The Walls of Arad by Carole Towriss

Author:Carole Towriss [Towriss, Carole]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Four Diamonds Publishing
Published: 2016-06-02T04:00:00+00:00

Thirteen

ARISHA WATCHED IN AMAZEMENT AS Adi slipped the needle through the fabric over and over, producing a series of identical stitches along the bottom of the robe. They were nearly invisible on the front side. Would she ever be able to sew like that? “How did you learn to do that? I mean, it’s not like there’s a lot to practice on.”

Adi laughed. “Not according to my mother. She made me practice anyway. She said I’d need to know how when we settled in Canaan.” She held the garment out. “Do you want to try?”

Arisha held her hands up, palms out. “No, no. I’m afraid I’d ruin it. You finish.”

“All right. I have just a little more, then you can try it on. I’ve already finished the sleeves, and I’m almost done with the hem.” Adi took a few more stitches, then knotted off the thread. “Here you go. Stand up, and let’s see if it fits.”

Arisha let Adi slip the robe over her shoulders. Her fingers traveled along the soft blue border along the neck and down the front. “It’s so beautiful, Adi. Are you sure you want me to wear it?”

“Of course. Zivah wore it, and now you must wear it when you marry Zadok.” She placed her palm on Arisha's cheek. “You’re my daughter too, now.”

As had happened every day—sometimes several times a day—since she and Zadok had agreed on when to marry, tears burned her eyes. She blinked to keep them from falling.

“Oh, habibti.” Adi hugged her tightly. “I didn’t mean to make you cry.”

Arisha laughed as she wiped her eyes. “It seems everything makes me cry lately.”

“That’s perfectly normal.”

Arisha turned at the voice behind her. “Zivah!”

“And now I have the sister I always wanted.” Zivah wrapped her arms around her newest relative.

“Oh, let me take off the robe before something happens to it.” Arisha shrugged off the garment and folded it before handing it to Adi.

“How about some tea?” Zivah knelt before the fire and poured water into a pot to heat.

Arisha laughed as she sat next to her. “I’m always in the mood for mint tea.”

Adi handed her a faded piece of blue linen. “This is the fabric my imma used to teach me to sew. I taught Zivah and I’ll teach you if you like.”

Arisha's eyes widened. “You would do that?”

“Yes. It’s easy to learn the basics, but it does take practice to do it well. Come, watch me.” She picked up a fishbone needle with a piece of linen thread, then poked it through the underside of the fabric. “There’s a knot at the end to keep it from pulling all the way through. We go a little way away from where we came up, and go back down. Then we come back up next to the first spot, and back down again, and just keep repeating. Want to try?”

It didn’t seem all that difficult. Arisha took the cloth from Adi. Up, down. Up. Down.

Zivah gestured to Arisha's necklace. “I see he gave you a pendant.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.