Chapter 2
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Sunday, 9th of Elul First
watch of the day 3757
Bethlehem
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The years moving toward the boy’s weaning fled all too swiftly, but Hilkiah never forgot that he promised Hannah
to attend the weaning ceremony for their beloved Salome` the next year. Returning together to Bethlehem after spending the
week in Jerusalem for The Festival of First Fruits, Asa welcomed them to rest
in the house he inherited with their father Jezreel’s death. Hilkiah tried to be patient about asking Hannah to come
to live with him once he was to follow Joseph and Mary to his father Jacob’s house in Nazareth. He earned enough as
Joseph’s apprentice to purchase a bride of his own. Asa wasn’t unkind to her, but he didn’t love her in
the way Hilkiah did, and his wife let her shy mother-in-law know that she was more of a burden than a help to their embarrassingly
large family. But there seemed no way to draw her aside and speak to her without drawing Sari’s sharp frown in their
direction. For his adopted mother’s sake he tried to curb his impatience, but he loved his little sister with a passion
unlike anything else in his life and now that they’d spent time with her, the mere thought being parted from her was
like a sword being twisted in his gut for she was as much Jezreel’s seed as she was Hannah’s. Never having been
possessive about anything in his life, he didn’t quite know how to handle this embarrassing but pronounced symptom of
his loneliness, any more than he had been able to control the automatic erections that made his life so miserable whenever
he didn’t keep his mind focused on work! There were so many new feelings he didn’t pretend to understand, and
strangely, he felt more like an outsider in the house he grew up in, at his next oldest brother’s side than he did in
Joseph and Mary’s house! There seemed
to be too many women in his life now that his brother stayed out with the flocks at night! With Mary being so large with her
second child, with only a month or so left until the child’s arrival, the world he shared was uncommonly centered around
women and human reproduction rather than sheep. The young boy Jesus was already their constant companion in his father’s
work shop, toddling out on chubby legs to play with the kittens in the sawdust beneath the carefully oiled tools. Hannah,
Ruth, the innkeeper’s wife, and Jesus’ mother were like a single unit of women’s voices and concerns, sharing
their laughter and their plans for the coming birth and the activities involved with weaning shared between them, subtly shutting
him out.
Waiting at the edge of the Great Caravan Road for Masrekah the matchmaker and her small, over-burdened donkey to arrive
with word of his future wife. Hilkiah was shocked by the slow approach of the large company of rich men toward the isolated
house of a modest shepherd. When the exotic company prepared to transverse the dusty lane that only led to the unpretentious
house he leaped to his feet and began to walk at the knee of the chief steward of the dust covered group, mentally thinking
of how many stone water jugs he should move to fill the needs of the thirsty travelers. He’d be half-a-day simply fetching
water for so large a group of servants and camel handlers! Surely this group of wealthy men and merchants
were here only to make inquiries to their true destination,
but such excitement left him as speechless as a dimwit. The arrival of so many important men helped to
elevate his mood and his sense of identification with the stronger gender. When they reached the end of the lane and the animals
were spread out to rest and be shed of their heavy burdens, he approached the man quietly directing the four groups, assigning
them space apart from one another, in mute recognition of the rivalries between the disparate groups of men and their customs.
Clearly he was well thought of and the servant of the highest ranking of the three rich men who gathered
in the center of the noisy but well trained camp.
“ Send word to your master that we wish to meet him and speak his language. We have
come to see the king whose star has led us west these many months. Do you even understand a word I am saying, Dalyoa
? I have been assured that I speak Aramaic without an accent.
“
Hilkiah winced at being called a boy, then he closed his mouth with an effort, and bowed even lower to show respect, but the man’s strong fingers seized his arm and
forced him upright. A slight smile revealing good teeth. This man was no slave, but high born and gracious. No wonder the
others were quick to please him. He had expected to be spoken too in Greek, the Merchant’s language, not his own, so
well defined.
“ I
welcome you to my brother Asa ben Jezreel’s home, please to make yourselves comfortable while I run to tell him of your
arrival. I apologize that my wits briefly abandoned me at the sight of your glory, I did not mean to give offense.
“
“
None was taken. “ The dark skinned stranger assured him, and
released him with a gentle shove to start his feet in the right direction, a courtly and kindly laugh following with him as
he fought to catch his breath and gather his splayed wits about him. It wasn’t every day that a caravan from the East
arrived, much less bearing three men of such immense position!
