“What’s going on?”
Both Kon and Ezibal turned quickly to see who had spoken. Zayna turned her head also and saw a boy no more than two years older than herself come out of the brush. He had evidently been hunting, for he had a bow in his left hand and a quiver of arrows on his back. In his free hand he held a brace of rabbits. His clear gray eyes watched the two carefully. “Better let her go, Kon.”
“None of your business, Elam,” Kon growled.
Elam dropped the rabbits and with a quick movement pulled an arrow from his quiver, nocked it, and drew the string. “You know I didn’t have much luck today, just two rabbits. I need a little practice. Maybe I’ll have better luck with you.”
“Watch out what you’re doing with that thing!”
“You two just get on your way.”
For a moment Zayna was afraid that the two bullies would challenge Elam, but his hands were steady, and he was smiling as if he hoped they would do exactly that.
“Aw, come on, Kon. Let’s go get those fish.”
The burly Kon stared at Elam. “I’ll see you later, Elam.”
“Always glad to see you, Kon. A real pleasure.”
Kon released Zayna, and she rubbed her arm and watched as the two stalked off toward the river. She turned and whispered, “I’m so glad you came.”
“Well, they’re not very mannerly. My name’s Elam. What’s yours?”
“I’m Zayna, and this is my nephew, Oman.”
“Don’t know you, do I?”
“No, I don’t think so.” Zayna hated to let the young man know about her family, for he might feel the same way as the other boys felt. “We lived in Jericho, but we live with your people now.”
“So you’re the family that helped the scouts.”
“Yes,” Zayna said quickly. “That was my sister Rahab.”
“I heard about that. That was a great thing you did.” He looked down and said, “Oh, you broke your pot. You’ll have to go get another one. Come on. I’ll go with you.”
Zayna fell into step with the young man, and Oman came and cast glances at him. “Are you a soldier, Elam?” he asked.
“I will be one day. Maybe you will be too.”
“I’m too little.”
Elam laughed. “Well, you won’t always be little. You’ll be big and tall and strong like me.” He winked at Zayna, and she smiled back at him. “How do you like it here with our people?”
“We like it fine, but some people don’t like us—like those two.”
“Don’t judge all our tribes by them. They just need to have their heads soaked. I like you fine.” He turned and winked at Oman. “Say, I found some good berry bushes. Do you like berries?”
“Yes!”
“Come on. We’ll go fill up on ’em. And then we’ll pick some. Maybe they’ll make good cakes. Can you cook?” he asked Zayna.
“A little.”
“Well, we’ll pick the berries, and you can bake a cake, and I’ll eat it. How does that sound?”
Zayna felt much better now. “That sounds wonderful.”
****
As the three youngsters approached the tent, Rahab glanced up and said, “Look, Romar, it appears that Zayna and Oman have found a new friend.”
Romar had been grinding some grain in a rounded-out stone with a rounded rock. She stopped and looked up and her eyes narrowed. “I don’t think I’ve been him before.”
“Fine-looking boy,” Rahab observed.
“I broke your pot,” Zayna said as they approached. “I’ll have to go back for more water.”
“Who is your friend, Zayna?” Rahab smiled.
“This is Elam. Two boys were bothering us, but Elam ran them off.”
“That was very nice of you, Elam.” Rahab smiled.
Elam shrugged his shoulders. “Oh, it was nothing,” he said. “They aren’t really all that bad.”
“They are too,” Oman said. “I wish you would have shot ’em with an arrow.”
“Couldn’t do that. They’ll grow up to be good soldiers one day.” Elam was studying Rahab. He had heard the story and, of course, there were the usual ribald tales about the woman being a harlot. But as he studied Rahab, she seemed to be very nice. He admired the smoothness of her complexion and her large lustrous eyes, and she had a very nice smile. “I’ve heard about you,” he said. “It was wonderful what you did helping us take Jericho.”
Rahab shook her head. “It was a hard thing for us to lose all of our people, but your God took care of my family.”
