text: phillymontana 0 Posted February 1, 2013 Report Share Posted February 1, 2013 I have had success connecting to other wsdl's using PHP, but for some some reason I can't get into this one below. I am using PHP. Mycode:<?php$ws = 'https://integration.pgiconnect.com/Services/Public/2009/03/Security.svc?wsdl';$client = new SoapClient($ws);?>The error:Fatal error: Uncaught SoapFault exception: [WSDL] SOAP-ERROR: Parsing WSDL: Couldn't load from 'https://integration.pgiconnect.com/Services/Public/2009/03/Security.svc?wsdl' : failed to load external entity "https://integration.pgiconnect.com/Services/Public/2009/03/Security.svc?wsdl" in C:\xampp\htdocs\Projects\temp.php:3 Stack trace: #0 C:\xampp\htdocs\Projects\temp.php(3): SoapClient->SoapClient('https://integra...') #1 {main} thrown in C:\xampp\htdocs\Projects\temp.php on line 3 I have used the wsdl checker: http://soapclient.com/soaptest.html and it passes and shows all of the methods.Am I doing something wrong to connect? Please help! Quote Link to post Share on other sites


text:
The Galway International Arts Festival gets underway this Monday, July 16, but there is still time to volunteer at the festival - the largest to date in the event's 41 year history.
Volunteers get to create a volunteer schedule online that suits their interests and availability. Shifts are needed in theatre, visual arts, street spectacle, the Festival Garden, First Thought Talks, and at the Heineken Big Top.
The Volunteer Department is seeking committed volunteers to assist with the family-friendly light and sound installation, Luminarium, in Eyre Square from July 20 to 28, with a mandatory training session on July 19. Email [email protected] for more info. The full programme can be viewed on www.giaf.ie Those who volunteered with GIAF in 2017 will already have a volunteer account and do not need to apply again, but must email Anika Massmann on [email protected] to reactivate their account.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
|Welcome Guest ( Log In | Register )
|Resend Validation Email
Posted: Sep 7 2018, 04:20 AM
Group: Members
Posts: 1
Member No.: 50,213
Joined: Sep 7th 2018
Location: Update Profile
I frequent a few of the Round Ones just west of Chicago. The cabinets at Location A are fully functional. They dispense new cards, and read cards fine. The cabs at Location B however, don't even have the option of inserting your card after inserting your credits. Is there a way to talk to the techs there to resolve this discrepancy? Or anything I can do at all?
Thanks in advance!
Posted: Sep 7 2018, 06:37 AM
Nagao Fanboy
Group: Advanced Members
Posts: 2,048
Member No.: 36,182
Joined: Aug 27th 2010
Location: The Internet, DUH
Talking to the operators seems to be the only thing I can think off.


text: 62 June 06 6.1 – First Friday Downtown Las Vegas Arts District in Downtown Las Vegas, Casino Center Blvd. Bring the entire family to enjoy arts, music, food and excellent people watching at this highly popular monthly event in Downtown Las Vegas. Visit www.firstfridaylasvegas.com for more information. 6.1-29 – Las Vegas Aces Mandalay Bay Events Center, 3950 S. Las Vegas Blvd. The Las Vegas Aces, our home WNBA team, go all in as they take on the Washington Mystics (6.1), Atlanta Dream (6.8), Phoenix Mercury (6.17), New York Liberty (6.22), Minnesota Lynx (6.24), Dallas Wings (6.27) and Los Angeles Sparks (6.29). Visit aces.wnba.com for info. 6.1-30 – Wet 'n' Wild Dive-In Movie Nights Wet 'n' Wild Las Vegas, 7055 S. Fort Apache Road Turn a day out at Wet 'n' Wild to a night at the movies! Catch great movies on select Friday and Saturday nights while floating under the stars at the wave pool or simply lounge around on a deck chair. Visit www.wetnwildlasvegas.com for more information. 6.2 & 3 – Mojave Death Race Primm, NV Teams of 8 compete in 24 legs of running, mountain biking or road cycling. Each race varies in difficulty and can range from a minimum of 6 miles running to 24 miles of road bicycling. Over the course of 24 hours, teams will traverse more than 250 miles. Info and registration at www.mojavedeathrace.com. 6.2 & 16 – Annual Jazz in the Park Clark County Amphitheater, 500 S. Grand Central Pkwy. Enjoy the soothing sounds of jazz at this FREE concert series located under the stars, complete with food and drink vendors onsite and outstanding performances by Groove Project (6.2) and Mindi Abair (6.16). Visit www.clarkcountynv.gov/parks for info. 6.2 & 16 – Las Vegas Lights FC Cashman Field, 850 N. Las Vegas Blvd. Don't miss the Las Vegas Lights American professional soccer team as they take on the Colorado Springs Switchbacks (6.2) and the Seattle Sounders (6.16). Visit www.lasvegaslightsfc.com for tickets. 6.2, 22 & 28 – Cosmopolitan Entertainment Cosmopolitan Las Vegas, 3708 S. Las Vegas Blvd. There's something for everyone coming up live this month at the Cosmo, including Dane Cook (6.2), Slightly Stoopid (6.22) and Dua Lipa (6.2


text:
The National Baby Planner Association (NBPA) is an organization that supports professional consultants in the baby planning industry by setting standards, facilitating resource and tool sharing, and providing a forum for networking. Melissa Moog of Itsabelly Baby Planners(R) is the founder of NBPA and serves as President. April Beach of Sweet Pea Baby PlannersTM serves as Vice President. The formation of the NBPA helps support the growing demand for assistance and high quality service to parents in preparing for and caring for their newborn or adopted child.
Our mission is to create a professional association for baby planners who operate by a credible set of standards in the baby planning industry. Most importantly, NBPA ensures that members operate with the utmost integrity to protect the families we work with and our professional reputation.
Founder and President
Melissa Moog & Isabella
Vice President
April Beach & Sam, Jake, Tim


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This video from Living Felt is loaded with information on what felting needles to use on what type of project you would like to create. Living Felt offers you a never ending variety of supplies used in the art of felting. Going green, be sure to check out their Green Soy Needle Felting Foam it is a Living Felt Exclusive Eco Friendly 8.5 x 11 inches. I found the video very interesting and I hope you do too.
jojo says
c est genial merci bises jojo


text: Remember the days when you would be late to a party because you were perfecting your eyeliner, or when a facial was a necessity, not a luxury? These days, your are lucky if your schedule allows for a 10-minute shower and a dab of eye cream. But, we could never let you give up on feeling fresh faced and looking polished, so we are beyond excited to present our Mom's Time-saving Beauty Giveaway! Every beauty product was EXCLUSIVELY chosen to benefit the mom on-the-go. We've spent years honing the art of streamlined beauty, so trust us when we say, these products work upon application. Oh yeah, did we forget to mention, these goodies are worth over $600 dollars (totally mom approved savings)! Sneak a peek below, to view all of the amazing (fast-acting) included beauty products: From left to right: Wunderlift,$22, Glytone Rejuvenating Mini Peel Gel, $62,Marisa Berenson Filler, $80, M-61 PowerBlast, Decleor Flash Radiance Mask, $44, Wunderbrow, $22, Clarity MD 2 Step System, $49.95, June Jacobs Age Defying Ultimate Overnight Copper Marine Masque, $80, Veneffect Firming Neck & Decollete Creme, $155, Supersmile Quikee, $18 and Klorane Smoothing & Relaxing Patches with Soothing Cornflower, $24. Click HERE for official rules and to find out how this quick-fix giveaway can be yours Mom's! 12 Responses Wanda Tracey July 21, 2016 What an awesome collection of beauty products swag!! I love all of these lovely products and would love to win them! Thanks so much for this opportunity. Reply Darla Blackmore May 17, 2016 This would be wonderful to win and try all these new products! Reply KIM SMITH May 17, 2016 "Less is more'.. Wash up before going to bed.. Reply Cynthia Knisley May 15, 2016 I save time by letting my hair dry a little while I put on my skincare products. Then I blow dry my hair. Doesn't take so long to dry it. Reply Cynthia Knisely May 13, 2016 My mom loved Estee Lauder products. Reply Sara Rotolo May 12, 2016 we both use cocoa butter to moisturize after a shower 🙂 Reply desaria May 11, 2016 I like to save time by letting my hair air dry a little bit while I do my makeup so that it only takes about 3 minutes to dry my hair Reply desaria May 11, 2016 I love all of the products mentioned. Reply Kathy Noll May 10, 2016 We both use Covergirl Concealer. Reply Cynthia Knisley May 9, 2016 Great products I would love to win! Reply kathy agate May 9, 2016 I like all the Mom's Time-saving giveaway products and would like to try them all! Reply Crystal Tenorio May 5, 2016 Amazing giveaway! Reply Start a Conversation Cancel a Conversation Connect with Enter your WordPress.com blog URL http://.wordpress.com Proceed Your email address will not be published.CommentName* Email* Website Notify me of follow-up comments by email. Notify me of new posts by email.


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Real-Time Web: It's More Than Just Twitter
I liked the article in BusinessWeek on the 'Real-Time Web'. It being BusinessWeek, they naturally devoted a significant portion to speculation on how to make money from this emerging trend and I had to laugh at the illusive precision of there being "at least $5 billion to be made on the real-time Web". What, just $5 billion?
Anyway, to give them their due, they correctly identify the trend:
In just the past couple of years, several developments have come together to make the Web more of a real-time experience: ubiquitous high-speed Internet connections; a growing number of mobile devices such as the iPhone with full Web browsers; and new Web technologies that enable instant transmission of messages and data. That mix has made always-on, real-time communications easy and addictive.
Okay, that sounds pretty 'real-time' to me. What I can't understand though is the focus, bordering on fixation, on Twitter in this and other articles. I mean, here it is, we've got an emerging technology that's giving us real-time group communication both in text, voice and video and the most impressive thing they can think of is a text stream limited to 140 characters?
You can't be serious. Off the top of my head, the number of possibilities include:
- Switch from traditional telephones to more computer- and network-based audio
- Conference calls on steroids -- now with video
- More ways to interact remotely at meetings and conferences -- routine live blogging and group chat are just the beginning
- Greater use of video chat -- for no better reason than there being a video camera on everyone's laptop
- Remote mentoring including real-time online editing of student research papers
- Easier and more dynamic ways to collect and organize research
And yes, I've seen the video introducing Google's ambitious Wave Project. It's nice but I'm most optimistic about initiatives that build on past successes and move forward by incremental steps. The kind of technology we've become familiar with as hallmarks of Web 2.0 (YouTube, Facebook, Flickr, etc.) has prepared us well for this next step.
[h/t ReadWriteWeb]