Mary stood at the rear doorway of the open-air courtyard, a broom in her hand and a child’s toy hanging from
her relaxed grip when the sixteen year old raced up out of breath, bypassing the squatting men. Her face showed her confusion
since Hilkiah seldom looked her in the face, even while speaking directly to her. Never had he seized her arms now, as he
did with a violence, and she gave a small scream, dropping the toy to his foot. Realizing that he was frightening her, he
stepped back head bowed, apologizing between gasps. Joseph raced up, his head and clothing covered with fine dust. He reached
to hold up the trembling youth and looked at his wife in questioning but Mary’s eyes were still wide with fright and
she didn’t seem to comprehend the trusted youth’s actions any more clearly than he did. When the boy Jesus stood
in the empty doorway, holding unto a fallen stick from the table, she rushed toward him and seized him up in her arms, poised
for flight.
“
Mighty men from the East have come, seeking the boy to worship him! “
“ I
have to change him! Where are his new clothes? “
“
The boy is fine, Mary! If you kept him any cleaner he wouldn’t have any skin left! Calm yourself, Woman.
“ He urged cautiously, attempting to absorb the fragments of information
being gleaned from the out of breath youth. He was still only expecting the middle aged shadkhan the boy had
been talking about all week, but there seemed to be some greater urgency hidden in the out of breath boy’s puffing concerns.
A foreign voice, rich with cultured tones and curiosity surprised them all as they whirled and turned to see a lone
man in rich garments watching them with a slight smile, his chief interest being the sturdy toddler walking toward him with
such confidence in the greeting he would receive, having been raised in a house of love. Hilkiah
cursed himself as a fool for leading the stranger directly to his master’s house!
“ Peace
and welcome to this house of the sons of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and multiplied peace upon the homes and the hearts of Israel.
I am Prince Amide ben Jessup of the royal House of Nasser and Gilbalt, and I have come to inquire of the House of David if
we might have audience with the young King? My master and his companions have traveled these many months
following the star. “
Hilkiah glanced up instinctively toward the day light brilliance toward where the young prince’s jeweled hand
pointed. It seemed to have to rest directly above the house, and a new and greater awe than any he had experienced before
seized him and forced him to kneel in the dust, his cheeks stained with tears and praise flowing out of his being like a rush
of water flowing up and out from the core of his being. The young prince looked on him kindly, rather than as if he’d
lost his senses the way his brother’s treated him over the next several days.
“ Of course! “ Joseph said quickly.
“ Please forgive my lack of manners. Your coming has taken us by surprise.
Seeing Jesus in His
mothers arms, Amide ben Jessup took a step forward, head bowed, kneeling at her feet.
“
My Masters will wish to invite you to them as soon as proper preparations can be made, Majesty.
Joseph helped the man to his feet humbly.
“ He is but an unweaned child, Great One. “
“
And yet a king. “ The richly dressed young stranger assured him in
a courtly tone, reaching his finger to where the excited toddler could grasp it, lest the boy push himself so far from his
mother’s shoulder that he fall to the ground.
-
Two of Joseph’s aunts and an elder cousin
were also invited to the feast for the Child given by the three leaders of the caravan, wealthy and knowledgeable in the dark
arts and the passage of the stars across the night skies, but upon reaching the armed escorts at the edge of the camp, they
grew frightened, abruptly remembering Moses’ prohibition not to mingle with Gentiles, they fled, leaving his young wife
clutching the boy in her arms so anxiously that Jesus began to squirm and resist the enforced confinement. Mary’s eyes
were as wide as full moon and he could smell the sudden rise of nervous perspiration from his borrowed finery, but squarely
his shoulders resolutely he glanced at the day bright star which seemed to encompass them as they had walked the short distance
to the valley between the hills. With no formal warning from the heavens to say he was wrong, Joseph warily led his wife and
ward forward, ready to give his life for the Holy One.
Prince Amide ben Jessup was the first to be notified as soon as the silken curtains inside the tent were lifted to
admit them, as if they were the royal personages, and though he felt the questioning and weight of the fifty faces
turned up at him, the smile on the young rulers face was so sincere, Joseph began to push his fear away. Only
the three men who had made the decision to begin the journey initially spoke to him, to keep from assaulting the carpenter
with too many voices; unconsciously slipping from the merchant Greek they shared in common to the Aramaic which was a third
language to the rest of them, and finding how much they had in common quickly lightened the mood of uncertainty and mistrust.
