Rachel

by Jill Eileen Smith

  “It is a good plan. You know it is.” Farah’s mouth tipped only slightly in a cunning smile.

  “Jacob is no fool. He will demand Rachel as well.”

  Farah shrugged. “Then give her to him. After Leah’s wedding week. Make him work for you for Leah another seven years.” Her laugh held sarcasm, but her knowing look went straight to his heart.

  “What am I supposed to do with Rachel while Jacob lies with Leah in the huppa?”

  “Seclude her. Threaten her. Take her away. She will listen to you. You are her father. She has no choice but to obey.”

  “My wife has no choice but to obey either, but she doesn’t seem bothered by that fact.” What was he supposed to tell Suri then? She would turn against him, toss nettles in his bed. There were ways a woman could ruin a man, head of the family or not.

  He looked at Farah, calculating. “You just want to put Suri in her place.”

  Farah shrugged again. “It is no matter to me what you do with your concubine.”

  “Wife.”

  She inclined her head. “She is secondary. Leah is your first daughter of your first wife. You have an obligation.”

  She was right about that. He felt the dowry weighing heavily in his leather pouch. Jacob had paid for Rachel. Give me my wife. But he had not named her specifically. Just “give me my wife.” He could feign ignorance. He shook his head. Jacob would never abide such a thing.

  But the plan could still work. Laban nodded. “Very well then. Bring Rachel to me. Dress Leah in Rachel’s wedding clothes.”

  “No need. She has made her own.”

  Laban smoothed his face to reveal no response, but his heart kicked over with the sense of one who has just beaten his opponent. He was not the only one who wanted to keep Jacob around, nor the only one who felt the need to keep control of his daughters. It was time he did something to please Farah, and Leah should marry before Rachel. He would simply tell Jacob that was the way they did things here. He would be none the wiser.

  But what words would convince Rachel? She held sway over Laban’s actions, and he had given in to her pleading all of her life. How was he to command her to keep silent? He could have Tariq take her to the house in Harran while the feast took place in Paddan-Aram. Or he could bind her and lock her away until Leah’s night ended.

  He tasted the bitter gall of the fate that awaited his little girl. What a foolish father he was! But there was no other way to keep Jacob from leaving. There was nothing else he could do.

  5

  Rachel passed through the courtyard and surrounding grounds where servants worked to transform the place into a flower-bedecked, musical world. Scents of yeast and cinnamon mingled with the smells of cumin, garlic, and fennel. Stews and sweetmeats, bread, and her father’s finest wines had been pulled from his storehouses. Rachel did a little twirl, giggling like a young child, and caught Bilhah’s arm.

  “The huppa awaits you, mistress, like a jewel uncovered in the field,” Bilhah said as they hurried on, nearly knocking into a servant carrying an armful of unlit torches.

  Rachel stopped to look at her slave girl, a gift her father promised would accompany her into her marriage to Jacob. “I will admit, I am nervous to enter it.” She smiled, her heart doing a little flip. “But come, let us hurry or we won’t be back in time to help with the meal.”

  Their arms were loaded with stacks of linens Rachel would soon need after her wedding week. Jacob had told her he would be out in the fields today, and she could start to arrange her side of the tent whenever she liked. Warmth heated her cheeks at the familiar way he had looked at her and the intimate kiss that followed. Tonight they would be together as man and wife. Her pulse quickened at all that she knew awaited her in the marriage tent, things her mother had intimated and the servants had teased her about since the night Jacob announced his desire to lie with her.

  They approached the black goat’s-hair tents at the edge of her father’s fields just over the hill, Rachel’s hope rising with each footfall. The flaps were down to protect Jacob’s meager belongings from being swept away by high winds or taken by greedy passersby, though in truth, he had little to take. His efforts had gone into paying her father for her hand in marriage. Together they must work to build Jacob’s house until it rivaled her father’s vast estate.

