Capernaum
-
Out on the broad expanse of water
a dozen boats under sail moved soundlessly on their way to one of the many cities located on either shore. Their sails reflecting
the light of the cloudless sky as if denying the soon approach of dusk such as was weighing on her heart at this moment. From
this height the lake appeared to go on forever, with only the distant mounds of far mountains to define the lands that belonged
to strangers, But for her, there was a limitation of hours in the next two days that she couldn’t ignore, And she was
angry at Simon for making such a scene at shul this morning that it would probably be the dominant memory
any of Simon the fisherman’s children had of her!
She was so intent on watching the speckled pup to make sure there wouldn’t be any unpleasant ‘accidents’
on the floor of her brother’s new house that she mistook the quiet scrape of her mother’s footsteps and had to
apologize for the scowl that left such a look of shock on her mother’s face until she explained. Though
Mary was tall enough to see out of the lower edge of the plastered window, she seemed to be looking more in her direction
Ahava noticed with the unease that arose from any adult’s prolonged attention in her direction.
She
wondered at her mother’s slight curved smile until she spoke.
“ You look so much like your father, Child. “
Ahava leaned forward on her arms and pushed
a little nearer the air on the other side of the window, seeking to escape her mother without being rude. There were so many
mixed emotions already snarling and twisting inside her she wasn’t sure she could bear another person’s pain,
even one she loved so inexpressibly as her mother or father. She sensed that her mother wanted to talk about something else but she didn’t feel the
closeness that would have allowed her to ask or to listen to her mother’s reply.
“
I’d better take the puppy outside. “
“ What did you name him? “ Mary asked courteously, but again she felt shut out by her daughter’s
thin lipped silence as the taller girl pushed herself away from the inner wall.
“
Siho ...Nimrod... I haven’t really decided yet. “ Mary nodded and kept her arms close to her body as the girl pushed past her
to follow the puppy who was already cascading down the flat stones like living water, She ached to touch the child and hold
her near, to give her the hugs and attention that Deborah denied to both of them, but she feared the proud child would misunderstand
and think she was trying to hold her back as a child. It was the ache of a mother’s heart the tall girl wouldn’t
understand for many years yet. But a large part of herself fled down the stairs after the puppy incase it didn’t make
it all the way out the door.
She started to follow, but knowing the downstairs portion of the house was clean and empty, she stood on tiptoes and
looked out at the sheen of the sunlight over the still azure waters. It seemed as though GOD and Joseph could hear her more
clearly when she had an unobstructed view of the heavenlies. And she needed someone who could hear the tears in her heart
that she didn’t dare expose to her growing children. With Jesus stepping out of their lives she was losing the last
generation of her own blood with whom she could be candid, and it set up an ache she could neither explain nor deny. She heard the child’s happy laughter as her little friend
saw her and the puppy chasing grasshoppers in the green weeds thrust between the rubble of the long dead past and she pulled
back from the window lest they think she was spying on their innocent dreams together.
Ahava
didn’t mean to be disloyal, walking out on her mother, but a small part of fear and anger hid just below the surface
as she and Hulah played in the strengthening warmth. Knowing his soon she was leaving, she found a part of herself examining
every moment since they arrived. The trip through the center of town with its pagan shops, massive Roman buildings and frighteningly
and diverse population was intimidating beyond anything she could have expected, even after seeing how large the non-Jewish
population was in Nazareth. She grew up in an insulated world of other pious Jews and their families, seeing the outside world
now in it’s beauty, it’s skill and colors, and its unhambered arrogance toward the One who had hovered over their
lives for so long shaking her fundamental beliefs beyond what had been her ability to hold unto in Joseph’s house. No
longer was right and wrong so clear to her dazzled eyes! Was it happening to her brothers too? Had it already happened to
Jesus? Was that why he brought them here until their shared pilgrimage to Jerusalem? A multitude of thoughts and questions
stampeded through her mind. Playing beside Hulah,
she found herself energized, filled with thoughts she could barely comprehend much less answer, but with the promise that
this was maturity, and with time and interest all these puzzling things would be explained to her mind and she would no longer
be a child James and Joses could order around!
-
*
-
XIII
G K Mar - E Eighth
hour of the day
778 AUC
Capernaum
-
Already on edge from his rare emotional encounter with his sister’s defiance, the extravagance
of the former pagan owner of the villa and the sinisterly occult overtone of the spiritualist Cabalist decorations
and emblems that his brother-in-law Rueben had been free to employ because of his sister’s younger blindness was like
a mouth filled with sensual honeycomb; not bad in and of itself but too much to bear with his spirit already in such turmoil.
So Machba`nel returned to the crowded and noisy courtyard just long enough to claim the bored stallion and rode him along
the edge of the great lake until he reached the grassy mound outside of the cultivated fields. It was his initially his intention
to train with the stallion on his gaits as an excuse to escape the cloy pretense of affability, using the steepness of the
natural amphitheater as a training aid, but in the end the uselessness of his pursue struck him and he rode to the top of
the grassy hill and unsaddled and unbridled the obedient horse to allow Titan his full Sabbath rest.
Even the sounds of the birds sleeping on their nests or roosting
near their family in shelter against the strengthening breeze and the sound of the fisherman’s voices as they gathered
by torchlight at the near shore seemed to whisper a peace he’d never experienced but long craved. Taking
Titan from the sleeping stable hands, he walked rather than rode the stallion toward the low, grassy hill at the end of the
lane. He needed an excuse to be sitting alone, without purpose, for his life had been measured and allotted by specific acts for so long, he couldn’t quite
allow aimlessness to guide his feet even though he walked the lakeside path with no greater purpose than the exploration of
the universe pressed hard against him with the stars twinkling between the clouds over the vast lake, and the universe locked
within him as Job and his father reached an age of ending that wasn’t that far from him.