It took a great deal of coaxing to make Mary speak, even though she was one of the three chief guests at the lavish dinner.
And he was pleased at how well she was able to hold the more worldly men’s attention, when her own was centered entirely
on the Child in her lap.
“ The star which lead us here is no natural feature, therefore the GOD of gods who is
above all has given it as a sign of His Appointed One. “
“ Indeed, Great One. “ Melchior agreed,
showing his relief as much as the slight intoxication which simply softened his already melodious voice, “
Jupiter represents kingship, a new king was foretold many long months ago as the King of the stars came together with Saturnus,
who represents the old king, in the Astrological pre-imminence of Aries the Ram, which rules your Nation, Joseph.
“
“ We prefer to think that our GOD rules our Nation, adonai. “
Balthazar,
the youngest of the three Magicians blushed deeply at the unintended insult.
“ Indeed, my apologies, for the One who created all, even the heavens which we study and are
perhaps too fond of for common conversation, is indeed above all that He created. My apologies. “
Mary
giggled in nervousness, liking the white haired man despite her sternest internal decision not too, and he smiled, showing
worn teeth and a great affection for the gentler gender. She hid her face on her husband shoulder but it wasn’t enough
to still the wave of nervous exhalations and noises they all gracious endured because of her youth.
“ Three times a year there is such a majestic adjunction, Maius, Septembres, and Octobers,
once but every 860 years. Many have waited, but no one knows what form the Messiah will take, a priestly Messiah, a kingly
Messiah or a physician? With your permission, we wish not only to present you with our gifts for the King, as His regents,
but we hope to lay all three before Him, with your permission of course, to see which one he will choose? If this is not too
great a price to demand for the length of our journey? Unless it displeases you, Joseph? “
Melchior asked in a low, pleasant tone
fraught with hidden emotions.
“ You haven’t anger me, only perplexed me. May we speak of something
else for a moment, my head spins? “
The three men looked at each other in askance, clearly they had expected to do this thing from the onset of their journey.
But they demurred, willing to abide by the pale man’s ultimate decision. Finally he nodded yes.
Prince Amide ben Jessup,
the only Jewish man among them, supervised the placement
of the three chests where neither the sparkle of the gold coins nor the sweet incense of the myrrh would have an untoward
affection on drawing the baby’s attention. With
a nod from Gaspar, he stood behind the attractive arrange of wooden chests and began to recite in a sing-song voice: “
Mystical, empirical Gold for royalty, the one metal alone so true to itself it does not fade or tarnish. Costly and
rare as man able to be true to himself in the face of all temptations of the world, Frankincense, for divinity, the sweetness
that fills and permeates all that it encounters. And Myrrh, with its miraculous healing powers, the sign of the physician,
to keep Him even in death. We have willingly traveled vast, inhospitable deserts from our city Babylon
to the lush richness of your Judean hills which we can only attempt to emulate in pale fashion, that we might herald the King
whose birth was foretold when the moon herself eclipsed the Jupiter, the king of the gods, even as your beauty does, Madam.
Please accept these gifts in the name of your son… “ He waved
Mary forward to place the toddler on the carpet which had been checked for levelness from the first rugs laid in place over
the earth that no hidden stone turn him aside from one man’s gift to choose another and then he stepped away, so as
not to draw the Child’s attention. No breath seemed willing to expel itself into the waiting silence as the boy Jesus
crept on all fours toward the center chest, only to stop short and raise himself to his feet, prayed to keep his balance.
He looked over his shoulder at his mother and foster father, but each man was sure He was looking at them as he cooed and
giggled in a baby’s self taught language, made up of the sounds he heard every day.
With seeming thought he
squatted within reach of all three, sitting down heavily on his padded bottom, he leaned against the center chest while each
hand reached out to claim a coin or a nugget of the golden resin, placing it in his mouth with wet fingers. Mary leaped to
her feet, for fear he would swallow and choke on it, but Gaspar, Melchior and Balthazar leaned back in place, with a broad
smile for the other. He hadn’t chosen one over the other but had accepted all three.
With
the weighty matters of State out of the way, and the child and His mother allowed to retire for the necessities even a young
royal requires, Joseph found himself listening to the soft hum of the lullaby Mary used to rock the baby Jesus to sleep, What
did he have in common with these learned men other than their interest in the Child, and the discrete absence of the tall
young man every one spoke of so highly made him begin to wish he could just disappear from the mass consciousness as well.
