Babes in Toyland II

by Aspen Mountain Press Authors

  She cocked her head, “For all the value you attribute to women for their knowledge, you take great pains not to teach them."

  "How to explain ... what does your mother do?” Crossing his arms over his chest, Jacob leaned against a wall.

  "My mother birthed only females. She had a lowly job, collecting wood to ensure the hearth fire never went out.” Saka wasn't sure where this line of reasoning was going. The woman was dead and long gone, carrion.

  "Had? Then she is dead?"

  Saka merely stared and waited. Her mother was nothing and had no place in conversation.

  "What happened?"

  Calling on the discipline that steadied her bow hand, she took a relaxing breath and let it out. “My dam allowed the fires to go out in the middle of winter. She was cast out of the tents to find fresh coals. To give such a one the means of fire is to risk a beating. No woman risked a beating for one who birthed only girls."

  "But your father—"

  "I do not know who the man was. Upon birthing me, she had been cast aside as a wife for not producing a male. From what she spoke, he died in battle before I was born, so she was permitted to keep some things. I was born a worthless female, so she was stripped of protection and given over to be had by any in the camp. In return, she was fed, her offspring allowed to fight the dogs for scraps and we kept warm."

  Jacob rubbed his face and stared at the cold-eyed woman in front of him. “After she left, what happened?"

  "She froze to death in the forest. The bucket was collected and I was sent for coals.” It wasn't exactly true. Saka had watched two of her sisters sent on the same errand. Both had been prettier girls who had begun engaging in bedsports with the men for new dresses and a chance at better treatment. One after the other, they left and the tent grew colder as the hours passed. Eventually, a man would leave and return with the bucket—the last time they grabbed her.

  "And?” He had an expectant look, as if he waited on a happy ending.

  "I took the bucket and a length of bone from an ox and went to the next tent. I asked for coals, the woman laughed and spat on me. I beat her with the bone until she lay still and I filled the bucket with coals and returned. The men then decided I made a better warrior than bed-warmer."

  Dear God, Jacob thought, this is what I was hoping to leave with my mother, to help her with cooking and weaving? Sukkot began tonight and so much needed done. An image of Saka standing naked in his home flooded his mind, the innocent look in her eyes, her lack of guile. Then the truth of her name hit him like a smack in the face. She had no parents to rejoice in her birth, to give her a name that reflected her culture and her people, in essence she named herself. He made his decision.

  "I cannot take you to lessons with me and tonight is very important. My mother needs extra hands. She doesn't speak your language, but I am certain she will make sure you understand her needs."

  * * * *

  Naomi wife of Moshe, mother of Jacob, left no doubt of what she wanted. By the end of the day Saka had managed to learn the names of all of Jacob's brothers, notably the youngest two still at home—Simi and Derech. She also learned the words for most of the fruits, breads and drinks that had to be arranged ‘just so’ in a modest tent on the edge of the family property. A broken tent in Saka's opinion, it had no roof!

  From the look of things, each family had a similar tent, arrayed in a circle around a much larger tent, one that looked to be voluminous enough to hold all the people milling about. It confused Saka how the entire community went about their preparations right under the noses of the soldiers—and not a guard seemed to notice or care. The patrols walked past and gave the tents a cursory look, shrugged and moved on. Did they not care or were there men stationed to watch from the shrubby hillside? Without Jacob, she had no one to discuss her worries with.

  As the day wore on, a black-skinned woman wearing a hair covering like her own startled Saka by embracing her. The woman smiled, spoke a guttural greeting and kissed first one cheek and then the other. Unsure of how to progress, Saka attempted to repeat the greeting back with an uncertain smile. It must have been the right thing to do as the other woman embraced her again before striding off to harangue Naomi for still being on her feet.

  Feet, or rather foot, was an easy word to learn. Feet were a preoccupation that boggled the mind. Most of the women admired her hair covering with covert smiles and half-hidden laughter, and then squawked over her boots. After being on her feet for hours, Saka was ready to agree. The soft leather was meant to give her better agility on Darghu's cloth saddle, not to bear up against rock and sand.

