The Tomb A Novel of Martha by Stephanie Landsem

Author:Stephanie Landsem [Landsem, Stephanie]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fiction - Historical, Christianity
ISBN: 978-1451689136
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Published: 2015-03-01T05:00:00+00:00

Chapter Twenty-Eight

Cleanse me with hyssop, that I may be pure; wash me, make me whiter than snow.

—Psalm 51:9

LIKE DIVING INTO the cold waters of Galilee, the memories flooded through Isa. Her name was Martha, and she lived in Bethany.

Joy surged within his chest even as something else—something akin to panic—pricked at the edges of his mind. There was more, and it was something he didn’t want to remember. Something terrible.

Alexa sat up, her tunic gaping low. He had to get away from her. He clambered down the ladder, jumped the last rungs, and pushed through the courtyard door. Then he started to run.

He tried not to think, tried not to let the memories flow through his mind like a river breaking through a dam, choking off his breath, immersing him under a tide of shame and regret.

What have I done? The question drummed through his head as his feet pounded on the dirt. He sprinted through the town and out into the dark wasteland. Only one place could shut out the memories that threatened to drown him.

He reached the tombs and ducked into the mouth of the cave where he’d spent so many anguished nights. He fell to his knees inside, laying his head on the stone bench. But the smell of death and the darkness pressing down on him did not shut out his memories. They attacked him, piercing him like a thousand arrows.

Martha. A smiling girl, the only good thing in his life. Her laughter as they climbed the trees in the orchard, the taste of warm apricots in his mouth . . . How his heart broke for her when she lost her mother . . . Walking into Bethany with a rush of joy when he saw her again. Then the memory that made his heart writhe in regret. Those same trees, this time in full bloom. A carpet of blossoms and Martha, older and even more beautiful, giving herself to him.

Not like Alexa, with brazen hands and a greedy mouth. Not to trap him. But out of love and desperation. She’d asked him—begged him—to go to her father. But he’d been too afraid.

I’ll make you the happiest woman in all of Judea. He heard his own voice, saw the trust in her eyes. But he hadn’t. Martha had given him—a pagan, despised by everyone in Bethany—her most precious gift. He’d taken what she’d given him and left her. He squeezed his eyes shut . . . Left her seven years ago.

The cool air of the cave wrapped around Isa like a shroud. What had happened after he left Martha in Bethany?

He remembered leaving the orchard at first light with the memory of Martha’s love and a joy in his chest that even Zerubabbel’s stick couldn’t beat out of him. He’d told himself he’d return in glory—with silver enough to satisfy Sirach—and they would marry amid the music of the kinnor and feasting. He put his hand over his face. I was such a child. Such a fool.

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.