Wings of Refuge

by Lynn Austin

  The ticket clerk returned with an older man whose ID tag indicated he was the manager. His gun was a few sizes larger than everyone else’s, too. “Where did you buy this ticket?” he asked.

  Abby gestured to the clerk standing silently beside him. “I already explained—”

  “Explain again, please.”

  “Dr. Theodore Voss at Western Evangelical Seminary in Colorado mailed it to me.”

  “Do you know this Dr. Voss personally?”

  “I’ve never met him. We’ve only spoken on the phone.”

  The manager chewed his mustache as he tapped the keys on his computer terminal. Abby’s feet were beginning to ache. She shifted her tote bag to the floor, waiting a full five minutes while the manager consulted his computer.

  “Did this Dr. Voss ask you to carry anything to Israel for him or give you a package of any kind?”

  “Just a package of information about the dig and the graduate course I’ll be taking.”

  “May I see it, please?”

  Abby pulled the fat manila envelope from her tote bag and handed it to him. The female clerk disappeared through the door with it. What was going on?

  “The flight you are booked on does not exist,” the manager said, laying Abby’s ticket on the counter in front of her. He made it sound as if she had committed a crime.

  “Well, is there another flight to Tel Aviv I could take instead?”

  “Flight 1013 departs at eight o’clock this morning.”

  Abby glanced at the clock above the counter. “But . . . but that’s in less than an hour! Isn’t there a later flight?” He shook his head. Abby sighed as her plans for a day of sight-seeing in Amsterdam went up in smoke. “Well, I guess I’ll have to take it, then.” He began tapping keys on his computer again. The clerk returned with Abby’s manila envelope several minutes later, and Abby stuffed it back into her tote bag. “What about my suitcase?”

  “If it was tagged for Israeli Airlines, it will be sent to our luggage area. You’ll be boarding at Gate 96, Concourse C.” He handed her the new ticket as soon as the computer spit it out. “Who’s next?”

  Abby hated changes. There had been far too many in her life these past few months. She slung her tote bag over her shoulder again and followed the signs to Concourse C, passing through airport security. The guards and guns seemed to be multiplying like viruses.

  Gate 96 was at the farthest end of the concourse, isolated from the rest of the airport. Abby sighed and sank into a seat. Her nerves felt frayed and the other passengers hadn’t started to board the plane yet. They either paced the aisles smoking cigarettes or sat reading Hebrew newspapers in glum silence. The atmosphere seemed unusually tense, like a cheap cloak-and-dagger movie. She should have taken her chances with hijackers in Athens.

  At eight o’clock the manager from the ticket counter appeared and picked up the microphone, making an announcement first in Hebrew, then English. “Ladies and gentlemen, Flight 1013 will be delayed until 9:30 A.M. You will be served a complimentary breakfast in the Skyline Coffee Shop.”

  Abby expected the announcement to be greeted with groans and protests, but the passengers simply rose from their seats and straggled down the long concourse for their free meal. Abby fell in line with them, even though the last thing she wanted right now was food. Her stomach seethed from the long flight and from the tension that seemed to surround the Israeli ticket counter—not to mention all the guns, which never failed to make her nervous.

  Halfway to the coffee shop she had a disconcerting thought: Something must be wrong with the plane! The free meal was probably a distraction so the passengers wouldn’t see the workers frantically repairing the engines. If something was wrong, Abby wanted to know about it. There was no way she would board an ailing aircraft. She hopped off the moving sidewalk at the first break and headed back toward the gate.

  The departure lounge was deserted. She looked out the window in time to see the door to the Israeli Airlines jet swing shut and the boarding ramp slowly fold into the terminal. The huge plane backed up, then taxied out of sight. Abby sank into a chair and popped another antacid into her mouth. Great. Something was definitely wrong with the plane.

