by Summer Lee
Sam was more than her mission partner. Something changed along the way. Even after the first mission. When he proposed, it made it too real for her. After years of being alone, she couldn’t deal with his... love. More than that, she couldn’t deal with how she felt for him. She cared deeply for him. She was torn between her duty and her feelings.
That was more than apparent when she lost control with the Soul Merge when they were looking for Peter’s sword. She lost her focus and that’s why she had to cut him loose. She knew that she didn’t have to be as brutal as she had been lately, but for some reason, it felt like a release for her. Her verbal destruction of Sam, made her realize her true mission. She was God’s warrior and nothing would stop her from accomplishing her objective.
It was not Sam who stopped her. She stopped herself, by having loving feelings for him. She had to now block all of that out of her mind as she regained her focus to find the Fleece of Gideon. Now, standing at the bottom of Ad Deir, she looked up to the top. She doubted her own gut feeling. There was something wrong with that perfect scenario. She had to get her instincts back. Part of that process was to reject everything Sam told her. He was right most of the time, but he was still a human.
If he really knew how superhuman she was, he would have had second thoughts about marrying her.
That’s not even a consideration anymore, since she took his choice away. She believed that she did it for the best. It would have never worked. She slapped her cheek and told herself to stop thinking about Sam. She had to follow the path that he wouldn’t. She remembered something in the Siq. Something that had caught her eye. A hole. Several of them, actually. Her gut feeling led her to remember one in particular.
She smiled as her thoughts came in clearly. She knew what she had to do. She had to go back to the Siq and enter that hole. There would probably be a path. She sensed something in there, that would lead her to the fleece. She sighed with relief as she realized one important fact about hidden treasures.
She hoped Sam and his team didn’t think of going to Petra. But if they did, she didn’t think Sam would have ever thought of checking out the hole.
Chapter the Sixteenth
SAM TOOK OUT HIS FLASHLIGHT, turned it on, and shined it on all the walls. They were slippery. With nothing to grip, he slid to the bottom.
“Hurry!” Aharon exclaimed. “We don’t want anyone seeing us!”
Anthea jumped down, followed by Aharon.
Aharon had a wicked grin. “I made sure to replace the chains and rope, before we came down here.”
“Good idea,” said Sam, shining his light on Aharon.
“How did you manage to replace everything so quickly?” Anthea said, accusingly. “You dropped in, right after me!”
“Details, details,” he replied. “Tell me. Isn’t this exciting?”
“I hope it will be,” said Sam.
“Can we just get this party started?” said Aharon. “I have a feeling that Achava may be getting the same idea.”
Sam gave him a questioned look, but said nothing. He needed both of them and the last thing he was going to do was make them mad at him by hitting them with questions. He pointed the flashlight down the only way they could go, deep into a tunnel. There appeared to be a winding corridor, about 6 feet high and 4 feet wide. Stepping forward, he said, “Here we go.”
Sam led the way, but he kept checking to see if the others were staying behind him. They were. Even though Anthea didn’t seem to wear perfume, her amazing scent permeated his nose. He assumed it was a mixture of honeysuckle and daffodils. Clearing his throat, he reminded himself that he had to focus on the job at hand—not his pretty partner.
“Shine the light on the ground right in front of you,” Anthea said. “It will help you see if there are any traps or areas we need to avoid.”
Sam nodded, as he continued forward.
The air started to get thick. Sam could breathe, but it was harder, since there was no ventilation down there. The tunnel started to slope down and eventually came to a fork where it branched off in two different directions.
Sam said, “Oh brother! Now what?”
“What does your gut tell you now, Sam?” Aharon asked.
“That’s a lot of pressure for one man, Aharon,” he replied. “I don’t feel anything. I don’t know which way to go.”
“Oh, for crying out loud! It doesn’t matter.” Anthea pushed ahead of him. “Let me lead for a while. Just keep the light in front of me.”
Sam kept the light right in front of her, as she chose the path on the right. He almost ran into her when she stopped suddenly. He was surprised to see the ground move underneath her feet. She screamed, “Sam, help me.” The ground caved in beneath her. Swallowing her up in the darkness. “Sam!” Her screaming faded as she fell into the pit and was covered over with the soft mud.
Sam stood frozen in shock as he shined the light on the spot where she disappeared. “Anthea,” he yelled. The new hole in front of him disappeared as quickly as it had opened. He got down on his knees and called her name. “Anthea!” He somehow knew he wouldn’t get an answer. He wanted to cry. “Oh Anthea.”
Aharon gently placed one hand on Sam’s shoulder. “She is gone, son. Let us move on.”
Sam looked up. Another hole opened up in front of them. He gasped. “What is going on?”
“Don’t worry about it. Just step around it and move forward.”
The hole widened.
“How exactly do you expect us to do that?” Sam didn’t bother trying to hide his anger at losing a new friend. “Do you see how big that gap is in front of me? It has to be at least 6 or 7 feet across! We couldn’t get across it, even if we jumped! If we ran to try to jump it, we would still not be able to clear falling into the new hole! We have to go back!”
