SIN and HONEY: Seven Years of Longing

Chapter 18: Leah

 Leah realized she had been alone in her tent for the last time. After grabbing whatever would fit in her small leather bag—including the few pieces of jewelry her mother had given to her—she tried to stay calm. She could not take the time to mourn the pieces of herself she would leave behind. Clutching the bag, she peeked outside to make sure no one was watching. There were people gathered near the bridal tent by the riverbank, but she didn't see Rachel's white gown. She had probably come up with a reason to stall, giving Leah more time to escape.  

            She ran through the empty camp—the familiar faces hidden from sight, either at the wedding or staying inside because of the rain—holding her head wrap over her lower face. After so many months of waiting for a drenching rain, she enjoyed the cool drops on her forehead and the whispers as it made delicate contact with her skin. Looking behind her to make sure she was not followed, Leah ran into the grove, through the trees, and out the other side to Levi's tent.

            "Levi!"she called out. She saw lamplight flickering from within and opened the flap hurriedly.

            Levi looked up from where he knelt, packing his belongings.

 "Leah?"He dropped his bag and crawled to her, taking her in his arms even though she was sopping wet from rain. "How did you escape?"

 She kissed him frantically, once. "There's no time, Levi. Get your things."

 "Where is Rachel?"He reached out and touched her hair. "You've cut it?"

 "Rachel helped me escape," Leah spoke quickly, rolling up Levi's blanket and stuffing it into her rucksack. There was no time to take down and fold up the tent, and they would need something to sleep on. "She is in the wedding tent posing as me, but if Father realizes that we have switched places before we are out of reach, there is no hope for any of us."

 Levi sprang into action, grabbing the small pouch of bronze shekels he'd managed to earn from selling his honey after he'd given most of the proceeds to Laban. "We'll take two donkeys,"he said.

 Their hands clutched in fear, they ran through the field toward to the paddock where five donkeys stood patiently in the rain. The cart, which Laban used to take livestock and other goods to Haran, lay idle outside the paddock. Thankfully, no one was guarding the donkeys—their caretaker was also probably attending the wedding. Levi opened the gate, and all five animals ambled toward him, hoping for a treat. He took a bridle and reins from the fence and threw them over the smallest one, a reddish brown donkey with a sweet nature and large, gentle eyes. After he helped Leah mount it, Levi bridled a larger, white donkey for himself.

"Let's go,"Levi said, gathering the reins and kicking back. Watching his hands grip the reins brought back memories of last night; his lips claiming her, his body bringing her pleasure. But she stifled the memory. If they made it through this, there would be a lifetime of moments just like it.

 It had been years since Leah rode, but she dug her heels into the animal's ribcage and felt it spring forward. She felt unsteady, trying to steer it with the flick of the reins against its back, but it was a reliable, steady creature with strength Leah could only wish for.

 Leah didn't dare look behind her. She hoped they wouldn't be followed and that the rain would remove any tracks their hooves made in the dirt. After riding a few hundred paces, Levi turned off the main road onto a muddy path that led into the foothills. It grew difficult to see through the rain, and Leah was wary of riding with her eyes squinted shut. When she called out to Levi, he slowed down and waited for her to pull up alongside him. 

 "We ride west,"he called behind him, pointing to a hazy horizon. He kicked his mount and she followed. Time stretched beyond her comprehension. The rain slowed to a stop, and eventually as the light climbed higher and higher above the horizon, it grew hot. Without water, she felt her skin grow irritated, still sore from yesterday's bee stings.

 After riding for hours, they found shelter at a small camp of five tents and some goats in the shade of a rocky cliff, where Levi helped her down from her mount. Leah's robe felt too tight—it was still belted as Rachel would have worn it—and uncomfortably damp, but she had not had time to pack a change of clothes. As they approached the herdsmen, Levi dug out of his pouch a domed bronze shekel, offering it in exchange for water. The men generously refused to take it, drew a bucket up from the well and pointed to an awning where they could rest in the shade.

 Finally seated, her muscles taut and screaming, Leah drank and drank from a ceramic mug before using the leftover water to wash her face and hands. They were caked with mud and the memories of home. 

******

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