He broke their embrace.
She held on to her belly, still panting from their passion.
“I am coming back for you, Naomi. Very soon.”
When Eliab left her sight, she thought her heart had come loose. Why had their meeting come with such chaos? Surely if things had been different, her father would have accepted an offer of marriage from such an upright man. She rested on God’s promises that she would see Eliab again even though the clamor of war greeted her at every turn.
Onan and Eliab led the fighting men of Judah down the Camel Road with Isa at their side. The dirt quaked beneath her feet, but quiet ruled the hazy, dust-filled air. No one spoke of the potential battle ahead. The flatlands were a small journey away. Her temples pounded from thinking too much of evil. Was an ambush waiting in the hills? Were slingers camped in a crag? If only she could concentrate on the good.
She found Cuzbi and Jael near Hamul’s mount, each holding a jeering mask.
Naomi shook her head.
“I’m surprised Hamul didn’t give one to Yom.”
Cuzbi peeked through the holes in the wooden face. “I believe that elder has been struck in the head one too many times and that is why he hands us these disguises.”
Naomi checked to see if Hamul hovered nearby. “He rallied men to our cause. Be respectful, I beg.”
“It was at Judah’s urging that our husbands snatched us from the dance.” Cuzbi set her mask on the ground. “Ashbanel confided as much.”
Apparently, Ashbanel didn’t realize that Hamul acted alone, and she was not going to tell tales on their protector. Not to a woman in the family way whose husband’s life remained in peril.
She and Jael took turns corralling Yom. Chasing the lamb kept her mind free from worry. The animal must have sensed what they could not, for soon wind whipped through their camp.
Torch fires blew sideways. Hamul’s horse high-stepped to avoid the flames. Naomi clutched her head covering tight around her face and retrieved rope from the supply cart to make a lead for Yom. Jael and Cuzbi looked like sacks of grain huddled together, covered head to toe with cloth.
“Where is that crazed elder?” The storm muffled Cuzbi’s plea.
Naomi squinted down the road. Raindrops splashed on her nose. One. Then another. Then another. A shiver spiked from her toes to her tonsils. Lord, do not send a flood.
“In East Gibeah we had a roof,” Cuzbi complained.
Jael peeked from her veil as the sky opened up and bathed the terrain with water.
Naomi stood in mud on a route bound for war. She might as well be swimming in the Jordan River for the soaking her clothes absorbed. How were Eliab and Isa weathering this downpour?
Lightning split the sky.
And for a brief second she saw Hamul. On the Camel Road. Scrambling her direction, mask in hand.
He called her name.
Hamul was disheveled when dry, but when wet, he was a possessed sight. His long hair looked like matted rabbit fur, and his jaw hung open as if he were drinking from the sky.
“God has sent us an army,” he said as he pranced in the puddles.
Naomi scanned the dark horizon as best she could. She didn’t see anything. No new movement. No new men.
“Where is this army?”
“Here.” Hamul tapped the ground with his foot. “If God can make man from dirt, so can we.”
Naomi glanced at the mud oozing into her sandals. Perhaps Cuzbi had not misspoken about Hamul. Or perhaps she needed a stronger faith. Would she not do anything to save Eliab, her brother, or her father?
Scooping some mud from the path, she stared at the muck that Hamul believed would become an army.
“How do we bring them to life?”
24
Cuzbi dug in the mud with a shovel while Jael added bits of straw. Yom ate any donkey fodder the wind blew his direction. The rain had stopped, but Naomi took little consolation from the weather as she sank elbow deep in the muck of clay. Was it insanity to listen to Hamul? Or her last hope? For only God could breathe life into dirt. But she had to believe. She had to pray harder.
“I tell you that man is an idiot,” Cuzbi said, her voice carrying like an out-of-tune lyre.
“Hush,” Naomi scolded. “Hamul sent men to block the road. We don’t want travelers wandering into our camp or into war.”
“Camp? We are an outpost.” Cuzbi rested her weight on the shovel and almost fell into their mud pit.