“We brought some berries,” Zayna said, holding up a cloth bulging with the juicy fruit. “Look.”
Romar came over and looked down at the berries. “Those are just right,” she said. “Did you eat many?”
“I did,” Oman said. His face gave credence to his words, for he was smeared with the red juice. “They were good!”
“Could we make some cakes with them?” Zayna asked. “I promised Elam we would.”
“I don’t see why not. It’ll take a while, though.”
“We’ll go back and get some more water,” Elam said. “If those two come back, I’ll put an arrow right where it hurts.”
“Good!” Oman said. “Do both of them, Elam.”
“We have plenty of water now,” Rahab said. “You can go later. Why don’t you sit down and tell us about yourself?”
Elam felt very much at ease. He sat down and watched the women as they began to bake the cakes. One of them stirred up the fire, and another made dough. He watched as Zayna helped put the juicy berries in the dough, and soon the air was fragrant with the smell of baking.
“What do you think will happen now?” Rahab asked.
“Oh, there’s going to be another battle.”
“What makes you say that?”
“I heard my father talking about it. He’s a great soldier. We are preparing to return to Ai. I’m going to be in it too.”
“Will your father let you?” Rahab asked gently. The boy seemed to be no more than fourteen, far too young to be a seasoned soldier.
“I’m not going to tell him. I’m from the tribe of Benjamin, but I have a friend who is of the tribe of Judah. His name is Ziza. He’s two years older than I am, and he said I could go with him when the battle starts.”
Rahab picked up a small twig and began poking the cakes. “These are about ready,” she said. “Be careful now. They’re hot.”
Her warning did no good, for Oman began to pick one up, bit into it, and immediately dropped it in the dirt. “Ow,” he yelled. “That’s hot!”
“That’s what I told you. Now pick that up and dust it off.”
The youngsters were eating the cakes with great satisfaction, but Rahab was thinking of what the boy had said. “I don’t think that would be a very good idea for you to sneak into battle.”
“What’s that?”
“I think you ought to tell your father. He would be very sad if anything happened to you.”
Elam shifted uncomfortably. “Why, I’ll be all right.”
“Nobody knows what will happen to them in a battle.”
Rahab was gentle, and she kept feeding the boy the small cakes, and finally she said in a kindly tone, “It’d be a very good idea for you to talk to him first. You wouldn’t want to make him unhappy.”
“No, I wouldn’t. All right,” he said. “I doubt he’ll let me go, but I can try.”
Even as the boy spoke, Ardon came along and stopped, sniffing the aroma of fresh-baked cakes.
Rahab smiled at him. “Here. Try one of these.”
Ardon reached for a cake and sank his teeth into it. “Hmmm…good,” he said.
“The berries are fresh. The young people found them.”
“Hello, Ardon,” Elam said. “Are you getting ready for the battle?”
“Oh, Elam. I’m surprised to see you. What are you doing over here?”
“Eating cakes. What about the battle?”
“That’s for grown-ups.”
“I’m practically grown up.”
Ardon smiled. “I thought I was too when I was your age. You’ll just have to wait.”
“Sit down and rest yourself, Ardon,” Rahab said.
“No. I came to speak with you privately.”
“Oh, all right.” Rahab left with Ardon, and the two walked away from the tent. The camp was busy with women doing their work and the men mostly talking.
“Have you seen Othniel?”
“Not recently. Why?”
Ardon frowned. “I’ve got to find him.”
“Is it something about the battle?”
“Yes. Joshua and my father have told me to bring him. He’s to have a part in it.”
“You don’t like that idea, do you?”
“No, I don’t. He’s been drunk ever since Achan was stoned.”
“Yes. It grieved him a great deal, Ardon.”
“That’s weak. Achan got what he deserved. He disobeyed God’s command.”
“I know, but Othniel has a tender heart, and it’s never easy losing a friend.”
“He needs to pick his friends better, and besides that, you don’t know everything about our people, Rahab.”
“Oh, I know—I’m just learning. I know very little, really.”
