Chapter 18

“ Feel free to take that ugly scowl away with you at any time, Princess. But let’s be reasonable shall we? MY duty will be to protect your brother with the same cunning and skill I give my oath of allegiance to Caesar! He’ll have many enemies, you and your mother will have many enemies that have to be dwelt with harshly, but firmly. That is my place in your brother’s life! It’s cruel, it’s ugly, but it necessary for any king! “

“ We’re going to be seeing a lot of each other in the palace, Princess. It will be very difficult for us to keep avoiding one another as enemies! “ He coaxed. It took all of his control to simply sit near her, breathing in the musky essence of her slow escalation into womanhood, but one false move now and she’d never trust him again, She was too close to her brother to risk her becoming his enemy.

“ I don’t know if we are. My older sister has asked us to stay with her in Jerusalem for the winter, since she is with child again, and we will be near an aging relative whose health mother is deeply concerned over. And I have been given in a marriage, but to a man I don’t know, not even his name. “

He started to protest, but in turning toward her, he caught a glimpse of the new amour recently sent him by his father for his next meeting with Pontius Pilate in Jerusalem. It was a reminder of the life he’d taken since Xavier Quintus Marcus, newly converted and renamed Abishalom ben Judah, at least here in this war twisted perimeter of the damned, had him cut down with twelve lashes still to be administered to the strong willed youth who refused authority. Could he make a lie of two decades of that dedication and manly love?

“ My congratulations. “ He said in forced heartiness, feeling a hand of stone grip his heart and squeeze.

His words tore at her heart like tiny fishhooks into the flesh. How could she betray her own doubts when he sounded as if this were the best thing that ever happened in her life? How could he a man, understand how it felt to submit your flesh to such indignities that only men seemed to enjoy?

“ I look forward to guarding you and your children for as long as there is breath in my body, Princess. “ He said with a strange emotion she dismissed out-of-hand, hardening his eyes.

“ How can you even talk like that, from the other side of your mouth when you hunt my...men of my own race for the patronage of Rome? “

“ I will serve Caesar with all my heart and ability until your brother takes his

throne and I swear him my undivided allegiance as Israel’s rightful king. But I wish us to be friends in the meantime, Little Lamb. If ever you need anything, call to me and I will come. But go now, I’ll have one of my trusted men to see you home so that no one stones you to death as a Roman’s harlot! “

Seeing her tense he cursed himself but he couldn’t hide his revulsion at their barbaric treatment of their women. ‘My blind sister and I were raised too much by my mother, while my father and the three bull-offspring of Arenas were out working in the sun and the stone of the family vineyards!‘ He found himself wanting to say to her, but her assumption of distance and maturity forbid that, and for one long moment he regretted his decision to leave his people and religion, but only until his aide closed the door to his private quarters and he could immerse himself in the duties he’d postponed in the child’s quieting presence. She had that same strange gentleness that drew him to her older brother Jesus. A faith he envied but rejected as his own. That night he used the sacred trilateral holiday dedicated to the god Jupiter, the son who stole his father’s thunder, as an excuse to drink himself blind, hoping that the God he wised to serve were likewise, at least tolerant if not willing to turn a blind eye to his repeated plunges into apostasy.

The next morning as Simon and Judas prepared to join her and Mary, in hopes that the boat builder Manasseh hadn’t changed his mind about offering the apprenticeship to Simon, Ahava had to fight back her tears, guessing that by agreeing to travel by the caravan road to Jerusalem instead of returning to Capernaum with her eldest brother and his disciples, she was agreeing to live with her new husband, the youngest son of Zaavan’s emerging partner in the Temple merchandizing trade that was growing by leaps and bounds with Shahsak’s influence. Bakky the shepherd boy was excited beyond understandable words as he shifted weight from one foot to the other. Now that his mother Tizah told him that he ‘was a man’, with all of Deborah’s flocks to accompany him to the new home in Bethany, he was giddy with expectation at the adventure of his lifetime. It was clear that he grateful she and her little dog would accompany them since her mother was going to wait until next spring to make the final move from her childhood home.

Tizah stepped away from her suddenly ‘grown-up’ son, having difficulty hiding her tears of pride and envy. She couldn’t explain to his simple mind why she had to remain, and she didn’t wish to diminish any chance he might have for a better life near a big city than he’d ever have as the grown son of the local prostitute. Checking on the light bundle strapped on Delilah back, her last long journey to his care with Deborah’s flocks, Tizah stepped away, clasping her arms around herself in a sudden chill of loneliness. Both Ahava and Jesus tried to speak to her, but she just brushed her hand at them angrily and ran back to the deeply scuffed path that led to her house. Rebecka couldn’t hide her concern as she tried unsuccessfully for a third time, seeing the frown on her young sister-in-law’s face the moment she spoke.

“ If you don’t you go with your mother to visit your Aunt Elizabeth, Beloved, stay with me? I could use the help with the baby! Joses hasn’t stopped being family just because he married Chakol’s daughter, you know. “ Rebecka protested.

“ Don’t change your plans, just to please me! “ She said angrily, turning and walking away.

For a moment Ahava wanted to run after her. To beg her forgiveness, to promise she would be a good little girl if only she could stay in the familiar house and live the life she’d always remembered, to stay as long as she was wanted or needed, but the house hers and James, now, not Mary and Josephs. James would make her leave again! It was better to leave now, on her own terms. The tall man Judas ben Simon, surnamed Iscariot came and stood beside her like a silent sentinel, offering her the same rare gift of friendship that Jesus relied on so heavily, being one of the few men in her brother’s company willing to overlook her gender. They didn’t speak but she felt a quiet bond develop toward him as he seemed to sense the loss she felt as her mother distanced herself with each step southward toward Judea and the life she’d shared long years before she ever came into existence.

