Ashes of the Red Heifer (29 page)

Annie squelched the excitement bubbling inside her. The heifer was progressing through labor exactly as she should be. Like any normal heifer. Any heifer without BA 23. All their hard work, all the questions and doubts, tinkering, figuring—all of it was justified with the birth of this calf. She wanted to shout eureka! She ached to tell Hassan. It worked!

Even if it weren’t too soon to declare success, this setting was hardly the place for a celebration. A live calf meant nothing more than three years of agony.

She heard footsteps. David and Adi stopped beside her.

Adi’s eyes traveled to Annie and Alanberg then quickly back to Moshe. When he spoke she heard Hassan’s name. How could Moshe looked so unconcerned? He nodded toward Hassan’s shed, the padlock closed.

Adi relaxed. He watched the calving heifer for a moment then sauntered back to one of the tents.

Alanberg hurried to David. All pretense of David’s status as a prisoner gone now. “I told you. It’s time. And she won’t do anything.”

Annie turned around and held her arms out as if to herd the spectators away. “Leave her alone. She can calve anytime from now to an hour, maybe two. It’ll only make her anxious if we all stand around watching.”

Alanberg kept looking at David. He stammered. “What if the Silim shows up? What will we do with the heifer in labor? This is disastrous.”

Annie shrugged. “Guess you better start praying.”

It looked as if Alanberg’s head might explode. He watched the heifer for a moment.

Annie indicated the mess tent, where it created shade from the brightening sun. “We can wait over there. I’ll be able to keep my eye on her and she won’t be upset by all the charming company.”

Alanberg stared at her.

David focused on the heifer. “She doesn’t look like there’s trouble.”

She rolled her eyes and motioned the men toward the shade. “Let’s go.”

Surprisingly, they did as she directed. Alanberg paced around the patch of shade. David sat in the sand keeping his eyes on the heifer. He wore a strained expression and his body looked stiff. He had to realize she knew he was part of the Corporation. He seemed to take it for granted. She wanted to jump up and slap him, to scream at him and hurt him. Contempt burned in her belly.

Without looking up, he said, “I love you, you know.”

“That and a quarter will get you a phone call.”

He showed no response.

Alanberg shouted at them. “There, see it? It’s coming. Praise God.”

Alanberg’s outburst made Annie tear her gaze away from David. The heifer lay on her side with her back to them. Annie saw the tip of a tiny, dark hoof crest from the heifer’s back end. The heifer that wasn’t calving started moving around the pen. She didn’t like the noise and people.

Annie got to her feet as Alanberg dropped to his knees. David stood next to her. Moshe rose and took a step closer to the corral. Everyone except Alanberg focused on the heifer. Alanberg closed his eyes and mumbled prayers of thanks.

Annie didn’t move, watching the heifer through several contractions, while the heifer managed to push out another hoof. Annie spoke quietly. “You can relax. It still might take a while.”

Across the camp, three guards crowded out of one of the tents. They jogged toward the mess tent, speaking loudly in Hebrew. The heifer leapt to her feet, the calf’s hooves poking out. She swirled around and snorted at the guards. The other critter circled the pen, ears forward.

Annie scowled at the racket. The calving heifer needed calm and quiet, not a parade through her calving lot.

The guards hurried to David and Alanberg. One of the men spoke to David. Alanberg whimpered.

Annie took a few steps away from the ruckus, watching the heifer as she settled down on her side again. She wished she could help the heifer, could push, or pull, or even cut, to relieve her of the pain and fear. But there was a natural way to do things and it was always better to let it go if you could.

Behind her, Alanberg and the three men spoke, their voices sounding tense.

The other heifer paced the fence line on the opposite side of the pen from the calving heifer.

The laboring heifer strained again and a little black nose appeared, shiny and wet. Annie wanted to run over and see if the calf was alive. But she didn’t want to disturb the heifer again. Patience was tougher on Annie than action. But she forced herself to stay quiet.

For a first calf heifer the labor progressed rapidly. With her next contraction, she forced the whole head out. And with the next breath, the calf’s shoulders appeared.

Annie’s hands covered her mouth. She wanted to scream, to jump up and down, to shout to the heavens. The calf lived! It was fully formed and alive!

