Worthy of Rain

by Elizaveta Fehr

  Her mother walked back in, wiping her hands on her tunic. “Are you two leaving? Make sure she feels well enough.”

  “She said she is up for it.”

  Her mother nodded. “I’ll be home in a while, Sarina. Take the boys with you. I need to finish up here.”

  “Why do I have to take the boys home? Why can you not take them home?”

  “Sarina, what did I say about arguing?”

  She sighed. “Boys! I am taking you home!” Sarina yelled as she started out the door.

  “This is Amir and Elian,” she said pointing to the taller one then to the younger brother.

  “My name means strong,” Amir boasted.

  “I don’t know what my name means, but I bet it means bear or mighty,” the younger boy told me happily.

  “Not even close! It means you are a burden,” Amir scoffed.

  “Does not!”

  “Does too!”

  “Does not!”

  “Does too!”

  “Boys!” Sarina shouted over their quarreling. She took hold of their hands and separated them on either side of her. The boys stopped fighting, but I caught the occasional scowl they made at each other behind Sarina’s back. I shook my head. So this was what it was like to have siblings.

  We reached their home and Sarina released them. They flew towards the house like flies chasing a plate of food. All of the houses, including Sarina’s, had open doorways; probably to let in fresh air during hot days like today.

  Sarina led me into her home. The first room looked like a living room and dining room all in one. There was a low table surrounded by pillows made of brightly dyed animal skins. Underneath it stretched a beautiful mosaic floor, each tiny tile only half an inch in width and in length. A man, who I guessed was Sarina’s father because of his similar features, was discussing something with another man when he saw Sarina and me standing in the doorway.

  “My dear, this is Eleazer Ben Yair, our leader and one of my good friends.” Eleazer gave a nod of his head.

  “Pleased to meet you, Ben Yair,” Sarina and I acknowledged.

  “Please. Call me Eleazer.”

  “Darling, where is your mother? She should be home soon,” her father wondered.

  “She is at the apothecary, but she will be here in a while,” Sarina told her father, walking over to him and kissing him on the cheek.

  Her father peered over her shoulder. “And who’s this?”

  “Oh.” Sarina introduced, “This is…”

  “Genesis,” I filled in for her.

  “Genesis,” she repeated. “A friend of mine. Mother was tending to her.”

  “Well then, we welcome you,” he greeted. “If you will excuse us.” He led Eleazer towards the back of the house, continuing their conversation.

  “Do you want to take a walk around the fortress?”

  I nodded. Sarina reminded me of Aven. Maybe a little less outspoken version of Aven, but I still felt like I could talk to Sarina about anything.

  The hot wind blew carelessly over our shoulders as we walked to the far end of Masada. Huge stone walls reached above our heads, obscuring our view of the horizon, but there were a few openings that served as lookout spots.

  We stopped at a lookout point, taking in the land from high above. The lake below us sparkled in the sinking sun.

  “Mother used to create stories about the Dead Sea—that’s what we call the water,” Sarina smiled, looking out over the lake. “She used to say something like, ‘The lake is like a shimmering mirror for the moon and sun. The moon looks into its reflection and sees a round, silver ball across the waves. The sun sees the moon do this, so she tries to do it too. But when she tries to look, her bright light shines back at her, and she has to look away. One day…’ or something like that. She enjoys being creative.”

  I smiled. “Your mother is very kind.”

  “She enjoys healing people too. One time, she—”

  Sarina’s words faded into the background. She frowned, squinting her eyes. I followed her gaze as wariness crept into her eyes.

  “Are you alright?”

  Sarina didn’t answer. I scanned the landscape.

  There. Movement on the beach. I squinted, attempting to make out the small specs in the distance.

  I spotted the glow of light the second Sarina grasped my arm fearfully. She gasped.

  The light moved slowly towards Masada. It appeared out from behind a valley, separating into millions of tiny lights. We stood there motionless as the last of the sun’s rays disappeared beneath the earth. Then it struck me like a nuclear bomb exploding in my chest.