What had he accomplished in this life? When his mother was widowed, he’d gone at great personal risk and harm to secure her, and his aged nurse and mentor Tyra, from the
greed of Phoebe’s father who craved the land next to his smaller vineyard but already had one wife he despised. Would
that one great deed weight enough before the throne of the Ancient of Days to mitigate the heathen he had
killed for Rome’s sake? Would spending his last days in service to His Son be sufficient to chill the burn of the flames
he fully expected? He hadn’t run from them, but never has they seemed so near! While the stallion cropped at the sun dried grass hungrily, Machba`nel ignored the
winter wind rising off the enormous lake curving around the stones and the mounds of sleeping weeds where he sat at the top
of the hill, his arms locked around his knees as he held them tightly against his chest, making himself as small as possible,
he could hear the voices of the two merchants as they walked along the rocky shore where the water reached up to the height
of the ground, inviting union with its chill but graceful depths.The scared warrior was pleased when they passed, for the jar of their conversation was like an icy hand clutched
against his chest. Before he realized how serous the disease with his feet had become he lacked the slightest interest in
ancient values and concepts, and to hear their delight in having tricked a third member of their apparent coupling sent chills down his spine. If GOD existed, and who else would have gone to the trouble
of correcting and reshaping the extremities of a man whose life was dedicated blindly to serve the man who called himself
Caesar and Lord of all the Universe, then how must He feel to hear His own speak in such malicious delight? And how long was
His memory for things he himself had said and done in careful repudiation of Shelomith and Ezra? Which brought his question
back to the obvious fact that both of Shelomith’s children had been blessed, and since that made no apparent sense,
he was even more frustrated and lonely than when he began his mental acrobatics! Bird cries echoed from the
fields, and he was struck with wonder at the rhythmus and patterns that remained the same no matter how empires grew or cities
of men crumbled! Where in all of this did he fit?
“
Who will answer me, Adonai? “ He cried aloud.
“ Will I do, Isaac? “
Asked a mild and pleasant male voice from behind him.
Machba`nel leaped
to his feet with such violence that he had to side step to keep from hurtling down the mountain in shock. Titan neighed in
anger at the fear on the wind and he galloped proudly toward them as Machba`nel fought to get back up the slick dried grass
to prevent him from harming the gentle youth.
Though he pranced and reared and shook his mane until the hairs flowed like a woman’s combed tresses over the
bulging muscles, Titan seemed less excited each time, and
finally came to the man’s outstretched hand, nuzzling Jesus on the shoulder. The aged warrior tried to hide his shock
but each time he looked at the meek actions of the war stallion, he shook violently with a fresh nervous chill.
“ I brought food. Shall we sit and talk for a while, Isaac?
“
“
I feel odd speaking to a Messenger from the Almighty! “
He admitted, his voice quaking as he seated himself beside the tall, gentle man from Nazareth.
“ You can believe in the messenger but not the One who guides Him? “ It wasn’t mockery, but there was an unmistakable touch of
humor and rebuke mixed in the young carpenter’s
voice as he looked directly into the eyes of the battled scarred man.
Machba`nel fled the mountain on the flimsiest of excuses, to see to the care of his blind, pregnant sister but he felt
as if he couldn’t run fast enough to avoid the question, or the Questioner. Then to reduce the amount of the lie, he
took himself and the quiet man from Nazareth to the two-story house and its sea view rather than the simpler house of his
mother, across the lane.
“ Please send my sister home to us. I’m sure Mother is worried about her by now. “
“ I will. “ Machba`nel promise, startling at the sound
of his own voice. He’d been so engrossed in their conversation that he wasn’t even aware of how far they had walked;
he was at the courtyard door to his brother-in-law’s massive house already! A servant raced forward to seize the reins
of the golden stallion, but seeing the horse’s ears
flatten to the top of his poll, the weary warrior simply lead them both into the stall area and groomed and fed the fatigued
stallion himself, tossing the startled handler a copper coin that flicked with little more hue than one of the many nighttime
insects gathered near the muted reflection of the lanterns and lamps. Fingers darted out greedily and the coin disappeared,
and with it, the man’s interest. He found his
brother-in-law’s servants viewed him as yet another weight on their shoulders, but he loathe to endure them and their
womanish ways so little was lost between them. He entered his sister’s walled quarters in time to hear her rebuke a
servant for not stopping the gracious but strong willed woman who had served as their nurse during their tender years, and
he fought back his growing resentment at the wiles and demands of woman.
Her
mother had taught Rachel to go out with on Wednesdays when they made their rounds of the rural poor, and they left for one
last time this morning, to say goodbye and to make final preparations so Ahava was at the house alone when the beautiful Italian
Jewish in Greek garb appeared in the doorway. Ahava was at the house alone when the beautiful Italian Jewish woman in Greek
garb that curved around her extended belly like a drape of modesty she otherwise lacked, appeared in the doorway of her brother’s
house. Ahava startled violently when the young woman spoke directly to her, with apparent kindness and interest, and she tried
to hide her red and roughed hands in the simple weave of her calf-length garb.
“
I understand your family is leaving soon for Jerusalem? “ The tone was gracious and cultured but it hid a threat that set her teeth on edge
on hearing it. Ahava laid the carding wool paddles in her lap, seeking time to frame a polite answer without restoring to
a lie. She couldn’t use the puppy as an excuse, Simon had taken him against her will this morning to do whatever it
is that young men his age found to do at the water’s edge.
“
Yes. “ She admitted helplessly, feeling even more trapped as
the beautiful young woman smiled.
“
I require your attendance at my home. Come with me, Girl! “
Meekly Ahava obeyed,
but she wanted to cry and she didn’t know why.From the first moment she stepped though the high, wooden gate of the
outer courtyard, she stepped into a dazzling world of color and sight that had only existed in her imagination until this
moment! Even Job ben Shelmiah’s house couldn’t compare with the size and the power of the Roman Greco splendor
that surrounded them. Form a large bubbling fountain to a magnificent animal with a stunning tail of rainbow hues on the end
of startling blue feathers as long as she was tall! On its narrow, elegant head was a tiny black feather shaped like a yud
in front of one of the ancient letters! It spread its broad tail fathers like a quivering fan, catching the light in the iridescent
“eyes” on the end of each ornate, shimmering feather, strutting in front of her demanding homage and not mere
attention. She looked away from it with difficulty, recognizing it as one of the birds from Scripture.
It was certainly too proud to be kosher!
The older girl walked toward the showering fountain
as if were the most natural thing in the world for displays to be so readily available. That an artesian well encased with
fish and men-fish and smiling women with tails for a lower body were the most natural sight in the world. But to the stunned
ten-year old her greatest fantasy had just materialized. And the cool splash of the water that filled the air, fell to cunningly
placed stones with the sound of a caress as Ahava laid aside all her early lessons and gave herself over freely to the blasphemous
and elegant beauty surrounding her.
This
was why her mother begged her to avoid the nominally observant couple, even though they were Jewish and could trace their
lineage back to Abraham and Sarah through Isaac, the chosen son! But she didn’t
care! Here was the seductive beauty and serene peace she’d been seeking for in the heavenlies! Available
at her trembling fingertips.