“You’ve been listening to Phinehas. He’s a good man and a good friend, but he’s soft too.”
“He seems very wise to me.”
“Well, he’s not very wise about the enemies of Israel.”
“What do you mean?”
“We’ve got to conquer this whole land, Rahab. There’s no time to be merciful.”
“But Phinehas said that God told Moses that He was merciful.”
“That may be true, but He has also told us to kill everybody in the land as we move into it.”
Rahab’s temper flared at how matter-of-factly Ardon said this. “I think you’re being very unfair,” she said impatiently, “and I think you’re wrong.”
“You see? You don’t know anything, Rahab. God has told us that the land is ours, and Achan broke one of His commandments.”
“We all do that, don’t we?”
“Yes, I’m pretty sure you have broken the commandments.”
His words hurt Rahab terribly. Tears burned her eyes, and she turned away, angry and bitter, unable to speak a word.
Chapter 19
“Wake up, Othniel!”
Ariel had diligently searched for Othniel and finally located him in the tent of one of his married friends. The tent was empty—except for her worthless cousin—and Ariel, kneeling down beside the still form, shook him and said angrily, “Wake up!” She continued to pull at Othniel until his eyes began to flutter and he groaned, “Leave me alone!”
“Get up! You can’t sleep anymore.”
Ariel watched as Othniel almost painfully sat up. He leaned back against one of the tent poles and stared at her without comprehension.
“What are you doing here?”
“I’ve come to find you.”
Othniel licked his lips. “Thirsty,” he muttered and began to grope around for a jug of water. He found it and lifted it to his lips. He drank thirstily and spilled the water down over his chest. Lowering the jug, he stared at her. “How’d you find me?”
“It wasn’t easy,” Ariel said. “You’ve got to hurry.”
“Hurry and do what?”
Ariel leaned forward and whispered, even though there was no one to hear. “You can’t afford to miss the battle to take Ai.”
“What are you talking about?”
“My father was talking to my brother, and I heard them speak of the battle that’s coming. Joshua’s sending a force up to take Ai. My father wants you to be there in the battle. I don’t know why. A lot of good you’d be.”
Shakily Othniel got to his feet. He grasped the tent pole, for he had a splitting headache that felt a great deal like a spear was being thrust clear through his skull. “I’m not going to any battle,” he said sullenly.
“What are you going to do?” Ariel demanded, her eyes flashing. “Stay here in this tent and pout and act like a spoiled child?”
“Get out of here, Ariel!”
“I’m not going. Not until you wake up to what’s happening.”
“I know what’s happening. My friend Achan’s dead.”
“Are you going to spend the rest of your life grieving over him?”
“It wasn’t right!”
“It was right.”
“How can you say that, Ariel! He was a good man. He just made a mistake.”
“I know it’s right,” Ariel said, “because God gave the commandment that he be stoned. If God says it, it has to be right.”
Othniel opened his lips to answer angrily but suddenly knew that he could not. He was well aware that God had commanded Achan to be executed, but it had been a bitter pill for him to swallow, and now he reached up and ran his hands through his greasy, uncombed hair. “I don’t want to hear any of this, Ariel.”
“Well, you’re going to hear it!” Ariel suddenly grabbed his hair with both hands. She shook his head, saying, “Wake up, Othniel, you’re ruining your life!”
“That hurts!”
“That’s too bad! Listen to me. You’ve got a chance to redeem yourself.”
“No I don’t.”
“So you plan to be a drunk all your life? Are you a coward?”
Othniel forcibly removed Ariel’s hands from his hair, holding on to her wrists. “Stop yanking my head around. I’ve got a splitting headache. Why do you care, anyway?”
Ariel did not answer for a moment, and thoughts ran rapidly through her mind. Why did she care?
“Because you’re my kin,” she said. “And my father loves you.”
Othniel had no answer for this, for he knew it was true. He was still holding her wrists and realized he was squeezing them too hard. “I’m sorry,” he mumbled, letting go of her. “I didn’t mean to hurt you.”
