Chapter 4
The huntress held her breath and drew back the taught longbow. Dressed from head to toe in tight leather clothes, she blended in well with her surroundings. A long, black ponytail was the only part of her in motion, swaying in the breeze as she focused on her prey. She released the steel tipped arrow and it whistled through the air to sink into a rabbit, killing it instantly. A few more of these rabbits would make for a decent stew, but Jirah really wanted to find a larger animal. Poachers had been in the area of late, so all the bigger animals were getting scarce in the lands around Jirah’s little farm. When her husband Justus was still alive, he would have provided for them much better with a large garden, but Jirah did not have a green thumb, and she really could not be bothered with weeding. She continued to scout the woods looking for a few more rabbits, and now her mind drifted to thoughts of her late husband. He was the best man that she had ever known. They were so young when they met in the capital city of Jeru many years ago. She was just 19 and working as a hunting guide, having hunted her whole life. Her mother had died when she was very young, forcing her father to raise her alone, so he taught her all that she knew about tracking and living off the land. Justus was only 20 years old when they met and Jirah smiled at the thought of that first meeting. The two of them were complete opposites. Justus was a very religious man and was always speaking about the Eternal Ya; Ya this and Ya that. It drove her crazy on that first trip they took together.
Justus and a group of his friends had hired Jirah to guide them on a hunting expedition and the two of them fought the whole way. She was rough around the edges and not very feminine. He seemed to think that the whole world revolved around this Ya he spoke of all the time.
At the end of that trip, Justus had said to her, “When you come to your senses and realize that you ought to worship the creator, then come and see me at the cathedral.”
Jirah had made some smart remark at the time because she really had no intention of going anywhere to see men in robes chanting and moaning. A week after that hunting trip, Jirah’s father died at the hands of robbers while hunting alone in the nearby mountains. Her father was all she really had in the world and she took the loss very hard. The priests at the cathedral of Ya offered a funeral service to people who could not afford to pay for one themselves and Jirah took them up on the offer because she really did not have enough gold to give her Father the respectful service that he deserved. It was at that service that she met Justus for the second time.
After all the words were spoken and she had put her dear father in the ground, Justus came over to her to speak.
She did not give him a chance to say anything, rather she started yelling and dumping all of the pain she felt on the poor man. “If this Ya you worship is so good and wonderful, how come he could not save my father?”
To Jirah’s surprise, Justus said nothing at all. With a tear in his eye, he simply embraced her and let her cry for at least an hour. When she had cried her last tear, he simply said, “I am deeply sorry for your loss.”
She was so sure that the devout man was going to say some more pushy religious talk, so his kind sympathy overwhelmed her. As Justus began to walk away, she called out to him, “Do you have some time to talk with me? I do not want to be alone just yet.”
Justus smiled and nodded. “Let’s go and sit on the bench outside in the cathedral garden and you can tell me all about your father.”
That was exactly the right thing to say at the time because Jirah did not want such a great man to be forgotten, so remember is what they did. In the months to come, the two young people met often and very quickly fell in love. Jirah did not consider herself to be a true believer, but she did love Justus, so going to services became a part of her life.
Before long they were married in the cathedral and were every bit the happy young married couple. The marriage service was performed by the Cleric of Ya which was a rare honor because the strange holy man only passed through the city once a year at most. They still did have the occasional fight, but it was more playful banter than serious disagreement.
The happy life they were building in Jeru came to an abrupt end one evening when Justus came rushing into the house and yelled, “The Cathedral is burning! Someone has deliberately set it on fire.”
Jirah dropped what she was doing and asked, “Is everyone ok?”
Justus shook his head and she could tell that he had been weeping. “All the priests have been killed and there is nothing left!” he said with a quiver in his voice.
The two quickly gathered up a few important things, and left the city in a hurry. Jirah’s father had left the farm to her after he died, so the young couple moved there, not knowing where else to go. The farm was in disrepair, but it did not take too long for them to fix it up and make it their own. Justus enjoyed working in the garden and Jirah spent much time hunting the area and still worked as a hunting guide. Justus even built a little shrine to Ya so he could have a special place to pray. It was always a wonder to Jirah how this man she loved could hold on to his faith in the midst of such pain and loss. He was truly an inspiration to her and she was even warming up to the thought of honoring this Eternal Ya that had become such an important part in her husband’s life.
One fateful day, when she had returned home from a three day hunting trip, she found Justus in their bed, sweating and shaking from a terrible fever. In the days to come, she never left his side, but the fever would not dissipate. She would never forget his last words to her. “Ya loves you my dear, better than I ever could. Never forget that.” She could hear those words in her mind like it was just yesterday. Part of her still was mad at Ya for taking all that she loved away and leaving her alone, but the mighty faith of her husband reminded her to hold on in faith to the small belief that Ya still loved her. Maybe someday, the vexing debate in her mind would be solved, but for now, she just plodded on with life. One day at a time was all she could handle, so she focused on the task at hand. Having just killed another rabbit, she turned back towards the little farm that had once held the promise of a happy family.
***
The Staff of Ramah Page 7