Obadiah narrowed his eyes and slung words at the guard. “Well, this is…Yes? What is it?”
“A c-cave, sir. Hide p-people in a cave.”
Next chapter. Caves are narrow. Wet. Cold. Can’t breathe. [Oh, there’s caves you can breathe in, siri] [HEREii]
23. The Woman from Taanach [Show the king searching for Elijah!] [ORDERiii]
Caves are narrow. Wet. Cold. Can’t breathe. [Oh, there’s caves you can breathe in, siriv] [HEREv]
[flesh outvi] [Bubblersvii][Egalitarianviii] [Hielix] Bring guard whose father knows caves into this. Start in Fort.x
{Oops. This line is coming from Jericho. Won’t work here.}Obadiah’s chariot crossed the Jezreel Valley and wound up the trail into the foothills. Behind him, the sun sank toward the Great Sea. Ahead, Mt. Tabor rose bright [why?]xi against a darkening sky.
As they passed the first house of Obadiah’s village, the sentry waved, and the driver lifted two fingers in greeting.
Three doors before Obadiah’s, as the chariot neared the housexii of Yedidah’s parents, Obadiah blew out a long breath and Yedidah bounced beside him on her toes. “Where are the kids?”
The chariot wheels rolled to a stop, and in the quiet, the chirp of crickets floated from the path.
Several soldiers leaned spears against the hedge. One opened the gate, and Obadiah and Yedidah hobbled throughxiii, their muscles complaining from standing in the chariot most of the day.
A few paces inside the gate, under an ancient sycamore tree, squatted the kiln. Brown bricks stacked next to the lower chamber would become the dome over the next firing. Behind the kiln stood the stable. Its rough-cut limestone walls extended above the roof to form a parapet around four rooms and a veranda.
Obadiah’s older son, a boy with bold black eyes, strode out from behind the kiln. He held his head high as if he recited a teaching from memory. “Father—”
“My boy. My boy.” Obadiah wrapped him in a hug then released him to Yedidah.
The boy gave his mother a quick embrace then pulled away and tugged at Obadiah’s hand.
What could be more important than a hug from his mother?
“Father, a woman’s been waiting for you all day. Grandmother said to bring you as soon as—”
“Mommy! Daddy!”
The ladder bounced against the parapet as four children, one by one, thumped from rung to rung. They landed in the brown stubble left from the drought and danced up to their parents.
The oldest, with the longest eyelashes east of the Great Sea, propped her hands on her hips. “A lady from Shunem is to see you, Father.”
Yedidah’s parents appeared on the veranda, and her mother worked her way down the ladder. “Welcome home, children. Then we want to hear all about Jericho. Your guards will spend the night with us, and there’s a clean rug and extra robes for you two. But first, Obadiah’s mother has a guest waiting to see him.”
A son stood with a crown of curly black hair stood shoulder-to-shoulder with his older brother. “She’s scared, Father. You’ve got to help her.”
The older son led the way to his other grandmother’s house while his siblings escorted the parents.
His middle sister bobbed her head of dark braided hair. “The lady’s been crying.”
By the gate of Yedidah’s parents, soldiers nodded to the children. A few more glanced up from their dice game by the well, and two teams of troops kicked a ball in front of Ahab’s house. At Obadiah’s house, several paced the hedge. After the Syrians killed Obadiah’s father, Ahab had saturated the village with protection.
At the other grandmother’s gate, the oldest child called, “I brought Father!”
His mother beamed down from the veranda. “Oh, Biah! I didn’t dare tell my visitor you’d be back tonight. I’m so glad you’re here.”
Obadiah’s thumb-sucking four-year-old daughter clung to Yedidah’s robe. “She smells like a grandmother.”
What’s going on, Lord? Obadiah mountedxiv to the veranda after Yedidah and the children.
As each one came off the ladder, his mother gave them hugs. “You must tell me all about those walls in Jericho, dear. But first come attend to my guest.” She led them alongxv the outer walkway to the back, paused at a door, and whispered. “Our friend is quite nervous.”
Words bubbled from his daughter with dark braided hair. “She’s nice, but she talks and talks, Daddy. Grandma had to hide her at the back of the house, so the neighbors didn’t hear.”
Obadiah’s mother glanced at the houses on either side and chuckled. “I didn’t know who might be listening and … and misunderstand.”
