Pearl in the Sand (20 page)

Salmone was the color of ash. He grabbed Rahab’s arm and half-ran out of the tent. “I must find Miriam,” he muttered.

She was stumbling beside him, infected with the urgency that drove him. This news was dire. Salmone came to a sudden stop while Rahab’s momentum kept her going. She almost wrenched her arm in the process. Grimacing, she rubbed the bruised skin. Even with the overwhelming preoccupation of his mind, he noticed the gesture and released her instantly. “Did I hurt you?”

“It’s nothing.”

“I am sorry.” He shoved both his hands through his dark hair, making it stand on end like wind-besieged waves. “Rahab. I need to ask you something. You must promise not to speak of what you’ve heard to anyone, not even to Miriam.”

“Of course not. It would cause the people to lose confidence if they were to get wind of this news too soon or in the wrong way.”

“Exactly. That’s right.” He sounded relieved. “I can trust you then, to keep the news about Ai to yourself?”

“Yes, Salmone.”

“Good. That is good.” He gazed into her eyes for a moment. In spite of the tension and worry stamped over every feature, something like approval flashed across his face. “Now, I’m going to find Miriam and leave you with her. I don’t know how long I’ll be, but I won’t have time to arrange for the purchase of your family’s tent today.”

“Don’t concern yourself about us. Sleeping a few more nights under the stars won’t harm us any. Can Miriam show us where to set up camp tonight?”

“Yes, she can. Tell her to ask Ezra for help. He has a good deal of sense about such practical matters and likes your family besides.”

He had started moving at a manic pace again, and Rahab had her job cut out to keep up with him. Moving in the center of Israel’s camp at breakneck speed was no easy task. The landscape was dotted with tents, people milling about, children playing, fires burning,
and livestock hemmed in by makeshift pastures. City-bred and accustomed to streets and alleys, she could make no rhyme or reason of the setup, but Salmone negotiated the obstacle course with the ease of long familiarity. He had lived in camps like this his whole life, she remembered.

They walked in this way for at least ten minutes when, without warning, he stopped before a roomy saffron-colored tent. The peremptory manner with which he flipped the tent flap without announcement suggested this was his residence.

“Miriam?”

Within the tent, several cleverly wrought linen hangings divided the area into private “rooms.” From one of these Miriam emerged. “What are you two doing here?”

“Miriam, Joshua has some urgent business with me. Rahab will explain what she needs. I must go.” He flew out before Miriam could form her first question.

“What set his cloak on fire?”

“Oh, you know. Joshua business.”

Miriam laughed. “You haven’t been here two hours yet and you’re already speaking like him. Have you had anything to drink or eat? Of course not. Would that brother of mine think of anything so practical as a cup of water while the tribes need attention of some kind? Come over here and sit. You look done in.”

Rahab sank down on a pile of feather-filled pillows, grateful for their softness. A blissful sigh escaped her lips. After two weeks of outdoor living, this simple tent seemed like a palace to her. “The joy of cushions,” she murmured.

“You must be sore from sleeping on the ground with nothing but a blanket.”

“I am blessed to be alive. I have no complaints.”

“Nothing teaches gratitude like losing everything. I know a little about that too.” Miriam gave a sad smile. “We were born into loss, my whole generation. It makes us thankful for every small thing.”

Rahab thought, not for the first time, that Miriam was an
extraordinary woman. “Is every woman in Israel as wise as you?” she asked on impulse.

“Heavens, no. I’m a jewel of great price.”

They laughed together. “So what’s this urgent Joshua business my brother is haring after now? He looked a bit pinched in the face.”

Rahab was struck with guilt as she realized she had forgotten about Israel’s great trial and her thirty-six dead young men while she sat enjoying feather pillows and the wit of an innocent young woman. “It’s a meeting of some sort, I think. Anyway, Salmone will be busy most of today, I suspect. He asked that you and Ezra help my family set up camp here for tonight at least. He won’t have a chance to arrange for the purchase of our tent yet.”