“ It
was originally heathen, concerned only with war and beauty. “ Claudia said carelessly and hastened through a small ornamental bronze
gate, cast into the shapes of the Cabbalistic Jewish horoscope. Ahava followed her heavily pregnant hostess joyfully into
the center of three separate apartments. They weren’t as large as Bithynia bat Adbeel’s tent
but as pushily adored and the weight of the femininity soaked into the happy girl. A serving woman of indeterminable age stepped into the room from a rear door as if
she had been waiting there all day.
Ahava followed joyfully, tossing
all caution to the wind until she reached the second story balcony and realized anyone looking from the road could see her
now that she was standing above the height of the great wall surrounding the massive house and courtyards. She was quick to
follow the out-of-breath woman inside the center of three separate apartments, throwing caution to the wind. They
weren’t as large as Bithynia bat Adbeel’s tent but as plushly adored and the weight of the soft femininity soaked
into the happy girl.
“
Send Tyra to me, and bring me chilled wine, I thirst. “ She snapped carelessly, tossing her head scarf to the ground with a nervous giggle, making
the shy country girl feel as if she were a part of this extravagant and elegant world. The woman frowned
in disapproval as she bent to pick up the expensive cloth, staring at her mistress; belly hard enough to question her right
to drink intoxicating liquors so near to the birth of the long-awaited heir, then puckered her mouth and walked away quickly,
still steeped in disapproval.
“ I’ll see if she’s available to serve you, Mistress. “
Dismissing her as inconsequential as her
mistress treated her.
When Ahava
threw herself to the nearest couch, coughing slightly at the intensity of its perfumed base, she started to mention the serving
woman’s disapproval, for she was still intimidated by it, but her hostess shushed her, as if it were of no consequence
and threw an expensive linen in the air near enough for her to catch.
“ This is too small for me, but try it on. It suits you. “
Although the edge was trimmed in
gold thread, they were geometric patterns and she felt quite free about trying it on. Turning her back discretely, she pulled
her coarse work tunic over her head. and slipped on the feather weight cloth. It stopped just below her knees, but still shorter
than she was used to wearing it. Her cheeks burned in crimson as Claudia bat Ezra approved of her so intimatelyAhava had to catch her breath at the soft words and touches of the older girl. She
longed to be told she was pretty by someone who seemed to mean it, but she didn’t know how to accept the sincere soundings
words without being flustered, and this seemed to increase her hostess’ pleasure immeasurably. But even in the short
time she’d known of Claudia and her rich, eccentric husband she didn’t expect any one mood to last any length
of time.
Claudia abruptly
became solicitous of her young guest and Ahava soaked up the rare interest for her needs and concerns.
“ What do
you think of the old place? It’s Moorish from the last conquest of any importance, “
She added airily. “ My husband had it redone to cover over the Egyptian gods that were added
later. It cost us a fortune to restore the old tiles and colors.” Just as quickly she turned somber, looking inward. “ I never expected to see the results, I could hear
the excitement in Rueben’s voice as he described them to me and that was enough. “
Tears gathered at the lower
rims of her eyelashes, the way Ahava was familiar with Deborah when she was with child. Then she laughed out loud and sat up on the couch with a wave of her hand, as if
Ahava had that kind of money to throw away and the illusion pleased the young girl. She found herself willing to do or say
anything that would maintain this sense of connection with the mercurial but beautiful woman.
“
I don’t know what to say! “:
Her
frank admiration seemed to please the other.
A musky
odor of woman and sandalwood preceded the quiet entrance of a regal black woman with a mane of silvered hair. Ahava’s
laughter ceased within her mouth but the woman looked at her and smiled in genuine interest, rewarded by the tall girl’s
visible relief. Only Claudia had the temerity to stare at her full faced as she approached with the mien and dignity of an
elderly empress.
“
Tyra, what delayed you? “ The twenty-one year old girl demanded petulantly,
curling the image of civility around the corners.
The heavy-set
woman tore her gaze away from the beautiful girl with difficulty. She hadn’t expected to see her in such fine clothes
when she’d been told of the child’s humility and joyful nature.
“ I have other concerns in running your house, Claudia. Your mother is a stern taskmaster.
“
The young woman’s face twisted in resentment and fear at the image of the formidable Shelomith bat Elnaam’s
specter being conjured up by the older woman’s quiet words. Exposing her patience and love for the willful girl she raised from birth, the dark skinned woman changed the subject gracefully.
“
I was looking over your accounts and came as quickly as prudence would allow. That evil man has been charging a great
deal in your husband’s name, as I’m sure you are aware. “ There was neither fear nor condescension in the standing woman’s voice until the younger
woman threw herself on the couch from which she had hastily arisen. “ If you fall, you do not injure only yourself. Think of someone
other than yourself. “
“ As you just did, when you told me my husband’s secret affairs in front of a
guest! “
“
I had no idea they were secret. “ She said, momentarily flustered.
Claudia seemed satisfied to have her dignity
returned by the older woman’s distress. She turned her back on the pouting woman and clasped her hands in front of her, in an ageless pose of serenity that
the girl instantly envied.
“
You must be the prophet Jesus’ daughter I’ve heard so much about? “
“ His sister,
Good Lady. “ Ahava responded in the merchant’s Greek Joseph and the
merchants in Nazareth had taught her under Deborah’s care. The Ethiopian woman’s face
betrayed shock, as did the restless woman as she tried to make herself comfortable on the Roman style couch.
“
How many languages do you speak, Child? “ Lady Tyra probed.
“
I wouldn’t say that I speak more than one, Good lady. “ She
answered honestly, slipping back into the tongue she spoke at home. She was too nervous to remember all of her verbs and tenses
under pressure. “ But I am able to understand and make myself understood
in the marketplace, and we speak Aramaic at home and Hebrew in synagogue. My father was teaching me to speak Greek and some
Latin before he died but I can’t say that I know more than just enough to get by. “
The more she talked, the less able to communicate
she felt on the inside, until she stopped in helpless
silence.
The dark skinned woman’s smile was genuine.
“
I am of Beta Israel, of the House of Solomon and David in Sheba. My name is Tyra bat Eleazar ben Aaron, a Kohenite. And I am well pleased to meet you, princess.
“
Claudia’s
eyes narrowed spitefully at the older woman’s gracious tone.
“
We were just admiring the beauty of the place when you came in. “
Ahava winced. An observant woman would
know that much of what was around them was forbidden under strict Jewish Law! She felt ashamed at wishing she could prevent
the angry young woman from making such a point of it.