Unlike Sihon, who evidenced his desire to possess the growing femininity wrapping itself around her with each new experience, he gave her the same respect and affection that he displayed around Jesus. Yet she sensed he felt the same way Sihon ben Job did, and it puzzled her that two men could feel the same tug, totally apart from her will or her desires, and yet reflect them so differently. Would she never understand men? She was grateful not to have to walk on her own shadow alone as she rejoined the noisy group at Jesus’ side. It suddenly occurred to her that he had invited so few of his new friends to accompany him to his brother’s wedding. It made her look at the older man more appraisingly. If Jesus trusted and liked him so well, surely she could look toward him as a friend too! Where was it written in stone that she had to marry the choice of her cold-blooded brother-in-law or the old matchmaker if her brother would soon be king and could use a man at his side that he trusted as much as he did Judas, surnamed Iscariot? She blushed at the force of her own thoughts and seeing her pleasure he smiled and laughed aloud with her, not guessing he was the source of her uncommon pleasure.

Last night Judas had betrayed Simon’s dream of ‘breaking out ‘on his own’ once they returned Capernaum. While Mary hadn’t tried to argue him out of it, asking only that he not make any irrevocable decisions until she returned from Ein-karem and her visit with Elizabeth. It set a wall between the two brothers that seemed to have spilled out on her as well. She accepted their sullen silences without giving it too much thought. The mood would change, they were only boys and she was already sensing the profound difference in the way both sexes thought, just as Deborah mockingly warned her when she was too young to listen. It seemed eerily symbolic to have their family divide into two groups, each going in its own direction, but it was better than going back to the house that now belonged to James and Rebecka, not her mother and father. As their portion of the caravan under Jesus’ leadership readied to return north, Ahava whispered an extra prayer for protection.

A boy’s voice was saying to Jude, high pitched with excitement. Forcing her to deal with a séance of compromise and failure locked within her. The man flogged by the Romans had been telling the truth but haunted by the horror of it being her brother Simon who’d been flogged and then killed as a zealot if she spoke, she found herself weighed by an oppressive burden of her own fallibility and compromise. A weight she’d never had to bear as an innocent child playing beside Bakky in these very fields. But she couldn’t stay a child forever, or uncommitted in the struggle against oppression and tyranny. If not to Simon’s degree of violence, then in her willingness to bear her portion of her people’s burden.

At Nimrod’s quiet insistence she play with him, Ahava knelt in the dust and tried to keep her face hidden. If it weren’t for his small but emphatic presence in her life, she would wonder if anything of this year had really happened! Maybe Keren-happuch was still alive, she only dreamed the magnificent but troubled Roman soldier who was born a Jew, and Bernice was still waiting patiently on Joshua to earn enough to allow them to marry?

The pleas of the sheep and goats who didn’t understand their shepherd’s odd reluctance to go to the familiar places made her feel as if she wanted to cry out with

one of their voices, for surely no one heard her own! As their group gathered under

Jesus’ direction, she tried not to look at the cave on the left as they grouped just outside the familiar crevices and rocks. But seared on her consciousness was the shocking sight of her seventeen-year-old brother rising up with flowers caught in his loincloth and the screams of the helpless man tied against the tree! He was of their blood, and being brutalized by the Roman conquerors, but if she had spoken, she would have betrayed her own brother! The pain and the cost of her silence weighed against her until she couldn’t even meet her mothers or her eldest brother’s eyes, although her uncertainty was written in every line and crease on her mobile face. Mary wasn’t quick enough to hide her tears as she hugged her daughter a second time and looked around to fuss at the boys.

She asked as a question, showing she was ready to stay if her daughter really needed her. Ahava straightened with a jerk, forcing air into her lungs and a smile to twist the corners of her lips.

“ It’s scary, but I have people who love me. I’m only being foolish to be so afraid, aren’t I, Ima? “

“ You’re a wonderful and desirable daughter whose facing more than most thirteen year olds would in two lifetimes! “ She said emphatically, making her decision and kissing her daughter good bye tenderly. Giving her hands an extra squeeze, Mary released them.

eye of the older red dog, and then back to his mistress; side, torn with loyalty and split asunder with doubts. As he stood in the middle of the lengthening gap he looked long in both direction, then splinted to his mistress’ side though she seemed too preoccupied to even notice he was there. She was so caught up in her personal rebuke that she wasn’t even aware of the angry soldier or his strictly arranged troops until she bumped into a group of sandals and tunics who’d jammed together to avoid the marched approach.

Only then did she look up, her heart in her throat the instant she saw the cold anger on

The war stallion reared and pawed the air in unintended dramatics as he felt the uncommonly sharp pull on his reins.

‘ If Beelzebub, the prince of demons has a voice, this is it! ‘ Ahava thought, terrorized, fighting to get to her brothers’ side as Simon stepped out from behind his cousin and younger brother.

She didn’t think the Centurion could get any angrier, but she was wrong. Like a Centaur, he moved at one with his wildly disobedient war stallion who knew he’d done nothing to earn the punishment he was receiving at his beloved master’s legs and hands! None of the soldiers under his command looked left or right, or even moved when the sweating flanks of the golden stallion neared them, knowing this would incite the trained beast to lash out with his iron shod hooves!

“ Who I am is of no importance, Jew! The man we punished yesterday was found dead in his house this morning, with his throat slit! Proof enough to me that you are a part of those cursed murders you insist on calling patriots! How could you have used my friendship like this? How else could they have known? “

Jesus stepped up and laid his hand on the stallion’s damp neck, where foam was raised from the chafing action of the reins. Immediately the stallion became still, as docile as if he were in his own stall in the stables.

The effect on the watchers was just as profound, but as the mounted solider stared down into his eyes, there wasn’t room for anyone else.

“ Perhaps it was the cadre of Roman soldiers who dragged him from his doorstep in front of his wife and children? Or the curses they made as they struck down his eleven-year-old who was just trying to rescue him, Ba’nel? “

The sound of quiet authority was unlike anything they’d heard him use in casual conversation, yet it fit the man he had become in the last few months of public contact. Even the soldiers looked in his direction, ready to turn back at the first sign of displeasure from their supervisor. They were too aware of silent daggers that could be approximating their hearts and vital organs, just waiting for a sign from their meek appearing leader!

