SIN and HONEY: Seven Years of Longing

Chapter 8: Leah

 As soon as she said the words, Leah felt the wind stir. Rachel stood there, her mouth open in shock, stuttering for words. "That's not what happened. The rock, she ...she slipped."

 Leah was so tired of that lie. "He was beating her, Rachel, and he pounded her stomach so hard one day she couldn't recover. Her insides were bleeding. Uzi tried to save her, but it didn't work."

            Crying, Rachel went slack in Leah's arms. Leah's arms kept her from collapsing to the ground. "How do you know this?"

            Promise me.

            "I saw it once. A long time ago. I was five, so you were four."Leah stroked Rachel's hair, trying to calm her sobs, which only grew worse. She looked behind Rachel to Levi, who was standing with his arms crossed. He nodded once, urging her on.

 "I wasn't feeling well and went to Ummī for some broth. I saw him hit her, Rachel. He scalded my tongue with hot broth and told me not to tell anyone."

            "I don't believe you!"Rachel wrenched herself away from Leah and bent over as though she were going to vomit. "Stop it, please," she begged, her hands in the dirt, trying to brace herself from falling.

            Leah followed her, resting a hand on Rachel's back. "She promised me that she would be alright, that it only ever happened when Abī drank too much wine. She stayed with me all night and sang me a song. In the morning she asked me to keep it a secret from you, because you were little, and it was my job as the older sister to protect you. So I did."

            When she looked up, Rachel's face was pained. "And when she died?"

            "I knew why, we all knew. But I'd promised to keep it from you, and she asked me again before ...it was her dying wish, Rachel."What should she have done? She had been a child, too.

            Her sister stood and wiped the tears from her cheeks. They remained stained with soil and water. "Is this why Abī was so harsh with you? I never understood ..."

            But Leah understood. Laban knew she saw him for what he was. He could never love her again.

            "It doesn't matter. All that matters is that he was kind to you, and treated you well, and loved you in a way he couldn't love me, Rachela," Leah said, using the affectionate name for her sister, reaching out to her.

            "And you didn't marry all this time, because ..."

"I didn't want a husband. What I thought a husband would be. The kind of husband Abīwas." Leah glanced at Levi. His jaw was set tight, but his eyes were shining. "I wanted more."

            "What you wanted?" Rachel shook her head in disbelief."I wanted a sister, Leah. You could have told me anything, and I would have understood. Don't you realize what you've done?"

 Leah clenched her fists to keep herself from crying. "It was all to protect you, Rachel."

            Suddenly, Rachel's tears stopped, and her eyes were full of rage. "To protect me? Nothing could be further from the truth. You're just jealous. I picked a man Father approved of and now you want to hurt me!"

            Her words were like stones hammering against Leah's back. She knew then, in that moment, that they would have to leave—and that every moment she had spent delaying was out of false hope.

 "Rachel, I'd never want to hurt you."

            "You're selfish," Rachel spat, backing away from them. "You've had a lover while I've spent seven years pining for the man that was supposed to be mine. Jacob has worked his life away in the pastures for Abī so that we could have an honorable marriage!"

          Leah sighed. Rachel was still too young, too innocent, to ever accept the truth. "Rachel, I know you're angry with me. Levi and I are going to leave the camp and you will never have to see me again." She wiped away the one tear that fell. "Could you just keep quiet until then? We'll be gone before dark."

 Rachel shook her head. "I'll never forgive you,"she spat, fleeing into the darkness of the grove, back toward the happiness Leah had robbed her of. Leah wanted to run after her, but chasing her would only cause a further scene. She couldn't go back, only forward. With Levi.

 Levi came up behind her and took her hand, but she had no strength to hold him as tightly. "It's over,"Leah said softly. "She'll tell. We'll be ruined."

 "We have to leave now. Before they find us."

 Leah's chin quivered. She wanted to cry thinking of all the things she should have done differently. She should have stopped Laban from hurting her mother. She should have told Rachel the truth, for when she left this place behind, Leah would be abandoning her as well. But she kissed Levi's hand and nodded, for Rachel was already gone.

                                                                                                    ****

Can the sisters forgive one another for their secrets and betrayals? 

Pre-order SIN AND HONEY's 2nd novella THE TOUCH OF BETRAYAL (a retelling of Samson and Delilah) now! Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Touch-Betrayal-SIN-HONEY-novella-ebook/dp/B00ZB2P7VY/ref=sr_1_2?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1435150894&sr=1-2

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