She opened the door. “I brought my son like you asked, dear. Obadiah, this young lady is from Shunem.”
A shoulder covered in a dark gray robe appeared in the opening. The owner peeked around the door and edged aside her dark gray scarf to reveal wrinkles and straight gray hair.
Red, puffy rings sagged below her eyes, and she wore a deep frown. Yet her face softened toward Obadiah’s thumb-sucker, and as the children crowded in, she caressed their cheeks and stroked their hair, while cooing “sweet child,” “my dear.”
Their grandmother followed them in.
“Is this your son?” The woman stole a glance at Obadiah then shrank behind the door, her armsxvi tight to her sides.
Their grandmother sighed. While the children stood close, she stroked the woman’s arm. “Yes, dear. This is my oldest son. The one who runs the king’s olive groves.”
The woman jerked her scarf back and stood in the doorway. “Are you really the king’s right-hand man?”
Obadiah turned away and covered his mouth. Others had asked this question before her.
His daughter with the long eyelashes took the woman by the hand. “Come, we’ll show you.”
The woman heaved a sigh toward Obadiah’s mother but went with the girl to the door.
Surrounded by siblings, the child led the woman to the corner of the outer walkway.
“See? There they are. Daddy’s chariot and horses.” The child pointed to the path and released the woman’s hand.
“Yes, dear. I see.”
Beside her, the girl with dark braided hair tsk-tsked. “We’ve been telling you all day.”
The woman returned to the doorway and captured Obadiah with her arms around his waist.
He leaned away. This frail person was going to come out with a story of a child or husband or cousin for him to protect.
Yedidah should be plucking at these strange fingers. But she covered her mouth with her hands, either laughing at his discomfort or weeping for the woman’s plight.
He brushed at the woman as if a cockroach had landed on his robe.
She held firm and gazed deep into his face. “Please, sir. Is it true what the queen’s men did to the children in Beitshan?” Her grip tightened. “And in Akko? In Jair? In Jabesh?”
“Pardon me, ma’am.” He pried the woman’s arms from his waist and shifted her hands to his mother’s arm.
“Yedidah.” He pulled his wife with him along the walkway.
She shot him quizzical looks but her feet moved.
Their children followed to the end of the walkway then stood staring as their father walked their mother out into the middle of the veranda.
He clasped her arms as he faced her. “I can’t do this. That frail woman wants to tell me a tale of terror. She hears ‘king’s right-hand man’ and thinks ‘Daddy, make the bad men go away.’ I don’t have that kind of power [SD’s alternate]xvii.” Obadiah shook his head and let his arms drop to his sides.
Yedidah took slow, even breaths. In. Out. Twice. Then she laid her open palm on his chest. “I think she knows you can’t make the queen’s enforcers disappear. But you can listen to her. Right now, what she needs from the king’s right-hand man is hope.”
Obadiah looked around.
His horses and chariot stood by the well, and his children peeked around the corner.
He slapped himself on each cheek. “Look, Lord, slow me down here. Straighten me out.”
With shoulders squared, he offered Yedidah his arm. “I can do this.”
She rested her hand on his arm.
With the children trailing him in a loose knot, he escorted his wife back to the doorway.
His mother leaned the woman’s head against her shoulder and stroked her arms.
“You came back.” As the woman covered her mouth, a tiny sob escaped.
“Yes, ma’am.” Obadiah approached and hovered a hand over the woman. “‘The Lord is a refuge for the oppressed, a hiding place in times of trouble.’”
The woman blinked.
Obadiah let his hand settle on her shoulder. “Thank you for waiting.”
She hadn’t gone completely to pieces. Yet.
“King David said those words, ma’am, and he knew trouble. I want you to know you are not alone. Important friends are working on a … a place. To hide your… I’m not at liberty to say more. You understand, secrecy is…”
She pushed off from his mother’s shoulder and faced Obadiah with her hands clasped under her chin. “Oh, I understand, sir. I do. And with all you’ve got on you, I’m so grateful to have the king’s right-hand man looking into this for us. I’m sure everything will be all right.”
His mother patted the woman’s cheek. “Let’s get you a cup of hot soup.” With the back of her hand, she shooed Obadiah and his family along the walkway then brought the woman.