text:
Get Involved
We need your help!
As we grow, we are finding more and more ways to reach out to people with PMR and GCA, but there is always more and more to do! Could you find a few hours a month to help us and other people with these conditions? There are plenty of opportunities, even if you are more or less housebound! Ways in which we would like to involve volunteers include:
- Being at the end of the 0300 helpline. Do you have counselling experience? Or would you be interested in training to listen to people on your phone (we transfer the calls automatically)
- Befriending someone in a 'buddy' system to chat with them occasionally on the phone or meet up for a coffee
- Helping organise events
- Writing and editing items for the newsletter
- Helping with fundraising
- Being an 'expert patient' speaking with professionals and researchers
If you would like to get involved please drop us a line, or phone 0300 999 5090


text:
Rebecca lit the first candle, then slowly and carefully
touched its light to the wicks of five of the candles sitting in the menorah.
As she finished and placed the first candle back in its holder, her grandmother
leaned forward and placed three metal objects on the table: a silver half-moon,
a dark brown octagon, and a golden rectangle. Rebecca's grandmother called
them "angel gifts", although she never said why, and every year
she laid them on the table on the fifth night of Hanukkah.
This year, as she had each Hanukkah for most of her thirteen
years, Rebecca asked, "Grandma, why do you call those things 'angel
gifts'? They don't look like anything to do with angels."
Her grandmother smiled. "It's because they were
gifts from an angel to our family, when I was a little girl."
"An angel gave you those?" This was the first
time her grandmother had offered any information about the items, and
Rebecca pursued it eagerly.
"He gave them, and more like them, to us when I
was seven. These are the only ones we have left, but I've kept them as
a remembrance."
Rebecca knew many of the Biblical stories of angels,
and, like most people, had seen depictions of angels and cherubs on cards
and shirts and decorations. "Did he have wings and a halo?"
Her grandmother laughed. "No, no wings or halo.
He looked like a middle-aged man -- or at least he did after my mother
cleaned him up...."
A dull, throbbing pain in the back of his head was the
first sensation that told Alastor Moody that he was awake -- and alive.
It was closely followed by the pain in his shoulders, back, arms and most
of the rest of his body. He moved, dimly surprised by the lack of weight.
A pair of hands caught his shoulders and pushed him firmly down. "No,
you should lie still," came a voice speaking in German. "We've
just gotten you out, you're hurt."
Hurt. Definitely hurt. Moody rested his head on the pavement
under him. Yes. The building had collapsed. The Impediment Curse, deflected
by a quick Warding Charm, had brought the roof and upper floor down on
both of them.
Brecht. Teodore Brecht. Wanted for questioning in regards
to the disappearances of both Muggle and wizarding neighbors, especially
after the Aurors had searched his house and found a number of illegal
substances and equipment. Moody had followed the man across half of Europe
to this middle-sized German town before cornering him in this building,
square in the middle of a Muggle neighborhood. Thankfully it had been
a fairly simple matter to Transfigure his robes into Muggle clothing,
one of a number of tricks Moody had learned in a lifetime of pursuing
Dark mages. Fugitives weren't always selective in their choice of hiding
He managed to open his eyes and look at the wreckage
of what had been a two-story building -- how long ago had it been? A few
minutes, hours....? Taking a deep breath to offset the pain, he turned
his head to find the man who had spoken to him. "There -- there was
--another man --"
His rescuer, a fairly young man dressed in somber Muggle
clothes, nodded reluctantly. "We just pulled him out of the wreckage
a few minutes ago." He paused. "I'm sorry, but your friend is
With a sigh, Moody let his head settle back on the ground.
Brecht was certainly not a friend, and the only regret Moody had about
his death was the fact that the man couldn't be dragged back to authorities
and punished properly. Well, it couldn't be helped.
"How do you feel?" the man was asking.
Carefully, one at a time, Moody tested his arms and legs,
stretched and turned his neck. His upper arms and shoulders, which had
taken the brunt of the weight when the ceiling debris came down, felt
bruised and stiff, but not broken. Everything else hurt, but it all seemed
to be in working order
"I've been better," he muttered; the man stared
at him with raised eyebrows.
"You should be seen by a doctor."
Moody gave a grunt of amusement. There was no way he'd
let a Muggle doctor examine him. "I'll live." He pushed carefully
against the pavement and managed to raise himself into a sitting position.
The man moved to kneel in front of him, peering into
his face. "At the very least, you will come stay with my family tonight,"
he said firmly. "I won't let you lie out here in the street."
He rose and held out a hand to help Moody to his feet, then draped Moody's
arm over his shoulder to help him walk.
They were actually several paces down the street before
Moody remembered to look for his wand. A quick patting of his pockets
revealed it to be missing -- not surprisingly, since it had been in his
hand, not his pocket, when the building had caved in. He stopped, and
so did his rescuer.
"What's wrong?"
"I -- seem to be missing something," Moody
said carefully. There was no way he was going to try to explain his missing
wand to a Muggle.
The other man shook his head. "It's getting dark.
Even if we went back, I doubt you could find anything. In the morning,
if you like, we can come back and you can look for whatever it is you've
lost. We can also find out where they've sent your friend's body."
The man led him firmly down the street.
"Can you at least tell me what happened?"
"I had closed up my store and was on my way home."
The man smiled tightly. "I'm told it's not safe on the streets after
dark." He shook his head and continued. "A couple of my neighbors
and I saw lights and heard shouting from the building. As we walked toward
it, it fell in. Once we decided it was safe to approach, we started to
dig for you." They continued their way up the street and turned a
"Was anyone else in that building?"
"No. It was a warehouse, and the workers had left
for the night."
So no one else had been hurt. Moody nodded. "Allow
me to thank you, Mr.....?"
"Aaron Levitson. I own the grocery two streets over."
The Levitson home was a brick and wood dwelling on a
narrow street. The two travelers were met at the door by a woman and a
little girl of about six. The girl pulled the door open and began in a
rush of words, "Papa, where have you been? We've been waiting for
you so we could light the candles...." Seeing not one but two men
in the doorway, she stopped short. The woman took her by the shoulders
and drew her back into the room.
"Ilse, Sarah, this is...." Levitson paused.
"I'm sorry, I didn't ask your name."
Moody managed to stand more or less upright and smile
(reassuringly, he hoped) at the woman. "My name is Alastor Moody.
Mr. Levitson," he had no idea if this woman was Levitson's wife or
sister, "was kind enough to rescue me."
"He had a building fall on him," Levitson added.
"This is Ilse, my wife, and my daughter Sarah." At once the
woman's face took on a sympathetic expression, and she took Moody's other
arm to lead him through the first room and into a bedroom. The girl stood
staring at them from the doorway.
Mrs. Levitson turned to the girl. "Go get me a couple
of fresh towels." She turned back to Moody. "I'll get some water
heated so we can clean you up." The family scattered, leaving Moody
to sit on the bed and think.
He was definitely going to have to return to the building
site tomorrow and find his wand. A wand allowed a witch or wizard to focus
a spell; without it, the magic tended to dissipate, or, in some cases,
affect the wrong objects. At least (here he searched his pockets again)
he still had his travel papers (both Ministry and Muggle) and money (mostly
in wizarding currency). There had to be a branch of Gringotts here in
Germany; once he had everything else taken care of, he could exchange
money and offer the Levitsons something for their hospitality.
Sarah's voice interrupted his thoughts. "Does this
mean we won't light the candles tonight?" She sounded upset.
"No, dear, it just means we're going to have to
wait awhile. Seeing to our guest's needs is more important right now."
Mrs. Levitson pushed the bedroom door open; she was carrying a basin of
water and had some towels draped over her arm. "I've sent Aaron to
ask one of the neighbors for some clothing you can wear. I'm afraid we've
nothing here that will fit you." She began carefully dabbing a wet
cloth at a cut over his left ear.
Moody grimaced, partly from the stinging and partly at
her statement. Muggle clothing tended to be uncomfortable and restrictive
(including the outfit he had on right now); still, it was a kind gesture
on the part of his hosts. "Thank you. I'm sorry to have interrupted
your evening." He caught a glimpse of the daughter watching him from
the door. "Your daughter mentioned candles. Was someone celebrating
a birthday?"
Mrs. Levitson smiled. "No. It's the fourth night
of Hanukkah." Seeing the blank look on his face, she added, "It's
a holiday of the Jewish faith."
"You don't know what Hanukkah is?" came Sarah's
disbelieving voice. She edged around the door.
"Sarah!" her mother scolded. "You don't
speak that way to anyone, least of all a guest! Now, go let your father
in." The girl disappeared, and Mrs. Levitson turned back to Moody.
"I apologize for my daughter's lack of manners." She eyed Moody's
face, and he knew perfectly well what she was seeing. "You didn't
get those scars from the accident just now, did you?"
"No. I've had most of it a while." The oldest
of the facial scars was nearly half a century old, the result of youthful
overconfidence in facing a Dark wizard. Moody had at least survived the
Mrs. Levitson pressed a rough pad against the side of
his head and began winding a bandage around it to keep it in place. "Well,
we'll just make certain this is taken care of, and then you can change
clothes." A few minutes later she had finished her ministrations
and left him to dress.
It was one thing to Transfigure robes into shirts, trousers,
and other Muggle items; it was quite another to try dressing in the unfamiliar
clothing one piece at a time. Moody was cursing under his breath by the
time he finally began to button the sleeves of his shirt. He broke off
with an exasperated growl.
After a moment he could make out voices on the other
side of the bedroom door. Still struggling to button his right sleeve
with his left hand, he tilted his head, trying to catch the words. Whatever
they were speaking, it wasn't German.
Abandoning his fight with the button, Moody carefully
turned the doorknob and eased the door soundlessly open. He could see
the Levitsons, their backs to him, lighting candles -- or at least the
girl Sarah was lighting them; her parents were chanting the strange words
softly as the light in the girl's hand went from taper to taper. After
the fourth candle was lit, the girl drew back and placed the candle in
her hand in a holder. Her father reached past her to pick up what appeared
to be a candelabra and place it in front of a window. As he straightened,
his wife gave him a frightened look. "Maybe we should place it in
the window in Sarah's room."
"No. Leave it where it is. Our neighbors know all
about it." Levitson's gaze shifted and he caught sight of Moody watching
from the bedroom. Aaron Levitson smiled; Moody noticed that when Mrs.
Levitson's eyes followed her husband's gaze, she still looked frightened
for a moment before forcing a smile.
"Well!" Levitson moved toward his family's
guest. "The clothes -- they fit properly?"
The shirt was a little tight through the shoulders, but
at least the rest of the clothes seemed the right size. "Yes. Thank
you." Suddenly aware of the left sleeve still unbuttoned, Moody added,
"I'm, ah, having a bit of a problem with this one...."
"Here." Ilse Levitson moved past her husband
and buttoned the sleeve for him, careful to touch only the fabric. "There."
She stepped back. "How do you feel? Are you hungry?" Before
he could reply, she answered her own question. "Of course you are.
Sit down, sit down." A few minutes later he was sitting at the small
table amidst a flurry of activity, during which a plate, eating utensils,
and a cup were whisked out of cupboards and onto the table in front of
The kitchen and dining room were actually one and the
same. Mrs. Levitson pulled something out the icebox and began slicing
whatever it was into small pieces. She did the same with what looked like
vegetables. Over her shoulder she said, "I'm afraid it's only a little
"Mrs. Levitson," Moody replied honestly, "right
now I'd be happy with a crust of bread and a glass of water."
Levitson chuckled. "I will see if I can't find something
with a little more body than water." With that he pulled open a door
and disappeared into what seemed to be the basement. With Levitson gone
and his wife busy, Moody found himself at the table with Sarah.
"I see you got to light your candles," he remarked
to the girl. She nodded and stared at him wordlessly. He could hardly
blame her; he was a stranger, his German was spoken with a foreign accent,
and she'd probably never seen anyone like him before. He looked away from
her to the candelabra. "Where are the rest of candles?"
"There aren't any more for tonight," she answered.
"Then why are there nine holders?" he asked,
pointing to the empty cups.
Sarah looked at her mother, who nodded for her to continue.
She turned back to Moody. "Those are for the other four nights of
"So what's that?"
"It's from a story in the Torah," she explained.
"A long time ago the Israelites fought a war because the Syrians
said the Israelites had to worship the Syrians' gods. Finally the Israelites
won and went back to their temple in Jerusalem. But when they went to
light the temple lamp, they found out there was only enough oil to burn
for one day, and it would take eight days to make more oil. Finally they
lit the lamp, and it burned for eight whole days."
"I see." There were, of course, ways to turn
other materials into oil. But he wasn't going to try explaining Transfiguration
techniques to a Muggle, particularly a child.
"That's part of the story, anyway." Aaron Levitson
had emerged from the cellar and was carrying a couple of bottles to the
table. "Hanukkah is really about the right to practice our faith.
The Israelites, led by members of the Macabee family, fought for many
years to be allowed to retain our beliefs. They finally triumphed and
went on to win freedom for Israel. The holiday's popularity comes and
goes. Right now we are celebrating Hanukkah to remind ourselves of courage
in the face of persecution."
Ilse Levitson brought a plate of hot stew to the table
and set it in front of Moody. "Aaron, don't burden our guest with
such talk."
"Thank you." Moody took a mouthful of stew.
"So. Courage in the face of prosecution. I take it that you've experienced
this prosecution?"
"Many members of the Jewish community have. Our
businesses are being boycotted. My daughter, and other Jewish children,
are being encouraged not to attend school. For many, it's difficult to
find work. And it all seems to be because of our faith."
Moody indicated the yellow, six-pointed star on Levitson's
coat. "Is that part of your faith, too?"
A look of anger passed over Levitson's face. "No.
That is one of our country's new regulations. All Jews are to wear them
on our clothing when we are out in public."
"That means we're good Jews," Sarah added helpfully.
Moody glanced from the girl to her father. "As opposed
to bad Jews?"
"As opposed to non-Jews," Levitson replied.
"How convenient."
"Aaron," Mrs. Levitson protested, "let
the man eat. And stop talking about our problems. I'm sure he doesn't