But he couldn’t do that without leaving Mary and Jesus behind.
“ This new infusion of an old and honorable line is more
than welcome, and I think overdue, if I may speak freely between the four of us. I’ve been told there is a saying locally
that ‘It’s safer to be Herod’s pig, than his son, he’s less likely to kill his pig.’
No doubt he is attempting to disguise the fact that he isn’t a Jew? “
“
He isn’t a Jew? “
“
Ho, He is of the blood of Abraham, though the first born son, But not of the line chosen by the Jewish GOD.
He was appointed by Rome from his father’s tents in the desert for his native cunning, and abilities, as one
‘near enough’ to suit Roman tastes. “
“ Romans don’t have taste! “
“ Roman’s
have taste, but no moral sense to apply it! Everything has to be done as if the gods themselves were
participating! And Roma appointed this man of Idmunea to be the king of the Jews. “
“
How can Rome object when Herod himself is preparing to do obeisance to the new king?
“ Joseph, what do
you think? “ Balthazar questioned gently, seeing the slightly glazed look on the
mild mannered carpenter’s face. Undoubtedly he will wish to speak to you as the Child’s Regent about sharing GOVERNING
the country, since you and your lovely wife are of the royal bloodline that would legitimize his claim to power under the
Roman administration of the land? “
Joseph didn’t look up, but seeing that the wine in his finely beaten golden goblet was shimmering light on top of the wine, so he set it down with a deep sigh and tried
to remember the question just put to him; unaware that he had answered the question in full.
-
Amide found himself growing restless at the long speeches and talk of politics, excusing himself,
he stepped out into the night. The stars seemed near enough to warm his hands by and the light of the star which had lead
them East these long months seemed as much in place in the night sky as the moon it eclipsed. It took several sighs before
he could begin to taste the sweet herbs and wild grasses on the air. In the distance a stray breeze played with the bleats
of a lamb briefly separate from its dam and he felt suddenly and intensely alone. So much of his life had been planned, first
by his uncle in his dead mother and father’s place, and then by his tutors who saw his keen wit and eagerness to learn
as a tool that would carry them further up the social ladder than they could ever climb alone, and now this, the majority
of his life spent planning and executing this singular night ride into the featureless desert for a glowing orb that might
disappear as quickly as it appeared!
Tomorrow they would return to Jerusalem
to inform Herod the Builder where he might find the child to worship him, and then they would follow the trail home along
a route well established in antiquity even before the GOD of his people lead father Abraham from the place where he lived
a life that suddenly seemed too small to hold him. It would make them more vulnerable to armed bandits, or the bored young
men fired by the air of anticipation of messianic fever to overthrow the Romans and live as free men as only their great-grandfathers
had done when they returned captivity from Babylon, but doubtless Herod would be generous to his masters, knowing that exact
amount would be tallied and relayed to the gentle couple who were Regents for the new king. A part of him wished he could
stay and held to guard them against the ravening wolves with their lamb’s horns but beast’s natures hidden within
their gentle piety, but he was just one man. How could he doubt that the One who lead childless Abraham into the desert and
took him to look up at a night sky such as this, for that would be the number of his offspring, though his beloved wife Sari
was barren, Blessed be His Name, wouldn’t have thought to make a way for His King. The prophet Isaiah foretold many
things, not only the star that would held the arrival of wise men from the East which he had been blessed to ask to participate
in his own lifetime, after they already set the plan in motion in their ziggurats and cloistered rooms of parchment sky charts
and animal signs; things which been cursed by the One they hoped to worship, but that the Kingdom of God’s Anointed
One would be without end. That he had been allowed to witness its beginning in his own lifetime awed him so much he had to
look away from the night sky quickly, lest the Ancient of Days think him haughty. It was said that the boy he met on the first day was keeping his brother’s flocks nearby, that
Asa ben Jezreel might be near to the woman’s compound while his young wife gave birth for the first time. He thought
to offer to send an armed guard to accompany the happy couple if the child which opened her womb was a male, for they would
be required by Mosaic Law to present him at the temple and redeem him from the curse of death as Yahweh Elohim
gave command to Moses in the desert.
-
Hilkiah suspected the advent of childbirth
had surprised his newest sister-in-law as much as it had her and the other women. The arrival of the first was so unpredictable,
and he knew from her sharp eyed glances and thinly veiled words that she wished her handsome young husband
to make a good impression on their lofty visitors on the final night of their stay, but he could hardly blame for that her.
