Journey to the Well: A Novel (16 page)

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Authors: Diana Wallis Taylor

BOOK: Journey to the Well: A Novel
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“I want my papa,” he cried between large sobs. “I don’t like the bad dog.”
“Hush, little one,” Marah crooned, “the bad dog is gone. You are safe now.”
The little boy lifted his head.
“Papa!” he cried joyously over her shoulder.
She turned and stopped, staring at the familiar figure walking quickly toward her.
“Caleb. I have looked everywhere for you.” He walked anxiously, his eyes on the child. “Are you all right?” Stooping down, he hugged him in relief. “I saw what you did, thank you for caring for my son.” In his concern for the boy, he had not looked up at her.
“He is your son, Jesse?” Marah felt her heart begin to beat erratically. She stood staring down at the top of his head in astonishment.
At the sound of her voice, Jesse suddenly looked up at her. “Marah?” He stood up and looked from his son to her face. “It is you that saved him?” He stared back at her for a moment. “It is good to see you again.” A slow smile spread across his face.
“It is also good to see you, Jesse.” The silence was an eternity.
Then Jesse recovered himself. “Ah, thank you again. I will trouble you no longer.” The warmth that radiated from his eyes disappeared and his face became an unreadable mask. He picked up his son, turned away, and headed back toward the village with long strides.
Marah stared after him dumbly. What was Jesse doing in the village? The bleating of the sheep interrupted her thoughts, and she hurried them on to the shepherd. When they were safely delivered into his care, she walked quickly back toward the village. She thought of Tirzah. How fortunate she was. She had a son and Jesse. Considering all that she had been through, Marah felt sad, uneasy, and jealous.
She sought Hannah as soon as she returned to their house.
“Hannah, the strangest thing happened.” She related the events of the morning to her and Hannah listened in alarm.
“You were brave to drive off the dog. He could have killed the child or a sheep. I knew I should not have let you take them alone to the shepherd.”
“Hannah, the sheep are fine. The child is fine. Did you hear what I said? He is
Jesse’s
son. Jesse and Tirzah have returned to Shechem.” Marah spread her hands and searched Hannah’s face, waiting impatiently for a response.
Hannah stopped fussing and stared at her, puzzled. “It was Jesse, you say? I wonder what he is doing in Shechem?” She looked toward the village and pursed her lips.
Marah looked up at the sky and rolled her eyes in exasperation. “That is what I want to know. There must be a reason for their return. Do you know of any way I—”
Hannah was reaching for her basket. “I have some things to get in the marketplace. Perhaps you can take care of the washing?” She raised her eyebrows and gave Marah a conspiring wink.
Marah laughed. “Hannah, you are just as curious as I am. So, go.” She pushed on her friend’s ample shoulders. “Go quickly and tell me
everything
you find out.”
She stood pensively and watched Hannah hurry off. Events of the past crowded into her mind . . . she and Jesse cutting wild mustard on the hillside, the little flute . . . She felt a sudden lump in her throat. Perhaps she did not want to hear the news of Jesse and Tirzah after all.
She took the wet clothes up to the roof and carefully spread them out to dry. Trying to occupy her thoughts with other things, she checked their herb supply. There was plenty of dried dill and coriander, but she noted that the jar of mustard oil was only half full. They had a small bag of salt left and a small clay jar of cumin. She went to the vegetable garden and looked at what remained that could be used for their supper. She picked a cucumber and a leek and a few beans. The onions and garlic had already been pulled and now hung from the rafters in the house, giving it a pungent aroma. Noting that the plants seemed to droop a little, she took a small container and dipped water from the water jar. Carrying it carefully to the garden, she poured the precious water around the remaining plants. Turning to get more water, she was startled to find Hannah standing in the middle of the courtyard with a smug look on her face.
Marah hurried over to her friend. “You are back so soon.”
Hannah took her time setting the basket down and Marah thought she would die of impatience. Settling herself, Hannah took a deep breath and then, with an air of conspiracy, poured out her news, watching Marah’s face as she did so.
“Jesse is a widower. His wife died in childbirth. He has returned to Shechem because his parents are old and not well, and need his help. He will be setting up a carpenter shop here in Shechem to take care of them.” Hannah took another breath and paused to see what effect her words had.
“You found all that out in such a short time?” Marah paused to consider the information. Then she had a terrible thought. “You didn’t go to Jesse and ask him, did you?”
Hannah snorted. “Do you take me for a foolish woman? When I appeared at the marketplace, the gossips were only too anxious to share their news. I didn’t even have to ask a single question. So now, what will you do, eh?” She looked slyly at Marah, her eyes dancing.
Marah had been thinking of Jesse, losing his wife in childbirth. Remembering her own pain and the midwife’s hushed tones, she knew she had almost died in childbirth herself. Her heart went out to Jesse.
“Well?”
“What do you mean, ‘What will I do?’”
Hannah feigned surprise. “Oh that I should have such a thick-headed friend. What can you do with my news? Has it been so long since a shepherd and a young girl were friends, talked—”
Marah blushed. “Oh Hannah, that seems like so long ago. So much has happened. I don’t know how I feel anymore. I am dead inside. Perhaps Jesse feels the same way I do. It has been too long and too much has happened to us.”
“You are so dead inside you blush? He is a man. You are a woman. You like each other. Can anything be plainer? Of course much has happened, but don’t you see? You are both free now to marry. He is no longer a boy, he is a man, a widower, and you . . . you are free to choose the man you wish at last. What could be so bad, hmm?” Hannah spread her hands and shrugged.
Marah felt tears come to her eyes as she looked away. “I am not sure about anything anymore. I don’t know how Jesse feels now. He turned away so abruptly as if he didn’t want anything to do with me.”
“So . . . how could he know you were a widow? That Zibeon was dead? Had he not just arrived in the village and then had to spend his time searching for his lost son? Did he not care enough to protect you? God be merciful. He was not going to give Zibeon any reason to trouble you.”
She considered Hannah’s words. “Yes, perhaps you are right. Maybe that is why Jesse turned away like he did.”
She hesitated, biting her lip. “What should I do?”
Hannah laughed. “I don’t think you will have to do anything. When he finds out what has happened and that you are free, he will not rest until
he
has done something. You can be sure of that.” She gave a sharp nod of her head to emphasize her words.
“I wish I could be as sure of that as you are, Hannah.”
“God be patient that I have such a stubborn friend.” Hannah rolled her eyes and headed for the house. “Come, there is supper to prepare. Busy yourself and you will have less time for thinking!”
Marah smiled then, and the two women, out of long practice, began to work companionably together.
18
 