want to sit all night and listen to you complain."
Levitson smiled. "Of course not. I'm sorry."
"Actually, I wouldn't mind hearing about some of
them," Moody remarked. "I came to Germany on, ah, business.
Knowing what the social climate is here would be of great help."
"Sarah," said her mother, "why don't we
go in the other room and practice our spelling, since you won't go to
school tomorrow." Sarah nodded and allowed herself to be escorted
from the room, leaving Moody and Levitson to their conversation.
Anti-Semitism (feelings against people of Jewish faith
and descent) had been present in Germany for years, Levitson explained.
When he himself had been growing up here, there had been a few people
who had refused to do business with his family, or had treated the children
unfairly, or had shown some form of discrimination. People like that existed
in all countries, he said, and had been around as long as the Jews themselves.
But within the last few years, the anti-Semitism had
grown more open and widespread, helped in part by government rules and
the behavior of some of the people in law enforcement. The most noticeable
of them were the Secret Service; these men wore black uniforms, with armbands
bearing symbols of what appeared to be broken crosses. A number of their
members were rumored to have arrested Jewish citizens, confiscated their
property, and deported them, supposedly with little or no provocation.
Moody spent most of his time listening and nodded. What
Levitson was telling him fit with events in the magical community as well.
Dark rumors were beginning to circulate in England, and, more openly,
in France. There were increases in reported Dark Magic activities. Witches
and wizards in a few places had gone missing. Talk in less reputable places,
such as Knockturn Alley, said that new curses, potions, and magical objects
were appearing in Europe, many coming from sinister and mysterious sources.
Unlike a number of his contemporaries, Alastor Moody
knew that the magical and Muggle communities weren't as separate as some
people would like to believe. Events and trends in one society were often
mirrored in the other. Usually the magical community had a more noticeable
impact on the Muggle community; witches and wizards knew of the existence
of Muggles and could, if they chose, move about in Muggle society. The
opposite was seldom true.
Mrs. Levitson's voice drifted in from the other room.
Apparently she and Sarah had finished working on spelling, and were now
reading. "
And Jacob was left alone; and there wrestled a man with
him until the breaking of the day. And when he saw that he prevailed not
against him, he touched the hollow of his thigh; and the hollow of Jacob's
thigh was out of joint, as he wrestled with him. And he said, 'Let me
go, for the day breaketh.' And he said, 'I will not let thee go, except
thou bless me'."
Levitson smiled fondly at the sound of his wife's voice.
Then he caught Moody's eye. "You must be tired after what's happened
this afternoon. I'll let you go to bed and get some sleep."
After thanking the Levitsons for their hospitality, Moody
was left alone in the bedroom in which Mrs. Levitson had tended his injuries.
He was finally able to strip off the Muggle clothing and put on a nightshirt,
which was much more comfortable. He also had time to think about what
had brought him to Germany in the first place.
Teodore Brecht was apparently a contact between a group
of German wizards and some of the less savory members of the magical community
in England. There had always been a certain amount of trade on the magical
Black Market, but lately the transactions were becoming more noticeable.
Moody suspected that Brecht had fled to Germany in the hopes of losing
his pursuers, then disappearing into the Black Forest. The place had a
bad reputation, even among Muggles.
It was possible that someone from the German organization
would come looking for Brecht when they noticed he was missing. Tomorrow,
Moody decided as he settled onto the bed and reached for the blanket,
he would need to search the warehouse wreckage for his wand. If he found
it, he could bid the Levitsons farewell and continue his mission. If the
wand was indeed gone, he would need to contact the German Ministry of
Magic in Berlin, and get some assistance. He settled back and closed his
It was not the most comfortable bed, but he'd been in
considerably worse. This room was at least warm, clean and dry, which
was more than could be said of some of the places he'd been forced to
use as shelter. He'd long ago learned to appreciate whatever comfort he
could find, and after a few moments he was asleep. He awoke several times
during the night, usually because the house creaked or someone moved in
the other rooms. A few moments of listening was enough to convince his
subconscious that he was in no danger, and then he drifted off again.
The next morning Moody woke to find himself stiff and
sore from the bruising he'd taken the day before, but a few good stretches
allowed him to move more freely. After breakfast, Levitson prepared to
go to his store, while his wife and daughter remained at home.
After bidding Mrs. Levitson and Sarah a good morning,
Moody followed Aaron Levitson out the door. The two men paused on the
front steps.
"Mr. Levitson, I need to go back to the warehouse
to look for something I'm missing. I'd like to return later and give you
something for you and your family's help."
Levitson shook his head. "Your thanks is enough.
Helping someone in need is part of our faith -- and it's the right thing
to do."
"Nevertheless, I want to stop back and see you before
I leave for good."
"You are welcome back any time." Levitson held
out a hand and Moody accepted it. "I will see you later." They
parted company; Levitson turned in the direction of his store, and Moody
in the direction of the collapsed building.
He found a number of men digging through the wreckage,
accompanied by several men in dark uniform-like clothing who seemed to
be making everyone else extremely nervous. A few observers were watching
from windows or the sidewalk, including one red-haired woman who was standing
next to a soldier; the guard, Moody noted wryly, was focused on the woman,
rather than the cleanup operation. Moody carefully eased behind a staircase,
where the uniformed men couldn't see him, and considered his situation.
If he openly walked into the site of the collapsed building,
someone might well recognize him. At the very least, his bruises and injuries
would likely attract unwanted attention.
On the other hand, there was one thing he could try.
A Summoning Spell would, of course, work much better with a wand in hand,
but, he mused grimly, if he had his wand in hand he wouldn't need to be
doing a Summoning Spell....
Moody closed his eyes, took a couple of deep breaths,
and extended his right hand in the direction of the wreckage. If the spell
worked, his wand would come to him. Of course, with all the Muggles around
the site, someone was bound to notice. However, once he had the wand back,
a wide-range Memory Charm would erase everyone's recollection of the incident
and leave him free to continue his mission. And if the spell didn't work,
there wouldn't be anything for anyone else to notice.
Calling up his memories of not only the wand's appearance,
but also its feel of it in his hand, he murmured, "Accio."
Two things happened at once: a complete absence of the
Summoned object told Moody his wand was no longer on the site. At the
same moment, the guard who had been speaking to the red-haired woman abruptly
turned toward Moody's hiding place; he said something to the woman and
began walking purposefully in Moody's direction. Midway to Moody's location,
the guard reached into the coat of his uniform and drew out, not a gun,
but a wand.
Moody took one look at the wand and bolted. Given what
he'd heard of this Secret Police's activities, he doubted than anyone
from the German Ministry of Magic would have been disguised as one. But
there might be one way to find out.
The soldier's pace quickened and he shouted after Moody
to halt. The Auror ducked around the corner and found himself in a narrow
lane. He scrambled around the corner of a building midway down the lane,
and waited.
The wizard came carefully around the corner, wand ready.
Once out of sight of anyone at the wreckage site, he stood eyeing the
apparently empty lane. Then he began moving cautiously forward, watching
for movement. Moody waited, tensed to spring. His plan was simple; ambush
the wizard and get him to reveal whatever identification he had. If the
wizard was legitimate, all well and good -- Moody would then have an ally.
If not, then the Dark wizard would, at the very least, be donating his
wand to Moody for the duration of the emergency. The Auror smiled in grim
amusement; he doubted that the other man would find it funny.
Just as he reached the corner of the building behind
which Moody was hiding, the man paused and looked up at the other end
of the lane. The red-haired woman was coming along the row of buildings
and she, too, had a wand. Unfortunately, she also had a clear view of
Moody as he crouched next to the house.
Her wand came up. "Imperio!"
Moody was already moving. He sprang at the other wizard,
seized him by the outstretched arm, and flung him into the path of the
witch's spell. The man cried out and staggered, then righted himself and
stood stock still, eyes staring straight ahead and a smile on his face.
The smile caused a chill to run down Moody's spine as he backed away;
he'd never seen a spell cause this kind of behavior before, and under
the circumstances, the man's expression was horribly out of place.
Moody heard the witch give an exasperated, "Uh!"
Then she snapped, "Don't just stand there, you idiot, blast him --
use the Impediment Curse!"
The wizard, still smiling, eyes unfocused, turned to
Moody and pointed the wand at him.
Deciding that discretion was the better part of valor,
Moody fled, ducking and weaving to avoid the spell.
The curse struck a building beside him as he ran, but
he could only hear one set of footsteps, coming from further up the lane
-- only the witch was moving. He heard her voice snarl, "Finite incantatum!",
then "After him, fool!" and two people were pounding after him.
Moody kept burst out into the street, turned away from
the wreckage of the former warehouse, and kept running. He knew enough
of the neighborhood to finally put several blocks between himself and
his pursuers. Gasping, he slid to one knee in the shelter of a recessed
stairway, and stopped to catch his breath.
The spell that the witch had used, with its command of
"Imperio!" -- he'd never heard of that one before. And
the effect that it had had on her wizard companion, as though it had taken
over his mind; Moody closed his eyes and he shuddered. This was something
that needed to be reported to both German and British authorities -- and
His best plan now was to get to Berlin as quickly as
possible, report to the Ministry of Magic, and get a replacement wand.
Once that was done, he could return here with backup and do some damage
control. At the very least, the witch and wizard he'd encountered needed
to be found and questioned. On the other hand, he didn't want the Levitsons
getting into trouble with Muggle authorities because they had been kind
enough to offer him help and hospitality.
It was going to take a few days to accomplish his tasks.
As much as he felt the need to get to Berlin as quickly as possible, he
owed his benefactors the courtesy of warning them that the local law enforcement
officials might be around to ask them questions. If all went smoothly,
he could make it to Berlin and back quickly enough to head off most of
the unpleasantness. Once he had his wand and a reliable broom, a few Memory
Charms would give the Muggle police a plausible reason for the collapse
of the building, reasons that didn't include Moody or the Levitson family.
He needed to hurry. Aaron Levitson would probably know
the quickest way to Berlin, and might be able to recommend someone to
give Moody a lift in that direction. Glancing around at the street to
make certain his pursuers were gone, Moody eased out of hiding and on
his way.
He was gaining new understanding of the Jews' plight,
he mused grimly as he peered around the corner at the uniformed patrol
that had just passed him two blocks later. Not knowing how many other
Dark witches and wizards were also disguised as Secret Police, he was
forced to avoid all the patrols. As he worked his way back to the Levitson
home, he was seeing other signs that all was not well.
Three ominous clouds of smoke were billowing over the
town. In the distance, but becoming louder, were the sounds of shouting
and the shattering of glass. Down other streets he caught glimpses of
small groups of people, many of them youths, clustered around buildings,
pelting the windows with stones. He watched them grimly for a few moments
before he moved on.
The town was, fortunately, small enough that most people
knew where stores were located. An old man gave Moody directions to Aaron
Levitson's grocery store. As Moody neared the address, he noticed uneasily
that one of the plumes of smoke was coming from this particular street.
The neighborhood atmosphere had vanished; the area now
looked as though a war were being fought in the streets. Windows had been
smashed in many of the houses. In several places the youths who had thrown
the stones were still at work. A couple of dwellings were on fire. Two
of the blazes had neighbors rushing back and forth with buckets and containers
of water, but at one house, people merely stood and watched the building
burn while someone, presumably the owner, was shouting at them to help
him. As Moody neared the building, another man, dressed in the prevalent
dark uniform, ran toward the crowd and began shouting directions. For
a moment the men stared at him with expressions of confusion; then they
dispersed, some returning with water to begin extinguishing the flames.
The man in uniform turned to the rest of the crowd and ordered them off
the streets. Moody ducked his head and did his best to blend into the
mass of humanity as it moved away from the fire. Once he was out of sight
of the man in uniform, he worked his way to the edge of the crowd and
turned down the street that led to Levitson's store.
The picture window in the front of the store lay in shattered
pieces on the sidewalk. People were throwing some of the food to each
other, while others were systematically overturning tables and kicking
shelves loose from their backing. Near the front of the store was a small
mob shoving a man back and forth. Moody recognized Aaron Levitson and
charged into the building.
One of the men turned to Moody, laughing. "Come
in, join the fun!"
In addition to a sizable number of curses, jinxes and
hexes, Alastor Moody had learned a few forms of Muggle self-defense. Just
as it was always a good idea to carry Muggle currency and papers, any
Auror with any sense also learned some Muggle hand-to-hand combat techniques.
Moody hesitated a moment, considering; then he seized the man by the front
of his shirt and slammed a fist into his face. The man slumped, and his
closest companion stopped to see what was happening. Moody picked his
opponent up with both hands. A moment later he flung the unconscious man
bodily into the mob. People sprawled, cursing, and Moody snagged Levitson's
sleeve. "Let's go! We're getting out of here!"
"My store -- !" Levitson began. Moody interrupted.
"Forget it! It's too late! Go!" He shoved Levitson
toward the door. Someone swung a board at Moody's head, and he caught
the man's elbow as the wood whistled past. A good twist dislocated the
attacker's shoulder, and Moody shoved him headfirst into the nearest wall,
then let him slide to the floor. That seemed to discourage most of the
mob, at least long enough for both Moody and Levitson to get out of the
Levitson had one arm up to protect his head from a hail
of vegetables and small stones. With his wand, Moody could have stunned
the lot of them; as it was, all he could do was catch Levitson's arm and
flee with him up the street. Some of the looters followed, but most seemed