  The lights were torches held up in the early night.

  “The Romans,” Sarina whispered in horror. “They’ve found us.”

  Chapter Thirty-One

  The Romans surrounded Masada all the way around the perimeter of the mountain. I heard the trumpet sound when the guards on the watch tower finally spotted the army down below. To the west, their army stationed their camps.

  Sarina and I couldn’t run fast enough. Her father hugged Sarina as she flew into his arms.

  “Father, what’s going to happen? We thought they wouldn’t be able to find us.”

  He held her close. “We have enough provisions to last for a while. Don’t worry yet.”

  Eleazer entered the room abruptly with several other leaders behind him. “But for how long? They are intent on keeping us on the mountaintop for as long as our supplies run out. They are already beginning to build their camp with stone walls.”

  Sarina’s mother gasped in the corner. “The people will starve.”

  “They will not attack us on the mountain until they think we do not have enough to survive. We have the advantage as of now. Maybe we can wait them out,” another leader added.

  Eleazer stopped pacing across the room. “He’s right. The best we can do is wait. We can still win this.” He looked up and cleared his throat. “Get some sleep. We’ll reconvene in the morning. I want to double the guards at every watchtower. No one is getting in or out.”

  The night was stretched thin with thoughts and fears circling like hawks over prey. Sarina and I woke up with echoes of threats coming from down below ringing in our ears. The Roman soldiers kept us up half of the night. We both said nothing, but the silence between us spoke our fears loud and clear.

  “Genesis?” Sarina spoke into the darkness.

  “I’m still here,” I responded, my voice catching in my throat.

  “You probably can’t go to sleep either,” Sarina said, voicing the problem we’d both had for the past hour. “I didn’t wake you, did I?”

  “No,” I answered. I heard the straw rustle and saw her shadow as she sat up.

  “Would you like to go on the roof? It might be better up there,” she suggested. I agreed.

  We quietly climbed up the ladder in the corridor near Sarina’s room and laid ourselves out on the roof. I could hear my heart beating softly in the night. This whole situation was extremely surreal. I was supposed to be at home reading a book or doing homework. But instead, I was here, somewhere I didn’t even belong. It seemed like when I would stay and when I would leave was never up to me.

  I inhaled slowly. I was going to be okay. We all were.

  It wasn’t long before we both fell asleep counting the stars in the sky.

  In the morning, Sarina’s family was unusually quiet. Even the boys said nothing.

  “Milk?” Sarina’s mother asked her husband.

  “Yes, please,” he answered grimly.

  Sarina’s mother tipped the clay pitcher over. But instead of pouring the milk into his cup, she knocked it over with the pitcher and milk splattered all over the table. Sarina’s father stood up, attempting to avoid the puddle that was dripping over the side of the table.

  “I’ll get it,” Sarina’s mother apologized. She took her skirt and began wiping the milk.

  “Mother,” Sarina protested.

  “No, I’ll get it!”
her mother said tersely. Her hands were red and dry, and her eyes were bloodshot and rimmed with dark circles. Sarina’s father helped her up and let her lean against him. She broke, sobbing into his sleeve.

  “Why won’t they leave us alone?” she spoke quietly through her tears.

  “I will talk to the council. Something has to be done,” Sarina’s father promised.

  Early the next morning, Sarina and I walked to the water storages and filled our buckets with water. I saw Sarina’s mother and we let her catch up with us. I didn’t notice her frantic tone until she spoke.

  “Come quickly,” she urged, already walking back the way she came before we could say anything. We gave each other a look then followed her. Sarina’s mother led us to the far wall where Sarina’s father and brothers were already waiting.

  “What’s happening?” Sarina asked worriedly. Sarina and I watched her father grab hold of a large stone at the base of the wall and shift it over to the side. An opening was revealed, hardly enough space for me to fit through.