  Plus, it was a constant source of amazement that everyone expected Naomi to sit or lay down rather than work, simply because she was with child. At home one who produced six healthy male sons would be feted so, but according to Jacob female children were desired. The people of Judah were very confusing.

  As the sun readied to set, Saka was ready to lose her mind. She had not seen Jacob since the midday meal. His safety was her duty not this ... whatever this was.

  "I see Naomi has you cleaning the shellfish.” A vibrant female voice spoke from her elbow nearly making the Scythian woman jump. The language was that of the Rus, her homeland, not the Thracian language Jacob spoke with her in.

  "Are these for the evening meal?” Saka asked coolly, wondering how the woman guessed which language to speak.

  As if reading her mind, the other woman laughed. “Your eyes and your boots,” she smiled. “I am Penina, my husband is the second-born, Yigol. He often trades along the rivers in Rus with the Northmen.” Penina looked at the neatly separated clams in distaste. “No, these creatures are forbidden food, but the Seleucid's guards enjoy them. We give the meat to them to cook and use the shells to make dye."

  "Forbidden food?” Having something to eat had been such a rarity that Saka couldn't imagine a god denying his followers foods. Then she remembered the manners Jacob had drilled into her on the walk over. “My regrets,” she bowed low as was her custom, “my name is Saka Ishkuzi."

  "I know what you are,” Penina's tone hardened, “I'd hoped to simply discover your name."

  "That is what I have always been called, that is my name.” Saka was confused. Thankfully Jacob chose that moment to arrive. Kissing the hands of his brother's wife, he pulled Saka away.

  "My mother has had nothing but good things to say about you. I was worried."

  "I worry too. The soldiers came and looked at the tents. But the one called Penina says that we give them forbidden fish food and they leave us alone?” The concept baffled her so she couched it as a question.

  Jacob drew up in astonishment. So that was how the women got the Hellenes to overlook the tents! They were a seafaring people, it made sense they would eat something so vile.

  "It makes sense,” he admitted.

  "If you say.” She lagged behind, casting a suspicious look at the guard who was more than happy to take away the shelled fish. “Why are there forbidden foods and what are they? And, why do the women admire my hair covering, then laugh as if it is funny?"

  "You don't ask simple questions do you. The food list is very long, if you don't mind we can talk about it in the coming days. As for the hair covering,” he turned to face Saka, caressing her cheek with the backs of his fingers. “Only very young, unmarried girls go with their hair free. As they grow older a small covering is put in place to show modesty. It is only after marriage our women fully cover their hair."

  An axe to the stomach couldn't have stunned Saka more. Did the device mean they had wed? Or that they intended to? Her stomach twisted and cramped at the idea while another part of her body rejoiced at his sudden desire. Was she ready to give up being a warrior to chew hides for felt and keep a man's tent?

  "No,” Jacob shook her lightly. From the look on his face she must have dropped her guard allowing him to see her emotions. “We are not wed. I merely wanted to give you the protection of men thinking you married."

  "Pr
otection.” She looked and sounded utterly offended.

  "Unless you'd rather fend off interested slaves, soldiers and the rest of the men who live in, or pass through, Judah."

  Saka felt suddenly very foolish. Jacob was right. She couldn't do her job if such a thing should happen. It never occurred to her because men had never found her attractive or worth the attention.

  Chapter Eight

  After four weeks of living among the Jews, Saka was convinced they could never be a threat to any living person because they spent so much time in prayer. Morning, afternoon, and evening, each marked a different reason for another marathon round of prayer. Then there were the rules! Wear this cloth but not in that color, eat only this meat but never with cheese, bow to this woman but not to that man.

  To top things off, her fingers hurt. Naomi was a weaver but with her pregnancy taxing her strength, she couldn't keep up with orders. More and more Saka found herself not guarding Jacob but learning to weave for his mother. To be fair, the Nubian woman, Orali, took turns at the loom, but only after collecting heaping baskets of the shellfish Saka was coming to loathe.