I
n a steady rhythm the reapers grabbed and swung, grabbed and swung, as the harvest finally began. Every available man and woman in the village helped in some way. They gathered the cut grain and bound the loose bundles into sheaves. When the gatherers had left a portion of the field, gleaners were called in to gather the remains. These were the poor of the village, widows and those who did not own land. The gleaners were not allowed to touch the sheaves that were loaded onto donkeys or wagons and taken to the community threshing floor. Here, by beating the stalks, the edible grains would be loosened.
The women of the village called out greetings to one another and gossiped as they worked. They started in the fields at sunup and many times did not head homeward until after dark. The women poured the barley into large pottery jars. Some of the jars were set aside for the tax collector who watched the proceedings with sharp eyes, lest he miss any profit. Simon’s portion was loaded on a donkey and taken to their house to be stored.
Each evening when Simon, Hannah, and Marah returned to the house, there seemed barely time to prepare a quick meal and tend to a few household duties, before falling exhausted to their beds to be ready for the next day’s work.
Marah sat mending a garment and Simon and Hannah were engaged in animated conversation concerning the taxes soon due on their small property.
“A half a shekel again. They will bleed us dry. What do they think we can live on when they take most of what we have?” Simon muttered. There was a firm knock at the door.
“Simon, someone has heard you,” Hannah whispered urgently. She looked in fear toward the door as Simon opened it. Jesse stood on their doorstep holding his small son.
“I’ve come to thank Marah for her kindness in saving my son from a wild dog. He wandered away while I was unloading our things. I can’t tell you how anxious I was until I found him. I would have come sooner, but I have been working my father’s field.” He stood looking hopefully at Simon.
With a hint of a smile, Simon stepped aside. “Enter our humble home. Peace be with you.”
“And with you,” Jesse returned.
Gratefully he bent his tall frame and entered, standing quietly in the center of the room. On hearing his voice in the doorway, Marah rose suddenly and stood with her sewing in her hand.
“You are well, Marah?”
She nodded, then looked down and smiled at the little boy, Caleb, who was looking at her curiously.
“Hello, Caleb. Have you been a good boy and stayed by your papa’s side?”
Caleb nodded with large and solemn eyes. Jesse put him down and Caleb clung to his father’s leg, peering up at Marah.
“Caleb, this is the woman who saved you from the big dog. Would you like to thank her?”
Marah knelt down and the little boy shyly put out his hand. Marah could not resist and gave him a warm hug. He smiled up at her and sighed deeply.
“It is a wonderful evening, Wife,” Marah heard Simon say pleasantly. “Perhaps you would like some fresh air up on the roof?”
Hannah had been visibly relieved to find Jesse at their front door instead of one of the Roman soldiers. She looked at Simon and then Jesse, nodding reluctantly. For a moment Jesse and Marah were alone. They looked awkwardly at one another and each waited for the other to speak.
“It is good to see you again, Marah,” Jesse said at last, his eyes on her face. “You are happy here?”
“Yes . . . I am happy, Jesse. Simon and Hannah are kind to me.”
“I heard what happened to you from my parents.”
“Zibeon?”
“About Zibeon, and the child. All you have been through, your kindness in caring for your mother-in-law.”
“I could not leave her.”
Jesse moved closer. Marah could smell the scent of new wood and the fields.
“Marah, I am sorry for the loss of your son.”
She caught her breath. Time had tempered the pain at the mention of her son, but the sorrow remained. “It is kind of you to say so. They were a strange family, but things were not as bad as I had thought they would be.”
Jesse nodded. “I am glad. I lost Tirzah the night Caleb was born. She was not strong. It was difficult, but there were other members of her family to help care for him. When I heard from my parents that they needed me, her family reluctantly let me go. My wife had a brother and two sisters to care for her parents, and well, as you know, I am an only son. I came for their sakes, but was dreading seeing you with Zibeon. Then, when I found out . . .” His voice trailed off as he stared at her in the lamplight.
“You are still so beautiful. Surely in Shechem there are many who have wished to marry such a maiden.”
Marah laughed softly. “I am no longer a maiden, Jesse. And yes, there were those who offered marriage, but I could not choose them, at least not at this time.”
“I am glad to hear that. Not for your misfortunes, but that you are not married again.” He was smiling down at her in such a way that her legs felt weak. Her heart was beating loudly in her chest, and she felt herself swaying slightly toward him. He caught her shoulders with his strong hands. “Marah,” he breathed softly.
The moment was interrupted by a small but audible yawn from Caleb, who had been sitting quietly on the floor. He rubbed his eyes. Jesse stepped back reluctantly and dropped his hands. With a grin he picked up his son.
“I think my son needs to go to sleep. I should go. Tomorrow will be another long day.” He touched the tip of his finger to her chin. “You can be sure I will come again, soon. You wouldn’t mind?”

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