Naomi scooped a fistful of straw-studded clay from the ground and patted it into one of Hamul’s masks. “We will be well defended if what Hamul says is true.” She glanced at their elder as he secured fishing net from the supply cart to two torch poles. Giving the mud-filled mask to Jael, she said, “Go have Hamul inspect our first soldier.”
Jael placed the sculpted mud on the nets for drying.
“I do not believe in golems.” Cuzbi stabbed at the pit with her shovel. “God made Adam, not a bunch of weary women. And how many legions can we make by sunrise?”
Naomi pressed the stiff mud into another mask. “If the enemy believes these faces to be real, then this work is worth it, no matter the folly.”
“A real army is preferable.”
“Yes, but we don’t have more soldiers. So we’ll make them.”
“Because you and Eliab did not amass enough fighting men.”
“We did what we could.” Mud splayed as Naomi beat clay into another mask. “The rest is up to God. Life, death, armies, war.”
“Or whatever that foolish man has us do next.”
Jael returned with an empty mask and bent down near the pit.
“I will help pack the faces. I do not mind tarrying in the dirt.”
Cuzbi dug another mound of muck. “Vary the faces. Heaven help us if we have warriors that all look the same.”
“That’s the spirit.” Jael grinned, her white teeth contrasting with her splattered cheeks.
Cuzbi flung a lump of clay in Jael’s direction.
“Watch it, sister,” Naomi said as she stood to balance another face on the nets. “That clump would make a perfect nose.”
She chuckled and dodged another mud ball from Cuzbi.
When the sun hinted at its arrival, Hamul waddled over to the edge of their tomb-shaped pit.
“We must set our men onto the cliffs before our deed is visible. Have the girl carry the masks and you”—he pointed right at her finished sculpture—“have the mighty woman lift you up to place our spies.”
Naomi halted her task. Her arms ached from pounding clay, but it was the hollowing pit in her stomach that filled her with unease. She wanted to be useful, but the last time she climbed on the side of a cliff was to rescue Eliab. If his life wasn’t in danger, she never would have crawled to the edge and peered downward. She shivered at the remembrance and stilled. Wasn’t his life in danger yet today?
“As you wish—”
“Oh, no.” Cuzbi swung her shovel carelessly close to Hamul. “I am not climbing a hill. Not in my condition. My husband is an elder of Benjamin. Summon one of your soldiers.”
Hands on hips, Hamul took a deep breath, pushed out his chest, and rose to his full height, which was half of Cuzbi’s.
“My men are standing guard. How can I ask them to leave their posts?”
“I will place the golems on the hillside,” Naomi offered. “Cuzbi will assist me.” She held up a finger to her friend. “A man cannot touch my leg or waist. It appears you get the honor.”
“I should have stayed in Gibeah.” Cuzbi sighed in defeat.
“If you had, you’d be dead, or worse. Be thankful lifting my weight is your burden.”
Jael handed her and Cuzbi a clay face. Cuzbi grumbled behind Naomi as she traipsed to where the Camel Road widened into a valley with Gibeah in the distance. Naomi surveyed the side of the hills as she followed a trail wide enough for a slim goat.
“We will position the faces where the land juts out. Our tribesmen will think reinforcements f
rom Judah hide in the hills.”
“What can mud and straw do for us? We are not priests or prophets. If your Hamul was truly a seer, wouldn’t his son-in-law have taken him to fight instead of leaving him with the women?” Cuzbi picked at the dirt on her hand. “But for my husband’s well-being, I will believe in the little man’s schemes.”
Naomi pressed the edges of her first soldier into the hillside. “That is all I ask, for I do not have a better plan. Hamul has fought in battle. I have only listened to stories.”
Naomi noticed a cave below the apex of the cliff. “We should position a few men around that opening. Our enemies will fear slingers at such a height.”
Cuzbi belly-laughed. “And how will they sling with no arms?”
“Where is your faith, sister? Give me a hand up.” Naomi looped the satchel of golems over her shoulder.
“How about a push?” Cuzbi laced her fingers.