  She lifted the flap and let her eyes adjust to the semidarkness. Little light, even the bright light of the morn, passed through the black goat’s hair, but they wouldn’t be here long enough to light a lamp. There was too much yet to do to prepare for the feast and the wedding guests who would be arriving by nightfall.

  “Will we really leave for Canaan soon?” Bilhah’s question caught her up short. Rachel lifted the lid on a carved wooden chest that her father had delivered to Jacob’s tent on her behalf and filled it with the tunics and sheets that she and Leah had labored over in strained silence. A sigh escaped as she took Bilhah’s stack of loincloths and undergarments and tucked them neatly out of sight. How glad she would be to get away from Leah!

  “As soon as Jacob feels it is safe to return, yes.” She touched the carved wood of the lid as she lowered it, feeling the smooth craftsmanship beneath her fingers. They would have to leave such a chest behind or fit it onto an oxcart to transport. But she couldn’t fault her father for the gift. He knew how much she loved beauty.

  She moved from her side of the tent, the room Jacob had partitioned off for her, and entered the spacious open room where they would eat and entertain guests. Colorful rugs of various stripes covered the floor, and cushions lined the tent walls. A fire pit sat in the area marked off as a courtyard outside the tent’s door. In the cool of the evenings they would be able to sit by the fire or under the awning and gaze at the stars, as she had often done in the fields with the sheep.

  “We should get back, mistress. Your mother said we would leave soon for the river to wash.” Bilhah stepped to the side to allow Rachel to exit the tent first. Rachel took one last wistful look at the place she would soon call home and stepped into the bright light of day.

  She blinked as her eyes readjusted, then looked back toward her father’s house, where smoke slowly rose from cooking fires and young boys turned spits, sending the succulent scents of roasted lamb in her direction. But her heart did a little flip at the sudden movement coming from the direction of the stables. She would recognize her father’s portly form even with the field between them. And he was coming straight toward her.

  “What could he want, mistress?” Bilhah had been with them long enough to recognize her father’s agitation. “Do you think something has happened?”

  A lump formed in Rachel’s throat as myriad possibilities formed in her thoughts. Had something happened to Jacob? She once heard of a woman whose betrothed husband drowned in the Euphrates the night before they were to wed. He had been laughing and imbibing and had slipped into the river whose current was high and running too fast at that time of year, and his witless friends tried in vain to pull him out before it was too late. But no, Jacob would not imbibe in the daytime, and the only friends he could name were her own brothers. Besides, he was with the sheep . . . unless a lion or bear had come upon him unsuspecting . . .

  “I’m sure my father is just worried and wondering where I’ve run off to.” Though her father should not even be thinking about such things. Her mother was the one who had warned her to hurry back. “You go on ahead and tell my mother I am coming. I will see what my father wants.”

  Bilhah nodded, probably not the least sorry to leave her with Laban, for Rachel knew her father intimidated the poor girl, who was as insecure as Leah but not nearly as prickly or opinionated.

  As Bilhah left her, Rachel moved away from Jacob’s tent and met her father at the edge of the courtyard, accepting his kiss. “What has you so agitated, my father? Is something wrong? Is it Jacob?”

  She looked into her father’s eyes, searching, but he would not meet her gaze. “Jacob is fine,” he said, obviously to appease her. H
e motioned her back toward Jacob’s tents. “Your mother told me you were here. Are you alone?”

  “I sent my maid back to the house. Yes, except for you, I am quite alone.” A niggle of fear crept along the back of her neck. “What is so urgent on my wedding day, Father? My mother is waiting to take me to the river.”

  Laban did not speak as he lifted the flap and motioned for her to precede him into the tent. Darkness settled once more, and Rachel blinked, adjusting to the dimness. She whirled on him, arms crossed. “Why are we here? What have I done?” He had chastened her but a few times in her girlhood, but today of all days she did not deserve to be singled out with such obvious alarm and concern.