  “This is our only chance to try to escape. It’s too long to wait for our men to defend Masada. There’s a secret way down the back that is easier to climb down. You must go now,” her father compelled.

  “But Father, what about you?” Sarina pressed.

  “I have to stay here,” her father spoke quietly.

  “I’ll never see you again,” Sarina objected with tears in her eyes. He kissed her lightly on the head and said something in her ear I didn’t catch.

  “Should we travel to Jerusalem?” his wife whispered in his ear. The trembling in her voice was an obvious contrast to her stiff demeanor.

  “No,” her husband confirmed. “Don’t go near Jerusalem. The Romans have captured the Jews there. It’s not safe.”

  She nodded and swallowed. Tears rolled down Sarina’s cheeks.

  “Go. Before they see you.”

  The boys climbed through the opening first, then Sarina followed.

  “Take the girl with you. I asked everyone in the village, but no one knows her. She’s better off leaving than staying,” Sarina’s father added into his wife’s ear. She gave him one last kiss and ducked into the opening. Because she was so skinny and frail, she fit easily into the hole in the wall.

  After I climbed through, Sarina’s father closed the opening and we were left to face a very long climb down the side of Masada. Sarina’s mother started down first, carefully placing her foot on the first rock. The early morning sky greeted us in dark blue.

  “Come children, but be careful.”

  The rock’s surface was steep and unstable. I clenched my jaw to keep from crying out. Every time a rock came loose, my stomach jumped up my throat and I’d have to swallow it back down. We still had so much more to go.

  My foot slipped on a rock and I gave a small yelp of surprise. Sarina’s mother grabbed my arm to steady me. She put a finger to her lips, fear in her eyes. I nodded and continued down the mountain.

  Then about halfway down, I heard a scream that sent daggers into my heart.

  I looked down at Sarina, who was a little way below me, and saw her pointing at something near the bottom of Masada.

  Seven full-grown soldiers flew up the rocks at an alarming pace. They drove their swords and javelins into the cracks and pulled themselves up.

  They were heading straight for us.

  Sarina froze in fear.

  “Sarina!” I shouted.

  Her mother grabbed her by the wrist and pulled her upward just as an arrow flew past her head. Sarina blinked and grabbed the rock, pulling herself up.

  The boys were right below me. I reached down and helped them up, then boosted them up higher to an overhang. A flaming arrow shot past my head and planted itself into the pack that was flung over Amir’s shoulder. The flame immediately spread and I grabbed the pack, jerked it off Amir’s back, and flung it as hard as I could. The pack crashed into one of the soldiers and sent him rolling back down.

  Sarina and her mother caught up with us. My chest thumped and my head was dizzy from the adrenaline. I frantically reached for the overhang.

  My fingers slipped.

  I tumbled several feet below. The rocks scraped my arms and legs. I dug my hands into the rocks and caught myself. There was blood coming from my head now. Its metallic tang stung my lips.

  Sarina screamed for me to keep going. A sword drove into the earth just inches away from my left ear. I scrambled at the rock’s surface, imagining the spear piercing my spinal cord.

  We finally reached the top. I glanced back down behind us. The soldiers were getting close.

  “Which one is it?” Sarina cried out. “They all look the same!”

  My heart sank.

  She kicked at a stone in front of her. I tried to push the stone beside it but it didn’t budge. I searched the wall, panic setting in.

  Come on, Genesis. Find it.

  “There!” I exclaimed. A stone was out of place a few feet over. I threw myself at the stone.

  Sarina and her mother rushed to help me. It moved a little, then a little more. The soldiers were so close now. They would be on us in a matter of seconds. We had no chance of fighting them.

  My heartbeat was beating hard in my ears. It was like someone reached down into my core and pulled out a fistful of strength I had never known was there. Gritting my teeth, I pushed with every muscle in my body. The rock shifted enough that the space was big enough for the boys to slide through. Sarina turned sideways and crawled through the opening. Her mom ducked her head into the hole.

