The Mother of Abel Beth Maachah.

Chapter 3

For the next two years Serah sat with the Man of God every opportunity she could. She listened to the words of wisdom he gave every one that came to him. On occasion he would let Serah answer the questions or give advice to the problems.

Towards the end of the second year something happened that would affect the lives of most of the inhabitants of Abel Beth Maachah.

A group of slave traders, heading back to Aram, entered the city walls. They would normally bypass the cities. However, on this particular trip, many of the slaves had become very ill and the slave traders had decided to make a detour, in search of a healer. Normally if just one slave became seriously sick, they would just leave the poor soul to die beside the road. With so many being ill, their profits wouldn't even cover the cost of the trip.

After two days, the healers announced that they could do nothing for the sick and the city fathers chased the visiting group out of the city.....too late! Within a few days, not only were the slaves dead or dying, but the slave traders themselves were all sick. The worst was yet to come. The town's people fell ill with the same symptoms. The city fathers called for a special meeting with all the healers. Serah was also invited at the request of the old man. It was unanimously decided to close and lock the city gates. The sickness was one or other plague and unfortunately the cure was beyond the scope of the healers. Salt was strewn where the slaves and traders had camped. All drinking water was to be boiled before drinking. No-one was allowed in the marketplace or the town square. The precautions came too late. In the next few weeks, hundreds would succumb to the dreaded disease.

Serah's husband had volunteered to go outside the city and help dig large communal graves. People were dying too quickly to be buried separately. He also helped wrap the bodies and cart them outside.

The first tragic occurrence to emotionally affect Serah was the passing of the Man of God. He had tirelessly gone from one sick person to another. Comforting them and praying for them when he knew their time was near. It was a great shock to Serah. She had learnt so much from him, but most of all he had been her special friend. He had loved Meadow and the child had loved him. She would miss the times in the town square listening to the old man advising others on all their problems.

Serah's sorrow would deepen even further.
Her husband had been carting bodies out all day. He was later than usual but she wasn't particularly worried. He had been late before.
Their supper prepared, Serah settled down to darn some of Meadow's clothes. The young child was very adventurous and went clambering over anything and everything in search of bird nests and small animals. Needless to say her clothes suffered. Meadow sat on a stool and watched her mother. It was past her bedtime but they would eat first when her father came home.

Suddenly there was a loud knocking on the door, Serah, startled, dropped her mending but regaining her composure, picked up the dress she had dropped and went to open the door.
Meadow flew after her and positioning herself between the door and her mother started screaming, "Dona opa door evaal, dona opa door evaal! (Don't open the door, evil).  Serah, although appreciating her daughter's intuition, had a strong feeling of her own that she should open the door, although something deep inside her tended to agree with Meadow that all was not well. 

Serah opened the door, only slightly at first, but relaxed and opened the door completely when she saw their friend Boah, the driver of the cart conveying bodies to the mass grave, standing outside.  The look on his face told the tale long before he uttered a word. Her husband had contracted the disease. Except for complaining of chest pains, which the family had thought was the result of lifting heavy bodies all day, he seemed fine.

Boah reported that her husband had started coughing violently and even swallowing water and honey had not had the calming effect that it normally produced. By late afternoon it was clear that he was very ill, and he was taken to the temporary village that had been created to house all the infected people. Once admitted the unfortunate patients were not allowed out again. The death rate in the village of hell as it was called, was two to three persons every day. Serah's husband and Boah had visited the village every day, they would stand at the entrance and throw a long length of rope to those that could still move around, inside the gateway. These people, sick as they were, and knowing their time would one day come, would tie the rope to the bodies of those who had died. The other end of the rope would be tied to Boah's horse. The body would then be dragged to the mass grave.

Boah, after delivering his sad news, and bidding Serah goodnight, left. Serah, except for clasping her hands to her mouth, had remained silent for the duration of Boah's message. Now she broke down and became quite hysterical. Forgetting about Meadow, and only grabbing her cloak, she ran wildly into the street, she had to see her husband. Her overwrought behaviour was soon checked when she reached the city gates, which had been shut for the night.

Serah banged her fists on the gates, and through her tears, begged them to open the gates. The gatekeepers stood firm. Their instructions would not be disobeyed. The gates would not be opened.....even for the Mother of the city. Serah sagged into a heap and wept bitterly. A hand touched her shoulder and a voice, even through her grief, penetrated her conscious mind, "Dona cry, Mamma, coma home."
In her distraught state Serah had fled leaving the door to their house open. Meadow had followed her mother and now stood over her, trying to pull her away from the gate. The gatekeeper, taking pity on Meadow's unsuccessful efforts to console her mother, came and gently coaxed Serah into a standing position and helped the child to lead her mother back home. When mother and daughter reached their house, Serah mechanically locked the door not really registering what she was doing flopped down on her bed and cried herself to sleep.

Every day Serah would take a basket of food to the village of hell and place it at the entrancee and then retreat a few paces. Her husband would be waiting. He would retrieve the basket and wave to her and blow kisses to her. He would also kiss his hand and then indicate that, that kiss was for Meadow. Whenever he did that, tears would run down Serah's face but she would nod to show she understood and would give their daughter the affections her father was trying to convey.

This ritual lasted for three days. On the fourth day her husband did not appear. Serah had been expecting this as she had witnessed her husband's deterioration daily. It was still a sobering shock to know that he was too weak to come to the gate. It made her feel sick to think that he was probably all alone with nobody to care for him. If it wasn't for her responsibility to care for Meadow, she would throw caution to the wind and rush in and tend her sick husband. Serah continued to take a basket of food to the village. She hoped someone would take the food to her husband, but even if the food never reached him perhaps someone could benefit from it.

The city fathers called a meeting. The recommendation came from another town, that had experienced a similar situation, was not to bury the dead as the virus lived on, contaminating the ground. The solution was to incinerate the bodies. So the mass graves were filled in and huge fires were built on top of the grave sites. The heat from the fires would hopefully kill the viruses in the soil below. The fires were fuelled with clothing and personal items from those that had already succumb to the disease. The bodies of those that died would, from now on, be thrown directly into the fires.

It had been eight days since Boah knocked on Serah's door on that fateful night. It was now midday. Serah was home and slicing some bread. Honey and fruit juice were on the table, where Meadow sat patiently waiting. The mother had to feed the child but her thoughts were far away and her heart was not in the food preparation.

Again, a loud knocking at the door. Serah instinctively looked at Meadow. This time there was no shouting or ranting. The little girl just sat staring into space, tears flowed down her face. She was quietly muttering, "Evaal, evaal, evaal....." (Evil, evil, evil..) Serah knew that Meadow was heralding bad news. Deep down, she knew what the bad news would be. She had been expecting the knock on the door, but that didn't make it any less traumatic when it came. Serah opened the door. Outside stood Boah. He was a big rough looking man but today he stood there with tears in His eyes. He never spoke much. Today was no exception. He looked at her and said, "The third body we dragged out of the village of hell was your husb....."
The big man couldn't finish. He turned away, wiping his sweat stained sleeve across his eyes, and sniffed loudly. He climbed onto his cart and just sat head in hands. The horse needed no prodding. The cart jerked as it moved away. Serah closed the door and went to her room, their room. Up to today she had refused to give up hope. Every night she would picture her husband walking in the door and climbing into bed with her. She lay on the bed now, willing herself to cry, but the tears wouldn't come. After a week of crying herself to sleep, she had no more tears left.