“Is that what your gut tells you, Sam?” Aharon answered, calmly. “If so, we need to go back.”
Sam turned to face Aharon. “What is it about my gut that intrigues you? Will you get off of my gut? What the hell does it matter what my gut says anyhow?”
“Settle down. Don’t panic.”
“Of course I’m in a state of panic, idiot.”
There was an awkward silence, as Aharon cocked his head and looked at Sam. Without saying another word, he then turned around and headed back the way they came.
“Where are you going?” asked Sam, breathing hard.
Aharon turned his head slightly, toward Sam. “I assumed your gut said to go back.”
“No!” said Sam, countering the remark. “My gut just told me something else. We are to go down the new hole! We have to find Anthea!”
“Okay.” Aharon closed his eyes.
“We are a team, just like Gideon and his small army,” said Sam. “When Gideon was scared, God gave him a new identity. He was only a warrior because God said so. It did not matter if he was fearful.”
Aharon laughed. “You are right. Regardless of what his family or other tribes or the enemy said, Gideon was a warrior. How about you, Sam? Are you a warrior?”
Chapter the Seventeenth
ACHAVA ONCE AGAIN FACED the entrance to Ad Deir. She decided that was her best course of action. She actually felt drawn to the ancient monastery. She had never been there, but it seemed oddly familiar.
She closed her eyes and prayed first. “I pray for Sam. Change his heart, dear Lord. I cannot tell him this, or he would try to change, just to be with me. I know he cares more for me. He even asked me to be his wife. I do not know if he understands what that means to me. Marriage should be a trinity including God, the man, and the woman. I see marriage today and am not ashamed to tell You that I am frightened of what I see. People marry for more reasons, other than love, than I have ever seen. I put my life in Your hands. Amen.”
She was more comfortable coming to terms with the fact that she was alone. She took in a deep breath and stepped up to the doorway that led into the monastery. She smiled to herself. Achava had made her own decision, without a
ny help, and she was more than pleased. She felt like her old self again. There was no one to worry about, and no one to make course corrections for her. Some people she knew were rude, simply because they couldn’t handle the physical part of a situation.
When she entered the structure, it felt as if her entire life unraveled before her eyes. It felt like death. She felt select pieces of her soul reaching out to the power within her. Her breathing became erratic, as she started to see visions of events that took place decades and even centuries before she arrived.
Specters from the past, in the form of monks and priests from years long gone, appeared and disappeared in front of her. Each time one appeared, they would reach their hand into her and take a piece of her soul with them. She couldn’t move to defend herself, as she felt herself slowly slip away.
Dizziness and nausea overwhelmed her as she started to waver where she stood. She opened her mouth to say something. Anything. No sound came out. She dropped to her knees, while unable to even think straight.
Her mind was doing its best to remember why she came, but she couldn’t. It felt like the monastery had attacked her for some reason. While she still had some remnant of her mind left, she did her best to figure out why.
Her head was swimming and she was unable to focus on anything, except getting away from the monastery. She managed to look down at her hands as she raised them slightly. There was a red glow around her that grew stronger each time a spirit took a part of her.
Sam appeared right in front of her. “Why have you disturbed me?” he asked.
“I am not certain why you came to me either. There is a thought pressing on my mind.”
“What would that be?”
“I need to tell you something that you might be interested in.”
“What would that be?”
“I met this woman, Zelda, from a Bedouin camp in southern Israel. She told me about treasures her family has kept for centuries. She mentioned Gideon from the Bible.”
“Did she mention the fleece?”
“No, she spoke of a golden religious ephod that belongs to her father.”
“A what?”
“A vest.” She smiled. “And she said it looks Jewish.”
“Are you going to go to see it?”
“I want to. I plan to learn what I can about it,” said Achava with a glint in her eyes. “Care to join me?”
“Are you asking me to go to a Bedouin village full of sheep, donkeys and camels?”
“Only if you want.”
“I think I’ll pass.” Sam turned and looked into her eyes. “Just how much do you know about that woman?”
“Enough to befriend her.”
“I’ve heard other things about those people. Like one time, Israel built them some small homes in the desert, so they could move out of the tents. Instead, they put the animals in the houses and they stayed in the tents.”
“I’m not surprised.” Achava laughed. “Most of them are animal herders who love their animals. They migrate into the desert during the rainy winter season, and then move back to the cultivated land in the dry summer months. They are poor, but hearty.”
Sam raised his eyebrows. “I heard that the Bedouins have serious internal feuding, and that they raid outlying villages.”
“They gave that up quite some time ago,” she said. “It has been replaced by more peaceful commercial relations. Bedouins even serve in the armed forces or get jobs as laborers in construction.”
“So you are saying that most have abandoned their tribal tradition.”
“I guess so.”
“I disagree,” said Sam. “Whenever I’ve traveled down the highways in the Middle East, I see their junky homes made out of aluminum sheets, cardboard and scrap wood.”
“That’s not typical. Most Bedouins now have modern, urban lifestyles. But they still retain traditional cultures in their music and dance.” She looked at him and smiled. “You don’t believe me, do you?”
