“You may have to tell him now.”
“Why?”
“We need his help to get my friend to Bethany.”
“Are you sure you want me to tell Jeremiah?”
She nodded, then leaned down to feel Elizabeth’s forehead. “She is still with a fever. This is not good.”
Leah filled a cup and lifted Elizabeth’s head. She opened her mouth and poured some water, prompting Elizabeth to cough a little. “Can you hear me?”
“Leah?” Elizabeth said in a weak voice.
She patted her cheek gently. “Yes, my child.”
“Where am I?”
“You are in my home.”
“Where’s my dad?”
“I do not know.”
She let out a small cough. “I want to go home.”
Leah gave her a couple of more sips of water. “We are going to try to get you home. But you must first get stronger. Can you get up to walk?”
Elizabeth closed her eyes.
“Should I get my husband?” asked Sarah.
“Yes. Quickly.”
Leah continued to give Elizabeth water when she opened her eyes. Elizabeth swallowed and coughed as she drank. “What happened to me?”
“You fell off the roof. Do you remember how it happened?”
“I remember the soldier. Nothing more.”
“You had a terrible fall. You hit your head on the ground. You have a bad wound.” She wiped around Elizabeth’s mouth where water had spilled. “How do you feel now?”
“Awful. My head is hurting so much.”
She groaned as Leah placed her head down. “You must get your rest, Elizabeth. We will have to go on a trip to get you the help you need.”
Leah gathered up a few travel items, collecting weaving needles to use as weapons, two of her favorite robes, two bedrolls, some food, and a small blanket that used to lay in the crib. As she finished packing the supplies, she stared out the window at the courtyard and fig tree. She stood silent, misty-eyed at the thought of leaving her adored home, where she had loved and lived for many sunsets.
Sarah and Jeremiah arrived as she came down the ladder.
“I have a strong donkey,” he said. “The animal can carry your friend but you must walk beside her. I will walk on the other side. The trip is a short one, not many steps. Once we are there, we must leave. Sarah told me about the injured Roman soldier. They will come back for revenge. We will all be in danger.”
Leah agreed and packed up more wet cloths, placing one on Elizabeth’s forehead and another on her wound. She tightened it like a bandana.
Elizabeth opened her eyes and attempted to lift herself. “It hurts.”
“You must be strong. We must travel now. Marcus could be coming back.” Leah put her hand underneath Elizabeth’s back. “Try now.”
She was able to sit up slightly.
“Jeremiah, can you bring the donkey in here?” Leah asked.
“Sarah,” he called out. “Bring the animal in.”
“Stay strong, my child,” Leah said.
“What about my dad?” Elizabeth’s breathing was shallow. “Where is he?”
Leah saw the agony in her face and realized Elizabeth might not want to leave with them. So she did what any mother would do for the sake of her child’s health and safety – she lied. “He is at your home waiting for you. We must get you healed so you can be with your father.”
“How do you know?”
“A friend told me she saw him go back to the city and leave. He did not know you were here so he left. He is probably most worried about you. Let us help you get better so you can join him at home.”
Elizabeth attempted a weak smile. “Okay.”
Sarah walked the donkey into the bedroom and Jeremiah used his big forearms to lift Elizabeth up, then placing her on the animal. “Steady, steady,” he said, gesturing to Leah to hold her in position.
“That hurts. My leg feels awful. I can’t move it.”
“My neighbor knows someone who can heal you. We are not far from where he was last seen.”
“Is he a doctor?”
“No. A rabbi.”
“How is a rabbi going to help me?”
“We have heard stories about him helping the sick and hurt.”
Elizabeth winced. “I don’t care what he is. If he can help me, let’s go.”
Leah handed Sarah the basket of items she had collected and gave Samuel’s spear to Jeremiah. “We may need this.”
He nodded. “Let us move as quickly as we can. There is more light coming.”
Leah stayed beside the donkey, keeping her arms around Elizabeth as she wobbled sideways on the animal.
