She sped through the narrow, hilly streets of the old town. When they arrived, Matt was outside, standing near his car. His trunk was open and Elizabeth’s bike leaned against the back bumper.
Michael jumped out before the car rolled to a stop. “Where’s my daughter?”
“I don’t know. I dropped her off at the church and haven’t seen her since.”
“Her bike is in your car.” He grabbed Matt’s shirt, tightening his grip. “Don’t lie to me.”
“I’m not, Mr. Stewart.”
“Michael.” Allison clenched his forearm. “Stop. He’s just a kid.”
He relaxed his grip and backed away a few steps. “How long did you wait for her?”
“About fifteen minutes. I went back inside to look around and couldn’t find her. But there were a lot of people in there. I could have missed her. My mom called and needed me to drive her to an appointment. I looked around for a few more minutes and assumed she left with you.” Two spots of bright red stained Matt’s cheeks. “I know she wanted to talk to you.”
“About what?”
Matt looked down at his feet. “She wanted to tell you we were going out to a movie.”
Michael scowled. “Stay away from my daughter.”
As he started to walk away, he glared at Matt. “Why didn’t you answer the phone before?”
“I wasn’t sure I should answer it. I was kinda uncomfortable.”
“If she calls you, tell her to call home right away.”
“Of course.” Matt put his hand in his pocket and gave Elizabeth’s cell phone to Michael. He retrieved her backpack too and handed it to Allison.
Michael turned to Allison and gave a distraught look. “He doesn’t know where she is.”
“Well, she has to be somewhere. No one disappears into thin air.”
They do if they go into a tunnel back to another century.
Allison drove Michael home and he showed her the note Elizabeth had left him. “That’s a relief,” she said. “This proves she must be around here somewhere.”
“No.” Michael paced, trying to burn off nervous energy before he exploded. “My daughter’s gone.”
“Do you think she ran away?”
“Nothing like that.” He rubbed his forehead. “It’s too complicated to explain right now.”
The door opened and Connie rushed inside.
“Where have you been?” he asked.
“I was at the police station,” she said, her face flushed. “Is she back?”
“Not yet,” he said, feeling the anxiety squeezing his chest. “One of the cops showed up at the church.”
“Well, they think I’m crazy.” She threw her arms in the air. “They didn’t believe me about the snake or the big hole. Or you were going to save that woman.” She huffed out loud. “They asked if it was a practical joke we were playing on each other.”
Allison looked from Michael to Connie. “What is she talking about?”
Michael gave Connie a sympathetic glance. “My sister’s been under a lot of stress lately, her husband –”
“Stop, Michael,” Connie said. “What are you saying?” Her voice rose even louder. “You told me about going down to –”
“See,” he turned to Allison. “She gets hysterical for no reason lately.”
Connie planted her hands on her hips. “I swear if you’re pulling a fast one on me –”
A knock on the door interrupted them. Michael opened it and let Officer McDougal inside.
“Yes,” Michael said. “Can I help you?”
“Your sister gave us your address,” the cop said. “She said you’d want to talk to us about something?”
“She’s confused.” Michael gave Connie a look that he hoped told her not to say anything. “That mouse she saw in the basement did a number on her nerves.”
“Michael,” Allison said. “You should tell him that Elizabeth’s missing.”
“Who’s Elizabeth?” the cop asked.
This is going to get even more complicated.
“My daughter.” Michael blew out a loud breath. “I’ve been looking for her. She may be with a friend and forgot to tell me.”
“How old is she?”
“She’ll be fifteen next month.”
“Oh yeah, that’s the age when your hair will start turning gray.”
“It already is,” he said.
“How long has she been missing?” the cop asked.
“A few hours.”
He handed Michael a business card. “If she’s not home by morning, give me a call. Most times, it’s a case of an angry teenager hiding out at a friend’s place, but we like to make sure.”
“She’s a happy kid,” Michael said, taking the card. It took all of his strength not to break down, tell him the truth and beg for assistance, even though he knew in his heart they couldn’t help him.
“Sure.” The cop sounded skeptical. “They’re all happy kids when they’re your own.”
“What do you mean by that?”
The cop didn’t answer. Instead, he tipped his cap to Connie and Allison. Michael watched him walk outside. The officer stopped by his car and looked inside the passenger side window.
Michael grabbed his stomach and coughed several times. The sickly feeling churned inside his mouth. He ran to the upstairs bathroom and spit up last night’s meal in the sink – a combination of first-century bread and berries.