  A lone sanitation worker wheeled his cart into the lounge and began lethargically emptying ashtrays. Abby closed her eyes and tried to doze. When she opened them ten minutes later, the janitor was still emptying ashtrays, in spite of the fact that there was no one in the lounge to fill them. Paid by the hour, no doubt. When he leaned against his cart and lit his own cigarette, she nearly laughed out loud. There’s a job she’d like to have—smoking cigarettes and emptying her own ashtray. The janitor took a long drag and, in the same motion, casually turned his head toward her. When their eyes met, he quickly looked away. The man obviously wasn’t working—there was no work for him to do in this deserted corridor. And he certainly wouldn’t keep his job for very long if he never worked any harder than this.

  Abby closed her eyes again and was trying to nap when she heard a faint beeping sound. It came from the janitor’s cart. Did he set his watch so he wouldn’t miss his coffee break? As he disappeared with his cart behind an unmarked door, something about him struck Abby as wrong. He was too dark-skinned to be Dutch, too young and well-built to be a janitor. Was he a security guard posing as a janitor? If so, who was he watching? A shiver crawled up her spine when she realized that she was the only person in the lounge.

  Outside the window, a Dutch National Airlines jet pulled into the gate where the Israeli Jet Liner had been, and workers wheeled a set of stairs to the door. Abby watched in horror as a dozen uniformed guards with machine guns—some leading dogs—hurried up the stairs and disappeared into the plane. She could see them moving around inside it. Beneath the plane, workers opened the luggage hold and several more guards with dogs crawled inside. When they finished their inspection, the guards stationed themselves around the perimeter of the plane, cradling their machine guns. What on earth was going on?

  Only one explanation made sense. A bomb threat.

  A sickening fear washed over Abby like syrup. Oh, God, please, no . . . she prayed. Her heart began to race as if she had just completed a marathon. She couldn’t catch her breath. Suddenly she felt so nauseated that she had to sprint into the women’s room and kneel in front of the bowl. There was nothing for her stomach to expel, but the toilet flushed automatically. When she realized that she had left her tote bag in the lounge, she tried to stand. Her knees were too wobbly to support her, and she collapsed onto the seat. The toilet flushed again. What was happening to her? She had read about anxiety attacks, but this was the first time she had experienced one.

  She rose to stagger from the booth and the toilet flushed a third time. Abby made her way back to where she had left her tote bag, clinging to the sinks, the backs of chairs, and anything she could find to support her rubbery legs. Several of the other passengers had returned. She would have to board the plane soon.

  Oh, dear God . . . I can’t get on that plane! I can’t!

  Her nausea was so overwhelming that Abby snatched up her tote bag and ran back into the rest room. Her stomach heaved. As she alternated between sitting on the stool and leaning over the bowl, the automated flush drained repeatedly. Her lungs pumped so hard she felt dizzy.

  Pray. She had to pray She remembered the story of Gideon’s fleece from Sunday school and decided to offer a fleece of her own. Oh, God . . . if something is wrong with this airplane, if I shouldn’t get on it . . . let my luggage be the sign. If they can’t find my suitcase, then I’ll know I’m supposed to wait here.

  She sat in the toilet stall, praying as she hadn’t prayed in years, until the loudspeaker announced her flight. She glimpsed herself in the mirror on her way out—her face was as white as the porcelain sink.

  The ticket agents had wheeled all of the luggage into the departure lounge on huge carts and were asking the passengers to identify their bags and open them. After the agents inspected each suitcase, it
was loaded into the cargo hold and the passenger who owned it was allowed to board.

  Abby searched for her suitcase. It wasn’t on either cart. It was the sign she had prayed for. She should not get on this airplane. She couldn’t breathe.

  “Is there a problem, ma’am?” the big-gun manager asked her.

  “My suitcase isn’t here.”

  “If you fill out a form stating your address in Israel, it will be forwarded to you. Kindly step aboard the aircraft.” Abby glanced around. She was the only remaining passenger in the lounge.

  “Umm . . . I’d rather not do that. Everything I need is in that suitcase. I’ll wait here until it shows up. I’ll take a later flight.”

  “This is the only flight to Tel Aviv today.”

  “Well, then I’ll stay overnight. It will give me a chance to see a bit of Amsterdam—”

  “Why don’t you want to board this flight, ma’am?”