On the veranda, she paused by the ladder. “Take my grandchildren with you to Yedidah’s. She’s to feed you all and put you on rugs.” She tightened her arm around the woman. “I’m giving your room to my friend, so she doesn’t have to climb that path back to Shunem in the dark.” She led the woman to the fire. “We have enough soup left for a cup or two.”
Yedidah held the ladder and waved her children onto the rungs. “Home, kids. Let’s see what your other grandmother has cooking.”
After a noisy supper with Yedidah’s family, the six guards, and their five children, Obadiah and Yedidah tucked the children into rugs and robes along the walls of a back bedroom. In the center, they lay on a rug of their own, covered by their robes.
Yedidah whispered, “Did you catch who it is the woman from Shunem is concerned about?”
“I didn’t ask. There’s no place to hide.”
Background
[kidsxviii]
“a refuge for the oppressed” – Psalm 9:9
i“No.” Obadiah shook his head. “Our ancestors hid from the Midianites in caves. Six hundred men in a cave watched David cut the tail from Saul’s robe.” Obadiah bounced his fist on his palm. “The Lord must have a cave for a few dozen bubblers.”
Zak pointed to the youngest bodyguard.
The guard rose to his knees. “Oh, there’s caves, sir. My father takes our family to look down these holes. On Mt. Carmel you’ve got the Kebara cave, the Tabun cave, the Jamal, and the Skhul. Over by Megiddo is the Misliya, and up in the Galilee, the Manot and the Qafzeh. Plus, my father talks of the Qesem cave on the Shephelah.”
“Yes!” Tipping her head back, Yedidah squealed.
Hiel’s palms turned up. “There you have it.”
A laugh bubbled out of Obadiah. “I want to meet your father.”
ii[HERE]
iii1 young guard …oh there’s caves
2 Market. Will your sister help?
3. Ruthie – Pray
4. Woman of Taanach (from Shunem)
iv“No.” Obadiah shook his head.(or maybe Zak says “You’re forgetting something”) “Our ancestors hid from the Midianites in caves. Six hundred men in a cave watched David cut the tail from Saul’s robe.” Obadiah bounced his fist on his palm. “The Lord must have a cave for a few dozen bubblers.”
Zak pointed to the youngest bodyguard.
The guard rose to his knees. “Oh, there’s caves, sir. My father takes our family to look down these holes. On Mt. Carmel you’ve got the Kebara cave, the Tabun cave, the Jamal, and the Skhul. Over by Megiddo is the Misliya, and up in the Galilee, the Manot and the Qafzeh. Plus, my father talks of the Qesem cave on the Shephelah.”
“Yes!” Tipping her head back, Yedidah squealed.
Hiel’s palms turned up. “There you have it.”
A laugh bubbled out of Obadiah. “I want to meet your father.”
v[HERE]
vi SD – Good work on these chapters, Dave. I love how Obadiah includes Yedidiah and treats her as an important team member. Maybe flesh out the characters in the woman from Shunem scene a little more? I’m not sure how the woman connects to the market scene, other than she seems to have interest in hiding Bubblers.
viiAre they merely people who complain? Or are they divinely inspired?
viiihttps://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Four_room_house – Shunem woman – Make house egalitarian
ix[When Obadiah gets a cave he sends word to Hiel. How?]
xBring guard whose father knows caves into this. Start in Fort.
xi Why is the mountain bright? Is it limestone? A type of tree?
xii[are these two-story houses? One level? Mudbrick? What would set a house apart as the dwelling of wealthy people?]
xiii Can we see them climb out of the chariot first?
xiv at beginning of book. a map of the area & drawings of what the houses or the village looked like. [The Israel Four-Room House]
xv along x 4
xvi This is very similar to the description I highlighted above. – SD maybe changed since she saw it?
xviiSD – I didn’t get this from her words. It seems like Obadiah would be confused by her clinging and need more info first, ask what she wanted, and then when she makes her request he walks away.
xviiiThe oldest, with the longest eyelashes east of the Great Sea, propped her hands on her hips. “A lady from Shunem is to see you, Father.”
A son stood with his crown of curly black hair shoulder-to-shoulder with his brother. “She’s scared, Father. You’ve got to help her.”
His sister bobbed her head of dark braided hair. “The lady’s been crying.”
Their thumb-sucking four-year-old daughter clung to Yedidah’s robe. “She smells like a grandmother.”
