Rebekah Redeemed (3 page)

At the afternoon meal, Benjamin closed the shop and joined Mara in the shade of the narrow portico. They leaned on their elbows and the man reported his morning’s sales to his ever-questioning wife. The couple ate leisurely. The shop stayed closed during the worst heat of the day and opened again later in the afternoon. Rebekah stood close by to serve her mistress and master. They talked in front of her as if she didn’t exist.

“You still have not explained how you acquired my new servant.”

Benjamin sighed, let his eyes drift upwards and began, “This morning as I closed a sale a young man I thought to be a beggar came to me with her. I dismissed them, but he said he was not a beggar but a shepherd who knew my sister Miriam and her husband Eleazar. My sister is dead.” He spoke casually as if about someone he never knew.

“She needs to be with her father. Miriam chose her life long ago. My own children are dead and I’m not taking hers.” Mara said indignantly.

“Eleazar is dead.”

“So, we are to take her in and raise her? Is that what you think to do? I care nothing for her. She can not replace my precious children.” Mara pretended to cry and pursed her lips.

“Beloved...”

Mara cut him off, “You could care more about your dead sister who chose to leave her own family over me, your wife?”

“No! No. Of course not, beloved one. You are my life. I know how you suffered at the loss of your children. I’m not trying to replace them.”

She pouted and dabbed her eyes. Then her eyes narrowed. She said, “Then what am I to do with her?”

“She is strong helping with Hannah. You have complained that you needed another house servant. We didn’t have to pay for one at the slave market. We got her for nothing, beloved,” he commented.

All emotion disappeared instantly. Mara sat up and touched her finger to her chin, thinking for a moment. Then, she reclined and smiled demurely across the table at her husband. “Yes. I can use her. She will have to be taught manners and the proper way to wait on a lady of means.” Her chin rose even higher and she seemed proud of her new status with another servant.

“Yes, I will instruct Hannah to teach her all she needs to know,” Benjamin said.

Mara rose when she had finished eating and glided back into her room.

Rebekah watched Benjamin wipe his brow and lay back on the lounge. Rebekah and Hannah cleared away the table and the left over food.

Later, Mara reappeared in a lighter green tunic and cloak. She wore hoop earrings, bangles on her wrists and a fresh linen shawl. Her sandals were decorated with tiny stones and coins, her ankle bracelet jangled as she walked. She had put ashes on her eye lids and lined her eyes with coal; she put rouge on her cheeks and lips. Rebekah would learn that this was the style of wealthy women, and Mara loved to flaunt it to show she was richer than she actually was. She wanted to impress all who saw her.

“I’m going to Naomi’s and then to my sister’s.” She stalked out and onto the street, leaving the wooden doors open. The young boy who helped Benjamin in the shop ran and closed them behind her.

At eleven years old, Rebekah almost managed the household. Hannah still limped around the kitchen and worked from sunup to sundown around the house except on the Sabbath. She seemed ageless to Rebekah … ever ancient, but strong and relentless in her work.

Rebekah rose every morning at dawn. She started the cooking fire and then fetched the first water of the day before anyone else went to the well. She poured the fresh water into the large jars that stood in the kitchen. Then she fed the donkey and two goats. They were her only friends. Next she prepared something for Hannah to eat and woke her up with a bowl of warm bread and water. She milked the goat and put the milk in a jar in the coolest corner of the kitchen.

Before anyone else rose, Hannah shuffled about the house at a snail’s pace. Rebekah swept the courtyard and portico and picked leaves and twigs out of the small fountain Benjamin had put in recently for his wife. Then she brought out the pillows and arranged them on the two chaise lounges. They ate outside if the weather was warm enough. Otherwise she aired out and cleaned the small dining room next to the kitchen off the courtyard, fluffed the pillows and filled the painted pottery oil lamps.

Rebekah made another trip to the well, and on her return she began the bread for the day. She took a small measure of wheat and ground it into flour. Then she mixed the flour with a pinch of leaven from the previous day’s baking and added water, a pinch of salt and a little olive oil. The mistress refused to eat peasant’s bread made without oil. The young girl hummed as she kneaded the dough and shaped it into round loaves. For special festivals she made braided loaves. While the bread rose, she built up the fire and placed the metal plate over the grate on the fire to heat. Then she cooked the large round flat pancake-like loaves. As they finished, she took each one and placed it into a large basket to cool and put the next loaf on the cooking plate.

