Faith of My Fathers (34 page)

In the faint light before dawn Miriam shook her brother awake. “Nathan . . .” He bolted upright, as tense in sleep as he was awake. She stroked his head to soothe him, aware that she was the only person he would allow to make such a tender gesture. “Shh . . . It’s me, Nathan.”

“What’s wrong?”

“Come outside. I don’t want to wake Mattan.” She waited for him to put on his robe and sandals, then led him outside. She heard Jerimoth stirring as they passed his door. “Master Jerimoth isn’t going away on a trading venture,” Miriam told her brother. “He’s going back to Jerusalem. Joshua needs his help.”

“He told you this?”

“No, I eavesdropped last night when Hadad was here. The thing is . . . I’m going with them.”

“Jerimoth will never let you—” “I know. That’s why I’m not going to tell him. I’m going to follow his caravan until he’s too far from Moab to turn back.”

“Miriam, no! It’s too dangerous!”

“I promise I’ll stay within shouting distance. Listen, Nathan. I need you to tell Lady Jerusha and the others where I’ve gone so they won’t worry.”

“Let’s wake Mattan and we’ll all go,” Nathan said.

Miriam planted her hands on his thin shoulders. “Matt isn’t the same boy he was a year ago—and neither are you. We have a new life here, a better life, with opportunities you boys would never have if you returned to Jerusalem. You can both read and write now. You have a future here.”

“I don’t care. I want to come with you.”

“If you try to follow me, Nate, I’ll tell Jerimoth that you’re still stealing from the other vendors. He’ll throw you and Mattan both in jail. Is that what you want?”

She saw his surprise and embarrassment, then his anger. “You’re just like Mama! Always running off and leaving us! I knew you’d do the same thing someday! I knew it!”

“But I’ll be back, Nathan, I swear it. Master Joshua promised to be a father to you. He needs help. I’m going to bring him back so he can do that—don’t you understand?”

Nathan didn’t reply. He stood with his wiry body rigid, his arms folded stubbornly across his chest. Miriam pulled him close, rocking him until his body sagged limply against her own. “I love you,” she whispered. “I promise I’ll be back.”

Nathan’s arms closed tightly around her.

Travelers crowded the road out of Heshbon for most of the morning, making it easy for Miriam to follow Jerimoth’s caravan from a safe distance without being seen. Late that afternoon, when the road forked west into Samaritan territory, the traffic thinned out. In the plain below, the swollen Jordan River overflowed its banks from the early spring rains. Flatboats ferried passengers and cargo to the opposite bank. Since Miriam had no money to pay the fare, she would have to make herself known.

Jerimoth didn’t notice her as he paced near the water’s edge, issuing orders to his drivers and supervising them as they loaded the litters on board. So when Miriam saw Hadad sneaking off to a clump of bushes by himself, she decided to follow him. She watched as he removed a small flask from inside his robe and turned his back to take a drink.

“Hadad . . .” Her sudden appearance startled him, and he whirled around to grab her by the shoulders. She smelled the fruity wine on his breath as he shook her slightly.

“Miriam! What in blazes are you doing here?”

“The same as you. Helping Joshua.”

“Does Jerimoth know that you followed us?”

“No. Does Jerimoth know that isn’t water you’re drinking?” He released her with a curse. “Pay my fare across the river, Hadad, and he won’t find out what you’re drinking.”

“You’ve got some nerve, you little . . .” Hadad cursed again. “You may as well show yourself. We’ve come too far for him to send you back now.”

“Not until we stop for the night,” Miriam said. “I want to cross the river first.”

Hadad dug into his pouch and shoved a small piece of silver into her hand. “Here. I hope the blasted boat sinks, with you on it!” He took another long drink as Miriam disappeared into the crowd of travelers waiting to cross the river.

Once they reached the other side of the Jordan, they faced a long, slow climb up thousands of feet to Jerusalem. The men and animals were too weary to begin the journey before nightfall, so Jerimoth decided to spend the night in Jericho. Miriam knew that it wasn’t safe to sleep alone in the caravansary. She saw Hadad standing apart from the others and went to him again. He shook his head in disgust.

“Well, if it isn’t Miriam. Still tagging along, I see.”

“And here’s Hadad, still fortifying himself with wine. I want you to tell Jerimoth you found me.”

“I hope he beats you senseless.” He gripped her arm and towed her behind him. Jerimoth groaned when he saw Miriam and clutched his head.

“Miriam! Oh no! What are you doing here?”

“I came to help Master Joshua.”

He groaned again and turned to Hadad. “Did you know about this?”

“Not until she popped up out of nowhere.”

“But my mother will be worried sick. . . . Miriam, does my mother know you’re here?”

“Nathan knows where I am. He’ll tell her.”

“No, I can’t let you come with us. It’s too dangerous. I’ll have one of my men take you home in the morning.”

“Wait,” Hadad said. “She might come in handy. Didn’t she help you escape the last time? Besides, I don’t look like I belong with this caravan. Miriam and I can enter the city as two pilgrims, coming a few days late for Passover.”

Miriam could scarcely believe that Hadad would defend her. She held her breath, waiting for Jerimoth’s answer.

“Why have you done such a foolish thing, Miriam? You were safe in Heshbon.”

Miriam blurted out the first answer that came into her head, too embarrassed to confess her love for Joshua. “You’ve been a father to Mattan. I didn’t want him to lose you, Master Jerimoth.”

“Joshua will be furious when he sees that I’ve come,” Jerimoth told her. “I can’t even imagine what he’ll say when he sees you.”