The Ethiopian woman turned a shoulder to include her ward into her conversation, She understood the spoiled girl’s
whims and mechanisms too well to allow her to spoil the afternoon for the younger rival she herself brought to the house.
“ The
LORD GOD of Hosts, Blessed be His name, created all things. The beauty we see around us around us mustn’t steal the
beauty of the invisible. I think with this young child, the search she has made already will sustain her. Even as the
prophet Isaiah, himself a young man, recorded the words of the Most High for us. ‘
Fear not, for I am with you. Be not dismayed for I am your ELOHIM, I will strengthen you. Indeed, I will uphold you with the right hand of My righteousness. ‘ “
“ If you two have so much
to talk about you don’t need me here! “ Her hostess snapped, without
making any attempt to hide her bitter jealousy.
“ You sent for me, must I remind you, Claudia dear? “
The young woman with
waist-length hair hesitated and fluttered like a butterfly keeping its place on a flower in a gentle breeze. Her actions mirroring the doubt and uncertainty in her heart as
she tortured herself with fears of loss and indignity. When the elderly women walked to her and held her head against her
bosom like a mother, the younger woman collapsed in a flood of tears, needing the comfort to ease her own pain.
Ahava
watched, making herself as small as possible. After a few minutes, Claudia seemed to regain her strength and her arrogance
and Lady Tyra left them alone for a few minutes, to attend a pressing matter with the servants downstairs. It was difficult to keep up with the moods and whims of the lonely young
woman but she was so honored in Claudia’s attention that she tried very hard to mold herself to the older girl’s
current whim. She told a charming
story of growing up on the edge of the Great Sea in the middle of a giant vineyard that covered several hills, of being raised
and protected by her youngest brother Machba`nel, a tenderhearted youth often set aside by their three older brothers,
the sons of their mother’s first husband.
Then without
warning as she turned cold, as if a breeze had just flown over the high wall of the patio and turned a dried leaf over to
reveal its other side. It had been present all along, but hidden from view.
“
It wasn’t really a miracle you know! “
“ That your mother married the gardener to keep from losing her estates?
“ Ahava questioned
in surprise, unprepared for the change in attitude or the abrupt alteration in her voice from honey and laughing to icy contempt.
“
That your brother healed me! Or that he was capable of giving me sight. “
Even as she spoke another part of her tried to reject the shocking lack of control such unusual amounts of colors and
shaped forced on her mind. Before she had known and accepted the limits of her world, which weren’t limits but protective
walls of a comfortable kingdom where she ruled solely and now she was overwhelmed by the vastness of the creation beyond herself.
How could GOD find her or care for her in the midst of such profusion? A weight pressed against her heart, as if a man’s hand were squeezing
and not allowing it to expand! She’d taken the medicine Evi had given her but she only felt worse each time she took
it. She’d snuck away from Lady Tyra’s maternal care and concern simply for a little freedom. But then she’d
called her here, to make sure she was still near whatever flights of freedom this new burden of sight and seeing offered her.
Who was she now? What was she? What would this stern and unyielding Being demand from her
human fragility in exchange for His man giving her sight—when she never asked for it in the first place?
Everyone around her acted so excited, as
if she’d been given some great gift, but to her it was only a burden! But not one that she wanted to give up. And despite
Lady Tyra’s hurtful anger at her for expressing her willingness to lie to the heavyset Jebusitethe next time he inquired as to her taking his foul-tasting medicine, the lovely Jewess
suspected it was going her more harm than good. She’d been struggling with the terrible knowledge that he was her husband’s
lover as much or more than Rueben allowed her to be. Theirs was a union of the mind as well as the flesh but all her allowed
her was the physical. Did she still want more?
Was her husband’s long time lover killing her rather than healing her? For reasons of his own? What other resource
was available to her if she refused him to his face?
To die?
She rebelled at that thought, but what else was there? To bow to a stern GOD she couldn’t see or understand?
Her heart rebelled at that prospect nearly as severely. And no lightening came to strike her dead. No fire from the
sky as consumed the sacrifice as Elijah before the false prophets of Baal. Did HE no longer exist, or did He simply no longer have an interest in her
as a mere woman? The sadness
seeped into her lungs with her next breath. She was shocked by the warmth of the hand laid tenderly on her shoulder by the
prophet’s daughter. It called to something hidden in her, the child who heard her mother’s cold voice and longed
for the joy she heard in other mother’s voices even among the lowest servants in her father’s vineyard!“ Evi is right, I wasn’t really…truly…blind
before your father touched my eyes! I willed myself not to see, and I didn’t see. Now that I’m willing to let
myself to see, and I see! It wasn’t a miracle after all! Miracles are superstitious nonsense!
“Claudia raised her chin upwards and pulled
back from the girl’s frank stare, continuing the same thought that had been the only comfort to her sense of independence
and self-control over her life.
Ahava looked
at her hands, tired of trying to keep up with the mercurial twists of the wealthy girl’s twisted logic. Embarrassed
that she’d clearly made the women, she stepped back.
“ I’d like to go home now. “
A spate of sea bird’s
calls to one another through the open door to the garden briefly caught hold of their attention. It was all so new and different
to Ahava, that each image became a gift she wanted to wrap carefully in remembered detail and store away in her heart for
when she was old and desperate for something other than her limited life and cares at the edge of the grave. But even as she
did she knew in her heart that the older girl was lying to herself, in protection.
“
Were you raised in a household where all the rules had to be followed? “ She probed in curiosity, turning her back to the exciting and exotic creature lest
she swept away in her envy of the woman’s beauty and obvious power.
“ Why would that matter to you? “ Claudia demanded, seizing her arm and spinning her around.
At the calm she saw on the young girl’s face she stepped back.
“ You acknowledge my brother gave you sight. he won’t ask anything of you in return.
It’s simply to free you to be healed. You’ve shut out GOD. “
Claudia slapped away the girl’s offer
of friendship, almost making her loose her balance.
“ He won’t ask for any reward. He leaves it to you to claim
by playing on my sympathies! Rueben is right! “
At the girl’s look of puzzlement, Claudia was briefly disconcerted. “ I have access to one of the greatest medical minds
of this or any age! You don’t even know who Evi the physician is! “ She
challenged, smiling in triumph.
