The Scarlet Cord

by Carlene Havel

“Tirzah, fetch the coat. I’ll carry it under my cloak. Look through my old robes in Bida’s chest, and choose one which clearly identifies me as the king’s married daughter. I’ll take one additional change of clothing and my sewing box.” She looked around her. “There’s nothing else in this house I ever want to see again. You can keep everything else.”

  Tirzah’s eyes widened in horror. “You would not leave me behind?”

  Michal clasped her servant’s slender hand. “There’s no reason to drag you into whatever awaits me. If my father is truly dead, these men may well be delivering me to an enemy. Maybe even the Philistines.”

  “Better to suffer with you than to stay in this Godless house alone.” Tirzah’s tears spilled onto her cheeks. “Please, my lady, I beg you on my mother’s bones, let me go with you.”

  Michal wavered. Tirzah had been her companion since the two of them were children. “All right. You may come with us. The Captain said it was a two-day ride to wherever they came from. Of course, that may not be true. Try to get us some food to take along. Some dates and goat cheese would be best.” Tirzah brightened and brushed away her tears as Michal continued. “Anything you can learn from the soldiers or the other women may be useful. We need to know who has taken King Saul’s place and where we are going.”

  “Yes, my lady. I will do as you say.”

  Michal straightened. “While you do your duty, I will do mine.”

  With everyone else outside—their attention fastened on the soldiers in the courtyard—Michal swept quickly through the women’s rooms. She gathered the many idols and teraphims, the superstitious god figurines that sat everywhere.

  As a girl, she participated in religious activities meant to convince the king’s subjects of the royal family’s devotion to the Living God. She went mindlessly through the motions of the familiar rituals, paying no attention to their deeper meaning. The devout faith of her husband David made her more thoughtful. Yet it was only when she was thrust into a life of misery that Michal was forced to trust the one God of Israel.

  Her family, alienated. Her husband, bargained away years ago. Michal stiffened her resolve against such sorrowful thoughts lest they overtake her. She would concentrate on being grateful the soldiers did not murder her in the sight of Phaltiel and his hateful wives.

  Perhaps the soldiers would kill her as soon as they were a little distance from Phaltiel’s compound. Or someone could creep near in tonight’s darkness and dispatch her and poor Tirzah in their sleep.

  Michal shivered at the thought of other possibilities. The prospect of torture frightened her. A quick death would be an answer to prayer. Some conqueror might be planning a public execution of King Saul’s family. Even the ultimate humiliation of a forced marriage to an uncircumcised heathen could await her. She gathered her courage to bear whatever she must.

  In the beginning of her exile, Michal feared some stranger would bring the information King Saul had successfully tracked down and murdered her beloved husband David. When did she hear the news? Their tenth month in Phaltiel’s household, a slave trader stopped to obtain water for his pack animals. From the traveler, Michal’s handmaid Sarah heard that David and his loyal followers still hid in wilderness areas, protecting isolated farms from thieves and marauders. Sarah reported to Michal how the man laughed, showing his fine white teeth, when recounting King Saul’s irrational fear of his own son-in-law.

  Years passed with no new information. Then one day Tirzah was cleaning the hearth in the kitchen when the women from a band of wandering wool merchants came to warm themselves. Hearing familiar words, Tirzah realized the travelers were Judeans. Their country was now being ruled by David, they said. Everyone was prospering under his progressive benevolence. Yes, their king was that same legendary David who, armed only with a slingshot, had in his youth fought and killed the Philistine giant Goliath.

  Michal was overjoyed to learn her husband had so far evaded the dark furies of her father, King Saul. She gave thanks that her personal sacrifice to save David was not in vain. Was it possible that he still survived to this day? If so, she was certain some other woman occupied her place in his warm embrace by now.

  A startling thought invaded Michal’s consciousness as she prepared to go with the soldiers. Perhaps protocol would demand the presence of King David of Judea at a festival given by the new ruler of Israel. Was it possible she might glimpse her adored husband’s face once more before her life ended? She must not break down before David’s eyes if some heathen ordered her torn to pieces by a wild animal.

  Michal took the worthless gods she collected and dumped them on her bed. The crude clay pieces shattered easily when she smacked them against each other. So much for Shapash. One slender figurine snapped in two when she laid it across her knee and applied her full strength to its head and feet. She took her sharpest knife and defaced the other two pieces of wood. The pagans of this house would soon see how powerless their stupid idols were.

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  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  Carlene Havel has lived in six US States and two foreign countries, and has traveled extensively throughout the world. She is very active in her church and has a degree in English from the University of Texas at San Antonio. Carlene and her husband Glenn are both proud to be native Texans.

  Sharon Faucheux was born in New Orleans, LA. Raised in Austin, Texas, she graduated from the University of Texas with a degree in Psychology. After living in several others states and countries, she now resides in San Antonio, TX. Sharon’s favorite activity is traveling with her always entertaining family.

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