Daughter of Deliverance (29 page)

“Don't go to sleep. You must eat much. Make new blood.”

She pulled him up and fed him like a baby. Then she said, “Now you sleep. We'll make you strong again….”

****

Mardiah had a teasing, light way about her, and as he grew stronger, Ardon was more and more aware of what an attractive woman she was. She had dressed his wound, and every day she washed him off. “I like clean men,” she said. The first day he did little but sleep, but the second day he felt much stronger. He got up and walked and discovered that his strength was returning.

Mardiah was pleased with him. “You are a strong man,” she said. “Here. You must eat and drink more.”

Finally the evening came, and she came with water in a dish of pottery. “I must look at your wound and wash you off.”

She carefully washed the wound and nodded. “It is good. You are healing. Now I wash you off, but first you must have something really good.”

“What's this?” Ardon said, sniffing at the cup she gave him.

“Very special wine. Make you feel very good. My uncle, he makes.”

Ardon took a swallow and gasped. “Strong,” he whispered.

“Drink it all. It make you feel much better.”

Ardon drank the entire cup and almost immediately felt the effects of it. “That's the strongest wine I ever had.”

Mardiah was busy cleaning him off and was dipping a cloth in the water. She began to bathe him, and as she did, she was watching him with a strange light in her eyes. “You like this?” she whispered.

“You've been very good to me, Mardiah.”

Mardiah pushed him back. “Lie down,” she said. Mardiah continued to run her hands over his body, and Ardon discovered that whatever she had given him to drink had done something else. It had increased his desire. He had been aware that she was a beautiful woman, and from her speech he knew she was a woman of easy virtue. Now suddenly she threw the cloth down and pressed herself against him. “You are a strong man, and a strong man needs a strong woman.”

Ardon started to push her away, but his hands encountered the full, round curves of her body, and then he murmured, “No. This isn't right.”

But the woman was insistent. Her lips were seeking his, and her hands were busy. “Yes, it is right.”

And then Ardon, who had been judgmental of other men, found his control slipping away. With a hoarse cry he seized her, and she laughed with pleasure. “It is the way it should be. A strong man and a strong woman.” And then she brought herself against him.

Ariel lifted her head and cried out, “The army! They've come back!” Jumping up, she ran outside and joined the women and young people who came streaming out. They all ran toward the edge of the village of the camp, and there they saw the soldiers, coming back rank on rank. She saw Joshua at their head and Caleb, her father, over in front of his unit. Quickly she ran toward Caleb and cried out, “Father, you're back!”

“Yes. We had a great victory. One less enemy to conquer.”

She threw her arms around him, and he hugged her back.

“Well, we made it back, Commander,” said a voice behind her.

Ariel turned to see Captain Benzai, his arm bandaged and looking more battered than usual, but he was grinning broadly. “I guess we showed them whose land this is, didn't we?”

“Yes we did. Your unit performed nobly.”

“You haven't heard all of it,” Benzai said. “You know that nephew of yours that you told me either to break him or make a soldier of him?”

“Othniel? What about him?” Caleb asked sharply.

“Well, I tried my best to break him, but he just wouldn't break. He's the best soldier in this army.”

Ariel stared at Benzai. “You can't mean that, Captain Benzai!”

“I wouldn't be here if he weren't.”

“What do you mean?” Caleb demanded.

“I got myself in a mess, just me and four other soldiers. They were swarming all over us. There was no chance at all. And then that wild nephew of yours made a charge all by himself. He was so crazy that everybody decided to follow him. So they pulled me out of trouble. He's a wild man,” Benzai said with a shrug. “He's a lot like you, Commander.”

Caleb did not answer for a moment. He looked down at the ground, and when he looked up, Ariel saw that he was smiling. “That's the best news you could have brought me.”

“Well, I gave you the good news first. Now the bad.”

“What's wrong?” Caleb asked.

“It's your son. Oh, he's not dead, but he got separated from the rest of the army. Pretty badly wounded, but he's okay.”