He was still stinging from the astringent old shadkhan’s caustic remarks that she could only find him the daughters
of peasants who were willing to be wed to a shepherd or a carpenter and he felt the cutting knife edge of truth in his own
lack of ambition.
The stars overhead seemed to glow with an extra intensity as the dogs alerted him to the approach of the jeweled and
perfumed stranger, Prince Amide.
“ I apologize. I have only a crust of bread and strong wine to offer you.
“
“ It’s the honorable company I seek, young man. “
“
I’ll soon be wed to Judith bat Moshe, I am hardly a boy, Honored sir. “
The well-dressed
man laughed, finding a place by the fire that wasn’t littered with sheep droppings. Though he poked at the small fire
and watched the embers rise against the chill darkness he didn’t seem aware of them, or the long legged man who reclined
on an elbow near him, wary with concern at having being sought out by a man well above his station.
“ King
Herod sent my Master here to find the King. One would think he was already in the palace. “
“ Not that palace. It’s tainted. With malice and murder. Or
madness and malice, I’m not sure which. “
“ The Child would not likely live to see a crown placed on his head, even with the death of
the old king. “ There was no questioning in the young ruler’s voice and
it echoed the haunting fear that was growing with each new day of their visit. If the King knew they were this near, what
would prevent him from doing harm to the Child, then holding a state funeral? The boy was so sweet, even at this age, that
his death seemed a terrible thing to suppose, but the youth couldn’t seem to escape the flutter of fear that was gathering
against his ribs as he looked up at the dark mound of the great mountain towering in the near horizon.
“
Has he made any attempt to contact the parents? “
“ Not
that I know of, Honored Sir. Why? “
“ He seemed filled with a strange piety when he asked my Master to send him word of
the Child’s whereabouts that he might come and worship him as well. Wouldn’t you think he would know where the
Heir lived who would follow him? “
“ Unless there had been a blindness put upon him for the good of the Child.
“
“ You speak in riddles. I could have stayed in the palace to hear that.
“
Though he sounded annoyed the rich young man remained in place, sighing deeply, and lifting his head to draw in the
smells of summer blossoms and the odors of the out of doors. Hilkiah could only smell the sheep, the two sick animals that
refused to be isolated from the flock, the soured remnants of milk and dirt on their fleece and the odd fragrance that arises
just before a storm.
“
He had to ask his advisers where the King of the Jews would be found. At first he seemed surprised that we didn’t
mean him, since he lives in the palace the Romans allow him. “
“ I
am not familiar with such exalted beings, Honored sir. “
Prince Amide laughed softly and risked
looking directly at the handsome youth reclined beside him at the fire.
“ I suppose not. There’s too much of the man about you to be a courtier. Why do
you? “
“
Why do I what? “ The sixteen-year-old youth asked in
confusion.
“
Why do you give up your own life to serve a king whose not yet weaned? I understand you have been with the family since
his birth? “
“
I arrived after my mother and Ruth had already delivered him and swaddled him, but the angels said he was the Prince
to bring Good Will to all men. Who wouldn’t want to be a part of that? You don’t live under the heel of a conquer,
so I don’t think you could understand, adonai. Though
I honor the fact that you try. “
“ You might be surprised. My Uncle, who raised me as his son, is a mathematician and
a physician, but he can only touch those things as may be formalized, even passed from one generation to another. The One
I worship is above that, He is the Creator of all things, though I don’t know His purpose in sending His son to live
in such common circumstances, except perhaps to bring down the pride of man, who would elevate him-self above the One who
created him? “
“ I would have to think on what you just said to be able to answer you, Honored sir.
“
Hearing the approach of the three armed men, whose presence made the sheep leap to their feet and the two dogs to stand,
growling in mistrust, the young ruler stood to his feet with obvious reluctance, unwilling to scatter the flock from the safety
of the low walled enclosure for his sake.
“ Do that, please. I look forward to hearing your answer some day.
“
He
assured the shocked Hebrew youth; then he disappeared into the darkness pressing down against the shadows cast by the near
trees and hills.
Hilkiah
thought never to see them again, but the words stuck in his mind and he pondered them many times thereafter.