  I helped push her through. Her tunic was getting caught on the rock. I loosened it quickly. There wasn’t time. Sarina and the boys must have pulled her through because her feet disappeared behind the wall. I ducked into the opening.

  I screamed as a hand grabbed my ankle and pulled me backwards. A searing pain erupted on my right leg. I clawed at the wall, my fingernails breaking. I kicked backwards blindly with my other leg. I must have hit my mark because I heard a grunt. A hand reached through the opening for my hand. Someone pulled me all the way through, and I landed in the dirt on the other side. The boys pushed the stone into place and wedged it tightly so it was stuck.

  The soldiers cried out curses as they paced along the base of the wall. We waited, our hearts pounding.

  It was silent. The wall held.

  I heard a gasp.

  “Genesis, your leg!” Sarina exclaimed.

  My leg was burning with pain. I was afraid to look.

  I glanced down. Behind my calf was a two-inch gash—red, swollen, and oozing with blood.

  “You…you were the last one through,” Sarina’s mother choked. “You could have been…killed. I should have gone through last. I did not realize—” she burst into tears.

  “It wasn’t your fault. You couldn’t have known.” I tried to reassure her, but she cut me off.

  “I would never forgive myself if they took you!” she sobbed.

  “Mother, it’s not your fault, and it’s not safe here. We need to go,” Sarina said.

  “We need to find your father,” her mother said wiping her eyes and standing up. She lifted me onto my feet and gave me a quick hug.

  “Thank you for saving my sons back there,” she said.

  I nodded and leaned on her for support. She helped me hobble to her apothecary shop in the center of the fortress. By the time we got there, a crowd was already gathering. Sarina’s father was in the center speaking, but he stopped when he saw us.

  She gestured with her head to her shop. We passed the crowd discreetly and headed towards the building.

  “Eleazer will talk about the meeting we need to arrange,” he finished. He followed us.

  He shut the door behind him as Sarina’s mother helped me to the straw bed in the corner.

  “What happened?” he asked. His eyes surveyed the wound on my leg.

  “They saw us trying to escape. There were six or seven of them who chased us back up the mountain. We could
n’t get past them.”

  Sarina’s father clenched his fists.

  “We will be just fine,” she tried to console him.

  He just shook his head softly. “Even more troops have been added to their army,” Sarina’s father spoke. “We have no more options left. Get captured by the Romans to become slaves, or kill ourselves before they come and do it themselves.”

  He paused.

  “I thought…I hoped you would have been gone before…” Sarina’s father started, but then faded off. He closed his eyes briefly.

  “Before what?” his wife asked.

  “Arinae…they made a ramp.”

  She stared at her husband silently.

  “No,” Sarina whispered. The family was quiet, thick silence separating them.

  “We must see what Eleazer decides,” her mother concluded, clenching her jaw. Sarina’s crestfallen face pierced daggers into my heart. I knew exactly what she was thinking.

  This may be our last night together.

  The sun sunk down behind the dry mountains.

  The meeting temple was packed tight with the villagers. Worried expressions creased each face. The atmosphere was bleak and depressing. But of course, tomorrow they could all be dead.

  Eleazer lifted his head from a conversation with his advisors. Immediately, the crowd quieted. “I am sure you have all heard of the danger we must now face. The Romans will break down the doors very soon. If we don’t do something about it, Masada will be lost,” he began. “I have been in consultation with our advisors. There is nothing we can do…”

  Silence spread throughout the entire crowd.

  Someone spoke up. “I would rather die than become a slave of those dirty Romans!” It was a young man, no older than twenty.

  “So do I.”

  Soon, there were echoes of agreement all throughout the crowd. My heart beat faster with each person.

  The chain was interrupted by Arinae’s voice as she pushed through the crowd.

  “I will not die because of fear. The Romans can take whatever they want from me, but they cannot take my dignity.”

  “Arinae, you are not serious,” her husband pleaded. It didn’t matter who was listening now.