“That’s not like Salmone. I wonder what’s going on.”

Rahab shrugged. “He’ll tell us when we need to know. In the meantime, where’s that water you promised me? If I’m going to traipse after another long-legged fellow today, I need something wet in my throat.”

Miriam dimpled as she lifted the lid off a large clay pitcher and ladled some water into a cup for Rahab. “Ezra
is
long-legged. Then again, you know that quite well given that you had to bear the weight of him down the entire height of Jericho’s wall. When Ezra first told us about it, some people made a few wisecracks about the size of Canaanite women. Wait till they see you for themselves. How did you manage that, by the way? He must be almost twice your size.”

“I suppose God gave me the strength. I had no choice in any case. If I had let him go, he would have broken his neck.”

“That would have been a pity. He has such a nice neck.” Rahab noticed she blushed, but thought it best not to mention it. Miriam changed the subject adroitly. “When will your family arrive?”

“Salmone said sometime this afternoon. He has arranged for a couple of his men to go and fetch them. It won’t be for several hours though; when I left them, they hadn’t started packing.”

“That gives us time to prepare a few things. Let’s go find Ezra and put him to work.”

Miriam and Rahab fetched Ezra and they spent some hours choosing a suitable plot of land allocated to the tribe of Judah that would accommodate Rahab’s family. Ezra said that when they purchased their tent, they could erect it on the same spot. In the meantime, he helped build a fire pit, fetched water, and strung up rope between a few palm trees, which with the use of a few blankets could be transformed into a private room of sorts. They were close to several other tents, and Miriam introduced Rahab to the women in charge of each household. Rahab noticed that the women she met responded with reticence at best. She received no smiles or overtures of friendship. Though no one was rude, none of them embraced her new acquaintance either. Her insides curdled with apprehension.

“Don’t worry, Rahab,” Miriam whispered as they left the last tent. “They have heard favorable things about you. Joshua called you a woman of faith when he spoke to the people after the fall of Jericho. In time, they’ll welcome and accept you as Joshua has.”

Rahab gave the imitation of a smile and swallowed a queasy feeling. She hadn’t managed to make any female friends while living among her own people these past ten years, so why should she expect to make them among the women of Israel? How could she hope to win their acceptance?

R
ahab’s family arrived before sundown. She explained Salmone’s preoccupation with an emergency. “I was there when Joshua sent him off on his assignment. He won’t have time to arrange the purchase of our tent for a few days. He worried about not keeping his promise to us, but I assured him we would manage.”

“If an urgent situation prevented Salmone from procuring our tent, we needn’t worry. Salmone merits our trust,” Joa said with a dismissive shrug. Rahab studied her younger brother. Here was a reversal. In the past two weeks, Joa had often needed assurance. His reaction to the tent’s absence testified to a profound change of heart.

Just then Hanani sauntered over, brimming with his usual easygoing joviality. Surrounded by Hanani and Ezra and Miriam’s genuine care, Rahab could almost believe that other Israelites would come to accept them in time. Together, they spent a few hours getting settled with their belongings and becoming acquainted with their new home. The sound of laughter filled their modest campsite as they unpacked and discussed which way they would pitch their tent and where the livestock would go.

Ezra explained Israel’s architectural setup to them, and Rahab realized that the camp was no jumbled maze, but carefully established according to precise codes.

“At the center of the camp stands the tabernacle and its courtyard,” Ezra began. “The twelve tribes of Israel set up around that central structure, each according to a certain order.”

“I wonder if I walked by it today,” Rahab said. “What does it look like?”

“You would have noticed if you had seen it,” Miriam cut in. “A white fence made of linen curtains hanging from pillars surrounds the whole structure. The fence is there to ensure that no one accidentally touches the tabernacle or the holy articles in the courtyard.”

“How far is it from us?”