Machba`nel ben Abishalom struggled to take back control of the situation by touching his heel into the horses flank but the stallion remained where he stood. When he tensed, expecting the seventeen-year old to break and make a run for it, thinking himself sheltered by the number of people between them, the horse lifted his head and put his ears hard against his poll.

The frightened youth stood in place as the dusty rabbi stepped back quickly, to give the Centurion room to signal his stallion to head in the southern direction he had next to go.

“ I give you my word as a Roman that I will track that animal Barabbas to the ground and see him die as agonizing death as possible, before I step away from the Service of the Caesars, Majesty. “ Looking over Jesus’ head, he glared at both of the young men standing in the middle of the road. . “ And anyone else I find in his bloody employ! “

He looked back to the younger bearded man at his horse’s shoulder, only to find himself lost within the gaze that effortlessly reached past his defenses.

“ Death begets death. War causes more war. If you kill that man, then you’ll both die! Have you been with me this long not to see and understand, Machba`nel? “

Jesus’ words were gracious and quiet, without rebuke. And Machba`nel felt his heart fill with a strange and sad regret. Then he pulled back on his stallions’ reins, provoking a fresh onslaught of angry rebellion that so matched his mood, he allowed and encouraged it until he could speak with authority against the man’s strange spell on his mind.

As if they were the only ones on the road, Machba`nel eased his horse toward Ahava.

His salute left her breathless, even as Simon strode over and pulled her behind their mother, glaring at the mocking soldier. Machba`nel rose up in his Greek-style stirrups. Titan gathered himself for the shift in weight in his saddle as his rider would lean either to the left or the right to strike a foe.

“ You! Simon ben Joses! Remember! No matter where in the world you hide, the empire of Rome can find you! And you! Yeshu Hannosri![1] What I learned from you this day is that a traitor can be in your midst and stroke when you least expect it! Those closest too you are your worst enemies, for they have your trust! “

The stallion danced uneasily at the unexpected delay, then felt his rider sink back into the saddle, the blow withheld. He listened, tense with expectation, for the next command.

The hair on the back of her neck stood on end. She was positioned by her mother and pregnant sister while her brothers were stadia away, joined loyally against the magnificent man on the golden war stallion. Titan reared at an instinctive tightening of his master’s reins when the girl looked up directly. That portion of her forming within her budding awareness of the larger world beyond the familiar hills, valleys and slopes of Nazareth, now looked and saw the Heavens open and stand upon the earth as surely as Elijah the younger saw the flaming chariot and horses that took his mentor into the great unknown! [2] The moment of decision between the man of peace and the man of war was sealed by a prodigious roll of thunder though the storm clouds had removed themselves over the first day of the week, leaving blue sky and a breathless anticipation over the divided group.

Machba`nel was looking at her brothers not her, with the zeal of a superb Roman idol come to magnificent life, his heels and hands instinctively calming and directing the plunging stallion. He could see her eyes, dark and wide and staring, like a gazelle trapped by a hungry predator who seeks to flee its doom. Vital with the last ounce of

‘ Fool!‘ He rebuked himself, forgetting the men behind him. ‘She needs to be

free! Look what your lust did to Aurelia Leite! Killing in her childbirth for the heir only

you had to have!‘ Pulling free of the gentleness impelled by the tall quiet man and the

slender girl who’d captured him in ways he only now comprehended. Fighting against

the draw to what remained of his boy’s spirit, who’d gone to war with no greater realization of the truth of battle than the stones they’d flung at one another as boys in his mother’s vineyards, feeling the weight of the wind as the stallion plunged to a stop and his body continued to move forward. With trembling fingers and the lie of calmness in his voice, he assumed an authority that was his only because he borrowed it from Rome, he hissed a harsh command in Latin that seemed to catch his Optio off guard. His look of content as he looked over his shoulder at the trembling youth struck against her skin like the pain of the lash she could still hear!

“ Apulio! Throw the young zealot a sword! All he lacks is a weapon to defeat Rome. “ He commanded contemptuously, dismounting from the restless stallion, but the older man simply looked embarrassed for them both, the angry warrior and the humiliated but enraged youth being restrained by the oldest man of the family group. A man he himself had come to admire.

“ Killing her brother as casually as you squash a bug will hardly win the lady’s heart, adonai Machba`nel. “

He warned under his breath as he approached, appearing to bow subserviently to the man he fought with against so many true enemies. He didn’t want the blood of an innocent and unskilled boy on his hands. The next moment, he was seated on the ground, blood running from his ear from the force of the back handed flow, and a ringing so loud he could barely discern the enraged Centurion’s words.

“ Presume on our friendship like that again and it will be I tying you to the whipping post, and Xavier won’t be here to speak up in your defense! “

The humiliated warrior pushed off the warm, calloused hands that tried to help him to stand, until the scenery spun around his head so violently that he had to grasp the young rabbi’s shoulder to keep his balance. A thrill of heat and intense cold ran through Apulio simultaneously and despite the nearness of his superior officer and his inferiors, he looked deep into the eyes of the man standing beside him.

Those who overheard him misunderstood the word to mean, ‘Sir’, however respectfully. But as he looked deeply into the eyes of the man who pressed the clean square of cloth against his swollen ear, he instantly stopped counting the months until the end of his twenty-five tenure with the army to be made a citizen of Rome!

Machba`nel snapped, scorning the use of the name from his hated youth as he turned in concern to his oldest friend.

The old man said in a dazed voice, longing to reach out and reconnect with the sad eyed man as his hand dropped away, the cloth resting lightly between his fingers.

