Pearl in the Sand by Afshar Tessa

Author:Afshar, Tessa [Afshar, Tessa]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Publisher: Moody Publishers
Published: 2010-09-01T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter

Fourteen

Rahab’s brothers and father hadn’t returned by the time Adam and Abel plodded back, panting with the effort of carrying several large wooden poles between them. They decided they could start the process by themselves and shooed Izzie and Rahab away. Rahab, suspecting that their work would last into the evening, fetched her sisters-in-law to plan an evening meal fit for their new companions.

Joa, Karem, and Imri sauntered into the camp within the hour, and if they felt weariness, they forgot about it once they saw the tent. By early evening, their tent was up in its full glory, looking similar to many of the other tents that dotted the camp’s sprawling grounds. The whole family insisted that Adam and Abel stay for dinner, and they obliged far more readily than they had for the noonday meal.

They ate outside, enjoying the refreshing breeze as they admired their new domicile. Partway through the meal, Rahab noticed a couple of women wander over to their camp. A curly-haired, snow-white lamb tottered on knobby legs between them. Rahab assumed they had been disturbed by their lively conversation and stood up with a quick apology on her lips for the excess noise they had made.

One of them drew nearer. “You must be Rahab. Ezra has spoken so much about you. I’m his sister, Abigail. And this is Leah, Hanani’s sister-in-law.”

“Welcome. I am honored to meet you both.” Rahab dipped a hasty curtsy before them. “Please come and join us. We are just sharing a meal.”

“No, no. Thank you. We only came to bring you this.” Abigail pulled on a short, tattered leash tied around the lamb’s neck. “A gift from both our families for saving our brothers’ lives. We ought to have been here sooner. Forgive our rudeness for the delay.” She looked down.

“A gift? For me? But that’s completely unnecessary. They saved our lives every bit as much as I saved theirs. It has been a great joy to have both your brothers as our friends. Indeed, they have helped us without cease. If there were a debt, which there is not, they have far from paid it back since. With dividends.”

Abigail shook her head and pulled the lamb forward. “These men mean the world to us. We wouldn’t have ceased mourning them the length of our days should something have befallen them. We know the debt we owe you. ‘Rahab saved our lives more than once,’ they say. ‘She has greater faith than our fathers and mothers,’ they declare to anyone with ears. They praise you everywhere. You have been good to them, Rahab. You must let us thank you.”

Rahab hesitated, hating to take a gift for something she felt she didn’t deserve. Yet she also loathed offending anyone who belonged to Ezra and Hanani’s families. She decided she had best humble herself rather than run the risk of insulting these women. “I thank you both. We will treasure our first lamb in our home amongst Israel.”

Abigail and Leah both smiled at the same time.

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