“That doesn’t matter. What matters is that you’ve got a chance to be a man.”
“All right. I’ll be there. When are they leaving?”
“I don’t know, but it won’t be long.” She put her hands on his chest. “You have so much potential, Othniel, and you’re wasting it all.” Then she turned and left without another word.
Othniel stood staring after her. His jaw tightened, and with a new determination, he began to prepare himself for the battle.
****
Caleb and Joshua had thoroughly gone over the battle plan. As the senior officers in the army of Israel, they each recognized what a monumental task lay before them.
Joshua stared at Caleb and smiled. “Well, this will be a good training exercise for the men. We’ve got some hard battles coming up, and they need to be tested.”
Caleb rubbed his chin thoughtfully. His voice was somewhat doubtful as he spoke. “Well, let’s go over the plan one more time. I think I’ve got it in my mind, but before we give the orders, let’s be sure we know what we’re doing.”
“The people are feeling confident now. Winning the battle in Jericho was all God’s doing, not ours.”
“That’s right. To God be the glory.” Caleb nodded assent. “But this new battle will be different. There’re no walls.”
“That’s right, so it ought to be easy.”
Caleb said, “You know, Joshua, if God is not with us, no matter how easy it looks, we’re going to lose. That’s how we lost the first battle at Ai.”
“That was because there was sin in the camp, but that’s gone now,” Joshua said grimly. “I don’t think anyone else will make the mistake Achan made.”
“His death really hurt Othniel.”
“I know it did, but it was God’s command. Now, here’s what we’re going to do. I want you to take thirty thousand men and swing wide around the city. Be sure that you’re not seen. Then get as close as you can on the other side of the city.”
Joshua spoke clearly, and his eyes gleamed as he weighed ou
t the attack. “I’ll take five thousand men and make a frontal attack. I’ll make a lot of noise about it so they’ll be looking at us.”
“And so they’ll come out of the city in full force to attack you.”
“That’s what I hope. They’ll be overconfident. As soon as they leave the city and we’ve engaged them, you take the city and set it on fire.”
“And we’ll have them caught between our two forces. It ought to work, Joshua.”
“It will work. Now, let’s get started.”
****
Ardon was standing beside Caleb looking over the men when he spotted Othniel. “Look, Father, here comes Othniel. He looks terrible.”
The two men waited until Othniel came up to them. His eyes were red and his hands were unsteady. “Well, I’m ready,” he said.
“You look it,” Ardon said grimly. “You might as well go home. You’re no good to us drunk.”
“No, I won’t do that,” Othniel said stubbornly. “I’ve come to fight.”
“You two stick close together,” Caleb said. He went forward and laid his hands on Othniel’s shoulder. “I wish your father were here, my boy. I know you want to make him proud of you.”
Othniel could not meet Caleb’s eyes. He was thoroughly ashamed of himself and knew that he was in no shape for a battle, but he muttered, “I’ll do the best I can.”
“Good. Now, look. We’ll leave right now and take our position….”
****
Othniel lay flat on his back. Caleb’s force had made the journey around the city of Ai in complete and utter silence. They had not been spotted by any sentinel, and now they were lying in wait behind a series of low hills. Othniel was feeling terrible and wished he were anywhere but here.
“You look rotten, Othniel.”
Othniel looked up to see his friend Ezra, from the tribe of Dan. Ezra threw himself down and grunted, “We may be here for a long time. Here. Have a drink.” He unslung a leather flask that dangled from his neck and offered it to Othniel.
“No, I don’t need it.”
“Sure you do. We all do.” Ezra took a healthy drink from the flask, then urged Othniel, “Just one little drink won’t hurt.”
“All right. One little drink.”
But that one little drink was followed by another—and then another, and before Othniel knew what he was doing, he was drinking deeply. He fell into a drunken stupor, and as the sun grew hotter, he crawled up under the shade of the bushes. He did not hear the sound of Caleb’s voice crying out, “Attack! Attack!” but slept on as the attack was made.
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