Jeremiah kept his one free arm steadying her other side while looking upward at the threatening clouds. “We may be walking into a storm,” he said, pointing to the pitch black sky.
“How are you feeling, my child?” Leah asked.
“I’m woozy. My leg has a bad pain and I still have a whopping headache.” She gave Leah a sideways glance. “Why are you smiling?”
“Because you are complaining and using those strange words again. Woozy and whopping.” She let out a small laugh. “I now know you must be getting better.” Leah held on to the last bit of hope left in her heart.
The bandage around Elizabeth’s head loosened from the first leg of the trip, so Leah pulled it off and felt the wound with her hand. Blood stained her fingers. “Sarah, I need another cloth.”
Leah wrapped the protective piece tightly around her head.
Elizabeth bit her lower lip. “That hurts.”
“I am sorry. But I need to do it this way.”
“We are not far from Bethany,” said Jeremiah.
“Sarah, how will we know where to find the rabbi?” Leah asked.
“I will ask once we get to town. He is said to travel with a group of men and sometimes a woman.”
There was a group of homes in the distance, surrounded by small and high hills and mountains outlying the perimeter. Leah absorbed the scenery in front of her and thought briefly how wonderful it would be to live in such a peaceful town.
They stopped at the edge of the neighborhood, resting by a well. Leah and Sarah cupped their hands and drank some water. The smell of porridge wafted through the air and the sound of children and families waking up could be heard.
“I will go and ask about the preacher,” said Jeremiah.
He introduced himself to several people, including an elderly man, accompanied by a silver-haired woman. He pointed to the far hills, a good distance from where they were now. Jeremiah made a gesture of gratitude and returned.
“He was last seen up there,” he said, pointing to a steep climb as the clouds thickened more near the highest hill.
“How do we know if he is there or not?” Leah asked.
“They do not know for certain. They said that they saw him go up there with a group of men. They saw the men come down before the sun set but the preacher was not with them. So everyone in the town believes he is still up there, perhaps praying.”
Elizabeth started to close her eyes.
“Stay awake,” Leah implored as she pulled the bandage as tight as she could. “We have to go now.”
Sarah cast doubt. “It is a long way up the hill. How do we even know the rabbi is there? How do we even know what my neighbor said was true?”
“You say this now, Sarah?”
“I worry.”
“I need to go,” said Leah, convinced that her trip was wise. “He may be the only one who can help now.” A loud bang erupted from above as a heavy rain flooded the ground. “Go back,” she told Jeremiah and Sarah.
“No. We will go too,” Sarah responded.
“I’m feeling strange,” Elizabeth said.
“How, my daughter?” Leah asked.
“I can’t feel my arms and legs. I can’t move my fingers.”
“We will get you to this preacher.”
“Oh God, Leah, I can hear you but can
’t see you. What’s happening?”
“No, my daughter. Stay with me. Do not go.” Leah remembered Yochanan’s last words, much like Elizabeth had just spoken. Her heart sank.
Elizabeth gasped for a deep breath. “Leah, tell my father I’m sorry. I bought the Lady Gaga ticket. I shouldn’t have…I shouldn’t have…left on the lights.”
Leah rubbed her arms and then her legs. “No. No. You are not leaving me. Yochanan left me. My daughter left me. Michael left me. I am not going to let you leave me. No. No.”
“I don’t want to leave.”
“I will not let you,” Leah shouted. “Preacher, where are you? My daughter needs your help.”
“Leah, I feel weird. Tell my dad I love him. Tell him.” Elizabeth closed her eyes.
“No. Open your eyes. Listen to me.”
“Hold me, Leah. Hold me, Mom. I’m scared.”
She hugged Elizabeth.
“Don’t leave me, Leah.”
“I will not,” she said. “Do not go. We will find the preacher.”
“Tell dad. Tell him. Tell him I …”
Leah pushed Elizabeth’s eyes open. “Look at me. Do not leave me.”