Hannah prepared honey, toasted barley and bread for Benjamin. He wanted to eat before he opened the shop. Mara always slept until mid-morning and threw anything she could reach at anyone who entered her room and bothered her before she rose. Rebekah learned how to light a small fire in Mara’s room during cold weather without waking her. It had taken many bruises and mastering the art of running while ducking, but she had learned.

When the bread was finished, the young girl made another trip to the well with Hannah. On her return she cleaned out the stable and went to gather wood and dried dung for the fire. She loved wandering the hills around
Bethany
gathering wood. It was the one time she could get away from those who worked her or ignored her. She remembered her father telling stories about the suffering of the people and the Lord Jehovah’s deliverance for those who love Him. Her mother had taught her to pray as a tiny child, and she prayed as she walked across the open field behind the village. She remembered the morning and evening prayers that her and father had said. Sometimes she heard Benjamin say them. “Hear Oh
Israel
. The Lord our God, the Lord is one.”

Once she wandered as far as the top of the hill and could look down on the beautiful City of
David
. She knew the stories of
Judea
when King David had ruled and about his son Solomon. She could see the
Temple
and wondered what it would be like to be free and to be able to go into that great city. Unfortunately, she lost track of time as she wandered gathering wood and gazing at the walled city. She watched people going in and out of the East Gate.

On her return, Hannah scolded her. “Where have you been?”

“Gathering fuel for the fire,” she answered innocently.

“You were gone too long. The mistress has been looking for you. She is in a mood. I tried to keep you out of trouble and got nothing but the switch for it.” Hannah rubbed her shoulder and shook her head.

“I only…”

“You must stop dreaming, child. It will do you no good. I used to dream when I was young and look at me. This is what your future is, unless the mistress becomes angry enough to sell you. Do not give her a reason. There are worse places than here,” she warned.

Rebekah finished stacking the wood and dung outside the back door of the kitchen next to the stable and washed her hands and feet. Mara would not allow dirty hands and feet in her house.

“Take this to the mistress.”

Rebekah took the pitcher of wine and water, tucking two glass goblets under her arms. She had learned how to hold two in the crook of her elbows and carry the wine pitcher with both hands. Once she had dropped the glass goblets. Mara had beaten her and threatened to sell her. Benjamin had calmed his wife and convinced her not to sell the girl; after all, they obtained her without exchanging a single sheckle for her.

“Where were you?” Mara demanded. “You have work to do for this household.”

Rebekah put the wine and goblets down on the table and poured the drink.

“Well?”

“Gathering wood for the fire, mistress,” she said quietly with downcast eyes.

Mara glanced at her friend who lounged next to her. Eyes narrowed as she looked back at the child, she sat up and struck her across the face. Rebekah fell sprawled out on the floor. “Get out!”

Rebekah picked herself up off the floor, bowed and ran back to the kitchen. Silent tears ran down her cheeks.

“Do not dawdle in the fields. I tried to warn you.” Hannah shook her head and continued preparations for the late evening meal. “Go for some more water. Mistress bathed while you were gone and I have no water left. You need to go twice, and hurry. The master’s brother Jacob is coming from Jerusalem.”

Rebekah ran from the house with her water jar and hurried to the well.
From
Jerusalem
? I have another uncle from
Jerusalem
? I hope mistress lets me wait on the table. I’ve never seen anyone who lives there before
.

The banquet for four began with the late afternoon meal and continued into the evening. Mara wanted to impress Jacob and his wife. After all, his caravans fed their small business, and she wanted to be wealthy and move from this tiny home into
Jerusalem
. Something more suited for a wealthy household. Benjamin did not share her aspirations for great wealth. He was the younger son, so the family inheritance had gone to Jacob. Mara drove her husband like a stubborn donkey to push him ever harder. Mara courted the couple like a young man courts his bride to be, but her plans were rooted in jealousy, greed and a drive for more power through her husband.

Mara fawned over Jacob and Tirsah. They were both lavishly dressed in blue and green layered tunics. Tirsah wore elaborate jewelry and rings on all her fingers, jeweled sandals and rings on her toes. Rebekah washed their feet even though they had come from
Jerusalem
riding in covered chairs carried by four strong slaves each. Benjamin bowed and groveled, complimented and gushed over his older brother, Jacob.

The feast included savory roasted antelope with onions, platters of lettuce, sliced cucumbers, fresh beans, herbed humus made from chickpeas, fresh bread, and olive oil, two kinds of the best wine mixed with water. Mara made sure to include a Galilean fish stew. Other platters were loaded with soft goat cheese, spiced yogurt, pomegranates, figs and both green and red grapes. Her mother and sister had assisted Mara so she could make the best of impressions in her ploy to charm Tirsah and, through her, Jacob. Then she could push and negotiate over the wine into the night for a better place for her husband in this partnership.