more interested in whatever they could snatch from the ruined store. Moody
caught a glimpse of several dark uniforms amidst the crowd. None of the
uniformed men seemed inclined to stop the looting.
Several streets later, the two men had lost the last
of their pursuers. By now both Moody and Levitson were gasping from the
exertion, and stopped for a moment to catch their breath in the entrance
to a cellar. Below the level of the street, they could still hear people
shouting and glass breaking. Apparently, Levitson's store wasn't the only
building under siege.
Levitson sank onto one of the steps. He was holding one
arm against his body. As Moody turned to watch the street, Levitson murmured,
"Some of those people, at my store -- I knew them. They were my customers.
Some of them were my neighbors." He was staring at Moody with bewildered
eyes. "I know there has been violence against some Jewish businesses,
but these people -- they knew me! How could them do this?"
Moody shrugged, still scanning the street. "Sometimes
when people become part of a group, they just follow whatever the group
does. They don't think like individuals any more. Basically, they don't
think at all. It's called mob mentality." He didn't bother to add
how many times he'd seen it happen, among both Muggles and the wizarding
Levitson sat up and stumbled to his feet. "Ilse
and Sarah!" A moment later they were out of the cellar doorway and
heading for Levitson's home.
A group of people was milling around on the sidewalk
on the block containing the Levitsons' house. Here and there Moody could
see the yellow Star of David on the clothing of some of the group members.
The men nodded to Levitson and eyed Moody curiously; Levitson spoke to
one of them, an older man who wore a grim expression, and the group let
them pass.
"Mr. Biedermann," Levitson murmured. "He's
been one of our neighbors for many years."
The Levitsons' front window was broken, and there was
noticeable damage to the door. The inside of the home was in shambles;
furniture smashed, clothing strewn around the rooms, and the menorah,
lying in the middle of the floor, had been twisted out of shape.
Levitson ran from room to room, calling for his wife
and daughter. There was no sign of Mrs. Levitson or Sarah.
At last they left the house and went in search of someone
who could tell them what had happened. The old man across the street,
who could barely be coaxed into answering his door, said that the mother
and daughter had left earlier that afternoon and not returned. He closed
the door on Levitson's thanks.
"They may be working their way home," Moody
suggested. "Let's check around the block, then start circling the
neighborhood." A search of the block yielded nothing; at random,
Moody chose to continue their search along the next block up the street.
Keeping close to the buildings, the two men moved quickly,
alternating between watching the shadows and looking for any signs of
the woman or her daughter. Once they had to duck into an alley to avoid
a knot of men coming down the street. None of the men wore a Star of David.
Waiting until the group had passed, Moody and Levitson eased back out
into the street. A voice almost caused them to duck back into the alley.
"Over here!" came the hoarse call; a woman
was beckoning them from a half-open door. "Hurry!"
Glancing up and down the block, Moody led his companion
in a crouching run across the street and up the house steps. The woman
hastily eased the door shut behind them.
"You're very lucky," she began, but was interrupted
by Ilse's voice crying, "Aaron!" as she threw herself into her
husband's arms.
The woman who had let them in hissed, "Please! Come
away from the windows!" She pulled all of them to a door that led
to the house's cellar. "Down here!"
A few minutes later Moody, the Levitsons, and the woman,
who had introduced herself as Mrs. Weiss, were crouching amidst boxes
and old furniture in the basement. Mrs. Weiss produced a small candle
and lit it.
"There's only the one window, and that faces our
back yard," she explained. "I'm sorry, but you need to stay
hidden. It's dangerous out there."
"Please," Levitson began, "my daughter
Sarah -- is she here?"
At that tears began to run down Ilse Levitson's face.
"Oh, Aaron -- I don't know where she is! We dropped off mended clothing
at the Zeiglers and were coming home when a group of young men began following
us. At first there were only a handful, but then more and more joined
them, until there was a mob of them. They surrounded us. They were shouting
insults and pushing us back and forth among them. Two of them pulled Sarah
away from me and -- and I don't know what's happened to her!" She
was weeping openly now. "I was crying for them to let us to, to give
me Sarah back, for Sarah to run home, and then suddenly there were policemen
everywhere. I managed to break away from the mob and ran looking for Sarah,
but some of the young men saw which way I was going and followed me."
Mrs. Weiss picked up the story as Levitson held his wife
close to him. "I heard the noise and saw some of the mob near the
end of the street. When your wife ran in front of the house, I called
to her out the window and sent her around to the back, where I could let
her in safely. She's been here ever since." She shook her head. "I'm
sorry, but I haven't seen your daughter and -- and I've been too frightened
to go out looking for her."
From where he knelt on the cellar floor, Levitson said,
"You gave my wife a safe place to go, Mrs. Weiss. Thank you. You've
done more than enough." He squeezed Ilse's shoulder reassuringly,
but continued looking at Mrs. Weiss. "Would you let her stay here
while I look for our daughter?"
"Of course, but --"
All three of them turned to stare at Moody, who was shaking
his head. "No. No one else is going anywhere. I'll go look for your
daughter, but you and your wife need to stay here." Levitson opened
his mouth to protest, but Moody continued. "You're hurt. Now that
you're both together, you need to stay with your wife. And I'm sorry,
but you're not safe on the streets right now." He nodded to the yellow
Star of David on Levitson's coat. "I can at least walk the streets
in relative safety. The sooner I leave, the more likely it is that I can
find your daughter -- she can't be far. I can talk to the neighbors, or
the police. Even if they won't help me, I have papers that will convince
people to leave me in peace." All right, that was an outright lie,
but.... "Don't argue. I need to leave -- now."
Whether it was his commanding tone of voice, or whether
he still had enough magical focus to work at least a minor spell, the
Levitsons agreed to stay and let him search.
Sarah Levitson lay shivering behind several overturned
garbage cans in the darkening evening light of an alley. At her back was
the alley wall; scattered around her was a layer of refuse, including
old clothes, boxes, and other objects that offered at least minimal protection
from unfriendly eyes.
She was curled up in as small a huddle as possible. People
were still shouting in the distance, and occasionally she could hear glass
shattering as windows somewhere were smashed. Her mother was gone. Sarah
had no idea which way was home.
Now footsteps crunched on the gravel as someone came
walking carefully down the alley. Sarah held her breath and squeezed her
eyes closed, trying to maker herself even smaller.
The footsteps stopped. "Well," came a man's
voice. "And what is this?"
Sarah lay still.
"You, girl!" the voice snapped. "What
are you doing here?"
Sarah opened one eye and slowly pulled herself into a
sitting position, keeping the wall at her back. The man staring down at
her wore one of the dark uniforms and an armband -- the kind of uniform
that her papa and mama spoke of with fear in their voices. The man himself
had dark blond hair and cool grey eyes. Sarah stared back at him.
"What's your name?" the man demanded.
Her voice was a whisper. "S-Sarah."
"And what are you doing here, in this alley?"
"I -- I lost my mama. And I don't know how to get
The man in the uniform crouched down to get a better
look at her. He reached forward to take hold of her jacket, his fingers
pinching the fabric just below the yellow star her mother had sewn there
not long ago. Sarah would have backed away from him, but there was nowhere
for her to go.
"So. That's the way of it." The man let go
of her jacket and stood up. He held out a hand to her. "Come with
me." When Sarah hesitated, he repeated, "Come with me. It's
not safe for you to be out here alone."
Finally Sarah managed to get her feet under her. "I
-- I want to go home."
The man in the uniform hesitated for a moment. Then he
told her, "I'm afraid, my dear, that you've seen your home for the
last time."
Moody had spent the better part of an hour searching
for Sarah Levitson. When he could find people who seemed sympathetic,
he asked if they had seen a little girl. When he caught sight of any soldiers
in dark uniforms, he hid in alleys or behind stairways until they had
passed. Now he crouched in the shadows of an alley, staring in amazement
up the street.
Under normal circumstances, Alastor Moody prided himself
on leaving as little to chance as possible. He didn't believe in luck,
nor did he rely on it. When he saw the man in the dark uniform leading
Sarah Levitson along the street, heading in his direction, he had to look
twice to convince himself that what he was seeing was true. Moody considered
his next move. If he waited until they were past him, he decided, he might
have a chance of surprising the guard from behind and --
The soldier stopped a few feet short of where Moody crouched.
From up the street came the sounds of other men; a moment later three
more soldiers walked up to where the first man and the girl had halted.
"This is quite a prize," on of the newcomers
explained, stooping slightly to peer at Sarah. "She looks a bit young,
but --" He reached out to stroke the girl's hair. Sarah shrank back
against her escort. Still hidden, Moody tensed, ready to spring.
"I found her. She belongs to me," the blond
soldier said in a mild tone.
"Leave her alone. She's only a girl," one of
the other men remarked to his comrades. He turned to Sarah's guardian
and studied him carefully. "I don't remember you," he said thoughtfully.
"Are you with the new troops that have been transferred?"
The blond man shook his head. "No. I've been in
this area for a very long time. But I don't think you and I have met before.
Still, I think we all have more important things to do than stand around
talking on street corners, especially since we're all still on duty."
The other soldier nodded. "Perhaps we'll see you
"Perhaps," the blond man replied. The four
of them exchanged salutes and the other three strode off. Sarah watched
them go with frightened eyes.
"Wh-Where are we going?" she asked finally.
"We are not going anywhere. This is as far as you
and I will go together," the soldier replied. He turned his head
and flexed his shoulders as he opened his coat and reached inside for
something. Fully expecting the man to draw a weapon, Moody launched himself
out of the alley and across the sidewalk.
Sarah Levitson cried out. Moody and the soldier went
down in a heap together. The man landed on his side, twisted, and struck
out at his attacker. His elbow cracked Moody's jaw, and the soldier scrambled
out from under him. Moody made a grab for the man's arm, trying to keep
his hands away from whatever weapons he might have.
He had no idea how long the struggle went on, with neither
gaining the upper hand. The battle was a blur of punches, tackles, and
twisted limbs. The soldier was actually smaller than Moody, but seemed
to have more strength. They wrestled one another against the wall of the
building, both scrambling for the grip or punch that would end the struggle.
Finally deciding that if strength wouldn't decide the
contest, guile might, Moody let himself be thrown to the sidewalk, where
he lay with one leg drawn partly up under him. He intended to wait until
the soldier moved closer to see if he were indeed injured. But instead
of attacking, or drawing a weapon, the soldier stood back. To Moody's
astonishment, the man wasn't even breathing hard.
"Why are you defending this child?" the soldier
demanded. "She's not even your daughter." Moody carefully eased
onto his side so he could look up at the man. The soldier was bent forward
slightly, hands resting on his knees. To his surprise, Moody realized
the man suddenly looked familiar. This was the same soldier that had organized
the residents to extinguish the fire earlier that day.
"What makes you think I'm not her father?"
Moody managed between gasps.
The man smiled. "I know this area, and the girl's
parents. You aren't even from this part of Europe. You are running a great
risk, searching for her while an enemy searches for you. Come." The
soldier offered Moody his hand; for a moment the wizard eyed him suspiciously.
"Come!" the soldier repeated. "We don't have much time
left!" and helped him rise.
Moody's eyes narrowed. "What do you mean?"
"I know there's something evil coming. There is
a man, one like you, who is part of it. You each know that the other is
on the opposite side. He'll kill you if he gets the chance. Yet here you
are, looking for this girl, without the aid of your weapon."
"If you know the girl's parents, it would be better
for you to take her to them." Moody knew that the longer he stood
on the street, in one place, the more likely it would be that the Dark
wizard or one of his allies would find him. The last thing he needed was
for the little girl to get hurt or killed because of him. If he could
convince the other man to take the girl to the Weiss home, Moody could
draw the wizard away.
"I'm sorry, but I can't go any further with you
-- my part in this is over. There are others who will need my help tonight,"
the man said. "But I can give you this." He reached into an
inside pocket of his coat, and Moody tensed, ready to rush him again.
But the man merely withdrew a long, narrow piece of wood -- Moody's wand.
The wizard stared at it. "How do you know that belongs
to me?" His gaze went to the soldier's face. "Are you -- one
of us?"
The man shook his head. "No, I'm not 'one of you'.
But I know what this is, and what you are." He held the wand out,
and Moody accepted it, murmured a phrase, and watched a shower of sparks
shot out of the wand's tip. It was in perfect working order.
Moody glanced around to find Sarah Levitson huddled in
the mouth of the alley, eyes tightly closed and hands over her ears.
"She won't remember most of this," the man
told him.
"Who are you?"
"You can call me Captain Engelmayer. I'm --,"
here he paused, as though searching for the correct word, "-- assigned
to this area."
"Do you mean to tell me that you were actually taking
this girl home?" Moody suddenly felt rather foolish for assaulting
a local law enforcement official.
The man shook his head. "It would do no good. The
Levitsons aren't home, as you know. You must take the girl from here,
and reunite her with her parents. I have other business to attend to.
But I can do one more thing for you." He reached forward and put
a hand on Moody's shoulder. "Until you have delivered the girl safely
to her parents, your enemy will not notice you."
"Just like that? How could you possibly know?"
Captain Engelmayer smiled. "I have an ability, admittedly
limited, to help those in need. You are doing a kindness tonight; the
least I can do is help, a little." He turned to the girl. "Sarah."
Sarah Levitson suddenly took her hands away from her ears, opened her
eyes, and slowly stood up. "Sarah, do you remember this man?"
Sarah nodded. "He'll take you to your parents. Come along."
Sarah walked forward to stand next to Moody, and cautiously reached up
to take his hand. The soldier smiled and placed his hand on her head.
"Travel safely." He nodded to Moody. "Travel safely."
Then he turned away and set off down the street.
Sarah was shivering, staring after the man with wide
eyes. "I want my mamma. And my father."
"Come on." Moody led her away down the street.
He glanced back once, but Captain Englemayer had disappeared. There was
also no sign of the Dark wizard.