“
No, I don’t. We’ve never been sick enough to need a physician. My mother has a gift for healing with herbs
and prayer. May I leave now? “
“
No! Not until I tell you, you can. “
Ahava sighed, tired, and rubbed her fingers over her forehead, fighting a severe head-ache. She had no desire left
to spar verbally with the articulate but unhappy woman.
“
Let the child go, Claudia. Let the trapped sparrow flee. “ A male voice said coldly, shocking his sister upright on
the couch.
Ahava
turned in terror, seeing her worst nightmare standing in the deepest shadows of the room, under a high, plastered arch. A
Roman soldier in battle uniform, handing his soiled cloak to a servant waiting at his side. It took a moment to recognize
the tall man with close-cropped black hair. When she had seen him last in Cana he had been less formally attired. But she
recognized the white scars and pitted holes where spears and arrows of older battles. If he remembered her Machba`nel ben Abishalom gave no sign of it. His penetrating green-brown eyes
were flecked with gold and deepened with mistrust as he drew near enough to breath out the remnants of his lunch across her
face.
“
You! Wretch! “ Claudia demanded, turning toward the
dark, travel-stained character.
“ Go home little girl! “ He commanded, the dried remnants of wine barely masking his contempt. She
fled past him, ducking under his arm as if she expected him to try and stop her after ordering her out of the villa. “ You willed yourself
not to see? “ He mocked coldly as Ahava’s feet found the doorway out
to the balcony and the stairs down to the rear garden.
“ That’s why you can into things and came to me crying because you couldn’t
see? What foul games are you and that sodomite husband of yours playing now? “
An older serving man waited by a door carved
into the high garden wall near the corner of the tall building. motioning her to leave by its narrow opening. Without a backwards
look she mumbled her thanks and ran down the narrow path at the edge of the building. When she stopped to catch her breath and looked back, the gate was sealed and
she couldn’t make herself believe that she had really been inside it at all.
Machba`nel
left his sister in the suddenly close room and stepped out to the iron railing defining the edge of the roof. His fingers
gripped off some of the rust caused by the water and the recent winter storms but the feeling of chill metal under his fingers
didn’t help. He would never allow the expense of the upkeep to allow the beautiful house to become a crumbling ruin.
Rueben ben Heznon cared only for surface appearances, one of the reasons he married a blind woman who would simply be grateful
for his protection but be unable to make demands on the secret life he lived with Evi the Jebusite physician. He knew he was
being manipulated by his sister’s tears but the habits of protection and justification ran too deeply in him to sever
by any sword slice of reality. He
watched the young girl walk quickly to the row of four houses built into the foundation of the villa. He couldn’t argue
with the shocking truth that his sister could see now, where once she had sightless eyes. But why would a prophet
of GOD chose such a one as this for His glory? It simply didn’t make sense, as much as he loved her.
Ezra, he could no longer think of
him by the loving term ‘Abba’ since the Roman Centurion, a converted Jew, Abishalom ben Judah had taken that place
so many years ago, had been determined to make ‘ the only son of my flesh’ into a scribe. Beating him mercilessly
for forgetting or mispronouncing the ancient words and tests of Messiah. Machba`nel knew the words and the
hopes of the ancient ones, but it had nothing to do with the life he now led, no matter how careful their mother was to observe
the Laws and ordinances of Moses! The
life he lived as a soldier for the last two decades since Abishalom saved him from death at the flogging post had been brutal,
boring and often demeaning, but it was based on a rigid caste system with clearly defined roles and necessitates. Oddly, he
found himself longing to take back his former role as soon as he could prove his feet were truly healed, although he thought
the three-month recovery time too long when his father first demanded it. Now the King wanted to see him in Tiberius. If a
solders rotting feet could be cured overnight, it would make an army invincible! Unfortunately he
couldn’t say how his feet were healed, and he dared not say who, so he considered it a miracle in-and-of itself, much
as Claudia considered her own healing—without regard for the One who made it a reality in their flesh.
“
Why? “ He whispered savagely. “ Why us?
And now my sister. What are you trying to show us? What are you asking of us? “
But the cloud filled sky was as cold and empty
as the night stars when he begged a loving GOD to
shield him and his baby sister from their father’s drunken abuse and no answer ever came!
Unguessed by the soldier at the balcony,
the oversized man in the doorway behind him drew back quickly as a puppy’s excited barking seemed to rouse the new visitor
with a start. This was the first he knew that infernal woman’s brother had joined them from Jerusalem! ‘ Would they never cease to plague him?
‘ Again Evi cursed Baal
for not stopping him when he thought he saw a harmless way to funnel off his then-new lover’s restless return to the
vulgar use of women. How was he to know the next few years would bring such unthinkable changes now that he was losing his
physical vigor? He wanted a quiet old age indulging in the pleasures he was rich enough to afford discretely, but that randy
Billy goat of a Hebrew was bringing in… Evi stopped, inarticulate with rage. He had to deal with Ruben and his sister
sooner than he expected, or risk losing everything to that other magician’s greater powers. ‘ Soon! ‘
The heavyset man promised himself grimly, seeing a tall, thin servant watching him with a smirk. He raised his hand
to strike the insolent creature, only to have his hand slide painfully across the darkly colored cloth and mere shadows. The
illusion was so real he backed into the heavily perfumed room in fear and superstitious awe.
-
Meanwhile Satan remained in place, watching pensively over the land that was his as much as any other place in
the created sphere, a trembling fear causing him to remember the throne of the Ancient of Days at a time when the great swells
of angelic praise flowed over him and there
was none of those inferior, defecating creatures to usurp his place. Only the fact that Yahweh Elohim had chosen to make Himself
one of them spoiled his peace. The
purpose was obvious, the reason logical, the outcome dependent on his given wisdom and all the dark graces that had carried him deeper and deeper into the bowels of Sheol.
The vast, empty regions contained within the Being of creation that couldn’t hide him and the mind-numbing lack of what
he’d learned to glory over the millennia until they were brought into being and given his
rightful place! This was the day foretold in the garden, fresh from his victory over the meager couple. How could anyone doubt the inevitability of his supremacy learned
over the eons? He felt such pride and arrogance that the demons in Sheol trembled, sensing the glance from Heaven.
-
As hard as
he tried to shut them out and deny them, the truth of his sister’s words forced him to see Ezra had indeed recreated himself in ‘the only son of my flesh’.
Her voice startled him.
“ Machba`nel?
