SIN and HONEY: Seven Years of Longing

Chapter 33: Rachel

One week later, Leah finally arrived. Rachel had left the evening meal before it ended and was getting ready for bed when the flap opened and Leah entered the tent. Her hands gestured wildly, and tears ran down her face. "Rachel, you have to come. It's Jacob, he's wounded!"

For a moment, Rachel was shocked at the sight of her sister. She thought Leah would look different—but the only noticeable change was that her braided hair was tucked beneath a green scarf.

"What happened?" Rachel said, standing.

Leah's eyes darted everywhere, having nowhere to land. "I—I don't know, he went out before dinner to look for a stray sheep in the high fields with some other shepherds, and a jackal ..."

Rachel 's heart skipped a beat. Jacob. Wounded.

"Take me to him," she said, running out of the tent, Leah at her heels.

"We have to be careful, Rachel," Leah said breathlessly as she tried to keep up with Rachel. "If Father sees you coming with me, he'll get suspicious. Don't run."

"Don't you think I know that?" Rachel snapped, but she kept her quick pace and her eyes low. "Why did you come and get me, if you were so concerned about being caught?"

"I had to." Leah swallowed. "He asked for you."

He asked for me. The thought bolstered her, made her see the world in color again instead of dismal gray. But then another followed: maybe he was dying, she realized, with a twist in her gut, and asking for her with his last breath. For the first time, she prayed to Jacob's god, his El. Although she didn't understand this god of sky and mountains, she needed his help. She muttered words of beckoning to all the familiar Anunnaki to keep him alive ... even as Leah's husband.

Keep him alive. Even if I never touch him again, just keep him alive.

As they walked at a brisk pace, Leah at her side, Rachel perused her sister out of the corner of her eye. The bee stings were almost all healed by now. Her hair, her body—they looked different too, and she looked for a sign to tell her whether her sister had slept with Jacob, as was her right as his wife. Then she looked away, realizing she did not want to know. The truth could break her heart.

As their camp faded into shapes as small as specks of dust behind them, Leah picked up speed. Her height allowed for larger steps, and soon Rachel was racing to keep up with her. The sun was lowering behind them, and Rachel soon realized why Leah was frantic; it was going down fast, and they had no lanterns.

"We should have brought lanterns with us," Rachel said as they ran up the steep hill. Leah said nothing. "Leah, was it very bad? Will he be well soon?"

"What? Oh—yes, but we need to hurry." Leah looked behind them. She seemed jittery now, nervous. But soon they crested the hill and Leah reached back for Rachel's hand to help pull her over the top.

When Rachel reached the peak, her breath caught.

At the bottom of the hill were a hundred lamps burning on mats dotted with small bouquets of pink flowers and herb bundles. Earthy rosemary and fragrant peppermint leaves hung from fabric draped across the bushes. They perfumed the air with their sweet aromas, lining the way toward a grand canopy—the biggest Rachel had ever seen, carved from juniper bark.

And Jacob stood underneath it, dressed in white, waiting for her.

As if the shock of seeing him standing there healthy wasn't enough, she saw Levi standing by the canopy with an unfamiliar man. Levi, who had been sold into slavery and taken away. They were both wearing shepherds' clothing, but the man looked too old to be a shepherd, and he had a long, gray beard. He smiled at her before going to stand near Jacob beneath the canopy.