For whatever reason -- luck, the Captain's so-called
'help', or something else -- Moody and Sarah arrived back at the Weiss
home without incident, despite passing several groups of citizens in the
streets. They were let into the basement through the back door, and Moody
hung back for a few minutes to let the Levitsons hug and cry and fuss
over their daughter. The wizard stood in the darkness of the cellar doorway,
gazing out at the dark neighborhood. Somewhere out there was the woman,
and she was waiting. His mouth hardened. She undoubtedly knew about the
group of which Brecht had been part, and now that his wand was back at
hand, it would be his turn to go looking for her. But in the meantime,
he, like the Captain, had some unfinished business.
After he had been greeted by the Levitsons and had provided
a somewhat edited version of events, he reached into his pockets and withdrew
a leather pouch.
"Come here, Miss Levitson," Moody said. Sarah
stood before him, twisting her hands together in front of him. "I
have something for you," he continued, "but you must promise
to share it with your parents."
Sarah nodded.
"Hold both your hands out, please." Moody opened
the pouch, then cupped one of his hands under the girl's and turned the
pouch over. Pieces of gold, silver and bronze cascaded from the pouch
and piled into Sarah's hands, a few spilling over onto the floor with
cheerful jingles. Sarah and her parents gaped at the metal shapes.
"It's not much, really," Moody told them, "but
the yellow ones are gold, the silver ones are real silver, and the brown
ones are bronze. I don't know what bronze is worth these days, but you
might be able to get something for them, if only for curiosity value."
Aaron Levitson stepped forward, the stunned expression
still on his face. "This -- this is real? These are real gold and
silver?" He lifted one of the silver crescents from Sarah's hands
and turned it over; it flashed in the candlelight. "This is some
form of, what, money?"
"If you like." Moody held the pouch out to
them. "Here. Put it in this, and hide it. Even if it's not a form
of money, it's still valuable, and the last thing you want is someone
stealing it." He looked from Levitson to his wife and back. "I
think, if you're careful, you can sell or barter this for food or transportation."
"Food?" whispered Mrs. Levitson. "Transportation?"
"Mrs. Levitson, you and your family should leave
this place now -- tonight if you can, tomorrow if not." Moody's face
darkened. "It's a bad situation here, and I don't think it's going
to get any better. In fact, I know it's not going to get better, not for
a long time. And it won't be long before it's not just Jews in danger,
it'll be everyone. Please, go. Head west. France is still safe; England,
too. It's not just your government, either -- there are other people involved.
The situation is going straight to hell, and you don't want to be here
when it explodes."
Levitson stammered, "B-but we can't take this. This
is yours --"
"Please." Moody held up a hand to forestall
Levitson's protests. "I don't need it. But you will. Take your daughter,
and your wife, and go someplace safe." His eyes softened. "Consider
it repayment for your hospitality."
Levitson looked at his wife, then at his daughter. Finally
he opened the pouch and held it up so that Sarah could tip her hands-full
of coins into it.
"I have to go. I have work to do." He shook
hands with Levitson, bowed to his wife, and nodded at Sarah, who stood
clutching the pouch of coins. He was midway up the cellar steps when Levitson
called after him, "A safe journey to you, Alastor Moody."
Moody turned on the stairs. "And to you. All of
you." Then he opened the cellar door and stepped outside in the yard.
A few moments later the Levitsons saw light beginning to glow in the yard.
Through the window they caught a glimpse of Moody with his left hand extended,
almost like a blessing, and holding something glowing in his right hand.
The light grew brighter and brighter, until it was almost blinding. All
three of the Levitsons put their hands up to shield their eyes.
When the glow had faded, they stood blinking for several
moments, then looked out into the back yard. Alastor Moody had vanished.
Nearly a month later, Albus Dumbledore found his friend
gazing out a window in a deserted stretch of hallway on the Ministry of
Magic's fourth floor.
"That was a most intriguing post I received from
your recent trip to Germany. When I talked to your supervisor just now,
he seemed both pleased and sobered by the report you turned in,"
he remarked, settling his elbows on the sill next to Moody's. "I
gather your trip was eventful."
Moody grunted noncommittally.
Dumbledore let the silence stretch for a few moment.
"I was hoping you could tell me about what didn't show up in the
report." He watched Moody out of the corner of his eye. "How
bad is it, really?"
"It's bad, Albus." Moody sighed. "Bad,
and certain to get worse. I stumbled across a whole nest of Dark Wizards.
Some of the German Aurors and I flushed a few of them out. We took about
a half-dozen into custody. According to the ones we caught, there're another
twenty-five or so still loose. They've gone to ground for now, but they'll
be back, you mark me. But then, the Black Forest has always had that reputation,
hasn't it? Close enough to civilization to provide materials, but far
enough away to offer sanctuary." He shook his head. "I saw a
witch use a spell I've never seen the likes of before. We need to get
more Aurors there, and soon, to find out exactly what this evil is and
stop it before it spreads much further."
Both men fell silent. "On a lighter note,"
Dumbledore remarked, ignoring the sharp look Moody gave him, "I recently
met some friends of yours, traveling through to America; a man and a woman
and their most delightful daughter."
"The Levitsons?"
"The very same," Dumbledore replied, and was
rewarded by a smile from his companion. "They are alive and well
and on their way to the United States even as we speak. I saw them aboard
the ship myself."
Moody nodded, still smiling. "I'm glad to hear it.
They deserve better than what they would have gotten in Germany."
He sobered, and, glancing around, lowered his voice. "I really broke
the rules on that one, Albus. I stayed in their home, I used magic to
help them get out of the country; hell, I even gave them money -- wizarding
currency. There wasn't time to change it; the nearest branch of Gringotts
was too far to make in the time I had."
Dumbledore clucked his tongue in mock disapproval. "My,
my, what a terrible lapse of judgment on your part. Shameful." He
chuckled softly. "I fear I was so stunned that I actually matched
it with a lack of judgment of my own." Moody turned to stare at him.
Dumbledore's eyes twinkled. "I sent a few owls to friends and colleagues
in the areas through which I thought the Levitsons might pass. When I
spoke to them, your friends informed me that they had had some rather
unusual people helping them on their journey." He nodded thoughtfully.
"It seemed to be an effective network. Perhaps we should consider
keeping it going; it sounds as though a series of safe havens leading
through France and Switzerland to England might be very useful, especially
if the situation in Germany is as bad as you indicated it is." He
gestured down the corridor. "Let's find a quiet place for a meal
and you can tell me the rest."
There were a number of things that had been left out
of his report, Moody reflected as the two of them descended the stairs
to the first floor: the fact that when he'd gone to the local law enforcement
offices to thank Captain Engelmayer, the duty officer had sworn that no
one by that name and description had ever served in the area; the disquieting
discovery several hours later that Mrs. Weiss was no longer in the house
in which he and the Levitsons had found shelter that night, and had apparently
disappeared along with her belongings. But then, mysterious disappearances
were becoming commonplace in parts of Germany, he'd discovered in the
last month.
Later, their meal long since finished and his story nearly
told, Moody remarked, "Between the events during my stay and the
unusual 'helpers' they found on their travels, I can't help but wonder
what the Levitsons will eventually make of all this."
Dumbledore smiled. "Yes, that would be interesting
to know, wouldn't it?"
Rebecca's grandmother smiled and leaned forward to give
her words emphasis. "To this day, I don't know what the angel did,
but we didn't have any more trouble with the Secret Service. Papa went
back to salvage what he could from our home. Once we were out of Germany,
we began to find people willing to help us. Some of them were simple,
regular people -- factory workers or farmers or shopkeepers. But some
of them..." She stopped smiling and shook her head.
"There was one old woman -- I was afraid of her,
even though all she did was give us a hot meal and a safe place to sleep.
She looked ancient, and she leaned on a cane, and for some reason there
were a lot of toads around her house. And one man, I didn't like at all;
he was very short-tempered and brusque. But of course, I have no business
criticizing those people. They all helped us, as much or as little as
they could, and may God bless them for it."
Rebecca watched her grandmother's face take on a thoughtful
look. "And then there were a few others. They looked all right, but
there was something strange about them. Their houses would have rooms
that wouldn't let us in, or odd plants in the windows, or shelves full
of old books.... Of course, I was very young when all this happened, so
perhaps it's just my imagination playing tricks. But some of the people
would take the angel gifts Father offered them, and would later give him
money, in the currency of whatever place we were in. Father said they
took very little of the money themselves, even when he insisted."
Rebecca knew her great-grandparents had come to the United
States with almost nothing, but this was a part of the story she had never
heard before. "Then what did you buy with the money?"
"We spent it with other people who gave us shelter,
or in buying food, or to arrange a ride from one place to another, whenever
we could," her grandmother replied. "At last we came to England,
and there we met another of the strange people. He was an older man, but
I liked him immediately." The grandmother laughed. "He was very
kind, and he told me jokes -- in German! -- to make me laugh. He had the
nicest blue eyes, and a beard.... He was the one who suggested that we
come to America, and he helped us find passage on a ship. But he wouldn't
take money, either. When I was older, Mother told me that we had just
enough money left to afford a place to stay until Father found work."
She paused for a moment. "I wish I knew who those people were --
I've wanted to thank them, but I suppose most of them are dead by now."
"Except the angel," Rebecca suggested.
"Yes," agreed her grandmother. "Except
the angel. I'm sure his work is continuing, even now."
"Be not forgetful to entertain strangers: for thereby
have some entertained angels unawares."
Hebrews 13:2
Note to readers: as I write these two final paragraphs,
it is the Saturday after the terrible tragedy at the World Trade Center.
I apologize for the timing in the publishing of this story -- I actually
wrote the piece during the spring of 2001, long before the events of this
past week. My intention is not to play off what happened in New York,
nor to show disrespect to those people who lost loved ones and colleagues
in the attack. I wanted to draw attention to the small acts of kindness
that happen every day, and that often have profound effects on people
we don't even know. I also wanted to suggest that in spite of all the
horror and fear we may face in this world, help and comfort may be as
close as the person standing next to us, and that agents of God still
work among us, ready to assist even wizards in times of
I was touched this past week by a brief film clip of the changing of
the Guard at Buckingham Palace on Thursday, when citizens of the United
Kingdom showed support for the United States by playing and singing our
anthem, by laying out mounds of flowers, by waving US flags, and by turning
out to do all of this in midst of a pouring rain. They were among the
many people all over the world who have, in some form or another, reminded
me that we in the United States are not alone. Let me express my sympathy
and condolences to everyone, anywhere, who has lost a loved one in this
terrible tragedy. May we all serve as angels to one another.
Author's note: Alastor Moody, Albus Dumbledore and the
Ministry of Magic belong to author J.K. Rowling.
The quote that Sarah's mother Ilse reads while Moody
and Aaron Levitson listen is from the Book of Genesis, Chapter 32, which
is part of the Old Testament of the Bible. I actually used a fairly modern
version of it here: it's from a King James Version published in 1993,
although the original copyright actually runs back to 1936. As I'm aware
of the anti-Harry Potter sentiment from many so-called Christians, I found
the writing of a Harry Potter story complete with Bible quotes to be amusing,
to say the least.
For me, one of the most intriguing characters to come
out of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire has been Alastor ("Mad-eye")
Moody -- the real one, not the impostor. For this story, I've made some
assumptions, based on the bits of factual information put forth in the
book. From the scene of Karkaroff's trial in the Pensieve, we know that
Moody didn't have the magical eye until fairly recently, probably in the
last dozen years or so. "In the Presence of Angels" is set in
1938, well before Moody would have lost his eye and received the magical
replacement. I'm just supposing that the wooden leg mentioned in the GoF
is also fairly recent; there's no mention of when he received it in the
I've also made some suppositions about Moody's age. According
to Rowling, Albus Dumbledore is about 150 years old in GoF, and Minerva
McGonagall is around 70. I would place Moody's age somewhere around 130
or 140 (assuming they are all living a normal life span for witches and
wizards). Rowling's description of Moody in GoF makes him sound younger
than Dumbledore, even though he's retired from his job as an Auror. I
therefore thought it likely that Moody would be doing fieldwork in 1938.
Given that Dumbledore defeated the Dark Wizard Grindelwald in 1945, it
sounds as though the magical community in Europe was going through its
own version of World War II. Rowling has indicated that we may well learn
more about this in future books.
I've also made a couple of assumptions about magic. For
one thing, no one Apparates in this story. I suspect that Apparating is
a fairly modern spell, possibly perfected within a few years of the events
in Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone. I've seen messages
on various Harry Potter fan sites asking why, when Voldemort attacked
Harry's parents, James and Lily didn't just Apparate to safety. One possibility
is that one cannot Apparate and take another person, and James and Lily
certainly wouldn't abandon their infant son. But another possibility is
that the Apparation spell just hadn't been discovered or developed.
I'm also hypothesizing that the Unforgivable Curses or
their forerunners might well have come out of the World War II/Grindlewald
era. Not all the evil done in history can be blamed on Voldemort.
There is absolutely no indication in the books what kind
of language instruction anyone has. We know that Bartemius Crouch, Senior,
speaks several languages; Albus Dumbledore can speak Mermish; the Bulgarian
Minister of Magic and Madame Maxime, as well as various students from
Beauxbatons and Durmstrang, can speak English in addition to their own
native languages. So, for the purposes of this story, both Moody and Dumbledore
can speak German. (And presumably they learned it the old-fashioned way;
there doesn't seem to be a "universal translator" spell, or
I would assume that Cornelius Fudge would have used it in Goblet of
Fire when he was attempting to talk to the Bulgarian Minister of Magic.)