  Separating out the meat and giving it to the guards was simple and gave her the opportunity to overhear anything that could present a danger to Jacob or his mentor, Rabbi Pathai. Grinding the shells was another matter. From the guards, she learned about raids along the border. The Hellenes were unconcerned but she smiled viciously. It would seem the men of Judah had learned something of battle from her people. When you are outnumbered, and encumbered by unending prayer, you strike hard and fast, learn the strengths and weaknesses of your enemy, then advance.

  Another reason her fingers hurt was because Saka insisted that Jacob learn some skill towards defending himself. Given his lean muscular frame, archery was a natural choice.

  Every day she insisted Jacob spend some small time learning the art of archery and, in return, he taught her his faith and language. After the harvest festival he had surprised her with a trip to farmlands and forests. Saka had thought such impossible in the desert, far away from river deltas, but truly their God must have power to take unyielding ground and make it produce. The light rains that had fallen during the visit had been just as amazing.

  Secretly, as Jacob slept, Saka watched him with open interest. She finally understood the ridiculous reason why women, and men for that matter, treated him more as a child than a man—he had no hair on his lip or chin. Given his great love of the bath, she was also very well aware he lacked hair on his chest as well. Her lips twitched, he thought her sleeping soundly when he washed, so she enjoyed the challenge of watching his body glow in the lamplight without him knowing. His sleek body was fascinating.

  As a small child in Rus, she dimly remembered men so hairy the Northmen laughed and called them Bear-men. But the bards among them attested to their ferocity in battle, so perhaps the lack of hair on her Jacob was viewed as a lack of manhood.

  Her Jacob. Saka shook her head. Aside from that first night when he had seen her naked, she had sensed no arousal from him. Hoping to capture his attention again, she stole out after dark for the forests and selected good branches. After a few shots with her bow, he became quite adept, but the weapon didn't fit him, it was made for her smaller arms. In stolen moments she began crafting him his own bow.

  During those minutes, she found time for her mind to dwell on the puzzle he presented. It was during those moments she discovered she liked his peaceful ways, his fear of hurting small creatures even accidentally. It wasn't a weakness to care, but strength. He cared in spite of the fact others thought less of him for it. His father was disgusted because Jacob spent money getting her clothing cleaned and repaired. His mother disapproved of how he took her to see an Arab doctor about her discolored teeth. Chewing hides stained with the juice of boiled nuts to cure skins had caused the problem. A few days of cleaning with a nasty tasting paste and her teeth were almost as pretty as his.

  It bothered his family that Jacob didn't take the bag of gold she surrendered to him and improve his lot in life. “I have enough to meet my needs. There is a roof over my head, food on my table, a pallet to sleep on and a donkey should I need to travel. What more could I want or need?” Then he fell into an argument with his father over how much was spent buying Saka.

  Jacob wanted to know the sum so he could trade the gold for her freedom but she had stopped him. It was such a simple thing, Jacob had been pacing, arguing with his shadow about the need to see her free, when she stepped in front of him and placed a single finger on his lips. They had been soft yet firm and the golden color of his eyes burned with more than anger, or so she imagined at the time.

  "I do not wish to be free if it means leaving you in danger.” That was all it took. He flapped his arms and gave her an enigmatic look, but in the end subsided to the bench for a cup of olive leaf tea.

  Stirring the pot of discontent in Jacob's family had been the arrival of the eldest son, Aviel, his very self-important wife, Hadassah, and their young daughter. Saka couldn't remember the name of the squalling girl child but gritted her teeth at the way everyone fawned over it. When she had been that age, she would have been beaten within an inch of her life for such a display. The small, toddling brat only served to make Naomi more maudlin in her hopes for a daughter at long last.

  Derech surprised everyone, easing his mother's heart by pointing out all the daughters she had gained in marriage, but the boost to the older woman's spirits didn't last long.