The wind howled as they reached the top of the terrain, prompting all three of them to shield their faces with their hands against the driving rain. The pace slowed and Elizabeth lost consciousness, the cloths now drenched in fading red moisture. Leah protected Elizabeth’s face with her body.
Sheets of rain slapped the trees, bushes and ground, drenching Leah’s back. “Wake up. We are here,” she repeated over and over. The top of her head was soaked. She let a stream of water run down her nose and onto Elizabeth’s face, hoping it would shake her from the slumber.
Sarah and Jeremiah leaned against each other, holding hands. “May God be with her,” said Jeremiah.
Leah refused to concede, picking Elizabeth’s head up in a merciful plea as the rain dripped from her eyebrows. “Where are you, preacher?” she called out, her voice trembling. “Help my child.”
She glanced at her friends hoping they would have an answer. They hung their heads on each question while Sarah meshed her face into Jeremiah’s wet garment. “My God, protect Leah’s friend,” he said. “May you have mercy on us all.”
They wrapped their arms around Leah in an effort to pull her away from Elizabeth.
“No. I will wait for the preacher.”
“He is not here,” said Jeremiah.
She pushed them away.
“Do we know where her family is?” he asked.
“I only know from where she came, a gateway or alleyway somewhere in the city of Jerusalem, near a fruit stand. I do not know how far it would be to travel to her home.”
“It would be dangerous for us to go back that way,” responded Jeremiah, wiping the moisture away from his eyes.
“Her father must be told what has happened to his daughter,” said Leah. “I do not even know if we can find her home.”
“Was she of our faith?” asked Sarah.
“She believed in God. But I do know they had other customs.”
Jeremiah shook his head. “Oh Leah, I do not know what to say or what to do. But I do know we must not stay here any longer.”
“I am not giving up. Help me, Jeremiah.” Together they pulled Elizabeth off the donkey and laid her on the ground. Leah staggered a few steps in each direction, then stopped and shouted out for the preacher. The drops doused them harder and she fell to her knees, weeping. Leah lay her head on Elizabeth’s chest and gave her a kiss on the cheek.
“You have many more sunsets to see, my child. You never did tell me whether I can meet your Matthew. I hope you let me see him.”
She looked skyward, letting the storm butcher her face. “My heart is yours. Oh God, please let my heart beat inside Elizabeth. God, let my soul strengthen her spirit.” A laser like light lit the side of Elizabeth’s face. When Leah spun around to tell Sarah and Jeremiah, a man with his head covered in a white robe appeared, his garment dry and untouched. Startled, Leah gasped. “Who are you?”
“I am here to take Elizabeth home.”
“You know where her town is? Can you find her father?”
“I do.”
Leah wiped moisture away from her eyes with her sleeve. “Are you the preacher?”
“I am who you are looking for.”
“My friend said you can save her. Can you heal her? She is young. She has much life and love to give.”
“I do not need to perform a miracle to convince one of who I am. She has much love to give in my Father’s Kingdom.”
“Where is this Kingdom you speak about?”
“When my Father calls you, you shall see.”
“Get away from her. You cannot help her.”
“I can.”
“What about her father? He will be broken-hearted. He needs to know.”
He placed his hands on Leah’s face. “Do not weep, woman, for my Father’s Kingdom grants eternal life to all.”
Leah gave a puzzled look to the preacher and glanced at Elizabeth’s lifeless body. Big puddles formed all around them as the glimmer of white light grew, embracing Elizabeth’s face.
“She is dead. You cannot heal her. Sarah’s friend was wrong.”
“Woman, she is already healed.”
The preacher held Elizabeth’s hands. “My daughter, your work here is done for now.”
Chapter Twenty
Jim left and Michael asked Connie and Allison to scour the kitchen and living room for more notes or clues. Michael returned to Elizabeth’s bedroom and tore it apart, rummaging through a pile of papers stacked near her computer.