Miriam worried about what Joshua would say all the next morning as she made the steep climb to Jerusalem. She walked in front of the caravan with Hadad to avoid the dust, staying within sight of the lead driver. There were very few places where the road leveled off to give her legs a rest and they ached from the strain of the continual ascent. Hadad said nothing until they stopped to eat lunch; then he shoved his canteen beneath her nose.

“Here, smell it! It’s water.” Miriam didn’t reply. They walked all afternoon in silence.

Jerusalem looked beautiful to her after nearly a year in Moab— pristine and golden in the late afternoon sun. But the streets were so jammed with pilgrims for the Passover feast that the caravan could barely move through them. She watched Jerimoth’s men unload the goods in the caravansary, then she sat with him and Hadad inside the vacant booth they’d rented, waiting for Joshua to find them. Even in the dim evening light, she could see the strain of worry etched on Jerimoth’s face. When the Temple shofar announced the evening sacrifice, he didn’t move. Hadad grew restless.

“I think I’ll go and—”

“Sit down, Hadad!” Jerimoth ordered. Miriam had never heard him speak so forcefully. “You’re staying right here!” No one spoke again as they waited in the growing darkness.

When Joshua finally arrived shortly before dawn, he crept up so silently that he seemed to materialize out of nowhere, startling them all from their sleep. His hair and beard had grown and except for his bronzed skin, he no longer looked like a Moabite. As soon as he saw his brother his temper flared.

“I thought I told you not to come, Jerimoth.” He spoke in a whisper, but Miriam heard the anger in his tone and saw it in his rigid stance. Jerimoth stood and embraced his brother.

“We’re family. We stick together. Your battles are my battles. . . .

Thank God you’re all right.”

“I am for the moment, but who’s going to take care of Mama if anything happens to us?”

“I’m trusting that Yahweh will.”

Joshua exhaled and looked around the tiny booth, acknowledging Hadad’s presence with a nod. Then Miriam stood and stepped out of the shadows. At first Joshua’s mouth gaped in surprise, then his features quickly hardened in rage. “Are you out of your mind, Jerimoth? What did you bring her for?”

“I didn’t bring her—she followed us. She wants to help.”

Joshua walked toward Miriam, stopping just a few inches from where she stood. The muscles in his neck and arms tightened as his hands bunched into fists. Miriam backed against the wall, certain he would strike her.

“You foolish girl, this isn’t a game! I don’t need your help! I don’t want you anywhere near me! You’re not part of this family!”

His cruel words hurt Miriam more than any physical blow. Through a haze of tears, she saw Jerimoth step forward to defend her.

“Listen, Joshua, she—”

“Shut up, Jerimoth! You have no idea what’s at stake!” Joshua grabbed Miriam’s arm and propelled her toward the door, shoving her roughly into the street. “Go home and stay there! I don’t want your help! You don’t belong here!”

Miriam ran from the marketplace without looking back.

Joshua shook with the force of his anger. He felt as if he was suffocating as his lungs began to squeeze shut.

Hadad sprang to his feet. “I’m going after her. You can’t let her run off alone like that!”

Joshua blocked the door. “Sit down! Both of you! She knows how to take care of herself.”

“But you had no right to treat her that way,” Jerimoth said.

“I had every right! Isn’t it bad enough that Maki died helping us? Do you want to kill Miriam, too? Now sit down and listen to me.” Joshua tried to take several deep breaths. He was wheezing as he battled against his rage and the panic that always accompanied his breathing attacks. He cursed Miriam for upsetting him and triggering his illness.

Jerimoth leaned against an empty crate. “What is this all about? What in heaven’s name are you doing here, Joshua?”

“I don’t want Miriam involved. This isn’t a game.” He ran his fingers through his hair as he drew another breath. “I can’t begin to describe what Manasseh has done to this nation. Every evil thing you can think of . . . every abomination . . . Walk up the hill to the Temple and look at his filthy idols, right in the middle of the courtyard! There’s an Asherah pole in the holy place and . . . and he sacrificed his own son!” He stopped, bending over double as he coughed, struggling for air. Jerimoth came to his side and rested his hand on his shoulder.

“Easy, Josh . . .” he said quietly. “I believe you. What do you want us to do?”

“Tonight, just before the gates close, take your empty caravan out of Jerusalem. Leave a pair of oxen and a cart outside the Sheep Gate with a reliable driver. Tell him someone will come for them after the final convocation tomorrow. Take the rest of your men to the Kidron Valley, where the priests dump the Temple ashes. I’ll meet you there. As soon as everything is loaded, get the caravan across the nearest Egyptian border as quickly as possible.”

Jerimoth gripped his arms. “What are we smuggling, Joshua?”

The air whistled through Joshua’s lungs as he drew a deep breath. “The ark of the covenant.”

Jerimoth sank down on the empty crate and closed his eyes. “God of Abraham!”

“You’re out of your mind!” Hadad said. “The priests will never let you—”

“The priests and Levites are part of this. Their lives are already in jeopardy. We’re smuggling all of them and their families out of Judah with the pilgrims, after the morning convocation.”

“Are you sure you know what you’re doing?” Hadad asked.

Joshua nodded. “The priests sought God’s will with the Urim and Thummim.”

“O God of Abraham,” Jerimoth moaned again.

“Now do you understand why I didn’t want you to have any part in this?” Joshua asked him. “If we’re caught, we’ll be executed—like Abba was.”

Hadad sank down on his sleeping mat and folded his legs in front of him. “And what do you want me to do?”

“Meet me at the south Temple gate the following morning, before the final convocation. I’ll need you to get Prince Amariah’s attention and draw him aside into one of the priests’ rooms where I’ll be waiting.”

“Then what?”