by Summer Lee
“You now hear what you think I said.” His voice was calm and soothing. “Your ambition does not echo many others in this time. There was a time when there were so many like you. You ambition blinds you, because you do not see what is set before you. Your companion said it himself. Perhaps, God wishes to have a partner for you. It may even be a reward for your service.”
“I need no partner!” A single tear rolled down her cheek. “I have done well without one!”
“Perhaps you traveled long without one, because the right one had not come along just yet. Perhaps he is here now. Hear me, Achava. You need to listen with your heart. Listen with ears other than those on your head. You were not meant to be alone. You have been prepared and are now ready to be with someone who is open and accepting of your mission in life. You will find that with no other. Your path is perilous and constant. Samuel Godfrey accepted that, but you made him feel unwanted. Perhaps, marriage is not for you as yet. You still need a companion. You know his heart. You know your own. When you get to a Bible, read, 1 Corinthians 13:13.”
She started crying as she remembered the verse. “And now these three remain: faith, hope, and love. But the greatest of these is love.”
“Yes,” he replied, with a smile of appreciation. “When there is no faith and no hope... there is always love. God is of love and for love. He is love. We all lose our way. We all have lost our faith, from time to time, but we never lose our love. We never lose the love that God has given us. See John 3:16.”
“I know that one as well.” Achava hung her head in shame. “For God so loved the world that he gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.”
The monk chuckled. “You don’t use the King James version? You have progressed with the times, Achava. Go now! Follow your heart, which will always lead you to God and pure love. Find your wisdom and guidance from there. Remember one important thing... to find what you seek, requires something Gideon didn’t have.”
She reluctantly raised her head. With tear-filled eyes, she watched as Mar Sauma faded and became transparent. When she realized that the monk was gone, she knew he also left her with a new knowledge and courage.
She prayed, “This place was and is a place of holiness. I will not desecrate it. I do need to know whether I should continue my quest, or not. I know that You have given us all the power to decide for ourselves. I ask that You just guide me; take me to where You need me. I no longer want the power to decide for myself, but I do thank You for such a gift.”
Chapter the Eighteenth
ON HIS KNEES, Sam crawled to the edge of the new hole. The air was thicker, so Sam took a moment to use his inhaler. He took a step downward and the dirt did not move.
“I’m going down. Are you coming, Aharon?”
“I’m coming.”
The further Sam and Aharon went down into the hole, the darker it got. But Sam strongly believed it was right beside the one that consumed Anthea. He would find her.
Sam could barely hold onto the flashlight and keep himself from falling at the same time. At least there were jagged rocks protruding from every side for him to step on. He grasped them as he went downward to slow himself down. “I can’t see you, Aharon! Are you still with me?”
“As much as I can be, considering the circumstances,” was his reply. “Darn it! If I just had my special abilities, I could get us out of here.”
“But you don’t.”
“I know. And I know you are a good man to want to help a friend.”
“I am doing what any man would do.”
“I know,” he said. “Stay the course, young Sam!”
“I plan to.”
“We’ll get to Anthea, or die trying!”
“You got that one right.”
Sam could not help but wonder how Anthea even survived the fall between those jagged rocks. It started to get hotter the further down they went. “Why does everything important have to be underground?” Sam complained.
Aharon snickered. “Because everyone would be able to find these artifacts, if they were above ground, or even in the air! Ha-ha! I like you Sam. You are a fun traveling companion. We should do this again sometime.”
“You’re obviously joking.” Sam laughed at that idea. In fact, their current adventure could well be his last. After all, what was he doing it for, now that Achava was out of the picture? He would definitely go back to teaching. There was always that choice if he would ever need more money. Retirement was the better choice.
The next rock that Sam tried to gain a foothold on, would be a mistake. His foot slipped and he plummeted down the hole, cutting himself on the rocks as he slid along. He did his best to angle himself to avoid getting hurt, but it was all to no avail. His body went limp as the cuts and abrasions all over his body started taking their toll. His head hit solidly against the side of the wall and then darkness.
Something happened in his brain. He went into a trance and saw Gideon, as if it was a vision. Gideon was talking to God. Gideon said, “You say that You have decided to use me to rescue Israel. Well, I am putting some wool on the ground where we thresh the wheat. If in the morning there is dew only on the wool, but not on the ground, then I will know that You are going to use me to rescue Israel.” That is exactly what happened. The next scene was the next morning. Gideon squeezed the wool and wrung enough dew out of it to fill a bowl with water. Then Gideon said to God, “Don’t be angry with me; let me speak just once more. Please let me make one more test with the wool. This time, let the wool be dry, but the ground wet with dew.”
God did as he asked, and then an angel came to Sam and said, “You know the rest of the story found in Judges.” Sam was fascinated with the story of when the angel told about Gideon collecting the golden earrings.
“Gideon was not stupid,” Sam told the angel. “He preferred gold, rather than be a judge.”
The angel said, “The Israelites said to Gideon, ‘Rule over us—you, your son and your grandson—because you have saved us from the hand of Midian.’
“But Gideon told them, ‘I will not rule over you, nor will my son rule over you. The Lord will rule over you.’” The angel moved away and so did the vision. Sam felt alone in the dark.