A few moments later, Allison appeared at the doorway. “Besides Lady Gaga references, anything else in particular you’re looking for?”
“I don’t know. Maybe I’m missing something. A note from someone that might help me find her. Maybe an email that would tell me who she’s been talking to recently. A password to her email account, in case there’s something in there that could tell us if she was planning on going anywhere today without telling me.”
He pulled out several drawers, the remains fluttering to the floor. He swatted at papers much like an old man shooing away a fly on a humid day, desperate for any sign.
“Was she upset about something?” Allison asked. “Was there another boy she talked about?”
“She only mentioned that Matt kid.” He opened books and shook out the pages, hoping something would fall out. “I wonder if she did go to that Lady Gaga concert.”
“Lady Gaga? Yeah, she’s in the city for her tour. Teenage girls don’t confide to their dads about their crushes. Maybe she’s talked to one of her girlfriends. Have you talked to any of them?”
He rattled another drawer. “No, I don’t think this has anything to do with a boy.” He sat on the floor tossing each unimportant item to the far corner of the room. “Wait, this might be it,” he said, holding up an email copy of the Lady Gaga concert information. “I bet she decided to go to the city today after I told her she couldn’t.”
“Why do you say that?”
“This was printed after I told her she couldn’t go.”
“Well, this reminds me of my younger days,” Allison said. “I could tell you some stories of my teenage years.”
“You don’t have to. Your dad has already filled me in,” he said with some edge.
She rolled her eyes. “Don’t believe everything you hear.”
“Right.” He stood and headed to the doorway. “I’m calling the cops.”
After speaking to one of the detectives about his theory, he hung up and frowned.
“What did they say?” Allison asked.
“They can’t help me. There are thousands of kids at the concert so it’ll be difficult to even spot her. They advised me to wait a few hours and see if she calls me.”
While waiting, he contacted several of Elizabeth’s friends. One parent told him her daughter was supposed to meet Elizabet
h at the train station. “I dropped Kacie off but left before the train came. So I don’t know. But I can text her to find out,” said Mrs. French.
His theory hit one dead end after another. Elizabeth never responded to any of the text messages from the kids meeting her for the concert.
Maybe she was too embarrassed to tell them I said no?
“They thought that she wasn’t allowed to go,” Mrs. French said in a follow up call. “I don’t blame you. I don’t like Kacie listening to that kind of music but since there were five of them going together, I gave her permission to go.”
Michael sighed in despair. “She bought a ticket but never showed up with the other kids. It doesn’t mean she isn’t there. Right?”
But he knew the answer.
“Where are you going now?” Allison yelled from behind him.
He yanked the front door open. He ran to the garage, lifted the door, and pushed the lawnmower aside. Kicking at several beach chairs, he cleared a path to the back. “There it is.”
He picked the object up and shoved several old bags of clothes aside for good measure.
“What are you looking for?” Allison asked out of breath as she reached the garage.
“This,” he said, holding up a shiny, unused ax.
Her eyes widened. “Why do you need that?”
“For the church.”
“You’re nuts.” She pushed her curly, brown hair away from her eyes. “Why do you need that for church?”
Michael flew past her, grabbed his keys and cell phone and hopped into his car.
“Wait, wait for me,” yelled Connie, running out the door.
“You’re brother’s gone crazy. We have to stop him,” Allison said.
Michael didn’t hear his sister’s response as his car screeched, making a sharp u-turn on the narrow street, barreling into a neighbor’s mailbox. He made Main Street his personal raceway, arriving at the church in a matter of minutes. Not caring, he snagged a handicapped parking space in front of the church and raced up the steps.
Dennis was at the pulpit, delivering a sermon. “We must forget our disputes, our anger toward each other. This is a time for hope, promise, and love. We are human. We are weak at times. We make mistakes. Forgive yourself. Forgive others.”
Michael carried his ax on his left side, trying to hide it from the congregation.
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