The characters:
Rebekah: Rebekah is fifteen and has a tender heart and kind spirit.
Enoch and Elijah: Enoch and Elijah are twins as well as Rebekah's sixteen-year-old brothers.
Noah: Noah is Enoch's, Elijah's, and Rebekah's father. He is a shepherd at Bethlehem.
Aaron: Aaron is Noah's brother. He runs an inn in Bethlehem.
Deborah: Deborah is Aaron's wife. She has helped Rebekah keep house since Noah's wife died five years before.
Antonius Marius: Antonius is a half-Jew, half-Roman who grew up with Rebekah and her brothers. Rebekah has always disliked him, although
There are more characters that will play into the story eventually, but these are the main characters for now. :)
So, without further adieu, here is the first chapter! :)
“Rebekah!” Deborah’s call echoed across the green
valley. She could see a flock of sheep
over on the other side of the gulch, grazing as if they hadn’t a care in the
world. Deborah’s husband’s brother kept
a flock of sheep in this valley, and she was sure it was them. Usually she would go to visit with her
brother-in-law and twin nephews, but now Deborah was looking for her niece.
“Hey, Aunt
Deborah,” came Enoch’s voice across the valley.
“Come on over!”
Aunt Deborah
waved back, but declined. “I’m looking
for Rebekah!”
“She should be
at home,” Noah replied, his voice gravelly voice ribboned with concern. “Was she not?”
“I didn’t
check,” Aunt Deborah returned. “Normally
she’s out in the field with you!”
“No, not today,
Deborah. Since Mary…since…the trouble,
she’s been taking care of the home like a proper young lady.” Deborah nodded. She should have known to look at Noah’s home
for Rebekah, but on a fine, cloudless day like today, she figured the young
woman would have been with the sheep.
Deborah walked on
down the road and turned in on a little gravelly path. It led to a pretty two-story home on the
outskirts of the city. Noah and Mary had
raised their little brood of three here, until the trouble came. Rebekah had nearly taken over housekeeping
since then, with a little help from her aunt.
“Rebekah?”
Deborah asked, stepping near to the open wooden door. It was nice weather today, and anyone would
be more than happy to let a little sunshine in.
An ebony head
peeped out the door, and Rebekah smiled, brown eyes dancing.
“Hello, Aunt
Deborah! Come in!” Deborah stepped into the doorway, letting her
eyes adjust. Rebekah had a little fire
going, and was cooking some meat.
“Mutton, my
dear?” Deborah questioned, motioning to the slice on the flames. Rebekah nodded.
“For
tonight. We’ll be eating in the fields
again…with the sheep. Father always has
since…since the trouble.” Rebekah’s
voice wavered a bit, but it regained its old happy tone. “What brought you here today, Aunt Deborah?”
“Oh, I wanted to
see if there was anything you needed help with.
You’ve come right along, Rebekah.
I’m so proud of you for taking over like you did,” Deborah said. Rebekah blushed.
“Thank you, Aunt
Deborah. You and I both know I couldn’t
have done it without you…and without God,” Rebekah smiled.
“Oh, dear. I know it is because of God, and only
Him. He has blessed you immensely, dear
Rebekah. I wish He would do the same for
my Judas…” Deborah trailed off.
“Judas? What is he up to now?” Rebekah’s cousin had often been a
troublemaker, and now the boy lived in Jerusalem. Deborah often told Rebekah stories of the
things Judas did, like stealing from King Herod’s own treasury and cheating
poor on their taxes.
“Oh, no good,
just like always,” Deborah replied. “I
just wish he would realize that God loves him.
I wish he would remember all the things I tried to teach him.”
“You did a
wonderful job with all of your children, Aunt Deborah. My cousins are some of my best friends, to
this day. I so enjoy spending time with
Joanna.” Joanna was Deborah’s youngest
daughter, and the girl was just a year older than Rebekah.
“As she does
with you, dear. I’m so glad my Joanna
has a friend like you. I must be getting
back to the inn now.” Deborah
smiled. She turned towards the door as a
chilled wind swept over the valley.
“Ah, my dear. The winter is fast approaching,” she
said. Rebekah nodded.
“It will be the
fifth winter since…since…”
“The trouble,”
Deborah finished. “Oh, my child. Weep not for Mary. She loved the Lord.” Rebekah nodded as
Deborah set off down the trail to her home.
Rebekah set back
to attending to the meat, which had been blessed with an abundance of charring
since Deborah came by. She removed it
from its heat and put it on a plate. It would
do for lunch, she supposed. Just then,
Rebekah looked up to see her brother standing in the doorway.
Elijah was tall,
over six feet, with dark curly hair and eyes as blue as the Galilean lake. He and his brother, Enoch, were twins, and
they helped their father with the sheep in the field while Rebekah looked over
the household. Elijah and Rebekah were
close. They always had been, but
especially since the trouble five years ago.
A white lamb was
in Elijah’s arms. He smiled at his sister.
“Why, hello,
Elijah. What brings you here so early?”
Rebekah asked, smiling up at her elder brother.
“This little
lamb. He got a cut on his leg the other
day and it seems to be infected now. I
thought you could do something for him,” Elijah announced, showing his sister
the lamb.
“Oh, of course,”
Rebekah answered. She took the creature
and looked at its wounded leg, and then nodded.
“He should be better soon. Is
there anything else you needed?”
“No, no,” Elijah
said. He turned back to the door as if
to go out, and then turned abruptly.
“Do you remember
Antonius Marius?” he asked.
“Antonius?”
Rebekah questioned. She nodded. Enoch, Elijah, Rebekah, and Antonius had
grown up together. Antonius was a few
years older than the twin boys, and Rebekah a year younger than they. “Yes, yes I do.” Antonius had always seemed to feel something
for Rebekah, though she had never felt the same way. As far as she remembered, he was an immature,
annoying schoolboy, inclined to play jokes on her and then laugh as if it were
all good fun.
“He moved to
Rome five years ago this winter,” Elijah announced, looking out at the blue
sky. Antonius was half-Roman, half-Jew,
and had been brought up in his father’s land since turning fifteen. Rebekah had been ten then.
“So
much changed five years ago,” Rebekah replied.
“Oh, so much.”~ Grace
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