Earlier in the day Rebekah and Hannah couldn’t help but overhear Benjamin’s reaction to how much she had spent on this lavish dinner. Rebekah peeked around the door jam and saw her uncle’s face turn red and the veins on his neck bulge out. “How can we afford two months earnings for one dinner? You will drive us into the streets if you spend my money like this! And these lavish new clothes?”

Mara burst into tears. Wailing, she sank to the floor and rocked herself. “You would have me suffer through this terrible life in
Bethany
when we should be living well in
Jerusalem
. We should have a house like your brother. You promised to take care of me. All I want is to see you successful.” She folded over in a heap at his feet crying loud enough to be heard from the street.

Benjamin sighed with exasperation and sank down next to his devastated wife. She shyly glanced through her fingers as he tried to lift her up and then cried louder. “I know you do this for me. I am concerned over spending so much at once.”

“You do not even care if Jacob and Tirsah think we are poor villagers. You do not care how it makes me look and reflects on you,” she whined.

“It is alright, beloved,” he crooned in her ear and rocked her in his arms.

Over his shoulder Mara’s mouth widened into a vixen’s smile. She pulled back and pretended to wipe her eyes. “We must get dressed before they arrive.”

The conversation ended. Rebekah knew from experience that Mara had won. Mara had made it clear for weeks that she wanted to beguile Jacob into taking Benjamin on his next caravan to
Damascus
or
Caesarea
.

With Jacob getting older, Mara had badgered Benjamin about stepping into a more prominent place in the merchant business. She constantly nagged at him about moving into
Jerusalem
.

While Rebekah and Hannah put the last touches on the banquet table, they could hear Mara. “You know that Jacob’s only son is spoiled and is repulsed by any kind of work. I’ve heard that he prefers the Roman ways.”

“But he is Jacob’s first born and will receive his blessing,” Benjamin said.

“Listen to me, you fool. I know that Philip lives in the country house near here. I’ve heard that he considers it close enough to
Jerusalem
to enjoy its bounty but far enough away to feel like a nobleman.”

“How do you know these things?”

“I have my ways,” said Mara. “Trust me, my dear husband. Your brother, Jacob, needs your help since he cannot depend on his whelp.”

From the shadows, Rebekah watched Mara play on the opportunity to promote her husband’s standing and her own power as if it were palace intrigue. By the end of the evening, Mara had triumphed.

Jacob and Benjamin spoke together alone until late into the evening. Their voices quietly droned on and on. Tirsah and Mara retired for the night and
 
dismissed Rebekah. She and Hannah went to bed exhausted.

As she fell asleep, Rebekah thought about the elegance of her uncle Jacob and aunt Tirsah. Jacob’s smile reminded her of her mother. She keenly felt the emptiness like a hole in her chest. She still missed her mother and father but pushed such thoughts out of her mind during her busy days. Only at night did the memories come flooding back, leaving her with faint tastes and scents of things she would never know again.

The next morning, Jacob and Tirsah left for home before Mara woke up. Mara arose at mid-day. She said, “Rebekah, tell Jonathan that I must see Benjamin now.”

Rebekah hurried to the shop door and got Jonathan’s attention. He was the man whom she had first seen shaping pots and jars on the day she arrived. “The mistress wants the master. She said now. Please tell him.”

Rebekah returned to her work across the court yard.

Benjamin responded to his wife’s request and hurried to her where she lounged in the shade under one of the porticos.

“Well? Tell me... hurry up!” demanded Mara.

“Jacob has decided to increase my share and give me more responsibility. I am to go with the caravan to
Caesarea
in two weeks,” said Benjamin.

“Is that all?” asked Mara.

“He wants to have me more involved in daily business in
Jerusalem
.”

Mara clapped her hands. “And you doubted me? Every sheckle was worth it. I knew I could advance our fortune. If it weren’t for me, you would be... you would be stuck here in this miserable camel stop you call a business and I would be forced to live out my life in this mud cave instead of a real home with real servants more befitting my station.”

Benjamin went back to work when Mara waved him off. Mara paced the courtyard and rubbed her hands together. “Now, I can live in
Jerusalem
and be where I truly belong, where I was always meant to be,” she said out loud to herself. Then she threw head back and laughed.