By the time Apulio realized the scarred Centurion was gaping at him open mouthed, several seconds had passed and there was a murmur of dissent and question from the

men behind the grazing stallion. He knew he was a favorite among the common foot

soldiers, while Machba`nel was held in contempt, neither an officer nor a fellow to the

ranks although he had performed well for his men first as a Sergeant and now as a

“ Magna Iterna! “ He bellowed in a loud voice, approaching the wary stallion cautiously to hold him while the younger man remounted on the stirrupless saddle, pretending the brusque order was at the heart of their strange delay?

Machba`nel rode ahead of the men, the stallion’s trot matching the quick step of the foot soldiers. For fear his uncertainty would be revealed if he rode where one or the other might glance in his direction. His heart pounding with fear more intense than anything of battle as he pictured the solitary man clothed in a king’s raiment and standing on the dais before his throne, looking down on him in contempt. What would he be able to say when it was King Jesus waiting to hear his reply?

Ahava’s eyes blurred with tears as she ran head of her mother and heavily pregnant sister.

“ What do you know, child? “ He rebuked, trembling so violently that his youngest brother had to offer his arm for support. He sunk to his knees, eyes blanked. She threw herself to her knees beside him, weeping violently in the fear that he would have a seizure like Judas had a few days ago. She saw the drying blood on the square of cloth between her eldest brother’s fingers as she looked toward Jesus, but his face was darkened in silhouette against the blazing sun high overhead. It looked the color of a grave cloth and she shivered involuntarily. Was it an omen? A sign that the man she’d almost given her heart too would be her middle brother’s murderer?

Once the military marched out of sight behind the mounted Centurion, a young woman raced into view from the trees. Leaping across the broken stones and storm spread branches like a bird skimming the surface of the sea, screaming she left her armed companions edging into view nervously, watching in the direction the soldiers had marched in the quick pace trot of a known destination. Shouting Simon’s name at the top of her lungs. Knocking him backwards as she flung herself into his arms.

“ My wife. “ He added unnecessarily as she clung to him. “ Elisheba. “

He said to her in promise, as much as to them, to reveal the thing he’d done in

secret because he knew James would never give permission, and he hadn’t trusted Jesus enough to ask once he correctly understood the implications of his eldest brother’s actions in getting the carpenter shop in order before they left for Jerusalem that last time as an intact family. His arms closed around her tenderly and he buried his face in the long, shining hair loosed from the modest head covering.

“ Be’emet? Really? I was going to ask you the same thing if that Roman dog

She tried to laugh as she shook the hair out of her eyes, but it came out brittle with fear.

He tried to warn the impulsive young woman, but Elisheba shrugged off their provincial shock with carnal distain. Reaching up to kiss him fully on the mouth, as if he were a man.

The group gathered around the tear stained couple in case someone was watching them from the widow’s mountain home. After a moment’s passionate possession of the tear stained face, he pulled back, vainly attempting to usurp the position of authority from the strong willed woman whose arms were now wrapped tightly around his neck.

“ But they aren’t! “ He looked pointedly in the direction of the rough dressed men gathered under the scrub trees just within view, close enough to disappear where feet wouldn’t betray their hiding places.

“ They are now. “ She demanded supremely content, as she slipped one arm away from him, challenging the tall girl and her other two brothers. “ He can’t stay with you any longer. That Roman dog knows! It’s only a matter of time till he links my husband, your brother, to the leader of our group and tortures him to try and find Barabbas! He’ll be safer with us. We know how to fight! “ She added contemptuously.

“ And he’ll learn how to die. “ Little Judas said quietly, under his breath.

‘Don’t go! Simon don’t go!‘ Ahava screamed inwardly. If he joined the zealots now, their first task would be to hut down and kill the soldiers who’d followed James and Joses toward Jerusalem! He would be forced to kill a man, one on one or they’d kill him. He’d never again be the boy who just stood in the road to defy Roman!

“ I’m going to miss my birth date party in a few days. “ He said lightly. pretending this was an ordinary goodbye but Mary’s face remained expressionless behind the mask of tears she’d already cried. “ I wasn’t supposed to know about it... “

His head jerked back, eyes staring wide in fright before the sound of the slap broke the waiting stillness and voices pounded at them from several directions. The proud young girl in dirt stained clothing pulled the tall young boy behind her as she stood threateningly in front of the shorter matron but Mary’s grief was so real that she had to turn aside, unable to intimidate the trembling widow as easily as she could someone closer to her age. Barabbas stood into view, sliding his stolen Roman sword into its scabbard. Ahava watched in dawning horror of his true nature. Like the soldier, he was her brother’s enemy! To the death! Unless he was killed first by the gentle, idealistic brother of their youth who cried when he was forced to witness the death of a sickly lamb at the hands of the Jarred the butcher because James felt he needed ‘toughening up’ He would use him as he did the daughter of his murdered friend, he would use her or her mother, even Jesus, if he thought they would further his blood struggle against Rome. But when she turned to Simon, to try and reason with him, the sweat smelling girl stepped in her path, eyes contemptuous, and filled with a feral power Ahava understood on an instinctive basis.

keening a death wail that seemed to pour from her very being. Simon’s eyes filled with gratitude as his eldest brother stepped forward to pull the wavering woman into his own arms. She turned and buried her face in his chest. The sobs continuing, muted but tearing at the boy’s heart worse than any of her anger had done. Simon turned back only the once before he disappeared, following the girl who’d finally won his loyalty, She didn’t think he would, but she stayed in place, pretending to squat incase someone should be watching, but her head was turned west to watch her beloved brother out of sight. He waved and before she could stop herself, she waved back, but he was already gone!

Jesus walked up to her, as if from nowhere and folded her into His arms, whispering encouragement softly, for only her to hear; a promise that Simon would be returned to her love, no matter how impossible that seemed as the murdered zealot’s daughter made no attempt to hide her exaltation at finally possessing him. Ahava shook her head no, refusing to believe words she thought only vain comfort, she’d seen the girl’s face up close, the hard look, the pride, the haughter that no mere wishing could

turn aside. She’d felt a measure of the lust that wound Elisheba inside her brother like a coiled serpent hatching her eggs inside a carcass too long abandoned, but when Ahava felt the gentle press of his calloused knuckle against the damp repository for her tears at the end of her chin, she looked up, and saw His smile.