Naomi planted her sandal in Cuzbi’s foothold and grasped a nearby rock. Pulling her weight upward, she wedged her other foot in a crevice and began an awkwardly slow ascent to the cave. Sunshine warmed her back and sent sweat dripping down her face. Don’t look down. “Hear, O Israel.” Look above. “The Lord is our God, the Lord alone.” A few more feet. “I will love the Lord my God with all my heart.” Almost. “With all my soul, and with all my might. And I pray this day that Your people, Lord, will counsel for peace.” There.
She collapsed face first on a ridge, careful not to smash her soldiers.
With the rise of the sun, she had no time to slumber. She set two golems on the ground and hurried to the mouth of the cave to position a scout. Pounding clay on stone, she made sure her soldier would not fall. She raced to retrieve another face, whirled around, and practically collided with a man.
Naomi dropped her mud soldier and clutched her pounding heart.
The silver-clad man, who had helped her with her mount, stepped closer. He was still a sight to behold, dressed for a fight fiercer than any Judahite she had seen, save Onan.
“I didn’t know Hamul sent you to scout from up here? I thought you would be by Onan’s side.” Surely he had seen battle? Why did he stay behind, on a hill no less?
“I cannot see the arena from below.”
“You are prepared for a siege.” She knelt and tried to piece together the broken face, but her fingers trembled with the stranger so near. “We are hoping to prevent a war by sculpting an army out of mud.”
The man stared far off into the distance.
What a fool he must think she was in crafting soldiers from dirt.
“Naomi, what is keeping you?” Cuzbi beckoned in hushed tones.
She peeked over the edge to assure Cuzbi of her safety, but one look at the drop sent her stomach swirling. She shut her eyes. The hollow sensation in her belly lessened.
“I am coming down.” She kept her voice low. “There is a Judahite stationed in the cave.” She turned toward the soldier. “It is of great comfort to know you are keeping watch over us.”
A nod sent her on her way.
The long, humming howl of the shofar settled over her mud-caked flesh like a blanket. Onan blew the horn two more times. She rose and fixed her gaze to the east. A lone figure descended from the hills—Eliab upon his mount. He was but a speck of ink on a scroll.
Her chest sank as she scanned the divisions of fighting men from Ephraim and Manasseh. Rows of soldiers encircled the city, waiting to bring their justice to Gibeah. They covered the ground like parchment.
“Lord, we need a miracle. Send Your angels to protect my Eliab, his family, and mine.”
She squinted westward to view Onan’s descent, but no rider came forth.
She waited. She prayed the Shema. Not once. Several times. But only her Eliab galloped toward the masses.
25
Propelled as if by a rushing river, Naomi hurtled toward Cuzbi. Her friend made a gaped-mouth lunge to the side to prevent a collision. She did not have time for apologies with Eliab in peril. She had to find Hamul and convince him to ride out in Onan’s stead.
“What is the hurry?” Cuzbi asked, steadying herself. “Has our ghost army awakened?”
Naomi reached for a jut to save a spill. “Onan did not show with his men.”
“What do you mean? I heard the shofar.”
“Yes, but he is nowhere in sight. Eliab is alone with only two hundred soldiers.” Words rushed from her throat. “Hamul must represent Judah.” She raced toward the Camel Road.
Cuzbi fell in step. “What if Onan has betrayed us?”
“I cannot believe it. I met his wife and family. Surely he would not be involved in such deceit.”
Hamul remained near the cart with Jael.
“Elder,” she shouted. “You must ride out and meet Eliab. My tribesmen will kill him. Your son-in-law tarries in the hills.”
Mid-road, Hamul met her with his hands waving.
“You are mistaken. Onan came forth with this battle plan. He does not shy away from conflict.”
“He is nowhere to be seen.” She rested a hand on each of the elder’s shoulders as her chest heaved. “Go to Eliab with your fighting men. Let the other tribes know Judah is here in force.”
“Who will I bring? We are but a few stationed on the road.”
Naomi’s skin flushed as though she bathed in heated water. “You believe in golems, do you not? You saw a vision of a deliverer.”
“Not of myself.”
“Then who?”
The elder shrugged. “I do not know.”
“Then send someone. Anyone. Dress them in your finery.”
Hamul’s brows furrowed. He took hold of her wrist.