text:
LOGAN COUNTY - A memorial for fallen Deputy David Wade continues to grow outside the Logan County Sheriff's Office.
"He was always there and now he's gone, but he'll be in our hearts forever," Dustin Lozer told NewsChannel 4, as he dropped off flowers in honor of his late friend.
The 40-year-old was more than just a deputy.
He was also a veteran, husband, father of three and a dear friend.
"Every time I seen him he had a smile on his face. Like anytime anything happened, you know, he was the one to be there," Lozer said.
"He always had something funny to say at 6 o'clock in the morning," Kay-La Glennon said.
Glennon said Deputy Wade was a regular at the local Boom-a-rang Diner.
She waited on him just hours before he died.
"It really hits home that, you know, next time I see all the guys he's not going to be with them," Glennon cried. "But he was happy. I mean he left happy. He left full. He did his job, and I'm thankful."
Right now, donations can be dropped off in Deputy Wade's name at the Logan County Sheriff's Office.


text:
By Tony Adams, Sports Editor
The Belton Lady Tigers hosted the Waco Midway Pantherettes on Tuesday night at Lady Tiger Field, with sole possession of first place on the line.
It was also a game that many from around the state watched, as Belton came in as Class 6A's No. 6-ranked team and Midway as the No. 9-ranked team, per the Texas Girls Coaches Association's latest poll.
Kendall Mraz continued her clutch hitting with an RBI single, scoring Bethany Edwards and Belton picked up six runs in the fifth inning, as the Lady Tigers cruised to a 7-0 over Midway to take over the top spot in District 12-6A.
Belton is now 19-2, currently riding a 17-game winning streak, is 5-0 in district and has only allowed one run in the last 10 games.
Midway dropped to 18-4 overall and 4-1 in district. The teams will meet in Hewitt on April 19.
Rhein Trochim singled, stole second, was sacrificed to third by Haley Moore and appeared to score on Chandlar Coskrey's fly ball to centerfield. Trochim left third early and was called out, resulting in a double play that ended the top of the first inning.
Avery Drake tripled on an 0-1 pitch in the bottom of the first inning and Kaitlyn Jones singled to put runners at the corners. Morgan Ling was able to maneuver her way out of the jam.
Belton avoided trouble in the top of the second inning, as Sophie Wideman walked with two outs and Jazmine Gendorf came on to courtesy run. On a 2-2 pitch to Taylor Goulet, Gendorf took off and Edwards threw down to Meredith Lusby at second base, tagging out Gendorf to end the inning.
Ling and Sidney Holman were working through their opposing lineups until the bottom of the fourth inning, when Edwards lined a shot off of the left field wall for a double. Holman sacrificed Edwards to third and Mraz lined a 1-2 pitch to the opposite field for an RBI single, giving Belton a 1-0 lead.
Holman picked up a pair of strikeouts in the top of the fifth inning, leading the Lady Tigers back into the bottom of the inning.
Madison Ward led off the bottom of the fifth with a double, Lusby was hit by a pitch and Drake's single scored Ward to increase the lead to 2-0. Destynie Moore doubled to the wall in right centerfield and scored Lusby and Drake to double the lead to 4-0. Jones reached base on an error and Edwards hit a 1-2 pitch to left centerfield deep into the Belton night sky to lead 6-0. Taylor Tubbs walked and Holman re-entered to run. She scored on an error to make the score 7-0.
Holman worked her way through the sixth inning and Belton threatened to plate more runs, but good defense got Midway out of further damage.
The Pantherettes put the first two runners on in the top of the seventh inning with singles, but Holman struck out the side to pick up her 17th win of the season in the circle. She struck 11 Midway batters (197 for the season), while scattering five hits and walking four.
Drake, Moore, Jones, Edwards and Ward all had two hits for the Lady Tigers, who tallied 13 hits on the night.
"The offense learned things throughout the game," Belton head coach Matt Blackburn said. "I think we made good adjustments as the plate for the most part. In the fifth inning, we got a couple of runners on and we hadn't tried the short game yet. I decided that we should try the short game and it worked out. It was about the time that Midway thought we would stick with the short game and Destynie busted one out to right centerfield for a double to the wall. I wanted her to go for an extra bag and Midway is good on defense, so I knew better. We ended up getting some more runs throughout the inning, so I was really happy with the way that we played.
Belton plays in Harker Heights on Thursday night at 7 p.m. The game can be heard on Newstalk 1400 KTEM-AM, KTEMNews.com and the Radio Pup Application starting at 6:50 p.m. The game will wrap up the first half of District 12-6A play.
Edwards, Holman come up big in 11-0 win
Bethany Edwards clouted two massive home runs to left field, scored three runs and batted in five runs, while Sidney Holman fired 87 pitches in six innings to strikeout 17 Lady Eagles and walk one for another no-hitter. Belton went on to defeat Ellison 11-0 in six innings at Lady Eagle Field.
With one out in the first inning, Destynie Moore singled and stole second base, advanced to third on a ground out by Lusby and scored on a single by Edwards.
The Lady Tigers scored two more runs in the third inning, as Avery Drake singled, stole second and scored on Moore's single to make the score 2-0. Moore was called out for leaving first too early and following a second out, Edwards hit her first home run of the game high over the left field fence to tack another run for the Lady Tigers.
Holman was cruising along, striking out the first seven Lady Eagles she faced until a borderline pitch on a full-count resulted in a walk to Melissa Cass, the Ellison starting pitcher. Holman stranded her at first base in the third inning.
Belton scored three runs in the fourth inning. Kendall Mraz was hit by a pitch, Caliegh Robinson singled, Madison Ward drove in Mraz with a single, Drake drove in Robinson on a dropped pop up and scored on an error by the Ellison shortstop. The error by the Ellison left fielder created confusion on the base paths, resulting in a double play.
Robinson and Ward picked up an RBI apiece, as Robinson's double drove in Edwards and Ward's single drove in Robinson to give Belton an 8-0 lead going into the bottom of the fifth inning.
The Lady Tigers concluded their scoring in the top of the sixth inning. Moore singled and stole two bases, while Meredith Lusby walked. Edwards blasted a three-run homer that tucked between the foul pole and the utility building beyond the left field wall. The smash gave Belton an 11-0 lead.
No Ellison hitter put the ball into play until one out in the bottom of the seventh inning. Nani Camargo grounded to shortstop Lusby and she threw Camargo out at first base.
Holman was registering between 67 and 68 mile-per-hour with regularity and her curve balls were hitting all of their spots. She found herself in full counts just four times all day, registering three strikeouts and a walk.
Edwards reached base in all four plate appearances, as did Moore. Moore, Drake and Robinson each scored twice for the Lady Tigers.