“About a fifteen-minute walk to the west,” Ezra replied. “Judah is the largest tribe in Israel, with over seventy thousand men. So our campsite is enormous. Issachar is our neighbor to the north and Zebulun camps to our south.”

Rahab’s family began to ask questions about the other tribes, fascinated by their stories. Rahab listened with half an ear only, her focus interrupted by thoughts of Ai. Her mind grappled with the possible outcomes of such a defeat. Why would the Lord allow His people to be overcome? They were now vulnerable to other attacks from Canaan. Having shown this first sign of weakness, they had proven themselves defeatable.

Later that night, as the noise of the enormous camp surrounding them faded into a lazy drone, the night was suddenly rent with the sound of a horn blowing. Rahab almost toppled over from the unexpectedness of it. Hanani looked at Ezra with knotted brows.

“What? That was the call to meeting. We must go to Joshua at once.”

Joa stepped forward. “Us too?”

“Yes, everyone. All of Israel must attend, and you are now a part of us.”

Joa’s lips widened into a smile. “Is this normal practice?” he
asked. “Gathering late at night for meetings?”

Ezra frowned. “No, not at all. We’d better go and find out what it’s about.”

By the time they arrived, thousands had already gathered. Joshua stood on a hill so that his voice would carry. Even that wasn’t sufficient to reach everyone, for God had blessed Israel and her numbers were great. To ensure that everyone heard Joshua, there were criers stationed at set points who repeated Joshua’s words. No one would be left out of the proclamation.

The people were accustomed to such public summons, though seldom so late at night. No one shoved; no one pushed. Everyone behaved with admirable self-control, mindful of those around him.

Rahab and her family were close enough to hear Joshua’s own voice, and after waiting a few more minutes for everyone to settle, he began to speak. “I have grave news. You know that we only sent a small band of men to destroy Ai because it is a trifling nation. Earlier today news of the battle reached our camp. We have been defeated.” The reaction was immediate. Fear gripped the assembly and intense murmuring broke out. These people had fought enough battles to understand the ramifications of such a loss. Before terror could lodge in their hearts, Joshua lifted his hands.

“Listen to me, for I have more news. As soon as we received this report, the elders and I fell facedown before the Lord, and we have been seeking His will on the matter this entire day. And He has spoken.” The entire camp held its breath as Joshua paused and looked out across the gathering. “The Lord said to me,
Stand up! What are you doing on your face? Israel has sinned
. The reason we couldn’t be victorious over our enemy is that there is one amongst us who has stolen what belongs to God and lied about it. We were told when we went into Jericho that everything must be destroyed except those items that were to be devoted to the Lord. Someone has broken that command. They have robbed what rightfully belongs to God. Tomorrow, the Lord will show us who it is. I am sorrowful to death, for the consequences of this disobedience have been great.
We have lost thirty-six of our best warriors, lives that would have been preserved if we had not betrayed the will of God. Tomorrow, no doubt more lives will be lost, for we have no sacrifice holy enough to offer that would cover such a grave sin. More blood will be shed. I am filled with grief for this needless loss.

“Go tonight, and consecrate yourselves in preparation for tomorrow. In the morning you will present yourselves tribe by tribe until God points out the guilty person. Only then will the Lord give us the strength to stand against our enemies once more.”

At first a heavy silence stretched over the people as they walked back to their tents. But in time the silence melted into the whisperings of thousands of tongues. People wondered who it could be, which tribe, which clan. They assured one another that it certainly was not them.

Joa said, “No wonder Salmone didn’t have time to buy our tent. He must have been dealing with this most of the day.”

As Rahab and her family returned to their camp, they noticed that the gazes of their neighbors were even less friendly than before. She supposed it was natural that Israelites should jump to quick conclusions and suspect the citizens of Jericho. They had opportunity and motive. It was a bitter pill to swallow, all the same. Their wordless accusations stung. Her first night and she was already branded a thief.