She clutched the elder with the claws of a scavenger. Releasing her grip, she said, “I beg of you. Ride out for Judah and Benjamin.”
The elder shook his head. “I cannot leave this place. What of these women in my care? Take one of my men. He will tell the others you speak on my behalf and for the elders of Judah. Sereb is not here to protest.”
“Who will listen to me? I am a grape picker’s daughter,” Naomi said.
“Go. Find a soldier.” Tears muddied Cuzbi’s cheeks. “You started this journey with Eliab. Now finish it for all of us.”
Jael tugged on Naomi’s tunic. “I will go with you.”
“No.” Naomi softened her short response with an embrace. “Stay with Cuzbi,” she whispered. “She will need someone to care for her if Ashbanel falls.”
Jael shivered like a caged bird.
Naomi rubbed the girl’s mud-caked back. “Do not fear for Isa. I know of no one who could get near him if he has rocks to sling.”
Jael’s eyes widened. “You sound as if you are not coming back?”
“I wish I knew what God has planned. I do not know the future, but I know who should accompany me.” She kissed Jael one last time and trotted backward toward the golem-laden cliff. “Find me a cloak. I will not impress anyone covered in clay.” Removing her faded indigo head covering, she called out, “Bring me some linen for another veil. This rag will not do.” She rolled up the soiled cloth and sent it sailing toward the cart. “To think that former sash was supposed to catch me a husband.”
“Do not be so hasty.” Cuzbi bent to pick up the rag. “It caught us all husbands.”
Naomi snorted out a weak laugh and then scaled rock, mud, and crushed stone like a mountain goat. Scanning the valley, hoping for a sign of Onan, her wish went unfulfilled. Eliab was nowhere in sight. Rows of soldiers had swallowed him up.
Huffing until her lungs burned, she called out for the scout. When she reached the landing, he stepped from the cave.
“I am in need of a companion.” She braced her hands on her knees as bursts of light clouded her vision. “Onan and his men have not come down from the hills. My husband is riding into a massacre. If we travel out and speak for Hamul, we might prevent another blood bath.”
“Why should the protection of Benjamin be my concern?”
Naomi gasped. “If it is not, why are you here? To watch the descendants of Jacob kill one another?”
The man did not move. He stood and surveyed the encampments as if he watched a Passover procession.
“Stay if you will. I did not realize cowards were born in Bethlehem.” Her temples pulsed with each syllable spoken. She turned to leave. “I will find another escort.”
“Naomi bat Heriah.”
How dare he address her using her given name? He had disregarded her petition to save Eliab. She faced the traitor.
“I have nothing more to say to you.” Her voice warbled like a rooster.
“That is a shame, daughter of Heriah, for the Most High God has heard your prayers.”
“What are you saying? You do not know what I speak to God.”
“You did pray for an angel, did you not?” He crossed his leather-clad arms.
“I believe I prayed for a legion of angels. Enough to prevent a war.”
The soldier did not look pleased with her brazen answer. “Am I not enough for you?”
Who or what was this spy claiming to be? Surely he was not God’s messenger? He had taken orders from Onan and brought her a mule. Was he kin to Hamul? She tried to answer his question but no words traveled to her tongue.
“Fear not.” The scout stepped into the darkness of the cave. His body glowed as if he were made of nothing more than a fiery vapor. The brightness burned her eyes.
Sinking to her knees, she bowed with her face to the ground. “Forgive my anger. I misspoke when I believed you to be the enemy. I should not have questioned your stature.”
“You did not speak falsely. You fear for Eliab.”
She nodded with a head as heavy as a stocked wagon. “I am in love with Eliab. In the beginning, I did not know Eliab’s heart. I thought all the Benjamites unlawful. But that is not true. Eliab follows God’s ways. He is a good man who does not deserve to be murdered. Nor do his people. No one does.”
“Then you must go to him.” The messenger returned to the daylight, but his presence held an impressive aura she had not noticed beforehand.
“How can I bring justice without an army or an elder? Yarn and vines I understand. I have never been in battle or spoken to an assembly of warriors. You must go with me.”
Building Benjamin Page 15