“Where is he?” Ariel said quickly.

“He's at the rear of the troops. The wounded move a lot slower. We were anxious to get here.”

“But he's all right, isn't he?” Ariel said.

Benzai scratched his head, and both Caleb and Ariel saw that he was puzzled. “Well, the wound was here on his side. He found somebody to patch him up. Sewed him together as neat as any woman could do with a needle and a thread. That's all right, but there's something wrong with him. He's not himself.”

“What do you mean, Benzai?” Caleb demanded.

“Well, it's like he's dreaming or something. You'll have to see it for yourself, Commander. He's not the old Ardon.”

“I want to see him right away.”

“Yes, sir. I'll have him brought to your tent.”

Caleb and Benzai moved away, and Ariel was greeting all the soldiers she knew. Since she was the daughter of one of the commanders she knew a great many of them. Suddenly she stiffened when she saw Othniel moving into the camp. He saw her and hesitated. She did not really want to speak to him, but she was anxious to get news of Ardon. She moved toward him and said stiffly, “Hello.”

“Hello, Ariel.”

“I'm glad you're safe, but I hear that Ardon has been wounded.”

“Yes. I've been trying to talk to him.”

“What do you mean
trying
to talk to him?”

“Well, he won't talk.” Othniel shrugged his shoulders as if baffled. “I don't understand it. Of course, I'm not his favorite person. Maybe he'll talk to you.”

“Where is he?”

“Come along. I'll take you to him.”

Ariel followed the tall soldier. They passed by many that were wounded, and she wanted to ask more details but felt uncomfortable. Finally he said, “There's the wounded moving along there. Look. There's Ardon.”

But Ariel had already seen her brother. She ran quickly toward him. He was walking slowly with his eyes on the ground. “Ardon!” she cried. “Are you all right?”

Ardon glanced up, and Ariel was shocked at the expression on his face. He had always been an alert man with quick eyes, but now his eyes seemed dead. He did not answer her, and she said, “You're wounded?”

Ardon just said, “I'm all right.”

“What's wrong, Ardon?” She tried to catch his eye, but he looked down at the ground and refused to speak. She continued to ask questions, but he simply moved around her and headed for the camp. He did not lift his eyes except from time to time to see where he was going.

“What's wrong with him, Othniel?”

“I don't know. I've never seen anything like it. Before the battle he was tired but nothing like this.”

“It's like he got a wound in the head.”

“He'll be all right. I'm sure of it.”

Ariel, once again, wanted to speak to Othniel to commend him for his courage in battle. But she had been disappointed by him too many times. “I must go with him. I'm glad you're safe.”

She turned and caught up with Ardon. She spoke to him again, but he did not even look in her direction, and she became fearful. Somehow this was worse than his physical wound!

****

“It's been two weeks, Father, and he's no better.”

Caleb looked at Ariel and for a moment did not answer. “I know. He's like a dead man.”

“Doesn't he say anything to you? You're his commanding officer and his father. Something must have happened.”

“I've asked him every way I know how, Ariel, but he doesn't answer. It's like he's blocked out everything. He only speaks when he wants something, and have you noticed he can't look us in the eye?”

“It's like he's hiding something,” Ariel said. “That's not like him.”

“He's not fit to go back into battle,” Caleb said.

“No. You can't send him out to fight. Not like this.”

“He insisted on going but he's weak. I had to command him to stay.”

“Yes. You must make him stay at home.”

The two were seated in their tent, and after a time Caleb said, “Well, I'm proud of Othniel. I've got the report from many of his fellow soldiers. They say that charge he made was like nothing they ever saw. It was like he's a man without fear. Captain Benzai's made him an officer.”

“It's hard to believe, isn't it?”

“We've got two different men on our hands here. My son and my nephew. They're not the men they were when they left here.”

Ariel asked timidly, “What will happen to Ardon?”

“Who can say?” Caleb shrugged. “I've seen men like that a few times. It's like the battle takes something out of them. But time will help.”

