Wives of the Flood by Vaughn Heppner

Author:Vaughn Heppner [Heppner, Vaughn]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Christian Books & Bibles, Literature & Fiction, Historical, Genre Fiction, Religion & Spirituality, Fiction, Historical Fiction, African, Asian, Biographical
Amazon: B00IN83DKK
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

18.

Several days later, Nimrod, Gilgamesh and Uruk traveled along the shady banks of the Euphrates River. Like a thin strip of forest, date palm trees lined both sides of the mighty, yellow-colored current. From the tops of some of the palms, cooing pigeons watched.

When they had first arrived in the Land between the Two Rivers, the Euphrates had been swollen from the melting snow of the hinterlands. Then the river had been rich with silt and an even muddier brown color, and had flooded wide areas, depositing the new soil in a helter-skelter fashion. In some places, the floods formed reed-rich swamps only now drying out; in others, the rainless alluvium missed the moisture and remained sandy grassland. In this vast, treeless plain of primeval mud, the river fell a mere 112 feet in 210 miles. Accordingly, when the Euphrates flooded, it often left its riverbed and carved out new channels. Because of that tendency and the distribution of silt each year, the riverbed in many places was higher than the surrounding countryside.

As the three men traveled along the palm-lined bank, ducks quacked their way across the four-hundred-yard-wide river, while elephants on the other side dipped their trunks into the flowing waters and hosed it into their mouths. One frisky fellow sprayed his mother until she lowered her head and nudged him.

The sun beat down on everything except whatever hid under the shade of the palm trees. Sweat slicked the three Hunters. Uruk doffed his wolf cap and dragged a brawny forearm across his face. “I’m for a swim.”

Nimrod barely shook his head. He scanned back and forth, seeming to search for something. Ever since reaching the Euphrates, he had refused to be alone for even a moment.

“We could try out my new hooks,” Gilgamesh said. “Let’s wade past the reeds and toss out our lines.”

Nimrod shook his head again. He hadn’t said much today. He kept watching, glancing around and occasionally urging them to hurry. He walked ahead and, without noticing, he walked through dried elephant manure.

“What’s he so fired up about?” muttered Uruk.

Gilgamesh had no idea, but that Uruk even addressed him showed that the brutish Hunter also sensed Nimrod’s unease.

Nimrod whirled around, intent, staring at both of them. He doffed his lion hood—he wore Black Mane’s skin as a hooded cloak. “Whatever happens, don’t panic.”

“What’s going to happen?” Gilgamesh asked.

Nimrod glanced over his shoulder, as if he saw something he didn’t like. Gilgamesh saw nothing unusual.

“Agree to nothing,” whispered Nimrod. “Remain silent, saying neither aye nor nay. Proffers of power or…” He glanced sharply at Gilgamesh “…of woman gained or riches to buy them…” Nimrod shook his head. “Hold your ground, too. Don’t allow yourself to be awed. Remember, about things we can’t see, we can be easily tricked or cheated.”

“What are you talking about?” Uruk asked.

Nimrod bared his teeth. “Follow me, and remember what I’ve just said.” He turned and marched ahead.

Gilgamesh and Uruk, both thoroughly frightened and uneasy, stuck close behind him. They traveled for another league, two, when:

“NIMROD!”

Nimrod skidded to a halt, his eyes wide.

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