“ She hesitated, as if she thought he might not answer this time, as illogical as that action
might be. . “ Please don’t be angry with me. I can’t stand it when you’re angry at me. “ She pleaded, sounding so much like the child he loved and defended
before he fled his father’s whip for that of Caesar’s army that he opened his arms and held her trembling form
near him, careful not to look at the make-up or the sins left marred on her face by her choices since they parted company
last. He had wrongly assumed that their mother coming to live with Claudia and Rueben between marriages would be enough to
protect her. But the boy she’d adopted after her lover was murdered in Caesar’s forum had taken the place where
he and Claudia used to reside, however tenuously.
For a little
while he had to believe her, otherwise he would no longer escape the truth that had driven him to the brink of suicide when
he met the man from Nazareth on the banks of the River Jordan where John the prophet was preaching and baptizing. If the Messiah was indeed near, then nothing of
their world would remain unchanged. Perhaps He could change them for the best too.
Perhaps. But he was already becoming the man he hated. He was Ezra, meeting a
woman’s needs as if they had any impact on his life simply because it made it easier to live with her for the three
months his father Abishalom demanded he remain apart from his troops.
He
was Ezra. The time was now. But
he was helpless before the touch of GOD into their lives. The next step was up to Elohim, Blessed be His Name!
He could start by explaining why He chose the children of Shelomith and Ezra ben Arenas!
The
house built into the mountain was still empty when she returned so Ahava fled its empty-eyed accusations by hastening down
the well traveled gravel path to Hulah’s house where she and the puppy were welcomed while Hulah’s grandmother
Jochebed napped near-by.
Even Marcus seemed surprised by the change in her attitude since their families left each other this morning, and he
left the rental house quickly, using the arrival of the herbalist Rachel bat Gimath as his excuse to hide his disappointment
in a girl he’d begun to think of seriously as a wife. When it came time to say good night for the closing ceremony of
saying goodbye to the Sabbath as a family, and knowing it was their last Shabbat together, Ahava impulsively
gave her the doll Imri made for her. A link between two new, best friends. Hulah cradled the realistic looking doll as if
it were as alive as it appeared, and threw her free arm around her friend’s neck, crying as hard as Ahava. It only seemed
to embarrass the older brothers but as they kissed chastely on the cheek, their eyes made a promise to remain friends despite
the years and the events distancing them in their soon-to-be adult lives.Tall and painfully thin, Rachel’s head almost touched the top of the poorly maintained doorway, but once she
was greeted warmly and sat down to Sabbath dinner with the younger woman and her sons, much of the stiffness left her face
and she began to share some of the local stories with them. It felt good to abandon the nameless dread that her brother’s
fight after shul aroused for her. And despite her initial hesitation toward the childless widow, Ahava found herself relaxing
as well as she listened and laughed good naturedly with the thin woman who was a natural story teller. Despite her grim exterior
she never made an unkind remark about other people and never made fun of them in a cruel way, although she was extraordinarily
gifted at noticing and recreating their small foibles until they were instantly recognizable even, when you didn’t know
the person’s name. Finding a way to display a deeper spiritual meaning so that you laughed and learned at the same time.
She wasn’t anything like the image she first projected when she feared others would judge or dislike her because GOD
cursed her with an empty womb. Her thoughts raced
within her dangerously as she sought out the Great One on high, without betraying her thoughts or her search to her brother
James’ resentful gaze. He seemed to feel that he had to take over Deborah’s monitoring of her now that she was
old enough to be a potential source of embossment, like this morning’s fight in public over her.
While
the customary blessing to close the Sabbath was said, and the family members held out there hands, palm up, and bent to hold
the reflection of the candle flame on their fingernails, Ahava tuned out the customary prayer about the about the distinctions
He demanded, sacred form secular, Jew from Gentile, Sabbath from work days, and instead she boldly sought out His
face, as best she could understand it. Modeling it on her memory of her father’s deeply lined but gentle features.
‘ We’re
singing for Elijah to come and bring the Messiah. But He’s here, isn’t He? ‘
She challenged, her heart beating wildly as if she’d just run a league with a wild band of jackals or soldiers
at her heels! No lightening
struck her dead. When she looked
up, she looked directly to her brother Jesus. He was smiling, a gentle turn of both corners of his mouth.
Mary
happened to notice the quiet look between her eldest and youngest, though she was careful not to reveal her interest on her
face, lest James or Joses seek a grudge because they loved her so well. Her little girl was growing up. Even Joseph’s
last baby wasn’t a baby any longer! Whether she was ready to be old or not. But there were still more surprises waiting
for them as night ended the reign of the Sabbath in their brother’s home. When three stars appeared in the night sky
over the vast lake, Rachel passed around an antique spice box she brought with her to share. Ahava immediately fell in love
with the haunting mixtures of leaves, herbs and dried flower petals. The reason for passing around the lingering fragrance
suddenly made sense to her, beyond the simple fact that it was done every week. She laid beside her mother near the warmth of the heated
brick stove in the kitchen. She curled up next to the speckled pup she’d almost forgotten, sure that she would never
sleep. As she pulled the willing puppy near her, she had to fight so many questions and doubts it was almost as if she were
her own enemy. But she was asleep before she heard her mother’s question to her eldest brother.
What harm could find them here?
-
*
-
As they stood saying goodbye, casually
grouped together under the brightening sky, Manasseh the ship builder came to the low wall of the courtyard,
“
I would speak to you and Jesus about your son, Simon…He has passed his year of Bar Mitzvah, has he not?
“ Manasseh challenged in his booming voice once the polite expressions were carefully exchanged.
Explaining with humbling deference that his son was the boy Simon had been fighting with in defense of his younger sister’s
honor.
“
My son won’t take care that doing a good job requires, and this set in stone what I already knew. I need to apprentice
a youth to learn my ship building skills and take over the business when its time for me to sleep with my fathers.
“ He took a
deep breath, having difficulty going on.
“
What I have come to ask is if your son Simon, slight as he is in the body, but stout in the will to do right, would
have any interest in learning to use his carpentry skills for building and maintaining water commerce vessels? You have many
sons even for a farming community and jobs might have to be shared. If you were of a mind to allow him to try it and see if
its something he’d like, if you were of a mind too, the boy could return with you Jesus, when we return from Passover?
“
There was
such questioning in his voice as he shifted weight from one foot to the other that Ahava assumed he believed the answer would
be ‘no’, but he seemed extra-ordinarily pleased when Simon agreed to the trial.
“ But
why me? “
Manasseh
the ship builder smiled shyly and ducked his head as he prepared to leave. “ I need someone my son can’t bully or intimidate.