  “You have done nothing, my child. It is I who have been the fool.” He looked at her then, his brow creased with sorrow. “But I am afraid it is you who must bear the consequences of my foolishness.” He looked away and walked farther into the room. “I should not have given in to you so often as a child.” He slowly turned. “If you had been more obedient, less spoiled, it would make what I am about to tell you easier to bear. Though you must know that it pains me to tell it, despite what you think of me.”

  The fear took wing inside of her. “Speak plainly, Father. Please. I cannot bear such riddles, today of all days!”

  It was then that she saw the rope swinging loosely from his side. Her father fingered it, and her heart skipped a beat at the commanding look in his eyes.

  “I am going to have to alter my agreement with Jacob,” Laban said, his voice suddenly hardened stone, a tone she had only heard from him when he was angry or implacable.

  “What are you talking about—alter your plans?” She clasped suddenly trembling hands in front of her, willing them to be still. “You cannot even think to go back on your agreement. He has paid the bride-price!” Her voice had risen in pitch, and she could feel the anxiety rising within her.

  Laban nodded and stepped closer, placed a hand on her arm. “No, no, I am not going back on my agreement, dear child. He has paid for a wife from among my daughters, and I intend to give him that.”

  His words swirled in her head, but she quickly caught his meaning. “He paid for me, Father. Not just any wife.”

  “It is not fitting that you marry before your sister.”

  “My sister is not betrothed. You cannot make me wait until she is. Jacob will not wait.” The shaking grew within her at his look.

  “Jacob will not have to wait. But I am afraid, my daughter, that you must wait a little longer.” He stepped away from her and crossed his arms over his ample middle, his expression brooking no argument. But argue she must!

  “What do you mean?” Anger surged, heating her blood. “I am to be wed this night.”

  “Leah will take your place.”

  Reeling, she took a step back, stumbling in her sudden weakness. Her father caught her arm to steady her, but she shook it away.

  “What do you mean, Leah will take my place?” Her words were hoarse, as though they had been driven over rough sands.

  Laban walked to the tent’s door and looked out, as if assessing whether they were still really alone.

  “What’s the matter, Father? Are you afraid Jacob will return to his own tent and find you plotting his ruin?” As he turned to face her once more, she met his gaze with a determined one of her own. “You cannot do this.”

  “I can and I must. And you, my daughter, will accept my decision.” He walked closer to her, his tone firm, his expression unmoving.

  “And if I don’t? One word from me, from my mother, from anyone, and Jacob will know of the ruse. Leah will be ruined. Is that what you want?” Why would Leah even agree to such a thing? Jacob would surely notice the difference between the two of them once he removed the wedding veils. Leah was similar in height and build to Rachel, and her hair was dark, though not quite as dark, but surely one look into her eyes . . . Leah would not look at Jacob, not share the intimate looks Rachel and Jacob had already shared. He would notice immediately . . . Surely he would notice . . .

  “Your sister loves Jacob. She is willing to take the risk.”

  The words rocked her. Jacob loved her, Rachel, and she him. Leah should not have even looked in Jacob’s direction, knowing he was bound to her sister. Was Leah so hateful?

  “Was this her idea?” The words tasted sour on her tongue.

  Laban shook his head. “You must not blame your sister.”

  “How can I not? You are telling me that she is to wed my husband!” Her voice shook as the words rose in volume again. “What of me? I am to just sit by and watch?” Tears rose so quickly they blurred her vision.

  “You do not have to watch, dear child.” His tone was placating, soothing, but she would not accept his comfort. “Give Leah her wedding week. Then I will give you to Jacob as well.”

  “It is my wedding week! This is my wedding everyone is planning, and Jacob is expecting me!” She choked on the words. “How can you do this to me?”

  “Leah is the firstborn daughter of my first wife. I cannot let you wed ahead of her.”

  “Then why didn’t you give her to another years ago? Why give her my husband? I want to get away from her, not be forced to live with her the rest of my days!” Emotion rose so strong it took her breath. Never had she hated another human being with such force as she did her father and her sister in that moment.