“Are you all right?” Connie asked, placing her hand on his back. “What the heck did you eat yesterday?”
“Nothing you would find here.” He ran cold water, cupped some into his mouth, and spit it all out.
“What was in that hole?” Connie asked.
“Inspiration and beauty at first.” His breathing was hard and choppy now and thought if ever he was going to lose his mind it would be today. “Then it turned tragic.”
Connie gasped. “Do you think Elizabeth’s in danger?”
“I hope to God not.” Michael felt his stomach gurgle. He shook his head and with it all the fears inside it. “No. I have to think positive. She’s coming back to us.”
Elizabeth lay limp on the ground where she fell with Marcus from the roof. Blood seeped from her head and her arms were badly bruised.
Leah raced back and forth to the well, dampening cloths, trying to stop Elizabeth’s hemorrhaging. “Speak to me, child,” she pleaded. “Say something.”
She pulled Elizabeth’s head up gently, begging her to wake up.
Elizabeth let out a soft moan. Her arms remained flaccid, her eyes filled with fear as she blinked several times.
Marcus’s body partially covered her legs. A gash leaked blood from his forehead, the smell contaminating the air. Leah lifted Elizabeth’s head close to her chest and placed two cloths on the ground as a pillow. She knew there wasn’t much time before Marcus would regain his senses.
Leah ran to the next cluster of dwellings, stopping at the door of a home not unlike her two-floor stone house. “Samuel,” she said in a loud whisper. “Wake up.”
A woman wearing a robe and carrying a long candle appeared before her. She shone the light in Leah’s face. “My dear, why are you out at this time of the evening?”
“Oh, Maris, something terrible has happened. It is important that I speak to my brother.”
“What terrible thing has happened?”
“A friend of mine has been hurt. She fell from the roof. She is only a child and she is bleeding.”
Maris put her hand over her mouth. “I will get your brother.”
She waved Leah inside the house and told her to wait in the kitchen. A few minutes later, her brother appeared, pushing his brown hair out of his eyes. “My sister, what is the latest tragedy you need to tell me about?”
“Samuel, we are all in trouble.”
“Again?”
“My friend is hurt. Marcus is too. They fell off the roof. She is laying by my home, bleeding.”
“Where is the soldier?”
“He is laying there too.”
“How badly is he hurt?”
“I am not sure. He has not moved.”
Samuel put his hands around the back of his head. “This is not good. If he recovers, he will certainly pursue us.”
“He is bleeding but the child is much worse. We need to help her.”
“Leah, you have always been the one with the biggest heart in our family.” He kissed her forehead. “Maris,” he called.
His wife came out of the bedroom now with two lit candles. She handed one to Leah.
“Wake the children. Take them to my cousin’s house in Galilee.”
“Why, Samuel?” she asked. “That is a long trip. Why at this time of the night? Can we wait until the morning when there is light?”
He shook his head. “No. There might not be time. We are all in grave danger. You must leave once the children are ready. Woman, do not question me.”
“Why are we in danger, Samuel?”
“The soldier. He has been hurt.”
Maris nodded. “I will get the children ready.” She climbed upstairs to the second floor. Moments later, Leah heard muffled voices and sounds of movement.
“I will get dressed.” Samuel looked at his sister. “Do you need anything?”
“Yes, more cloths. The girl will need them to heal the wound. We do not have much time.”
Samuel changed in his bedroom and returned minutes later. He picked up a short spear sitting in the corner of the kitchen and showed it to Leah. “We do not have a choice, my sweet sister. We should have done this a long time ago. We must kill Marcus.”
Her heart sank. They were words she thought would never be part of any solution in her life. She was squeamish. “I can not kill. Thou shall not kill. The Ten Commandments. This is part of my faith, my belief. Your belief. Should God not be the only judge?”
“My dear sister, I am a man of faith too. I live my life with the Ten Commandments as my guide. I know all about thou shall not kill. Do you see God here? Marcus must die. Or we will.”
“What about my friend?”
He gave a look of despair. “I do not know. Let us see how she is. Were you able to get her inside the house?”
“No.”
Maris came down the ladder. “The children are dressing.”
“Do not hesitate. Once they are ready, move them quickly to Galilee. Do not tell anyone where you are going.”
“I will not, my love.”