“ Beloved? Is any task too great for the Master of the Universe, Blessed be His Name? “ Jesus asked with a smile, and for once, she didn’t know how to answer.

Then He turned and gathered the weeping widow into His arms, giving of Himself wholly to her grief, as if her son were already dead.

It was a smile she could remember clearly, these seventy years later, and it made her heart beat a little faster as her age dulled eyes saw that moment in long ago Nazareth as if it were happening right now.

“ Do you need to rest, Savta [3]? “ A young voice queried, but she was loathe to let go of the moment; so like her brother before her, she held her place where she was and shared a wondrous smile with her young granddaughter.

“ Yes, for now Dear heart. But After I’ve rested, I’ll tell you the rest of the story, Havala. I promise. “

Because Shelomith was so caught up in the one living child capable of pleasing her, as no mere man could hope to do in the sun’s shinning presence, Xavier did an uncommon thing for him any more. He took a walking stick and ambled down the sandy path to the edge of the shoreline, wanting to see what phase the moon would be when it rose, and wanting to be alone. He was caught off guard by the sight of a slender and straight young woman remaining on the rocky shoreline after the fishermen put out on their boats. The unmarried younger sister of the new king. It seemed strange to see her standing alone until he noticed the small speckled form running up and down the rocky shoreline, scratching at rocks and overturning them before shoving his nose down into the newly recreated hole and occasionally bobbing his head as if wolfing down whole whatever morsel he had found worthy of a growing dog’s appetite. Her hair caught simply in a woven homespun scarf that draped casually around her shoulders allowing only the ends of her hair to weave in the strengthening breeze off the deceptively calm appearing water. Hugh storms could blow down from the bluish heights the mountains and wreck havoc with any small craft caught miles from land. Like their lives as Josef bar Quo and his cronies in Rome were surely beginning to look for ways to discredit or disillusion her eldest brother before he could claim his rightful throne from Rome’s clinched fist!

It shocked and horrified him to remember the part he played in the mad king’s attempt to stop a transformation he wouldn’t even live to see, and it saddened him

more than he thought it was possible for a human soul to bear. The Child Herod the

Great attempted to kill had grown to manhood in the same years that he, given the rank

of Centurion for his part in the slaughter of the young sons in Bethlehem nearly thirty

years ago, had only grown older and sadder, and now the inevitable moment had come for Him to take His rightful place in Jerusalem, over the Idmunean’s remaining sons.

Xavier watched the tall, child-like Jewess who had captured his grown son’s heart, and he had to shake his head in wonder. Having experiencing Ahava ben Jose’s natural hospitality and curiosity, he felt a pull that he politely pushed aside. Having

made peace with his age, and rather looking forward to the politically advantageous marriage to Shelomith bat Elnaam, he didn’t wish for any last minute complications

to forbid his retirement to Italia on her small but productive estates on the southern

coast, far from the vulgar realities of Rome and its Caesar’s! This willing little virgin’s brother was austere, a prophet with his sight on higher things, so he would demand no less than the loss of the comforts that Abishalom relished, but he admired the purity of the man’s call. All of which made his son’s interest in Jesus of Nazareth all the more improbable. He wasn’t even aware of the impulse to seek her out, to find some way to make peace with things that he couldn’t change until he was actually stepping down the uneven stones leading from the garden wall to the grove of trees where he thought to

stop without actually speaking to her, if she showed the slightest repugnance or fear. He’d done enough already to inhibit his son’s life, why make an enemy of the man he chose to admire as he once admired him?

One of the tree bases moved. It was the red haired giant, who’d lighted a small fire in the sand, lined with stones. He tried to make himself smile. The man might only

be a servant, but he still had all the height and heft that made him so feared in the gladiatorial tournaments of Rome’s bloodied ease.

“ Shalom aleikhem, good sir. “ Ahava called out brightly once the speckled dog smelled the new scent on the air and abandoned hi chase through the mud to race at him. “ You’re Xavier the Centurion, aren’t you adonai? “ She asked politely, stepping back a pace at a subtle signal from her standing bodyguard.

“ You may know me better as Abishalom ben Judah. I serve under the Roman Procurator Pontius Pilate himself. “ He said as means of introduction.

“ I know. “ She agreed quietly, the look of trust on her face eased a stone lodged against his heart that he recognized only by its sudden absence.

A smile came to the weather toughened skin, softening it a little more. Despite the power this innocent girl obviously held over his son, who was currently away on

foot stealthily following the Nazarene’s party with a small squad of well trained men of war, wherever they were camped for the night like vagabond, he little trusted virgins, they were too strict in the code of ethics they expected of the men new to their lives, but following the death of the fragile rich young woman Marcus had planned to marry for several years, he could see why a healthy and interesting bit of flesh might draw out the heart of a sin-wearied warrior. He wasn’t above feeling the pull himself. But had Keren-happuch lived she would have been of more value to his career than the daughter of another pretender to the throne of this backwater providence and its quarrelsome Jewish population.

Her peaceful spirit challenged his sense of pomp and authority as she folded her hands meekly in her lap and looked up at him as trusting as the puppy who slept on his cloak at her knees. It both awed and annoyed him. Her brother wasn’t King yet, thought the people had a long history of rising up the most humble over them to be swayed by what the Cesar’s already know. How could she, a mere slip of a girl, possess such dignity?

“ Yes, I know. “ She agreed politely and his brows tightened their attempt to touch one another over his high, thin nose.

‘There is a mix of blood for you to have such dark olive skin and the look of a desert eagle, Centurion. ‘ Ahava was thinking to herself, smiling in his long silence, though she was too well bred to say anything aloud that might cause offense.

