won’t be alone. But the question is: can we be alone?”
I finished my wine, and I left after a few moments. As I was leaving, Khety reminded me to bring my translation of The Enchanted Prince to his office.
“I will bring it in the morning,” I said. “See you then.”
With that we said good night.
5
In a few days father received one more letter from Abdi-anati telling us when our friends from Beth-shan would arrive. I left Jerusalem one day before they were expected, and I went to Tamar and Khety’s estate. It was north of Jerusalem and just south of Gibeah where Saul had lived. I left after breakfast, and it was still in the cool of the morning when I arrived. Joel, the student who looked after things, greeted me. I recognized him immediately as I had seen him several times at the academy. I asked if there was anything I could do to help. He said that I could help him weed part of the garden, and after that we would go up the road to Sheva’s place and help his friend Jacob get ready for the guests. I thought it was a great plan.
“Just show me where to start weeding, and we will get this done.”
“Follow me. I’ll show you where to start, and I will do some watering.”
As we were walking along the path, I said, “Joel, do you like living here better than in the city?”
“Yes. The city is important, as is the academy for our work, but this country is so beautiful, so quiet; it is full of flowers and birds. I have to prepare my own food, but during the growing season it is fresh. Yes. I like it. Also, I like being away from the stress and conflict in the academy. There are students who are really searching for truth, but there are many who really do not care about anything. Well, here we are.”
Joel got me started. I had helped Tamar when I was younger, and I knew what I was expected to do. As I worked I thought about what Joel had said. There were students who should not be in the academy. Some of them were there in order to be on their own. They liked what the city had to offer; they liked the willing women among other things. But enough of that, I really did like being here. It was good to have my hands in the dirt. We finished our work about noon. We did not take time for a sit-down lunch. We grabbed some bread and cheese and walked over to see Jacob. He was busy cleaning up the house. He suggested that we could help by cleaning up the yard.
Sheva and Sara’s place needed a lot of work. At one time the property belonged to Joab, and it appeared that he had done very little to keep it up. Joab was known to everyone around this area as an evil person. He had tried to rape my mother, and he killed my grandfather, Gad. David did the right thing when he took this royal land grant away from Joab and gave it to Sheva and Sarah.
Joel and I started by re-stacking the rock walls on either side of the entrance gate to the house yard. The walls had fallen down, and the rocks were scattered and some were missing. When we finished, it looked much better. We also pruned a tree in the yard, and I found the makings for a bench. A nice tree needs a bench.
“Joel,” I said. “I think we should be getting ready for our guests. I will go in the house and help Jacob find something for dinner, and you could go back to Tamar’s garden and get some fresh cucumbers and other vegetables. I would like to have something ready for our travelers.”
“Fine. I’ll be right back.”
I went in the house and spoke to Jacob. “What do you have that we can fix for our friends to eat?”
“We have bread, cheese, yogurt, and honey.”
“Joel is going to bring some garden things. I think we have cleaned enough for today. We should get the table and the food ready.”
When Joel returned, he and Jacob got things ready. I went up to the spring and cleaned it out. I let it run just a bit until it was clear. Then I filled several jugs with water and carried them to the house.
We were ready. I told my new friends to rest while I walked up the road to meet our guests. I did not walk far deciding instead to sit on a rock and wait for them. Of course, they might be late. If so I would just have to go back to the house and hope they would get here the following day. But there was still time. Sitting on one rock, I leaned against a larger one. As I looked up, I watched the graceful flight of an eagle. I thought about the old Egyptian tale of The Enchanted Prince that I had just translated. The Prince could fly, and I thought about how everyone, who has ever watched an eagle fly, surely has dreamed of flying. Eagles fly with such ease. Just then I heard something. I quit dreaming about flying and stood up. Someone was coming down the road. I started walking toward the sound. Sharmila spotted me, and she came running. She reached for my hands, and I drew her to me and kissed her.
“It is wonderful to see you,” I said. “However, if I remember correctly, after a long trip Rebekah saw Isaac walking toward her, and she promptly put on her veil. But you found a place in my arms.”
“Yes I did, and I remember that Jacob kissed Rachel when he first met her.”
“That he did.”
So I kissed her again, but it was a short one. The rest of the party was fast approaching.
I greeted Abdi-anati and his wife, Pidray, and Sharmila’s sister Huraya. They looked tired. “This has been a long trip for you,” I said. “You did not have the king’s mules as we did when we visited you.”
“No,” answered Abdi-anati. “But these three donkeys were a great help. As you see, one of them carried our things, and the other two were available for anyone who was tired of walking. But it was a long trip; it took us four days.”
“And we made the trip in two days with the mules,” I said. “Now we will get on to the house. We have some food ready, and you will be able to eat and rest. It is just around the next bend.”
We were soon there. After the introductions, I asked Joel to take the donkeys over to Tamar’s small pasture. We were not sure about the pastures here at Sheva’s place. They might not be stock-tight. Jacob helped me set out the food, and Pidray and her girls added some things to our table. Sharmila said that she brought a melon just for me, and perhaps after dinner we could eat it outside in the yard. We had a good dinner and a good time. I got to know Pidray and Huraya much better. It was obvious that Huraya was a lot of fun and this did not go unnoticed by Joel and Jacob. She also teased Sharmila.
She said to me, “Sharmila has been difficult to live with on this trip. She thinks you will be anxious to see her. I have told her not to expect too much.”
“I don’t want to question your wisdom, but I was anxious and full of expectations.” I said this and noticed that Sharmila was blushing as she shook her fist at Huraya.
Everyone was tired, but they were also delighted to be in our cool thin air. Pidray said, “At home it would still be muggy and hot.”
All of us helped to clean up and put the food away. After that we showed our guests their sleeping quarters. I said, “Joel, Jacob, and I will be across the road at Tamar’s, and you should all sleep late.”
Abdi-anati said, “We never sleep late; we enjoy the cool of the mornings.”
And Pidray added, “I will want to bake some bread. Jacob, before you leave show me your fire pit and oven.”
Sharmila