***
Sam’s head felt like it was on fire.
As he amazingly returned to the land of the living, he didn’t want to open his eyes. His body was aching and he supposed it was bleeding as well. He moved his arms. They were both free. That was good. He wasn’t anyone’s prisoner. Before opening his eyes, he listened to the sounds in the air and tried to make them out. He did not hear the sarcasm of Aharon, or the bittersweet voice of Anthea. Nothing. He realized one important thing. The air was no longer thick. He had to be inside a ventilated enclosure.
He had no choice, but to open his eyes. When he raised his eyelids, he saw that he was in an underground cavern. He looked around. The entire cavern must have been at least 100 yards long. There was a red hue, where torches lit the area. He heard rushing water behind him. He turned and saw an underground river ran against one of the walls. He was so thirsty, and the water looked so good. He went straight to it. There was mud along the edge of the river, so he had to be careful. Sam stood up in the sand and then carefully stepped in to see if he could drink from the river. He pushed his cupped hands into the rushing water and came up with just a small handful of water. He drank it and continued to scoop up the water, until he breathed a sigh of relief.
He noticed his backpack was still on, so he took the pack off and pulled out his water bottle and refilled it. His arms and hands were cut up pretty badly, so he held them under water for a while. Then removing his first aid kit, he dressed his wounds. He stood and looked around, hoping to see one of his allies pop up from... somewhere.
Once he dressed his wounds, he felt the back of his head. It was wet. He pulled his hand around in front of his face and saw blood. He used an alcohol wipe from his backpack to clean the wound
as best as he could, flinching all the time.
The flashlight was missing. He put everything back into his pack and placed it on his back, then went to take one of the torches from the wall. Pulling it off of the wall, he used the light to explore the area. Off to the end of the cavern, he could see what appeared to be an opening. He jogged over to it, and saw that the opening was wide.
As he got closer, he could hear people talking on the other side of it. He took in a deep breath and charged through the portal. “Hah!” he exclaimed, as if to catch someone by surprise. Sam’s jaw dropped and his eyes widened as he saw that he was now in the inner chamber of the cavern.
It was only about 50 feet square. Pushed up against the furthest side of the rock wall were what appeared to be thousands of animal pelts. There were several rock pillars going up from the ground to the ceiling as well.
“Sam, can you hear me?” whispered a voice above his head.
“Achava,” he whispered.
“Yes,” she said. “I want you to come with me.”
“When?”
“As soon as possible. I will come for you at the right time.”
He looked around and saw no one. Achava was not there.
“Sam,” another woman’s voice called out from across the room. The familiar female voice made him feel ill. He recognized it as Anthea’s voice. He turned and looked. He was so in awe with the pelts, that he had not noticed Anthea and Aharon standing off to the side. Anthea looked disgusted and as usual, Aharon just looked amused.
“Where did all the pelts come from?”
“My, my, my!” said Aharon without answering the question. “Looks like we have our work cut out for us. Well, actually I’m old and feeble, so I’m afraid the burden of work must fall upon you two. Good luck.”
Sam made one realization. “Those aren’t pelts. Are they?”
“No Sam,” Anthea said, rolling her eyes. “They are not pelts. Do you know what they are?”
“If I would have to guess, I’d say wool, sheepskin or fleeces,” he responded, optimistically.
“Good guess, Sam.”
Sam turned with subconscious excitement, to greet... Achava. “Achava! You’re here!” Before she had a chance to respond, he rushed up to her and hugged her tightly.
Achava was more than surprised at his greeting. Anthea narrowed her eyes and folded her arms in front of her.
“Well hello, sis,” Anthea said, with coldness in her voice. “Where have you been?
Achava ignored her wicked half-sister for a moment, while she responded to Sam. “Hello Sam. I’m happy that you are glad to see me, but this isn’t a social visit.” She glared at Anthea.
“Oh no! Not again,” said Sam.
Aharon said that he should run interference. “It’s good that you’re here, Achava! We need all the hands we can get to find the Fleece of Gideon. Of course, I can’t help, because I’m old and...”
“I’m sorry, Aharon,” Achava interrupted. “I’m not here to help you. I’m here to tell you that the quest you are on is fruitless.”
Sam backed away from her, with a questioned look on his face. “Are you okay? I mean, when Anthea beat you up?”
“This has nothing to do with what Anthea did to me, Sam,” she replied. “With God’s help, I have come to an understanding of the situation. That is all I can say right now. I will not force what I have to say on you. If you do not wish to hear it, then...” She chose not to finish her sentence.
“Then what?” Anthea demanded. “Are you going to try and stop us? I think we all know how well that went the last time.”
Aharon walked up to Anthea and gritted his teeth. “If we are going to accomplish anything down here, we need to start looking for the fleece.”
“That’s what I’m trying to tell you all,” Achava said, adamantly. “The fleece is worthless!”
“We all know that, Achava! Bah!” Aharon waved her off and headed toward the stack of fleeces. He then started to dig through them, while inspecting each one individually.
Achava stood in shock. “You know that the fleece has no value?”