“ The name intrigued me. “ He continued guardedly, breaking the silence but annoyed to hear only the sound of his own voice. It encouraged him to say too many personal things that he hadn’t shared since his own wife was young. “ And I took it when I converted to your peculiar religion. I wished to convey strength so I took the name of ‘Judah’, the warrior prince of Jewish Scripture. “

“ Yet ‘Abishalom’ means ‘father of peace’? “ She probed delicately and for an

instant he wished she would touch his knee, simply to complete the sense of connection to another human being. Like Abishag, the gentle virgin for King David who kept him warm as he read about in the scroll of the kings, the lion had to bow before the lamb. Her

She nodded, growing more comfortable with him by the moment as he grew decidedly more uncomfortable.

hunched now by the fire, patting the dog but holding him, as if ready for the attack, which the friendly wag of the dog’s tail denied for all of the nerve rattling awareness of the difference of color in his eyes. One blue and one green.

“ A dear friend of my brother, Adam. “ She explained, and at the ease in her voice the oversized man turned on his other side and returned to his pretense of sleep.

She made a place for him out of the wind, then knelt by his knee, leaning against him as companionably as if she were still a child. Clearly she’d been raised in a house of trust and he had no intention of being the one to spoil that illusion.

“ My son would have killed himself rather than lose his place in the army. I wish I knew why it was so important to him? “ His head turned slightly toward the glowing embers. “ Do you know? Beloved? “

His tongue shaped the word to its meaning rather than it’s common usage and the last of her reservations toward him ceased. She sat back against her heels and gave it serious thought.

“ No, I don’t. But my brother Jesus has talked with Machba`nel in depth, perhaps he would be the one to ask, adonai Abishalom. “

“ You are so formal with me, but you call my son by his name? “ He teased lightly.

“ His natural father was a scholar, as well as an excellent vintner, one is learned, the other is present in the womb of a man’s mother. I guess religious men don’t think or act the way we could understand them. His mother is an unusual woman too, but I believe you’ve met her? “

He look of concern made him repent grunting as he stretched out his foot. Alexander the Great revolutionized warfare with the invention of stirrups on saddles, but he never envisioned the cost to an old man’s foot by using one with three broken bones! He died too young to ever experience age or defeat, both of which were weighing heavily on him as he sat on the low stool and knew he’d run out of reasons to stay. When he really didn’t want to go.

“ Perhaps you should talk to my brother? “ She suggested then blanched, remembering that she hadn’t offered him any of the formalities expected by distinguished visitor his age! He was familiar enough with their customs to recognize the look and stop her as she would have scrambled to go get the wooden bowl and fresh water for his feet.

“ I don’t have time. I didn’t come in as a friend. “ He said bluntly, watching her face for some sign of deceit. “ But I leave as one. “

At her look of puzzlement he felt compelled to explain himself, without knowing where the impulse originated. “ Your brother is a wise man, and I believe a prophet,

for all of his youth. “ He stopped, preoccupied by private thoughts. He’d studied the Messianic literature in depth, only to find that no two authorities agreed. What hope did he have except to witness it unfold and then to understand from its backwash.

“ My brother could answer many of your questions, that I can’t even begin to understand, much less answer, adonai. “

“ No, thank you, Little One. “ He disavowed tenderly. “ One dreamer in a family is sufficient. “ He said with a dramatic flaring of his cloak that was only partially marred by the weight of the sleeping pup on it. He hid the pain standing abruptly caused him, but obviously not enough for she lifted his hand and placed on her shoulder.

She wasn’t sure what prompted her to say that, except there was something about the powerful old man that struck a cord in her as she recognized the cost of his long isolation. “ My sister Deborah says I am dreamer! But I don’t think she means it in a complimentary way. :

understand that he meant the one and not the other, and there wasn’t time enough to explain. He paused, listening for the pattern of rain or wind before he lifted the heavy

wooden bar. If he had to move swiftly to avoid the storm he could taste on the air he wanted to do it on the incline where neither she nor the servants of the house, if they were about, could see him in the struggle!

Then as he started to leave, watching out from either edge of the heavy skin to be certain only the trees’ shadows waiting for him in the small courtyard.

“ If you were my daughter, Beloved. “ He said tenderly, looking back at her upturned face. “ I would want to tell you how much you have in store for you once you are old enough to be fulfilled as a woman, not merely taken as a woman! “

“ Then your brother has wronged you greatly! And the loss is the man’s who would have grown you in his tender love and affection. When the time had come. “

Ahava relented, as hard as she fought against it. Jesus had said much the same thing, in his story about finding ripe figs only when they’d had the time to mature on their own. She wished he’d change the subject, because she was embarrassing him as much as he was discomforting her.

He let out a ragged sigh and held a portion of the skin back until a tiny diamond of light shown on the worn flagstones he’d paid to have quarried. Age overwhelmed him as he saw how much he had left unsaid, and how much she had told in those few words. But it closed a gap between them that neither age nor culture could diminish.

“ My son’s feet were putrefying. A soldier who can’t walk is of value to no one and he wouldn’t let Evi cut them to stumps, so at least he could live. Not that I blame him. What recruit wants to learn soldiering when the truth of what could happen to him is there before him as a daily reminder? “ He seemed to be talking to himself more than to her. But she listened with rapt attention nonetheless. She knew so little about men, civilians or soldiers, and here was a man as kind to her as her father, sharing secrets she might never otherwise learn.

“ He said he stepped into the water while the heavens were opened up with thunder and no rain. Like the old wives’ tales about the Pool of Siloam in Jerusalem, and he was healed. Yet he claims your brother was the cause for his being healed. The king asked to see him and now they think him half-mad but none can dispute the validly of his healing. What do you think? “

“ I think he’s in his right mind, and I think he’s telling the truth. I’ve seen things in this very city that would have you lock me away or have me stoned as a blasphemer if I tried to tell them to you, adonai! “ She said so earnestly he couldn’t doubt that she believed what she was trying to say.