text:
Price: $30.00
Quantity: 1 available
Book Condition: Very Good
Front hinge not tight. Frontispiece missing. Boards darkened and with light dampstaining to rear endpaper and back boards; Green cloth boards with gilt lettering and gilt shields. Numerous b&w plates. ; 8vo; 233 pages
Title: AFOOT AND AWHEEL IN EUROPE
Categories: Transportation, Available Inventory,
Edition: First Edition
Publisher: Garden City, Country Life Press: 1916
Binding: Hardcover
Book Condition: Very Good
Item: 1.00 Item
Order Number: 341


text:
with Marc Anderson
August 5 • 1:00 – 4:00 p.m
$45 Registration (closes 7/31)
Music making is a way that we transform the moment, our time together and the resources at hand, into something meaningful. It strengthens our social bonds and heals us. Making music with junk; plastic buckets, garbage cans, water jugs and assorted metal objects has all of the power of making music with traditional instruments while shining a light on the possibility, the necessity, of inclusivity.
This is a hands on, no experience necessary afternoon of fun, mindful focus and community.


text:
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text:
One of my favorite Mormon books this year has been BYU historian Craig Harline's funny and wise memoir Way Below the Angels: The Pretty Clearly Troubled but Not Even Close to Tragic Confessions of a Real Live Mormon Missionary.
Here's the endorsement I gave the book, and a Q&A with the author:
Craig Harline's experiences as a Mormon missionary in Belgium in the mid-1970s are ingeniously funny, but they also point to important issues: how religious people deal with apparent failure and navigate grown-up faith after childish certainties have proven inadequate.
RNS: When you left for your mission, you had sky-high expectations about what you'd accomplish in Belgium. What were you hoping for?
Craig Harline: It was to make a lot of converts.