All of Jerusalem was abuzz at
the astonishing affirmation by the Wise Men from the East that the King of Israel foretold by the ancient sages had indeed
been born in Bethlehem of Judea as predicted. Even after David was anointed king by the prophet Samuel, he didn’t raise his hand against
the Lord’s anointed, King Saul, and since Mashiach was expected to rule after the likeness of David and Solomon, the house of Annas was filled
with feverish excitement as the deposed old ruler and his sons eagerly joined forced to make ready for the transition in power
structures while the Pharisees, who held strongly opposing views on many issues, prepared themselves for the banquets and
honoriums expected from the coming King and His regents for their strict observation of the Law set down by the Almighty
One, Blessed be His Name. The house of Annas wasn’t even of the right blood line to be High priests and they
were sure this Roman intrusion on their spiritual affairs would be made right as quickly as possible. And they began to wait
with fervent expectation. -
*
-
Sunday, 15th of Elul First
watch of the day 3757. Bethlehem
-
A week later Hannah looked
up in surprise from the busy chores of the first work day after the Sabbath when the most things seemed to
pile up on her to be done, most especially after the elder sons and their wives left, deliberately shunning any offers of
help, as if she would have accepted them despite her growing weakness, when sixteen-year old year old Hilkiah walked into
the house, looking for her and then for the child. His
entry caused her to take notice of the wheat harvest on the hill behind them and she fought back a strange feeling of wanting to seize the days and the seasons and hold them in place,
they were moving too swiftly for her, like the two-year-old child now asleep on her pallet near the door! Nor was she offended
that the tall lanky youth smelling of sawdust and sweat looked first for the child, too reassure himself of her presence before
smiling a greeting to her, waiting for her inevitable, kind hearted warning to stomp the dust from his feet and wash his hands.
He was attempting to grow a beard, a pitiful thing, and she pretended that he had to groom it as well before he came in, as
if even dust from a boring saw would cling to such fine down? But it was a matter of pride to him since Masrekah the matchmaker
had sent word she was approaching with the names of three good women, whom she was sure he could love.
The bent old woman had a knack for joining kindred souls where others looked on the outside. She was grateful to the
most high that she continued to find mates for the offspring of her favorites, though her niece took on more and more of the
active roles. She and Jezreel had spoken
eagerly of having more children together so late in his life, he had died before this child was even weaned, and so the tiny,
boyish looking child was more important in her life than almost anyone or anything else, as deeply as she loved her husband’s
youngest son. Her heart skipped a beat at the smile of joy on Hilkiah’s face as he saw the little one lying on her side,
her short dark hair clung to the edges of her face in damp curls. All seven of Jezreel’s sons treated her with respect
but only Hilkiah loved her as the mother he never knew, and more, he thought the heavens rose and set in Salome`, his father’s
only girl child.
“ What are you doing here, Boy? Won’t your master be annoyed at your absence?
“ She tried to make her voice sound as tart as her question, calling him ‘boy’ to take away
from the growth of hair on his cheeks and the growth of confidence in his eyes as Joseph the carpenter trusted him with more
and more of the difficult projects they worked on together. But he only smiled, watching the sleeping child the whole time
he saluted her with the customary greeting and a chaste kiss on her cheek. While others worked on the abundant projects of
the near by city, the farm work scorned by the others fell to Joseph ben Jacob’s shop and he’d recently begun
to talk about taking an apprentice, whom Hilkiah was expected to teach in the elementary tasks of carpentry work. Sharpening
and rebuilding farm implements and work tools, but it was a giant leap forward from his own blundering efforts at learning,
mere months ago. Joseph seemed proud of him, and he trusted him. That meant a great deal to the rapidly maturing young man.
In her heart of hearts
Hannah envied the nameless young girl who would soon wed the handsome youth, and she scolded him all the greater for her tender
regard of him. She couldn’t have loved him more if he had been torn from her own flesh. But knowing how jealous Abiezer,
Anani, and Maaseiah were toward their youngest rival, she had learned to pretend to care for him the least of all of her late
husband’s sons.
“
I’m not suppose to tell anyone yet, but my master was wakened by a terrible dream last night and he’s taken
his family away, to hide. To prevent their deaths. “
“ But Mary is great with child! Is this the only time he’ll travel?
“
Hannah exclaimed
in shock, forgetting to distance herself from the troubled youth who sat down at her side, watching the slight movement in
the low sided crib as Salome` slept on undisturbed. “ This is the second time he has asked such unfair things
of her love for him. Men! If they had to have the children, this world would soon be very empty! “
She didn’t have to pretend the
anger in her final exclamation and the young man looked up at her in shock. It was the first time he could ever remember hearing
her speak in such a tone. Except to another woman.