“ He said candidly, then whishing them GOD’S blessings, he walked away in the
dark, water-tainted night air. “
The Holy One works in strange and mysterious ways. “ She heard her brother Joses say in
superstitious awe. Unfortunately James also heard him and he was still being scolded when she saw her new friend’s hesitant
approach as Cephas’ younger daughter left her mother and fathers side, arms extended, to embrace her. She almost didn’t
cry
“ Some day, I’ll come to Nazareth to visit you and met your own family,
Beloved. “ Hulah offered with eminent practicality, clutching the wood and cloth doll she’d
given her, as if it were alive. “ It’s not like it’s across the world, or in the
Decapolis or anything. “ She offered in a pledge of friendship, although it felt that far away.
“ Of
course not! “ Ahava promised. Knowing in her heart that any husband Masrekah
chose for her would be loving enough to welcome a childhood friend who meant so much to her.
“ Next year,
when your dog is old enough to make puppies, you could send me one, if you remembered. If you wanted too. “
The thought lightened Ahava’s mood
immeasurably and her whole being brightened.
“ Only
if it looks exactly like him, so you’ll never forget me, Hulah! “
Marcus ben Simon stepped up beside them, feeling
an odd protectiveness come over him. The carpenter’s daughter was now taller than both of them, having grown even in
her brief stay, but he’d had the chance to glimpse her tender nature and sweetness, and it made him feel as if she depended
on him as much as his mother and grandmother, who were also taller than he. He had his father’s permission to join them, but he’d chosen in anger to remain near his
mother and sisters, implying that he should too.
Ahava was
sure Dinah had a great deal to do with that decision, although Marcus did seem to resent how willing his father was to leave
them after the long absence previously. He was about to push his younger sister aside when she stepped back, clutching the
new doll tightly to her chest. He had only a few minutes to talk with Ahava. He felt a sudden, sharp and bitter regret over
his impulsive offer to man the fishing boats with the help of Zebedee’s hired men. Only now did he realize how much
going along with Dinah was going to cost him. It was as if he suddenly couldn’t trust his sister to have his
best interests in mind since she’d begun to bleed. The
older boys had tried to warn him but he’d loyally refused to heed their wisdom. Now look! He tried to pretend to have
a cold when his sisters looked up at him. His mother assumed he was sorrowing at his father’s second absence and Hulah
loved him too much to betray his secret to her older sister. Late that night Naomi sought out the boy privately and allowed
him the opportunity to speak and grieve for his first lost love; although it caught her off-guard.
‘ There’ll be many others, boy’ Naomi thought to herself sadly, but she loved him too much
to say so out loud. She was proud of the way he was taking a grown man’s responsibilities in his father and uncle’s
continued absences. Men chased their gods and their dreams, their women could wait and hope.
-
*
-
Nazareth
-
They
stopped overnight to rest and buy supplies in Cana, enjoying a near repeat of the festival as the entire village celebrated
Sihon ben Job’s formal announcement of his betrothal. Although she was invited to dance several times by the older boys
Ahava held back this time. When Mary spoke to her
kindly, it made her ache all the more because she couldn’t explain the emptiness she felt at losing the dear friend
the fisher-man’s youngest daughter had become. She feared in her mother’s eyes she was still a child who’d
just celebrated her thirteenth birth date celebration, how could she hope to compare to the stories she’d heard about
her sister even at this tender age? It would make
it sound like she was envious or resentful and the only thing she knew for certain was that she wasn’t certain what
these feelings were that she was experiencing! Seeing these boys and feeling the awakening within herself she was
torn in her thoughts toward the boys Masrekah had told her about before she had to leave for Sychar. All she knew about them
was what Masrekah told her. Her mother’s choice she knew was the seventh son of the well-to-do merchant in Jerusalem
so she could live near her sister, but her mother wasn’t marrying the boy, she was! And she would first be sure his
father Shahsak, whose name meant ‘assaulter’ wasn’t a close business associate of her brother-in-law Zaavan ben Jehoiarib!
She
couldn’t believe her excitement as the familiar hills rose up in sight. There was a haunting beauty to them as she had
never guessed in the endless summer nights she’d snuck out here to the meadow to keep Bakky and his old red dog Sari
company. She knew her mother meant only to stay only until the Sabbath was past then leave on Sunday morning,
but she was wondering how she could ask to be left behind? She felt more tired in her inner being from keeping her secret
than she did from the entire journey on foot! When
they arrived home to rest overnight and wait for Sihon’s group to be gathered and properly equipped to join them for
the pilgrimage to Jerusalem, Habakkuk the simple-minded shepherd boy couldn’t hide
his joy at her approach. His aging dog sniffed and raised her muzzle to avoid the puppy’s hungry licks and nips. She
knocked him off his feet, and he lay there in fearful anticipation, his tail covering his underdeveloped parts as he urinated
on himself in submission. She sniffed cautiously then began to clean him as she would one of her own pups. He jumped to his
feet eagerly, trying to play and leap, but she didn’t trust him enough to allow him to be that active around her. The
next time she knocked him off his feet she stood guard over his exposed throat and growled. His thin tail whipped between
his thighs as he lay on his back. This time he didn’t try to get up until she backed away. He slunk to Ahava’s
side.
“ But I thought you were getting married! I thought I’d lost my best
friend forever, Beloved! “ Bakky said shyly, ducking his head as he wouldn’t
have to see the look on her face in case she didn’t like him any more. His eyes gleamed with childish delight when she
merely squeezed him and let him go instead of rebuking him. ‘Baa’ing‘ like a ewe who’d lost her lamb, he turned and led
the flock to a less damaged pasturage, followed by
the cheery ring of the lead ewe’s copper bell, answered by three different song birds. Ahava pretended she was a butterfly,
extending her arms and dancing around the grassy knoll with an explosion of love and joy that encompassed everything she saw,
smell or heard. Habakkuk watched her discretely, envying her freedom of movement, enjoying her company the way he did Sari
and his flock.