“What do you mean, Achava?” Sam asked, as he stared at Aharon at the same time.
“Don’t listen to the liar!” Anthea added. “I am tired of you trying to stop me from accomplishing something great, dear sister!” There was a recognizable sarcastic tone in her voice.
“Wait a minute!” Sam demanded. “Why don’t we hear her out? I mean, maybe she has something important to say.”
“Fool!” Anthea was in a fury, as she knocked Sam to the ground. “She will deceive you as she always has! Who are you with Sam? Who?”
Sam wiped his lip with the back of his hand and saw blood. “That’s a crazy question to ask me, since you just hit me!”
“I want to know whose side you’re on.”
Achava stood between Sam and Anthea. “Enough, Sister! You will not hurt anyone, not while I am here!”
Anthea interlocked her fingers and cracked every knuckle on both hands. “I’m so glad you said that, Achava.” She didn’t wait for Achava to act. Anthea did a roundhouse kick to Achava’s face, but Achava moved out of the way just in time.
“No!” Sam yelled, as he felt his masculinity slipping away. He also knew that his Jeet Kune Do was useless against those two warriors, who may have had more birthdays than he could count. Or not. He decided instead to try to get Aharon to help him. “You young ladies need to behave.”
They ignored him.
Sam rushed over to where Aharon was frantically pulling out fleeces, messing up the neatly stacked objects. “Aharon! I need your help! I don’t know how to break up the fight between Achava and Anthea! You’ve got to help me! Please!”
Aharon started to laugh. “Oh, dear boy. Do I look like one of their parents to you?” He grabbed Sam by the shoulders and glared into his eyes. “Sammy. We are about to embark on one of the greatest finds, ever! Ignore the ladies.”
Sam was confused and was tired of the verbal runaround. “That doesn’t make sense, Aharon. You said the fleece means nothing and then you start tearing into the pile of them, as if your life depended on it. What’s going on?”
Aharon calmed down. “I did say that it was worthless, because the fleece itself is worthless. I can’t say anymore right now, but you must help me find a specific fleece.”
“Wait!” Sam exclaimed, angrily. “You knew all this time, that there was something special about a different fleece and didn’t bother to tell me?”
“We can’t tell everything we know.” Aharon was sarcastic.
Taking note, Sam smiled and said, “I’ll remember that.”
Aharon said, “That information won’t do you any good, since you have no sixth sense.”
“Forget it,” said Sam. “Don’t you think it’s strange that this cavern is here? All it has is a pile of old sheep skins! This makes no sense to me!”
“Details, details!” Aharon acted aggravated. “Don’t bother me with details, when the prize is afoot! Gideon’s fleece is useless, but if we find it, we should find something of worth with it. There is something of value here. I just know it.”
Sam shook his head. He was now completely confused. “Whatever? You just said that the fleece is worthless, but there’s something special near it. You have to tell me what you know about the fleece! Now!”
“I don’t think I like your tone, boy! Look, Sam. There are difficult decisions we face in everyday life. Whether you’ve been around for centuries, or just a few decades. The fact is, it doesn’t get any easier. Sometimes the things we love the most, are the hardest to let go of.”
“What does that have to do with the fleece? Wait! Are you now speaking of Achava? Are you saying I should let go of Achava?” Sam asked.
It was Aharon’s turn to look confused. “Achava! Oh heck, son. I thought you were falling for Anthea. The way you were swooning all over her and blushing when she smiled at you. I thought I was going to lose my lunch. I can’t keep t
rack of you and your love for women. I really can’t.”
Sam looked back at Achava and Anthea battling it out. If Aharon said anything else, Sam was oblivious to it. He stared at the two women and knew that, even though Anthea wanted nothing to do with him romantically, she was his rebound from Achava. He couldn’t do anything, but watch as the two sisters fought each other. Which one was right? He didn’t know. He did see a renewed confidence in Achava. That confidence brought back some of the emotions, that he tried unsuccessfully to hide. He knew he couldn’t intervene. He had something more important to do.
Sam had to keep an eye on Aharon. There was something special about one of those fleeces and the only way Sam was going to find out, was if he shadowed Aharon. He just hoped that Aharon was not lying to him. He set the torch he got from the previous room, in a holder on the wall and got to work looking for one unusual fleece.
Chapter the Nineteenth
ACHAVA KNEW EXACTLY what to do next. She would go get Sam. This was a good time, because he was working in a corner alone, right next to an opening leading outside.
“Come away with me, Sam,” she whispered into the atmosphere. She then attempted to do the kidnapping enchantment she had seen her mother do so many times. Inhaling deeply and blowing it out completely, she began to shut down. She did that five more times, calling out Sam’s name each time. He appeared right in front of her.
It worked.
“Come quickly,” she said, clasping his hand. “Let’s get away from those two.”
Sam looked dazed, but he followed.
She practically flew off the mountain, pulling him behind her.
When they were far enough away, she stopped under a tree, by a brook. Cupping their hands, they sipped the cool water. “Sam, I need to see you alone for a while. That is why I nabbed you.”
“What is it, Achava?”
“Remember, we were talking about the ephod that Gideon made by melting down many earrings from the Midianites?”