“ You don’t have to be able to explain, to believe it. It’s incontrovertibly a miracle from Yahweh Elohim, Blessed be His name. “

“ Do you know what that word means, Little One? “ He asked gently, picking up a flap of skin and looking carefully at the outlined tree nearest the door.

“ Indeed not, Ahava bat Joses. I’m sorry I was so careless to ask. I should have seen that for myself. Shalom aleikhem, Princess. “

“ Shalom aleikhem, adonai. “ She impulsively placed her hand on his arm, feeling the deep indentation of a ragged scar. He jumped so violently that she instantly stepped back, prompting the small dog to leap to his feet, watching intently.

“ Yes, you may, even if he doesn’t ask first, as long as you don’t tell my son. “

“ Yahweh Elohim. “ The aged soldier said with a smile and with a grace belying his size and his years, he was gone from the doorway.

“ That is a very strange man, Ahava. “ Adam said quietly once she turned back to the snoring dog. “ Perhaps you shouldn’t have anything to do with Those People? “

“ What would he find to talk about with an thirteen-year-old girl? “ She demanded, evading his automatic authority as an adult, just two years younger than Jesus.

“ What indeed? “ He answered quietly as the speckled pup followed her into the starless exterior on the other side of the makeshift door.

When she returned to the house, Jesus was with there with their cousin Jude Thaddeus, Miriam Jacobs’s’ son and the two men had a great deal to share. She noticed her cousin’s fond smile and tried to block it, only to tear herself apart with guilt for the intrusive action when they were greeted at the door of the borrowed house by a tall,

travel stained woman whom Jude Thaddeus greeted with a glad cry and a welcoming kiss. Although Naara was only a distant cousin from Joseph’s side of the family, she seemed suddenly to become another daughter and Ahava felt pushed out and isolated. Worse, she was instantly consumed with jealousy, supposing the strikingly beautiful woman was to Jesus’ new bride! Why else would her brother’s most beloved companion greet her and act as if she were an intimate relation? As the beautiful woman waited to

be introduced, Ahava found her dislike increasing in proportion to her gentleness and genuine concern for others. Until by mid morning, she could hardly speak over her inner rage. She loathed herself for feeling so angry at her brother’s rare joy and enjoyment of the dark-eyed beauty’s company, but it didn’t seem to lessen the burn of jealousy that each laugh or shy look enflamed. She almost reached the breaking point when she discovered she was Bernice’s cousin rather than theirs and that fanned the fires of her anger until even gentle Esther beat Eliab noticed. Her gentle rebuke was adding insult to injury and Ahava ran away into the late afternoon shadows, vowing never to return!

The next day Naara was up early to make breakfast for them, allowing Ahava the rare opportunity to sleep in till full sunlight. When she came downstairs she was too shy to look the beautiful woman in the eyes but her gentle cousin’s laughter quickly put her at ease. The water in the stone jar was so low that she had to dip a mossy bucket into it to raise up enough water to wash her face and hands, but to her relief Jesus and Jude Thaddeus decided to take care of that for themselves. Empting the greenish layer over

the trees in the tiny courtyard that drank it up so quickly there wasn’t even time enough to make mud pies with Hulah!

“ I won’t be back until tomorrow evening at the earliest. Will you give me your word that you’ll stand by Cousin Naara and help as you have in the past, Beloved? “

Because he had knelt, she had to lean forward to put her arms around his neck. Laying her cheek on the warmth of his shoulder, she struggled against the tears that welled up in her so easily since she began her woman’s flow this winter.

“ I don’t want you to go, Jesus! Not with Ima gone to Jerusalem this long! “

Once again his patience showed through although the boat captain and their cousin were eager to be on their way.

“ There are things I must do. They may make better sense once we begin that portion of your life’s work that will soon call out to you. For now, please trust me.

“ Of course, Dear Heart! “ He assured her, using the edge of his calloused palm to wipe the tears from her eyes. But there were too many people in pressing need

to meet the demands of their own lives to allow her the luxury of asking more for more. He gave her hand a quick squeeze of promise and encouragement and stood to join the others as a slight breeze began to wipe the extended sail.

The captain of the small boat watched it anxiously then turned to follow the flight of the birds over the water.

“ There’s too many birds here from the sea! Another storm coming, we have to hurry on our way! “

“ I know, it’s a small thing Cousin, but I forgot a jar of pens and my nose ring

at mother’s; if you have the time, could you bring them back with you? “ Naara called anxiously, aware that a woman’s needs seldom had any value to a man.

“ I’ll make the time, if need be, Cousin. Stay well in the LORD’S grace, and if you have any questions, ask my mother, or Beloved. She’s someone you can trust. “ Jesus urged.

Naara looked down at the younger girl and saw the genuine smile at her brother’s words. She put her arm around Ahava’s waist, and enjoyed the comfort of the stranger’s warmth in return. Then she looked back up.

She called happily and they both waved goodbye with a lighter heart. By the end of the day, it seemed as though she had always been there in their lives, the sister that Deborah never had the time to be.

Deborah had coldly sent them on their way with the multitudes that followed after Jesus rather than accept the most mild of her mother’s comments against the man she falsely idealized, to his contempt as much as anyone else’s, but having finally given him the son he ‘needed’ and having been called back from exile and humiliation in her hometown, Deborah refused to be reasonable. Because she refused to forbid the foreign servants from openly worshipping their false gods, Mary had reluctantly broken free of her eldest daughter’s permissiveness, but even as they spent the morning seeking out herbs for Rachel to dry and hopefully to find enough berries to cook with tonight to celebrate Bernice’s exciting news of her pregnancy, Ahava could read the pain on her mother’s face as Mary seemed to be reliving the extended futile conversations she’d held earnestly against her daughter’s stubborn refusal to see anything she didn’t wish to see. So intent on her mother was she, that she didn’t even see the man in rags in the center of the path, nor suspected there was anyone else near until she heard the man’s deep voice. Then she had her hands full, head bent, trying to calm Nimrod’s shrill barking. Her mother’s hand pressed needless against her arm in warning as she stepped back in revulsion at the sight of diseased flesh and the stench that had set the young dog to barking. Then the weeds and bushes trembled and she saw another stooped figure pushing back a mottled lump that had once been a child.