A hand clamped on her shoulder. She whirled around to David. “The rabbis are on their way. We can’t contact them to stop. The Silim are out there somewhere. We’ve got to get the Red Heifer soon.”

Annie couldn’t stand his touch.

Alanberg shouted. “It’s coming out. I can see it.”

An eerie light shone too brightly in David’s eyes. “It’s alive! Is it red?”

He made her want to vomit but she answered. “It’s too wet to tell yet.”

Alanberg knocked Annie on his way to the pen. She put out a hand to try to stop him. She didn’t want him disturbing the heifer any more. “Stop.”

He scurried away and Annie followed him, reluctant to yell or cause even more commotion.

Alanberg scrambled over the fence, something she never thought he’d be able to do. He slowly made his way to where the heifer lay on her side.

Either the heifer didn’t see him or she was so focused on the birth she didn’t care. She stayed on her side while he approached. She strained again but the calf didn’t slide any further out. The mucus lining over its face had torn, but it still covered the exposed torso.

Alanberg knelt and touched the calf. He ran his hand through hair on the shoulder. He bent closer. Suddenly, he stood up and shouted. “Black! It’s black!”

This upset both heifers. The laboring one struggled to stand, the calf flopping awkwardly from her rear. Both heifers trotted around the pen.

That damned fool! Annie leaned on the fence and forced herself to speak softly. “Get the hell out of there and leave her alone.”

David lowered his head and put his hand to his face.

Alanberg stomped to the panel and struggled over it, his face a mask of rage. He stumbled down the other side and landed next to Annie. He screamed, spittle flying. “You failed! Why are you standing in God’s way? Bring us the Red Heifer!”

Alanberg pointed at Annie. “She’s standing in our way. She’s doing it on purpose. She killed the red calves. She killed them. I know!”

With agility he’d hinted at scrambling over the panel, Alanberg flew at Annie. His fist struck her chin. Annie bit her tongue. His weak slaps and punches landed on her face and shoulders. Caught by surprise at his attack, Annie shielded his blows.

David roared. He grabbed Alanberg by the collar and threw him away from Annie. Moshe came forward, his hand on his gun.

Alanberg fell in a heap of yellow dust, crying and ranting. “She’s a killer. She’ll destroy us.”

Moshe helped Alanberg to his feet and the defeated bureaucrat wandered away.

No one moved for a long moment.

The heifer paced the far wall of the corral in agitation, her tail flicking. The birth process stalled with the calf hanging from her rear. This wasn’t good for the calf. “Help me get the heifer into the lab so I can pull the calf.”

Annie started for the pen. Moshe grabbed her arm and spun her around. She shoved him away. “This calf may not survive this bullshit if you don’t let me help.”

Again, Moshe grabbed her and turned her toward her shed. “The calf is black. It does not matter whether it lives.”

She pulled at his hand to get free. “It does matter. It’ll prove my vaccine works. Let me save the calf.”

Shouting across the compound made them all turn. A guard ran toward one of the tents. Behind him the door of Hassan’s shed stood open.

TWENTY-EIGHT

       Annie paced behind the locked door of her shed, stopping every few moments to peer between the cracks.

Moshe had brought her to the shed as soon as they’d discovered Hassan missing. He’d taken her hand and given it a squeeze. “Please do not forget Hannah and Jacob,” he’d said. Despite watching for him in the activity outside her shed, she hadn’t seen him. She hoped he was far away because it wouldn’t take Adi long to figure out how Hassan had escaped.

Worry ate at Annie’s insides. She tried to calculate how long ago Hassan had run from camp and how far he could have gotten. She knew there was no settlement for miles. It seemed like endless desert. It would take a miracle for him to get away.

From the crack in the front door Annie was able to see the cattle pen. Forgotten, the poor laboring heifer had eventually settled down and pushed the baby out. Annie wanted to feel joy for the new life. Her vaccine worked. But until she could make it public it felt more like a weapon than cure.

An engine sounded in the distance. She jumped up and hurried to the front door. Please don’t let it be someone bringing Hassan back. Or Moshe. Let them be safe.

David and Adi walked into her vision, tension apparent in the set of David’s shoulders. Within seconds a black Land Rover appeared. It pulled up in front of the mess tent. David and Adi stepped forward to greet four men who emerged from the vehicle. She couldn’t hear their voices but she’d be willing to bet one of them was the CEO.