‘
So much had changed for so many things to be the same’ She thought to her-self in introspectively,
noticing that she’d forgotten to take down her hand loom at the last minute, she was so excited about leaving. Something
powerful had changed and she realized she could no
longer return to the life she’s left behind in such careless haste. Her sister and nieces were no longer a quick run, three streets away! Rizpad would cry herself to sleep because she
wasn’t there to rock her. She stopped short, catching her next eldest brother James by surprise and he ran into her, cursing in low, annoyed tones that she suddenly
resented even as she choked down the automatic apology. Rizpad had been happily playing
in her new home in Jerusalem for slightly under a month! Life had gone on without her and it hadn’t even blinked
an eye! The soldier and his sullen, silent friend
traveling with them preferred to stay in Deborah’s empty house for this brief respite rather than to demand one of them
give up their accustomed sleeping places in their father’s house, which Ahava vainly hoped would cool her brother’s
anger toward them, but which seemed to intensify their resentment. His wearing a Roman uniform, which had he had chosen not
to do until they were across the Jordan and begun their climb to Jerusalem, would help to defend them from the plunder and
attack waged against pious pilgrims who ran the gauntlet along the barren cliff tops between the busy, terraced mountain slopes
of Judea proper.
Stepping out of her brothers’ way, to avoid their anger from weariness, she noticed the edge of her weaving was
now lined with black fur! Sheba had been sleeping on it! Love for her little pet welled up in her and she called the small
black cat’s name joyfully, forgetting the speckled puppy at her side. Sheba came running with a happy meow when she
heard the noise of her human’s return. She leaped into Ahava’s arms, her belly swollen with kittens near the time of their birth. But Ahava scarcely had time to enjoy her happy reunion with her pet when Nimrod raised himself to the tip of his
paws, trying to smell the animal in Ahava’s lax arms. His nose shoved near her tender rear end, Sheba reacted with possessive contempt and an instinctive fear for her babies safety. Using her sharpened claws, Sheba scratched
four bright red welts across the puppy’s black nose, then dug in her back claws to leap to safety from her mistress’
arms. She couldn’t do anything but release the fierce bundle of enraged fur, her forearms stinging from the cat’s
claws. Nimrod chased the fleeing cat, barking noisily, scattering the chickens and domesticated geese under pale remnants
of moonlight. The last she saw of them was the end of Nimrod’s tail as he bounded up the spiral staircase to the flat roof at the end of the courtyard.
“ Give
them time to adjust. “ Mary
chided her wearily, aching so badly she wished she could simply go and lay down in the familiar cubical in the kitchen. But she couldn’t. Delilah had to be unpacked and fed, the young
men would be hungry and suddenly helpless now that they were in familiar territory, and even if she attempted to trust James
to oversee the necessary chores, since Jesus and his companions were abiding for the night at the Inn, she would awaken too
soon for fear of what he had left undone in rebellion.
‘If
they survive! ‘ Ahava thought to herself glumly.
Hilkiah
and Judith spent the Shabbos at home with their family. Strengthened and refreshed by the two day’s rest, Hilkiah and his sons-in-law joined Joseph’s
family, lead by Mary’s eldest son for a year in Jerusalem Hilkiah was sure would be unlike any other that had come before.
To Mary’s astonishment, it was her youngest child who stayed by her side the entire time, placing the bundles of food
and perishables in one pile, and the dirty clothes in another. Deborah couldn’t have done any better at this age. Between
them they had the bundles sorted before the men folk inside the house began to snore.
“ Are you going to sleep here, Beloved? “ Mary
asked between yawns, pointing to the unfamiliar shadows behind the faded, striped cloth where she and Joseph had slept.
“ No thank you, Ima.. I’d rather sleep on the roof, in the Sukkah,
if Jesus isn’t going to use it. If you don’t mind. I think I can keep the puppy quieter by taking it down to the
garden if it needs too…. “ She added as a last persuasion, but her mother was
already nodding in agreement.
“ I
don’t mind at all. “
As soon as her mother were up tomorrow, they would take brooms and rags to Deborah’s house to set it in order
until her return. For just a moment Ahava taunted herself with the agonizing possibility that Deborah would remain
in that vast walled city with so many strangers and foreign languages being thrown at them from the narrow alleyways of partially
glimpsed luxury and sin, but she banished it as quickly as it came, and she began planning her next doll for her youngest
niece. Something that would please her sister’s high status as the wife of a wealthy merchant now but at the same time
be plain enough to allow Rizpad’s nurse to allow her to play with the toy without ‘spoiling’ her.
“ I don’t mind in the least, Dear Heart. “ Mary
answered with a weary smile. Kissing her daughter good night. “ Be sure to say your prayers
before you go to sleep. “She reminded her,
in the midst of another yawn, apologizing with a happy laugh. Ahava had difficulty in carrying her sleeping mat on her shoulders as she struggled up the narrow staircase
she was so tired, but the promise of having privacy kept her at the difficult task. It seemed as though the weight of the
world rested on her shoulders as she walked up the hewn stone of the spiral staircase. It had been in place where Mary and
Joseph purchased the shop and house, but it was suddenly meaningful to her that her father’s feet had used these stairs on so many occasions. Almost making them sacred in her
new awareness of the vast changes happening so rapidly in her life. She couldn’t tell the truth of her feelings, having
a better idea of the life as a man and a wife that her mother and father had shared in that narrow, closed area, when she
had only sought the comfort of her mother’s
continued presence after the shock of findingher
father stiff and immobile.
The pale
quarter moon reflected silvered shadow within the long, oblong, nearly roofless hut. The dried braches overhead meant to reflect
the stars as a reminder of their travels in the dessert by Divine commandment. She saw the black and white speckled pup easily as he sat at the base of the Sycamore fig, where a black bundle was hunched
unhappily just out of his reach. Walking down the seldom used outer staircase on the side of the building Ahava automatically
looked inside the lean-too to see if Sheba had made her nest there for the impending birth of her first kittens? It smelled
faintly of old blood and a spider’s web now engulfing the hook for the practice loom. Stinging her cheeks with the memory
of her haste with which she cleaned it she was so eager to be leaving home for the first time. She could smell the odor of
lime from the clay-lined pit in the adjoining area on the other side of the patrician that they used for bodily wastes. Only
the fragrance of wild flowers that blossomed in their absence kept her nose from wrinkling. It was known. It was the recognition
that they lived in mortal clay that had needs to be met. She
tried to pry the frightened cat off the tree branch but when Nimrod leaped to his feet eagerly at her interference, the cat
dug in her claws all the firmer. Growling a fierce warning that next time it would be flesh not bark! She gave up the futile
effort, although she would have loved to have her small friend’s warmth as she fell to sleep. She rubbed her palm on
Sheba’s short, sleek fur to calm her but the movement of the kittens just below the skin repulsed her with the hidden
fears of the pain that would be involved when it was time for them to be born.
“ Now, you! Come with me! Let Sheba rest! “
-
-
End Chapter 16