  “I should have. This is why I told you it is I who am the fool. And now we are at a point that something has to be done or your sister will never wed. I cannot put Jacob off another year while I look for a man to wed your sister. He might take you in dishonor and leave Paddan-Aram.” Laban bobbed his head as if he somehow expected his words to placate her.

  “Jacob would never dishonor me. Though you seem to have no trouble doing so.”

  She felt the sting of his palm against her cheek, startling her, bringing sudden tears. She placed a hand over the heated flesh. Never had he struck her!

  “My child,” he said, his tone no longer placating. “I am your father. And while you may not like my decisions, you are still my daughter and you must live by them. It is by my good graces that you will marry Jacob at all. Yes, he is a close relative, but you are the youngest of my children. It is not fitting that you marry before the oldest.”

  He shifted from foot to foot and glanced once more at the tent door, a look of sudden discomfort crossing his face. “And though it pains me to hurt you, Rachel, the truth is, sometimes in life things don’t go our way.” He raked a hand over his beard and scratched at the stubble. “Tonight we will celebrate, and Jacob will drink too much wine, and I will lead Leah to the huppa beneath the wedding veils. You will stay in your room. Tariq will guard you, lest you think to somehow thwart my plans.”

  He reached a hand to touch her flaming cheek. She flinched, but he grasped her shoulder and held her firm. “I would not mar this beauty, my daughter, but I will not hesitate to have you bound and silenced if you do not promise me this moment that you will accept my decision. Do you agree to keep silent?”

  Tears blinded her from clear vision, but she nodded, knowing in that moment that her father had the power to do as he wished. She had always known it at some level, but never in such a personal way. What joy could he possibly get in destroying the most important day of her life?

  “Let Leah wed Jacob after me. Just please don’t take this day from us.” Jacob would be crushed when he discovered the ruse.

  “Jacob would never accept her willingly. No. This is the only way.”

  Bitterness rose within her at the flippant way he said the words, as if he had calculated every possibility and chosen the only one that Jacob could not fight. “Jacob is getting a bargain then—two brides for the price of one,” she said. Though Jacob’s seven years had already produced double what need be paid for a wife. And she would be saddled with Leah for the rest of her life.

  “Jacob will work for Leah as he did for you.” Her father’s self-assurance rocked her.

  �
��What are you saying?” He had succumbed to delusion if he thought Jacob would stay here a moment longer than he had to. She wouldn’t let him! If they could not escape Leah, then at least let them escape this man who would ruin their life’s happiness in one selfish act.

  “If you were worth seven years, Leah is worth as much. It is only fair.”

  It took every bit of her strength not to strike him. But her stinging cheek and his grip on her arm stayed her hand. You don’t know the meaning of fair. But she could not say the words. She knew her father, knew what he was like. He just wanted Jacob’s free labor for as long as he could get it. They would never prosper if every bit of Jacob’s wages went to pay for her sister!

  Truth dawned with the thought. “You are doing this to keep Jacob from returning to Canaan.”

  Laban released his grip and shrugged. “It is part of the bargain. I cannot simply give your sister to him for nothing. She is already risking life with a man who will not love her. I cannot make her feel as though she is worth nothing.”

  He sounded so magnanimous. But she knew the real reason. “You could have just asked him to stay.” But Leah was part of this mess. It was Leah’s desires he was caving in to. Farah must have been behind it too.

  “The hour is late, and I would have your word, my daughter. Can I trust your silence, or will you force me to take it from you?” He tipped her chin to look into her eyes. She could not lie to him.

  “You have my word.” But as he walked her back to the house, taking the long way to avoid any servants who might see her weeping, her mind whirled with some way to warn Jacob. If she could get word to Bilhah or her mother, someone, perhaps things could still go in her favor.

  6

  Jacob’s pulse quickened as he stood in the center of his tent and allowed Laban’s servant Raheem to dress him. Rachel’s scent still lingered in the air, and he knew by one quick glance into her side of the tent that she had been there. He fidgeted with the sash until Raheem took it from him and knotted the belt at his waist. Rachel would undo the knot and he would remove her veils. Soon. They would at last be one.