Fire by Night by Hannah MacFarlane

Author:Hannah MacFarlane
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Scripture Union England and Wales
Published: 2011-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

21

“THEY COULD NOT DRINK THE WATERS OF MARAH FOR THEY WERE BITTER …”

Three days ago I found it hard to believe how anybody could have allowed themselves to lose a sweet little girl like Nati. We passed the day becoming firm friends. We sang songs and played games, she ran circles around me and twirled and danced, we discussed the people that we saw around us, I taught her to count: one standard, two old people (Jada objected to that, but Yarin grinned), three tribes of Judah, four sheep and so on. By the end of the day my jaw ached from smiling so much – I haven’t laughed so hard since before I left Goshen. Nati fell asleep riding on Yarin’s back, her arms draped over his shoulders. She was peaceful.

Two days ago I watched the sun rise, looking forward to another fun-filled day ahead. We started out well, but Nati was getting tired of walking. I began to understand how difficult it can be to travel with a small child whose pace is slow at best, and who stops to examine every interesting pattern in nature. She pointed out ripples in the sand that reminded her of pretty ribbons, cracks in the rock like lightning in the sky, shapes in the distant mountain ranges – a horse, a pyramid, a sphinx – and she craned her neck back to soak up the rich blue of the cloudless sky, stopping in her tracks and causing those behind us to have to stop too. I love her sense of wonder, but at the same time I was trying hard to get her to hurry up. And then she became thirsty. I didn’t want to get frustrated with her, but often I couldn’t stop myself getting annoyed. I told her again and again that I had no water, but I’d find some for her as soon as I could. I hope I sounded calm by the seventh or eighth time I’d said it. I was very grateful when Jada took Nati’s hand and invented a sort of marching game to encourage her along. I was glad of the break and of Yarin’s encouragement.

“You’re doing well,” he said. “She’s learning to trust and respect you.”

“But she doesn’t listen.”

“She does,” he assured me. “But she can’t understand your urgency. She’s young. Be patient with her, Adalia.” I was doing my best, but I promised myself to try even harder.

Yesterday we were all tired and thirsty and my patience, despite my very best efforts, was short. I couldn’t blame Nati for whinging though – I felt just as fed up, and half the tribe were complaining loudly. It would have been unfair to stop her from doing the same. For most of the day I held tightly onto her hand and said very little. Sometimes I carried her for short periods. She would cheer up then, but it exhausted me even more and I became gloomier than ever. I’d managed less than three days before getting worn down by Nati; her parents had managed much longer.

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