Mara went to visit her family for a few days. “I must share our good fortune with them,” she said as she left.

That night Benjamin and some of his friends celebrated his good fortune. He could enjoy the men more without his wife nearby to hear their every word and interfere. It wasn’t a woman’s place to get involved in men’s conversations. In Mara’s absence, Benjamin could portray himself as strong and master of his home.

His friend Judas arrived first. They slapped each other’s shoulders and Judas said, “I have a surprise for you, one that will bring a twinkle to your eyes.”

“Yes? And what is it?”

“I’ve invited the women of pleasure to join us in honor of your prosperity and promising future.” The men laughed.

Two other friends arrived shortly after Judas.

Hannah and Rebekah served platters of food and wine. The men drank more than they ate. Finally the women arrived and fawned over Benjamin and his friends.

As the evening wore on and the hour grew late, Judas said, “Jacob, must we be offended by this old crow? Send her away.”

Jacob commanded, “Hannah, Rebekah, go!”

As Rebekah walked past Judas, he grabbed her arm and pulled her into his lap. He reeked of wine. “Not you, my little flower.”

Rebekah looked to Hannah. She could do nothing to help her. Then she looked to her uncle, Benjamin who was completely taken in by one of the painted women.

“Come now, be good to me and I’ll tell your master to take better care of you.” Judas laughed.

Rebekah tried to slide out of his grip, but Judas forced her to sit on his lap. He seemed to delight in her squirming to get away.

“I know how to treat little girls, young one.” Judas fondled her and pulled her tunic off of one shoulder.

Rebekah pushed at the man to get away, but he held her even tighter. Then he slipped one hand up her leg. The young girl froze.

Finally, when Judas had finished with her, he pushed her to the floor and kicked her. “Away from me. I need a real woman.” He reached for one of the prostitutes and laughed loudly.

Rebekah crawled into the shadows and away to the kitchen where Hannah cared for her.

“Oh, child, I’m sorry I could not stop this evil.”

Rebekah slept for most of the next two days.

Benjamin seemed to be oblivious to what had happened to her and labored to sell off as much as he could in the shop, and then he packed up the rest to take to Jacob. A week later, before Mara rose for the day, Benjamin set off for Jerusalem. Rebekah and Hannah knew that the master would be gone for some time and they would be at the mercy of Mara’s moods and whims.

Mara sent a messenger to her sister. The following day Joanna arrived with a servant and enough baggage to stay for weeks.

Hannah mumbled as she prepared the evening meal. “Another one to work us to death. Humph.”

Rebekah silently went about her tasks and tried to please her mistress and her sister. She knew all too well the consequences and the sting of the switch if she made a mistake.

As the sisters lounged about, Rebekah heard her mistress bragging of her accomplishment in advancing her place in society and her plans for spending her newly acquired wealth.

“I’ve worked on this plan for months. Benjamin would have never made the move or pushed Jacob into accepting him as a more important part of his own family’s merchant business,” said Mara.

“You have always deserved more than this,” said Joanna. She gestured airily with her hand, indicating Mara’s home.

The sisters shared a sinister laugh.

Mara snapped at Rebekah. “Get rid of this. The figs are dry.”

The young girl responded immediately, dropping her other chores. Mara backhanded her when she bent for the wooden bowl. A red welt rose on Rebekah’s cheek.

“Those figs are only fit for swine,” said Mara.

Mara’s attitude and voice changed instantly as she spoke again to Joanna. “Now, finally, we can live in
Jerusalem
.”

“When?” asked Joanna.

“As soon as Benjamin returns with the caravan from
Caesarea
. I am paying a visit to Tirsah in a few days. She will help me find a household fitting a merchant of standing.”

“It will be so wonderful, my dear sister.”

Rebekah was glad when her mistress went to
Jerusalem
with her sister for a few days. It gave her a break from constant threats and abuse. Mara was relentless in her treatment and distain for her. She didn’t treat Hannah much better.

On Mara and Joanna’s return from
Jerusalem
they sat up far into the night planning and scheming. Rebekah fell asleep hidden in the courtyard shadows listening to the sisters.

“It is perfect. Tirsah said the family won’t be returning. It has been deserted for months and the family disappeared,” said Mara.

“They say the Roman’s dragged them out and put them in prison at the Citadel,” said Joanna.

“No one returns from there.”

The two women grew quiet for a moment. Joanna took a drink of wine.

“Benjamin will speak with the elders at the gate and negotiate the change of property. Then I’ll have what I’ve always wanted. Almost,” said Mara.