  What should she say? That God had told her not to? She would sound like a crackpot.They would lock her away somewhere. “I . . . I want to wait here for my luggage.”

  “But you have a ticket for this flight. I must insist that you board it now.” He gripped her arm and led her to the door.

  “No . . . wait . . .”

  “You must step aboard, Mrs. MacLeod.”

  Abby wasn’t sure which shocked her more: the fact that he remembered her name or that he was forcing her to get on the airplane against her will. Could he do that? Didn’t she have a right to refuse? It didn’t really matter what her rights were because she was too weak with fright to do anything but submit. The manager led her down the aisle of the plane to her seat, and she collapsed into it. God had answered her prayer and told her not to board this plane, yet here she sat against her will, buckling her seat belt with shaking hands.

  She was surely going to die.

  The next several minutes passed in a haze of terror as Abby tried to prepare herself for the explosion she was convinced would come. She had attended church every week as a child, not to mention countless Sunday school classes and Bible camps. She should remember what she was supposed to do, what she should say to God. Yet her mind was a complete blank.

  The plane began to move. The flight attendants bustled around, making everything secure, then strapped themselves in for the takeoff. Abby closed her eyes as the jet hurtled down the runway. She battled an enormous surge of nausea as she felt the wheels lift off the ground.

  Oh, God, please help me!

  “Are you all right, miss?”

  Abby opened her eyes and looked into the kind, concerned face of her seatmate. He was about sixty years old, dressed in a dark business suit, crisp white shirt, and striped tie. He wore a Jewish skullcap on his balding head, and his trimmed brown beard was sprinkled with gray, his words sprinkled with the faintest trace of an accent. Yet it was his warm caramel eyes, creased at the corners as if from years of smiling, that won Abby’s instant trust. They were the eyes of a gentle grandfather.

  “No,” she whispered. “I . . . I’m terrified.”

  He peeled her hand from the armrest and placed it between his own. “May I?” he asked kindly. She nodded gratefully, feeling less alone. “You’re perfectly safe, my dear. Israeli Airlines has one of the best flying records in the world. And if you can’t bring yourself to trust the pilot, you can always put your trust in God.”

  She managed a small smile. “That’s what I was trying to do. . . . Pray, I mean. I’m a little out of practice, though.”

  He chuckled, and his laugh was as warm as melted honey. “Then allow me. ‘He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the Lord, “He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.”’ How am I doing so far?”

  Abby was surprised to find her anxiety attack subsiding. “Um, great . . . thank you. Please don’t stop.”

  “‘If you make the Most High your dwelling—even the Lord, who is my refuge—then no harm will befall you, no disaster will come near your tent. For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways; they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.’”

  “That’s one of the psalms, isn’t it?”

  “Yes, that’s right. I’m Benjamin Rosen, by the way. And you are . . . ?”

  “Abby MacLeod. As you probably guessed, I’m terrified of flying.”

  He smiled again. “Most people are, Abby, if they’re truly honest about it.” The plane banked unexpectedly, and she gripped his hand tighter.

  “Are you afraid, Mr. Rosen?”

  “Well, I suppose I was a bit anxious years ago, but I’ve flown so many times now that I’m used to it.”

  “Do you travel on business?”

  “Yes. My work takes me to conferences all over the world. I’m a so-called ‘agricultural expert,’ specializing in desert hydrology. But don’t let the title fool you. I’m really a simple farmer at heart, searching for new ways to grow crops in my tiny arid nation. And how about you, Abby MacLeod? What brings you to Israel—despite your aversion to airplanes?”

  “I’m a history teacher and an armchair archaeologist. Now that my two children are grown, I decided to fulfill my lifelong dream to go on an archaeological dig.”

  “That’s wonderful! Where will you be digging?”

  “I’ll show you.” If Mr. Rosen’s plan was to help Abby take her mind off her fears, it was working. Grateful for the distraction, Abby pulled out her packet of materials and pored over the map and details of the expedition with him. Within minutes, she had begun to relax.