“ Son? “ She asked. As shocked as Ahava at the man who walked into the sunlight.

Ahava picked up the small dog’s heavy body in her arms to prevent his running up and seizing the leprosy ridden rags, seeking out which one of her sons her mother had spoken too?

She felt as if the ground opened up and swallowed her! It was Jesus! He walked to

the withered lump A phrase from the youthful prophet Isaiah leapt into her mind as she

‘ The way of the just is righteousness; Thou Most Upright, do weigh the path of the just. ‘ [6]

Something must have emerged from her throat because there were frightened grunts and the shuffling of small bodies away from the taller figure still hiding in the bushes. Her brother lifted the sobbing wretch to his fullest height over swollen lumps of mangled flesh.

“ Master, forgive me! Heal my family! Please! Take out your righteous wrath on me, Adonai! “ The strangely garbled words came through wobbling and swollen flesh.

As she watched in chilled disbelief, as if the sun had suddenly gone behind a cloud, pink flesh pushed out into a definitive shape under the moldy tatters. Wholesome pink began to suck in the bleached, whitened skin and pussy covering, pushing out into skin as clear as newborn baby. The swollen knobs in the wraps under the shortened stumps lengthened and took shape with toes, arch and neatly sculpted ankles as he looked down over the man’s supporting hands in shocked disbelief. She swayed, unable to keep her balance as she saw the man’s bared arms tentatively reach around her brother’s shoulders in a tear stained embrace so harsh sound of it stilled even the heavy, wiggling puppy trapped in her embrace. She sat down in place, loosing the speckled puppy who ran down the path a few steps, his tail between his legs, as he barked tentatively, and ran back to the comfort of his mistress’ arms.

Her brother called four more names, holding out his free hand as the mother, a daughter older than herself and then two young boys came forward to receive their healing and restoration in turn. She especially watched Esther ben Eliab’s face as hair sprouted from the bald scalp and grew long even as the shocked sixteen year old held the ends of it and sobbed, the length of the coil growing below her fingers with every passing second until it was fuller and longer than before she contracted the horrendous disease, unwilling to leave her parents to their terrible fate.

The youngest boy, no more than five or six, immediately ran toward the speckled puppy. Nimrod leaped to his feet barking, looking around for a stick to seize so the boy could throw it for him the way Judas and David did in the city. Zobe’bah clung to Jesus, sobbing in great draughts of whole air, trying to talk, to express her gratitude, choking on the salt of her own tears till he bent over and kissed her cheek. Then a strange silence possessed her and she would have been unable to keep her feet if it hadn’t been for the support of Jesus’ arm.

She turned her face to his chest, seizing his damp tunic and hiding her face in it as she wept for a joy that seemed inexpressible. Eliab graciously stepped back to allow Jesus to use both arms to hold and comfort eh crying woman, then he saw Mary and the girl sitting down in the middle of the road. Stumbling toward them, ready to pull back at the first sign of revulsion.

parental tone he hadn’t been capable of in the last half of the young boy’s life. Me-dad giggled, trying to keep his face away from the puppy’s active tongue.

Looking up to apologize, he saw the compassion on the older woman’s face as she slid the heavy basket to her other arm and held out a hand to take his. he had yet to accustom himself to the accessibility to touch again, and he tried to pull back but Mary wouldn’t allow him.

“ He’s you son isn’t he? I see the family resemblance. May I ask the prophet’s name who healed me? “

“ Jesus. Jesus ben Joses, the Son of the Most High. Blessed be His name. “

Eliab nodded, dislodging fresh tears. He needed no further proof than his own flesh to the validity of the woman’s quiet statement. He turned back as his eldest son, nine year old Ramanti`ezer pressed against his mother’s side in a shy offer of support.

“ That I should have lived to see a day as this.... “ He paused, unable to go on, busying himself instead with helping the woman’s young daughter to her feet. He startled at being told her name and looked over Ahava’s head at her mother.

“ What a wonderful and generous man your husband must have been. But then, look at the son he raised. “ Turning back respectfully, he felt his youngest son pull on fingers he hadn’t learned to unclasp yet, walking back toward the people he’d tried so hard to escape this morning because their care and their deaths had been more than he could bear any longer. He sunk to his knees at Jesus feet, attempting to worship Him but the young man leaned forward and pulled the elderly farmer to his feet.

“ It is my Father’s wish that all would be healed and restored. The House of Israel and the House of Jacob are His, He has called them by name. Only heed the Spirit

that is now in you that no greater evil befall you than what has already occurred. “ He cautioned him and Eliab hung his head in shame. he knew what the young healer was speaking about, and he nodded, understanding instinctively that words were a redundancy beyond his capacity at this moment anyway.

“ My old farm is near here, Master. Please, come, rest! There is so much I need to ask you. “

As the sun set, lighting the water birds with hues of gold and scarlet Bernice walked back outside to the courtyard to hand the plates of chilled melon to her guests and to the shy family who clustered around Joshua’s feet as if he were the patriarch of their new clan. The water from the deep well mixed with the juice of the tiny new melons, whose seeds were too immature to salvage, so they became toys for the two boys. After nearly six months of marriage to a man she only thought she knew, she was rewarded with discovering a totally new facet of Joshua as he and Eliab entered a heated discussion about rounding up the animals that had gone wild versus buying new stock which had no taste of freedom.

[1] Yeshu Hannosri: Latin for ‘Jesus of Nazareth ‘

[2] 2 Kings 2:1-15

[3] Savta: Grandmother

[4] 1 kings 1:3

[5] Heshvan, also called “ Marchesvan” or “But” , October/November [2^nd month of Civil year]

[8^th month of Religious Calendar] Grain plating, cooling down ; “First rains” 29 or 30 days

[6] Isaiah 26:7

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