text:
Detail from Moses Leaving to Egypt by Pietro Perugino, c. 1482. Zipporah is in blue.
Aaron (brother-in-law)
Miriam (sister-in-law)
Zipporah or Tzipora ( or ; Hebrew: צִפוֹרָה, Modern Tsippora, Tiberian Ṣippôrā 'bird'; Greek: Σεπφώρα, Sepphōra; Arabic: صفورة, Ṣafforah) is mentioned in the Book of Exodus as the wife of Moses, and the daughter of Reuel/Jethro, the priest or prince of Midian and the spiritual founder and ancestor of the Druze.[1][2][3][4][5] In the Book of Chronicles, two of her descendants are mentioned: Shebuel, son of Gershom, and Rehabiah, son of Eliezer.[6]
Biblical references 1
- Background 1.1
- Incident at the Inn 1.2
- The Exodus 1.3
- Druze 2
- In popular culture 3
- References 4
- Further reading 5
- External links 6
Biblical references
In the Old Testament or the Hebrew Bible Zipporah was one of the seven daughters of Jethro, a Kenite shepherd who was a priest of Midian.[7] In Exodus 2:18 Jethro is also referred to as Reuel[8] and referred to as Hobab in the Book of Judges.[9] (Judges 4:11). (Hobab was also the name of Jethro's son as recorded in Numbers 10:29.) While the Israelites/Hebrews were captives in Egypt, Moses killed an Egyptian who was striking a Hebrew, for which offense Pharaoh sought to kill Moses. Moses therefore fled from Egypt and arrived in Midian. One day while he sat by a well, Reuel's daughters came to water their father's flocks. Other shepherds arrived and drove the girls away so they could water their own flocks first. Moses helped the girls and watered their flock.
Upon their return home their father asked them, "How is it that you have come back so soon today?" The girls answered, "An Egyptian rescued us from the shepherds; he even drew water for us and watered the flock." "Where is he then?" Reuel asked them. "Why did you leave the man? Ask him in to break bread." (Exodus 2:18–20).
Moses stayed and lived with the Midianite and his family. Reuel gave him his daughter Zipporah in marriage and, in due time, she gave birth to Gershom and then to Eliezer.
The Book of Numbers 12:1 calls the wife of Moses "a Cushite woman", whereas Moses's wife Zipporah is usually described as hailing from Midian.
The rhetorical question "Can the Cushite change his skin?" in Jeremiah 13:23 implies people of a markedly different skin color from the Israelites, most likely a Nubian people; also, the Septuagint uniformly translates Cush as Αἰθιοπία "Aithiopia."
Another person named Cush in the Hebrew Bible is a Benjamite who is mentioned only in Psalm 7, and is believed to be a follower of Saul.
Incident at the Inn
After all the men in Egypt who had sought his death had died, Moses returned to Egypt. Moses took his wife and sons and started his journey back to Egypt. On the road, they stayed in an inn, where a mysterious and much-debated incident that features Zipporah took place. The Bible describes that God came to kill Moses (Exodus 4:24-27). Zipporah quickly circumcised Gershom with a sharp stone and touched Moses' feet with it, saying "You are a husband of blood!." (Exodus 4:26.) Some scholars explain the reason why God came to kill Moses was because of the covenant he made with Abraham. "'He who is born in your house and he who is bought with your money must be circumcised, and My covenant shall be in your flesh for an everlasting covenant. And the uncircumcised male child, who is not circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin, that person shall be cut off from his people; he has broken My covenant.'" (Genesis 17:10-14)
The Exodus
After Moses succeeded in taking the Israelites out of Egypt, and won a battle against Amalek, Reuel came to the Hebrew camp in the wilderness of Sinai, bringing with him Zipporah, Gershom, and Eliezer. The Bible does not say when Zipporah and her sons rejoined Reuel/Jethro, only that after he heard of what God did for the Israelites, he brought Moses' family to him. The most common translation is that Moses sent her away, but another grammatically permissible translation is that she sent things or persons, perhaps the announcement of the victory over Amalek. The word that makes this difficult is shelucheiha, the sendings [away] of her.[10]
The Cushite reference to the wife of Moses occurs at Numbers 12.[11] In the story Aaron and Miriam harshly criticize Moses' marriage to a Cushite or Kushite woman after he returned to Egypt to set the children of Israel free. Cushites were of the ancestry of Kush, a.k.a. Nubia, in northeast Africa. The Book of Genesis identifies the nations of Africa as descendants of Ham son of Noah. The Midianites themselves were a dark-skinned people often called Kushim, the Hebrew word used to describe dark skinned Africans.[12][13]
In the Druze religion, Jethro is revered as the spiritual founder, chief prophet, and ancestor of all Druze.[1][2][4][5][14] Moses was allowed to wed Zipporah, the daughter of Jethro, after helping save his daughters and their flock from competing herdsmen.[15] It has been expressed by such prominent Druze such as Amal Nasereldeen[16] and Salman Tarif, who was a prominent Druze shaykh, that this makes the Druze related to the Jews through marriage.[17] This view has been used to represent an element of the special relationship between Israeli Jews and Druze.[18]
In popular culture
- Yvonne De Carlo portrayed Sephora (the Douay–Rheims variant of the name)[19] in Cecil B. DeMille's epic film The Ten Commandments (1956).
- Irene Papas portrayed Zipporah in the British-Italian miniseries Moses the Lawgiver (1974).
- Michelle Pfeiffer voiced Tzipporah (another variant of the name) in the animated film The Prince of Egypt (1998).
- Mía Maestro portrayed Zipporah in the ABC miniseries The Ten Commandments (2006).
- María Valverde portrayed Zipporah in Ridley Scott's epic film Exodus: Gods and Kings (2014).
- Giselle Itié portrayed Zípora in the Brazilian telenovela Os Dez Mandamentos (2015).
- Sephora, a beauty store chain, is often associated with Zipporah and the variants of her name.
- ^ a b Corduan, Winfried (2013). Neighboring Faiths: A Christian Introduction to World Religions. p. 107.
- ^ a b Mackey, Sandra (2009). Mirror of the Arab World: Lebanon in Conflict. p. 28.
- ^ Lev, David (25 October 2010). "MK Kara: Druze are Descended from Jews". Israel National News. Arutz Sheva. Retrieved 13 April 2011.
- ^ a b Blumberg, Arnold (1985). Zion Before Zionism: 1838-1880. Syracuse, NY: Syracuse University Press. p. 201.
- ^ a b Rosenfeld, Judy (1952). Ticket to Israel: An Informative Guide. p. 290.
- ^ 1 Chronicles 23:16-17
- ^ Harris, Stephen L., Understanding the Bible. Palo Alto: Mayfield. 1985.
- ^ "Exodus 2 - Passage Lookup - New International Version - BibleGateway.com". biblegateway.com. Retrieved 2014-04-05.
- ^ "Judges 4 / Hebrew - English Bible / Mechon-Mamre". mechon-mamre.org. Retrieved 2014-04-05.
- ^ Ex. 18:2
- ^ http://biblehub.com/numbers/12-1.htm
- ^ David M. Goldenberg. The curse of Ham: race and slavery in early Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, chapter 8. p. 124.
- ^ Israël Shahak. Jewish history, Jewish religion: the weight of three thousand years. p. 25
- ^ Lev, David (25 October 2010). "MK Kara: Druze are Descended from Jews". Israel National News. Arutz Sheva. Retrieved 23 March 2015.
- ^ Nettler (1998). Muslim-Jewish Encounters. p. 139.
- ^ Mordechai Nisan (1 Jan 2002). Minorities in the Middle East: A History of Struggle and Self-Expression, 2d ed. McFarland. p. 282.
- ^ Eugene L. Rogan; Avi Shlaim (2001). The War for Palestine: Rewriting the History of 1948 (illustrated, reprint ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 72.
- ^ Alex Weingrod (1 Jan 1985). Studies in Israeli Ethnicity: After the Ingathering. Taylor & Francis. p. 273.
- ^ Noerdlinger, Henry S. (1956). Moses and Egypt.
Further reading
- Pardes, Ilana (1992). "Zipporah and the Struggle for Deliverance" in Countertraditions in the Bible: A Feminist Approach. Cambridge: Harvard University Press. ISBN 9780674175426
External links
- Exodus 2:11-23
- Exodus 4:18-31
- Exodus 18
- Numbers 12:1
- Articles with hCards
- Articles containing Greek-language text
- Articles containing Arabic-language text
- WorldHeritage articles needing page number citations from April 2014
- Pages using citations with accessdate and no URL
- Book of Exodus
- Converts to Judaism from paganism
- Judaism and women
- Moses
- Torah people
- Women in the Hebrew Bible
- Women in the Old Testament


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Explore the Loch Lomond and exotic underwater creatures with a trip to SeaLife, Next to The Shore. Spend a day visiting small villages, see Rob Roy's gravestone, have fun at an aerial adventure park, or go climbing or biking.
Visitors can go cruising on a lake in a historic steamship, rent a canoe or kayak around the vast waters of Loch Lomond with a multitude of activity providers
If you enjoy hiking, there are a number of short and moderate hiking paths to enjoy here, and a few of Scotland's popular long distance paths such as the West Highland Way and The Three Lochs Way run through here.


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Small predator control can be a big deal for people that raise small farm animals like poultry, goats, and sheep. Predators like coyotes and bob cats can cause a lot of dollars in damage very quickly if they are not held in check. The two best ways to keep predators out is a good fence or a good guard dog. If you have both of them it is even better.
For protecting goats and sheep the best way to keep them safe is having a good guard dog that lives in the pasture with the animals. Since the pastures the goats and sheep are in are usually fairly good sized it is not economical to build a tight enough fence that would keep a coyote out. So I would suggest getting a large breed guard dog like a Great Pyrenees, Komodor, or Ackbash. The rule of thumb is it the guard dog needs to be two years old to be mature enough to its job successfully.
A lot of people raise chickens and enjoy having them run around the yard. Chickens are also liked by every small predator in the state and even some dogs. Having a very good fence for you poultry is the best way to go for keeping your birds safe. I think chicken wire is the best type of fence that keeps critters out of the chicken coop. It is also a good idea to burry a panel like a hog panel about a foot in the ground around the chicken coop to keep animals from digging under the fence. I would put a cover over the top of the outdoor chicken fence because raccoons and opossums are very good and climbing and will very easily get into a pen that doesn't have a good protection over it.
If you have any questions about small predator control please call me at me office at 316-283-6930 and I will be happy to help.


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Author(s): Andy Griffiths
Join Andy and Terry in their astonishing 39-storey treehouse! Jump on the world's highest trampoline, toast marshmallows in an active volcano, swim in the chocolate waterfall, pat baby dinosaurs, go head-to-trunk with the Trunkinator, break out your best moves on the dance floor, fly in a jet-propelled swivel chair, ride a terrifying rollercoaster and meet Professor Stupido, the world's greatest UN-inventor. Well, what are you waiting for? Come on up! WINNER of the ABIA Book of the Year for Younger Children WINNER of the WAYRBA (West Australian Young Readers' Book Awards) WINNER of the KOALA Award for Older Readers SHORTLISTED for the Indie Awards SHORTLISTED for the Speech Pathology Awards
Andy Griffiths and Terry Denton are a creative partnership that began with Just Tricking! in 1997 and now extends to eight Just books and more than a million copies sold, the ground-breaking The Bad Book, the off-the-wall success of The Cat on the Mat is Flat, the Bum trilogy (which made the New York Times bestseller list), the bestselling The Very Bad Book and now the Treehouse series. Andy and Terry have won numerous kids choice awards and many of their titles are nominated every year.