  Saka pulled out the nub of a candle she had retrieved from the trash pile outside of town and set to work with the collection of blades that had been concealed in her bow case. The hand piece was very nearly done. Three layers of wood with a bone haft that still needed to be affixed. When it was completed, she could drill the ends and attach the first set of limbs. The final pieces, elaborately curved limbs with a groove to hold the sinew strings, were soaking in a small stream she found near the trash pit. To obtain the right amount of curvature she had to make each layer of wood pliable with water. Once supple, she would use the scraps of silk string she had hoarded to slowly bind each limb to a steel ring from her kit. It would take close to a moon for the wood to soften enough to curve.

  Everything was going well but for the butcher. He was balking at selling her the sinew needed to make a proper string. It would take time to stretch and braid the ligaments properly. But there was a waiting list from the trades and Jacob was a scholar and worked shop for a spice merchant, so she was placed at the bottom of the pile. During the seemingly endless rounds of prayer, she found herself adding her own plea that the uneasy peace remain until the bow was complete.

  The raids had increased to the point where the pitched battles came closer and closer to Golan. Something was holding back the main focus of the scattered army, a sign. Blowing slivers of wood away from her work area, she wondered what the sign could be.

  Saka was still hard at work when a knock came at the door. Jacob woke, sitting upright with a loud exclamation, but she pointed at his pallet, indicating he should remain laying as she hefted her battle axe. It wasn't designed for ground work or close quarters, but she could make do.

  "Who is there,” Saka spoke to the wooden portal.

  "It is Hadassah, open this door at once!” Even through stone and timber the woman had a plaintive whine that made the ears ache. Saka didn't understand all the words but got the gist of it. Pulling her dagger, she used the tip to lift the lock free and nudge the door open enough to see.

  As if an open door was an invitation to enter, Hadassah strode imperiously into the room. Saka delighted in knocking her to the floor and holding the edge of her axe at the bitch's throat as she leaned out the door, scanning the street for accomplices waiting to advance. Using a loved one as a distraction was not unheard of.

  * * * *

  In horror, Jacob watched Saka trip his brother's wife to the floor, pinning her to the ground with the golden axe. She seemed oblivious to the cries of the felled w
oman as she peered outside. On a level he was impressed at the quick and efficient way she dealt with Hadassah, holding her in place without actually harming her, but the rest of him was repulsed that her harsh ways hadn't softened.

  "Jacob! Have this offspring of a dog and a jackal let me up immediately!” Clambering from his bed, he couldn't help but harbor the suspicion that Hadassah's lack of humility didn't help the situation.

  "Saka,” he used a soothing tone, “you must let her up."

  "Why is she here? It is late, she has no escort, no lamp,” Saka's eyes continued to stare piercingly into the dark.

  "Why are you here Hadassah? And where is Aviel or any of the guards he hired?” It was unusual, now that it was brought to his attention. He flushed at the blatant hate in Hadassah's eyes. Looking away, he spied the items Saka had been working on. It looked familiar...

  "Your mother labors, the child comes. Servants are needed to aid with the delivery."

  He rocked back in shock. “So you came to my home for Saka? Why not awaken my mother's servants, her Egyptian healer? They live in the same house.” His gaze narrowed on Hadassah. Something was amiss. “There is a curfew, how did you make it here without being captured by the guard?"

  Dark eyes flashed as Hadassah snarled and in reaction Saka applied a little more pressure with the blade.

  "Our prayers are answered.” Jacob watched as his brother's wife tried to shrink away from the blade with a nervous gulp. “The rains come and with it the Maccabeus’ army.” As if she had just noticed her position on the ground a hair's breadth from death, Hadassah's voice changed. “There is fighting everywhere, your father's house is at the center of a battle. He sent me here to you.” She stared at the blade in terrible understanding, but resentment crept back into her voice. “The men Aviel sent with me wait one street up; I wasn't to lead anyone to your door."

  "Saka!” In a panic, Jacob almost ran in circles. “You must get your horse, your things.” He spun this way and that. Where had she stowed her things? “My father's home is under siege and my mother ... the babe comes!"