  “Ah, I see that this is one of Hannah’s digs,” Mr. Rosen said. “Be sure to say hello to her for me. Hannah Rahov is my cousin.”

  Abby turned to a blank page in the back of her notebook.

  “Would you like to write her a note?” She watched, fascinated, as he quickly scribbled in Hebrew, writing from right to left.

  For the next hour they talked as if they were lifelong friends. By the time the flight attendants served their meal, Abby had spilled the entire story of how she had watched the armed guards search the plane and how it had triggered an anxiety attack. She even told Mr. Rosen about her fleece and how the officials had forced her to board the plane against her will. He murmured sympathetically and patted her hand.

  “I know the story of Gideon’s fleece,” he said, and they began to talk about the Bible. Abby showed him the travel-sized one she carried in her purse, a going-away gift from her daughter, Emily.

  “I confess I’ve never looked closely at the Christian Scriptures,” he told her as he paged through it. “These first five books are the same as our Torah . . . the Prophets are the same . . . ah yes, and the Psalms are the same.”

  Benjamin Rosen talked with Abby throughout the flight, leaving her side for only a short time. “If you will excuse me for just a few minutes, my dear, it is time to recite prayers. May I borrow this?” he asked, indicating her Bible.

  “Yes, of course.”

  “Here, you may have a look at mine while I’m gone. Of course, it won’t do you much good unless you know Hebrew.” He turned the book over in her hands, smiling. “It goes this way—it reads from back to front.”

  He unbuckled his seat belt and walked to the rear of the plane to join a group of other Israeli men. They stood in a circle in the rear aisle, their heads hidden beneath prayer shawls as they swayed and bobbed in rhythm with the Hebrew verse.

  When Mr. Rosen returned, he and Abby talked a while longer about religion and God. “I think it is good for people of different faiths to meet on common ground as we have done, don’t you, Abby? It pleases the Holy One.” He paged through Abby’s Bible for a moment, then began to read:

  “‘How good and pleasant it is when brothers live together in unity! It is like precious oil poured on the head, running down on the beard, running down on Aaron’s beard, down upon the collar of his robes.’” He sighed heavily. “I’m afr
aid we have not yet learned to live in unity in my country.”

  It was nearly time to land. Mr. Rosen fastened his seat belt as the Jet Liner slowly descended over the blue waters of the Mediterranean. Abby could see the flat coastline of Israel ahead.

  “I hate landings,” she said, feeling sick again. Mr. Rosen took her hand and talked her through each strange noise and dizzying turn the jet made until they landed safely on the ground. As they stood in the aisle, Abby surrendered to the urge to hug him.

  “I don’t know how I can ever thank you, Mr. Rosen.”

  “No, no, the pleasure was all mine. It’s not every day that I get to spend time with a beautiful young woman. Now, if you will allow me, perhaps I could also help you through customs and see about your lost luggage. I believe there are some forms to fill out.”

  “You don’t have to do that. . . .”

  “I know, but I would like to.”

  In the end, Abby was grateful for his help. He seemed to know a lot of people at the airport and was able to cut through the red tape quickly. Before long, they stood in the outer lobby of the terminal by the main exit doors, saying good-bye.

  “Is someone from the Archaeological Institute here to pick you up?” Mr. Rosen asked.

  “No, they’re not expecting me to arrive this early.”

  “That’s right, you said there was a mix-up in your flight times. Would you like me to phone Hannah and arrange to have someone come for you?”

  “You’ve done enough for me already, Mr. Rosen. I know you must want to get home after your long trip.”

  He smiled kindly. “A simple phone call won’t take long. I’ll feel better knowing I’m not leaving you at the mercy of our Israeli taxi drivers. Do you have the Institute’s phone number handy?” Abby fumbled in her tote bag for the packet of materials and gave it to Mr. Rosen.

  “You sit right here,” he said. “I’ll be back in a moment with good news, yes?”

  “At least let me pay for the phone call.”

  He pulled an oddly shaped coin from his pocket. “The phone requires a special token, like this. Relax. I will be right back.”