Maris and Samuel hugged and shared a brief kiss. She stroked the sides of his hair. “When should we expect you?”
“Soon. I will help my sister’s friend and I shall join you.”
He tightened his grip on the weapon, nodded to a sorrowful Maris and disappeared through the door.
Maris hugged Leah. “I will see you soon too?”
“I hope so,” Leah replied wistfully. “If I do not see you again, Maris, take care of my brother. Tell him I love him at every sunset if I cannot anymore.”
She met Samuel outside and listened to his plan, gaining confidence and reassurance that he would be able to solve this problem.
In the moonlight she pointed to one body on the ground. “Oh no, Samuel. Marcus must have left.”
“He might be in the house.”
They crept through the courtyard and into the kitchen. A rustling noise froze them until a woman appeared out of the darkness with a lit candle.
“Are you well?” the woman asked. “I heard screaming and yelling earlier but was too afraid to go out.”
Leah breathed a sigh of relief as she recognized her neighbor. “Sarah, I am fine. Did you see where Marcus went? He was in front of the house.”
“He was badly hurt but he managed to get up and leave. I ran to the corner of my house to see if you had fallen too.”
“Where did he go?”
“I saw him walk toward the city.”
“He is too hurt to battle us alone,” reasoned Samuel. “But he will get more of them to chase us all down. We do not have much time.”
“How can I help?” asked Sarah.
“Get us some more cloths. We need to get Elizabeth inside so we can make her well enough to get her home.”
“Where does she live, Leah?” Sarah asked.
“I do not know. I know it is far away.”
“This is not good,” her neighbor said with a worried expression.
With careful movements, Samuel lifted Elizabeth into his arms and carried her into the bedroom. Leah placed two bedrolls on the floor and he gently laid her down.
Elizabeth moaned.
Leah tried to soothe her. “Do not move, my child.”
Samuel knelt beside her and furrowed his brow as he looked at the gash on Elizabeth’s head. “She has a terrible wound.”
Sarah pulled several pieces of cloth from her pocket. Samuel instructed Sarah to dampen them at the well. He placed his hands on Leah’s shoulders. “In life we are all faced with difficult decisions. Your friend cannot be moved because we do not know where to take her. The Romans will surely come back here looking for you and her. You must leave or you will be killed.”
Leah stared at the big drops of blood scattered across the stone floor. “I cannot, Samuel. But you must go to Galilee. You have a family, a wife, and children.”
She paused a moment, then spoke with strength. “Elizabeth is my daughter, my child too. While she may not have come from my womb, while I may not have known her long, she is a beat in my heart. I cannot bear to leave my heart.”
“Is there anything I can say to change your decision?” he asked.
She shook her head. “You must leave, brother. Protect your family.”
He swallowed hard several times and stood up. “I will give you my weapon,” he said, placing it on top of a table. “Do not hesitate to use it.”
Leah didn’t answer.
Samuel kissed her forehead twice. “You always had the biggest heart.”
“I love you, Samuel.”
He headed to the door and faced her. “I love you too, sweet sister.”
As he walked out, Sarah passed him with the wet cloths. “Where is he going?”
“He needs to be with his family. And so do you.”
“I will help.”
“No. You must go home. You must forget what you have seen here. Do not share this with anyone.”
“Why?”
“It is not important why. It is important you are safe and your family is safe. Forget what you have seen.”
Sarah wrapped her arms around Leah. “I will say a prayer for you in the Temple.”
“Say many for me and my daughter.”
Leah nursed the back of Elizabeth’s head, trying to seal the wound. A mix of blood and water drenched the cloths. She did her best wringing them out at the well, careful not to leave any evidence behind for the Romans. Exhausted, Leah filled a jug and carried it to the bedroom.
She found a clean, dry cloth tucked away in the kitchen. She soaked it and placed it on her forehead. “Talk to me, child.” But there was no response.
Leah lay down next to Elizabeth, touching her hair. “You are so brave. I would be proud to call you my daughter. I know if my daughter had lived, she would have grown up like you. Strong, beautiful, and smart.”
She kissed her cheek. “I will not leave you. I will fight Marcus if I have to. I will fight the Romans. I will not let them hurt you.” Her body shook.
Leah knelt, lifted her head to the ceiling and prayed harder than she’d ever prayed in her life. “She still has many more sunsets to treasure, my God. May she recover with your blessing. She needs to be with her father. I ask you for your mercy.”