“
But I’m a man, Ima! “ He exclaimed in protest.
Her face softened as she smiled
at him and reached toward the gentle down on his cheek.
“
As long as you turn out to be a man like your father, I’ll consider rethinking how I feel towards men.
“
The sound of their
voices raised to a normal conversation wakened the sleepy child and while his adopted mother bathed and fed the large boned
girl, Hilkiah made himself at home in the modest house. He chanced to look over and see the strange depression and pitted
surface on his mother’s left breast and he looked away quickly, his cheeks aflame with the thought of the accidental intimacy, but the stark reminder of the sickness that was
slowly stealing away her strength challenged his belief in the Holy One once more.
‘And peace on earth towards
men of whom He is well pleased.‘ The angelic song of two years ago sung through his memory as clearly as they had in that night sky over the city
of Bethlehem, reminding him of the changes in him since his impulsive gift of his life and his talents to the true
king of Israel. Not the Idmunean imposter forced on them by Rome’s military might. Suddenly
there was a new reason behind his master’s denial of his impassioned plea. He hadn’t pleased the tall, dark carpenter
as much as he had pretend, being of a kind heart! Sure that was it, and not the reasoned plea to have his mother and sister
live in the house to keep it from being taken by another as ‘abandoned’, the way he’d made him believe!
But
as had become his custom since he took over his father’s obligations to the widow and the small child, he hid his true
thoughts, thinking that she had enough to bear without adding his problems to it. When the toddler wiggled out of her mother’s
embrace to eat the freshly buttered slice of bread and tempt the squirming, round bellied puppy with the cubes of melon neither
of them wanted, Hilkiah was finally able to capture his adopted mother’s attention to some degree, but she quickly squashed
any idea of her moving into the fine house with him and whomever Masrekah brought to be his wife. She couldn’t bear the thought of leaving the home she’d shared with Jezreel!
Since he and Asa were the closest in age, she suggested the two brothers and Asa’s new wife might be more comfortable
sharing the empty house.
“
I’d only have to move when Joseph and Mary return, heart of my hearts. “ She
coaxed until he relented in his disappointment.
“
I want so much to provide the nicer things of life that you deserve, Ima! “
She laughed as the chubby youngster
fell to her fanny with a startled plop, her eyes becoming a wide “oh” of shock and surprise as the dark coated
puppy seized the uneaten portion of the sliced bread and ran away with it clinched between his teeth, growling possessively.
“ Leave them son. “ She coaxed, forcing herself to her
feet with an effort. “ I don’t want to reward the puppy for stealing, but now that’s
eaten on it, we’d only have to throw it away and that’s a sinful waste of good food. I’ll just cut the little
another slice. Smaller this time. I don’t want The Holy One who keeps watch over Israel, Blessed be
His name, to think that we don’t appreciate the abundance of good things He’s provided to us.
“ She stopped with a sharp sigh, pressing her hand against the pain that seared her chest and lungs. Keeping
her back to the perceptive young man who would have seen through her subterfuge quicker than a ewe could bleat to call her
lamb to her side!
“ I just wish her hair would grow a little faster! She looks like a boy!
“ Hannah
complained, in a failed effort to hide her love for her growing child. It was a remark that would haunt the youth for the
rest of his life, though he laughed about it at the time.
“ Did your master say how long he would be gone? “
She asked casually, as soon as the pain passed and allowed her to speak in a normal voice again. Her breast started
to ooze again, a strong smelling vile liquid that she discretely washed away, pretending to clean her breasts of the unused
milk spilled by the cheerful toddler.
Hilkiah
took a moment to answer, pausing in a shy man’s discomfort at such intimate gestures of a woman, even his own mother,
with her back turned toward him, he wrongly assumed
was merely for modesty’s sake. His own as well as hers. Joseph had strictly charged him not to tell anyone they were leaving to join the large Jewish population in Alexandria,
where Hannah herself had a distant cousin, he hadn’t said anything about when he thought he might return.
“ I
don’t think he had any plans to return, Ima. “
Hiding the soiled square of cloth until she could burn it, Hannah turned and looked at the young man’s face in genuine sorrow.
“ You should have gone with him! You gave your pledge! “
-
-
End Chapter 2
Sivan, May/June
[9th month of Civil Year][3rd month of Religious calendar] Barley harvest, winter wheat; First
Fruits - Deut 16:9-12 
