Jerusalem Rising by Barbara M. Britton

Author:Barbara M. Britton
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: christian Fiction
ISBN: 9781611169386
Publisher: Pelican Book Group
Published: 2017-09-17T04:00:00+00:00

15

Three days passed.

Sanballat and his army of Samaritans stayed north in their own lands. Tobiah and his Ammonite followers did not show their treasonous faces. Had Nehemiah convinced the governors that his intentions were to rebuild the city of his fathers and not wage a blood battle or trade war? Or did fear of retribution from King Artaxerxes shackle their greedy hearts?

Telem, Othniel, and the brothers stacked stone upon stone, laboring vigorously and more hours than she cared to count. Her father relieved the men one by one, so they could rest and progress on their section of the wall continued uninterrupted. If every family worked as hard as hers, Nehemiah’s vision for Jerusalem would come to pass very soon.

With the sun not yet risen, she and Judith hurried to take a brief nap—the darkness still a shroud to their identity.

The light revealed who truly guarded Shallum’s area: his daughters.

Adah stepped through an opening in the wall near the next party of workers. Hanun and his kin were rebuilding the Valley Gate and the walls around the wooden frame. Her father’s section was already more than waist high and too much of a climb in a dress. A burst of pride buoyed her weary bones at the progress her friends had made.

In the distance, Othniel and Jehu layered cut stones. As she neared their campfire, Othniel glanced her direction. The flicker of firelight revealed sunken half-moons under his eyes. Dark bristles of a beard shadowed his jaw. When had he last slept? With all the urgency of building the wall, they had barely spoken of his kiss. Perhaps he only thought it an apology. Her stomach cinched. She did not need another apology, but she desired another kiss.

Hurrying toward the water jars, she filled cups, and sipped some refreshment for herself. She carried drinks to Othniel and Jehu, and ignored remarks about thirst from Telem and Jehuliel. She shook her head. Why was it men liked to be served? She would see to them in a moment.

“When can you rest?” She handed a drink to Othniel. His breaths came out in short pants after heaving a rock into place.

He tipped his head back as if to soak in the last of the starlight. “We need to secure another level.” The sling of his garment underneath his arm revealed an indentation of ribs.

Did Zipporah have enough coin saved to feed her sons and daughters-in-law? She squeezed the cup in her hand, grateful it would not shatter. “When did you last eat?”

He chugged the water she offered. “You may have enough vigor to ask, but I am too tired to answer.”

“Then I will spur my mother and the servants on to bring us some stew and bread. I may even bake the bread myself.”

“That would be an accomplishment grander than this wall.” He smiled briefly, but somehow his eyes stayed somber as if the weight of the rocks had crushed his spirit.

“Wait and see.” She took the cup from him. “You will find I am a guard with hidden talents.

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