaches? You heard the women! I charmed the cheese! The goats produce only for me! I’m awizard!”
Donato Nuts grimaced, nervously. “Are you really?”
“Yes!” Alfredo flared his eyes theatrically. “Why do you think I’m wearing this magic white robe? You interrupted me! I was working my spells and charms!”
Mario Cow-Cheese frowned. “Why didn’t your charms work until now? Nobody bought your cheese before!”
“I didn’t charm it before! I wanted to make more money, so I charmed my cheese! You see the results! You can’t sell while I’m in the piazza! That’s why you threw the rock at my door, isn’t it? It was you both, wasn’t it?”
Donato Nuts went red in the face, showing his guilt.
Mario Cow-Cheese glowered behind his knife. “Lies! If you’re a wizard, prove it!”
“You want proof? Lookthere!” Alfredo pointed at his Hebrew Bible in the candlelight. “It’s a book of spells and incantations!”
Donato Nuts squinted at the table. “It’s a Bible, isn’t it?”
“No, it only looks like a Bible! Go read the words! You won’t be able to!” Alfredo knew they were unable to read Italian, much less Hebrew. “Those words can be read only by wizards!”
Mario Cow-Cheese recoiled. “What does it say?”
“It’s for me to know, not you!” Alfredo stretched out his arms like the wizards in his folktales. “Beware of Magic Alfredo! I’ll put a spell on you right now! I’llcurseyou!”
“No!” Donato Nuts headed for the door. “Don’t curse me!”
“Me neither!” Mario Cow-Cheese hurried after him, but Alfredo chased them, holding his arms wide.
“I curse you! You’ll never satisfy your wife again, if you did before!”
Donato Nuts ran outside, followed by Mario Cow-Cheese.
“I put a spell on you!” Alfredo flared his eyes like a wizard. “Neither of you will be able to make love again!”
Donato Nuts and Mario Cow-Cheese jumped onto their mules and rode away.
Alfredo watched them go, relieved but unhappy. It had been too close a call. Sooner or later, they would figure out he was a Jew, and he couldn’t take that chance.
He went back inside the house and barred the door.
His girls herded around him, and he kissed each one on her knobby head. “Everything’s okay now, my sweeties.”
Beatrice woke up, blinking. Her expression asked,What did I miss?
Alfredo didn’t have the heart to answer.
Or to tell her they had to leave.