“No. I saw a program on television that showed that they have cultural festivals with traditional sword dancing and camel races.” He sighed. “Yet...”
“Yet what?”
“Yet what I see along the highways is how they use wilderness areas for their neighborhoods and playgrounds for their children. They have no grass, no flowers, no cement paths or driveways. I rest my case.” Sam looked her in the eye. “On the other hand, I am interested in the golden vest that they found.”
“Well, I plan to find the family and ask to see it. Are you coming with me?”
“No.” He had a smirk on his face as he faded from sight.
Sam was gone, and Achava felt paralyzed She tried to move her mouth and make different facial expressions. Finally, it worked.
She kept the muscles in her face moving constantly as she started to regain control over her hands. She opened and closed her hands. Forming fists and then opening them wide, she flattened them in front of her. It was all she could do, so she repeated the process.
Next, she moved her neck and head. She cocked her head slightly to one side, then the other. When she did, she grimaced in pain. She did not understand what was going on, but Achava was bound and determined not to be overcome by the spirits of Ad Deir. She was certain it was not a seizure.
She concentrated on her feet until her toes and feet started to move as well. Then her arms and legs moved together. She managed to move her hips. Then, with one final surge of energy, she could move again. With one loud breath, she managed to stand up on wobbly legs. Her muscles ached all over. Control over all of her thoughts and actions, slowly returned to her. Trembling, she shed a few tears. The entire odd experience was more than what she could handle. She was not sure that Sam had come.
“I think I’ve had a stroke,” she said aloud.
“Let me call a medic,” said a lady nearby. “You certainly don’t look well.”
She was sitting on a large boulder when the paramedics arrived. “What happened?”
“I was ill recently.” She forced a smile. “It was a little setback.”
“Let me check your vitals?” He placed a band on her arm for the blood pressure, took her temperature and her pulse. “I think I should check your blood sugar.”
“Sure.”
He snapped the end of her finger with a short needle and drew out some blood. He read, “Sixty. That is too low. Let me get you a bottle of soda pop.”
“Sure.”
He got the bottle out of his van and opened it for her. He sat beside her while she drank it. “Where is the rest of your team?” he asked.
“Down the hill someplace.”
“Do you want me to help you find them?” he asked.
“No, no. I’ll be fine.”
“Finish your drink and let me check your blood sugar again.”
When he did, he said, “Look at that. It is ninety-two.”
“That is great.”
“How do you feel now?”
“Good. Thanks so much.”
As she watched him drive away, her thoughts were on Anthea and Sam. Had she been beaten down by her evil half-sister, and then the monastery, too? Or was it a normal drop in blood sugar that could happen to anyone?
As she rose to her feet, she felt a renewed confidence. “Thank you, Father,” she said, out loud, as she bowed her head in prayer. “I am humbled before Your almighty power and love. I have not been the best of Your children. In this flesh, I am weak. In You, I am strong. I am sorry for failing You recently. I ask for Your continued guidance and support. I cannot do this life without You, my Lord. Please bless my road with light and answers. I lift up my sister, Anthea to You as well. What was going on when she said that she felt a surge of electricity?” she asked.
“It was not my power,” a voice whispered inside her head. That was usually how God spoke to her.
Sadly, she realized that she still hadn’t found the fleece.
Realizing she was alone, she continued to pray, “Bless Aharon and Sam. I d
on’t know enough about Aharon to decide whether he is like his brother, but that’s for You to help me with, Lord. My sister has always been out for herself, but it seems that Sam really trusts her. I pray that she has found honor in Your eyes. I will continue to look for the fleece, but to tell You the truth, I can’t figure out why. The fleece itself is of no significance. Please protect all involved in this quest. If it is meant for Sam and his team to find the fleece, then I honor Your decision. I pray these things in the almighty name of Christ, Jesus. Amen.”
***
ACHAVA WAS MORE PREPARED for the adventure than she had been before. A breeze came up and blew over her. She smelled the fragrance of roses in the air. “Perhaps, the question should be, what do you want?”
The voice came from behind her with the breeze and the aroma. She turned and saw a man draped in a sackcloth robe, with a hood over his head. He wore sandals that had been worn to practically nothing. His hands were rough and calloused.
“Who are you?” she queried, nervously.
“I am the one who you called,” he responded.
“I didn’t call you,” she replied, defiantly.
“Some call me Mar Sauma.”
Her eyes widened. “You do not look Nestorian.”
He smiled. “I appear to you, as you wish to see me.” He reached out and touched her forehead. “From in here.”
His touch was warm and welcoming.
“Mar Sauma lived in AD 423,” she said, while trying to look at his eyes. “Is this a miracle visit?”
“Yes.”
“Thank you for coming.”
He continued. “Your lack of faith even in believing what your eyes see, is interesting. I cannot stay long, so I will talk and you will listen. I have come to clear your vision. You seem to be blinded by your own ambition.”
“I want nothing, but to glorify my Lord!” She rebutted him angrily.