The camp grew quiet and the sun climbed with an excruciating snail’s pace. Annie went from side to side of her prison straining to see any activity. Nothing moved. She waited for the Silim to attack expecting gunfire to break out any moment. She watched the mess tent, wondering when Adi would come for her, gun in hand, ready to put a bullet in her brain. She pried at the boards of her shed hoping to find a loose one. Anything. She had to get out.

The sun had climbed to its peak and was riding down the other side when she noticed the last heifer kink up her tail. Annie stayed glued to the crack waiting and watching.

David hurried from the mess tent, Alanberg traipsing behind him. David issued orders to Alanberg, who ran back to the tent. Within seconds Adi and several others came out. They succeeded in herding the calving heifer into the lab and out of Annie’s sight.

The four Corporate VIPs filed out of the mess tent and into the lab.

Still she waited. The sun brushed the top of the western ledge when footsteps brought her to the door. She’d expected this. Adi strode toward the door with his gun. David followed. This is when they’d kill her. She hoped they’d make it quick.

Adi unlocked the door and crossed the room quickly, his face taut. “The last heifer is calving. Something is not right. You must come.”

Annie didn’t try to hide the contempt from her eyes. Hassan was free. Moshe would get help for the boys. “I’ve done all I intend to do to help the Corporation. What you do from now on is your business.”

Adi’s face erupted in rage, and his arm shot forward, his slap exploding unexpectedly across her face. She fell backwards onto the cot, fresh waves of pain washing over her already bruised cheek. She tumbled into a heap on the floor.

He stood over her, feet wide apart, eyebrows drawn together in anger. Her face stung and she tasted blood where he’d split her already swollen lip again.

David crossed his arms, he looked tortured. “You shouldn’t have helped Hassan escape. He’s dead.”

No! Hassan with his crazy hair and sloping nose, his kind eyes. He couldn’t have gone through all this to be dead. How could he have died and she didn’t know? Annie laid her head on the floor. I’m sorry, Hassan. I should have saved you.

Adi stepped back. “Get up. You will deliver that calf.”

She explored her bleeding lip with her tongue. “Go ahead and shoot me now, asshole. You’re not going to let me go anyway. What you’ll do is wait until the calf is safe, then kill me. Well, I don’t want to play.”

David squatted on the floor next to her. He put his hand on her head, speaking to her gently. “Please Annie, do what he says. I can’t stand the thought of losing you.”

What crap! She clenched her teeth to keep from spitting at him. “Stop the lies, Eli.”

David drew in a quick breath and sat back on his heels. Seconds ticked in her mind as silence filled the small room.

David stood up. “I love you, Annie. Being part of The Corporation doesn’t change that.”

Visions of their bodies joined in lovemaking flashed through her mind. Had it been David or Eli that touched her so tenderly? “Save it, cowboy.”

Adi wagged his gun at her. “The calf lives or your sister’s children will die.”

She jumped to her feet, ready to shred him with her hands. “You aren’t omnipotent. There’s no one in Nebraska waiting to murder my family.”

Adi smiled and it was the scariest thing Annie had ever seen. He shrugged. “Maybe you are right.”

She remembered the little faces staring at her from the bunk house yard, their innocence and trust. She glared at him and spun around. She stomped out the door.

The two men followed, their shoes grinding on sand. The thought of Hassan dead wouldn’t sink into her head. She kept pushing it away. Better to forget. If she put it off long enough maybe she’d be dead, too and she’d never have to face it. Moshe would get out and save the boys and Hassan was dead. When she gave The Corporation their heifer they’d have no reason to harm her family. It didn’t really matter what happened to her now.

David caught up to her. “Let me explain.”

She held up her hand. “I don’t want to hear it.”

They walked in silence for a moment, then David spoke quietly, his voice reminding her of the feel of his fingers on her skin. “When I was a boy I had visions. They didn’t make much sense but they weren’t like regular dreams. In these visions I served in the Temple. I provided the sacrifices and served through the blood. Animals always entered into the visions. Animals and the Temple. I didn’t understand what the visions meant but I knew God had chosen me for something. So I waited and learned about Temple worship as it was meant to be.