****

Rahab had been sitting outside her tent talking with Romar when she saw Ariel approaching. She rose at once.

“Have you seen Ardon, Rahab?”

“Why, no. But I'll help you look.” The two women began to go through the camp. Rahab cast glances at Ariel from time to time, and finally Rahab said, “Everyone's so proud of Othniel. Wasn't it wonderful what he did?”

“I suppose so.”

The coldness of Ariel's tone shocked Rahab. “What's wrong? You know it was a brave thing. Everyone says so.”

“I'll never trust him,” Ariel said, her lips drawn into a line.

“You're wrong, Ariel. He's come so far. He's not the same man he was.”

“To me he is.”

Rahab was shocked at the young woman. She had grown very fond of her, but she recognized that there was a hard streak of pride, and now she said as gently as she could, “You're wrong, Ariel. You need to forgive. We all do.”

Ariel changed the subject. “I've got to go take some supplies to my father. He didn't take enough.”

“But there's a battle about to take place.”

“I'll be careful. If you see Ardon, see if you can talk to him.”

“I'll try, but I'm probably the last person he'd want to talk to.”

****

The sheep were nuzzling at the bubbling water as it ran over the stones. It was a favorite time of the day for Rahab to bring the sheep down to the stream. They were foolish creatures, but she was absurdly fond of them.

She looked up to see a figure, and shock ran through her as she realized it was Ardon walking toward her. She immediately left the sheep and called out, “Ardon, Ariel's looking for you!”

Ardon gave her one quick glance, then looked away. “I'll find her later.”

“She was going to take some supplies to your father.”

Ardon shook his head and would have turned away, but Rahab saw a desperation in his face. “Wait,” she said. “Talk to me, Ardon. What's wrong?”

“Nothing.”

“Of course there is,” Rahab insisted. She moved around and tried to catch his glance, and when she did look into his eyes, she was shocked at the emptiness she saw there. This was not the man she had known. That man had been confident, filled with pride and enthusiasm. This man was like a walking corpse.

“Something's wrong, and you need to talk about it.”

“I can't tell anyone what's wrong with me. Can't you understand that?” Ardon's voice was hoarse and his face was stricken.

“Ardon, we all need to talk when we have problems.” Rahab could not imagine what had come into Ardon's life to bring him to this. She began to speak about his need for getting close to his family, and finally she said, “You obviously think you've done something wrong. But God is forgiving no matter what we do.”

Ardon shook himself as if a hand had wrung him. “Why do you try to comfort me, Rahab, when I've treated you so terribly?”

“Why, I want the best for you, Ardon. You've taken care of me and my family.”

“You know it was because Joshua commanded me to do it. It wasn't my choice.”

“But you did it, and I'll always be grateful to you and Othniel for bringing me out of Jericho and saving my family.”

“You're the one who saved us.”

Rahab moved closer and put her hand on his arm. It was the first time she had ever touched him. “You're a grief to your father and to your sister. They're worried sick about you. And I'm worried too.”

Ardon laughed. At least he made a sound like laughter, but there was no joy in it. “If you knew what's in my heart, Rahab, you'd despise me.”

“No, I wouldn't.”

“You don't know. Just leave me alone.” He wrenched his arm away and broke into a run.

As Rahab watched him go, a great love for the man that had been building burst upon her. “Why, I love him!” she said. “And he's in terrible trouble.” She turned slowly and walked back to the sheep, but her heart was crying out to God for this man. He had treated her badly, and she knew it. There was no hope that he would ever see her as anything but the harlot she had been in Jericho, but still she cried out to God, “Lord, he needs your help. He's lost without it. Whatever is in him, help him with it.”

****

Ariel had brought two servants with her, and each of them were leading three donkeys heavily laden with food for Caleb and his men. The way was rough, but Ariel was thinking of her brother. Her heart had broken over whatever it was that had seemingly destroyed him.

The sun was high and beat down upon her, and overhead some birds of prey circled far over to her left. But after one glance she ignored them.