AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Oh, yes, Sh’mira. Goats. Lots of goats. And sheep. And even cattle.”
“Animals? Our visitors are animals?” Mira teased. She rose to her full height and allowed him to take her hand. She had nearly forgotten about the earthenware jars until the warm desert air blew across them, causing them to clank against their perch. She turned back to the well, drawing Yousef along with her.
“Of course not. There are men and women.” He tilted his head and looked at her. “There are even girls,” he said in a hushed voice.
“It that so?” She removed her fingers from his and brushed her hand over his mop of curls. “Come. Help me fill the jars with water, so that our guests may find sustenance from their journey.”
Mira watched in amusement as he tried his hardest to pull up the bucket of water. “Here, allow me to help you.” She wrapped her fingers around the handle right beside his. Together they turned it. Yousef stood on his toes and peered over the edge of the well. “Careful. You do not want to be lost down there, do you?”
He cocked his head and looked at her with curiosity. “Is it far?”
She laughed, even as it caused her pain, for it was a question Joash had once asked. “I do not know, for I have never fallen in,” Mira said, giving the boy a wink.
They filled the jars and then Mira settled the yoke onto her shoulders. They began down the path to her father’s house, her young companion rushed ahead in excitement.
If she were to believe Yousef an entire village descended upon them. Mira locked her knees, her feet refusing to move. Nervousness grasped ahold of her that several long releases of breath eased.
Dare she hope Ari had returned? Had not Yousef said goats, sheep and cattle were among the visitors? She swallowed against the tears threatening to spill. Whoever their rare visitors were, Ari would not be found amongst them, of that she was sure.
With another deep breath and a swipe at her tears, she steadied herself. It mattered naught who they were, they deserved hospitality, and she had tarried long enough.
The farther she moved along the worn path the louder the baaing cries became. Intermixed among it all were voices calling out to the herd. She turned her ear for a familiar voice even as she knew it would not be there. In light of the recent attack on her family she hoped the visitors were not bent on mischief.
She strode up the hill and rounded the curve. Here she halted at the sight before her. The vineyard south of her home burst in bright greens, flourishing from the recent rains. But it was the vision surrounding the courtyard that left her in wonderment. There were not just a few sheep, there were many. Near a hundred, maybe more.
Her gaze trailed to the pen where their lone lambs had been housed and found it occupied by goats. Several oxen were tied outside the pen, to the posting fences. Men, twenty or so, milled about erecting a larger fence while others corralled the sheep with their staffs to keep them from wandering into the wilderness.
Something caught her attention as she glanced across the sea of activity. She shielded her eyes with her free hand and peered deeper into the group of women. Was Lydia among them?
Before she could ascertain the truth the woman turned away from her. Perhaps it was only her foolish heart longing for something that could never be. Why would Ari’s family travel among livestock?
She dropped her hand, and straightening her shoulders walked home, her sore feet crunching pebbles as she went. Each rounded and jagged object pressed through the sole of her sandals. The cuts and scrapes on her feet rebelled with every step, especially now with her extra burden, yet it was no more painful than the chasm ripping her heart into two.
Everywhere she walked Ari had been at one time or another. Even here, he had oft taken the earthenware from her, carrying it for her. And as she gazed upon the men digging holes for the posts, she could not help but feel bereft, for that had been one of the many chores Ari had tended to when he lived among them.
Her memories prodded her to run from this place, to close her eyes and her heart to her father’s house, for it was filled with dreams of Ari. However, she could not abandon her family with so many guests to tend.
Lord, grant me courage.
She neared the stone structure she called home. A man she did not know in blue and purple robes and a turban knelt before her. She looked upon him with curiosity. Then another man, as finely adorned, did the same. Even though she could not see his face, he, somehow, seemed familiar. As did the next and the next. She narrowed her eyes.
Who are these people? God, why do they honor me so?
And then the last knelt, his graying beard tucked against his chest. He tilted his chin and looked her full in the eyes. His own were filled with merriment. The other men glanced at her as well and recognition dawned. The earthenware jars swayed as she stumbled.
