Several weeks went by as I struggled with fear. Fear of approaching Judd. Fear of asking Daniel. Fear of facing the king. Fear of failure. Fear of the unknown. Fear of making a fool of myself.
I wrote in my diary today:
“Dear Dog, please help me to be successful, if this is your will. Why should Nathan be so miserable if you can heal him? How hard it must be not to be able to talk. Daniel said you could do anything. Does that mean you would heal Nathan if we brought him to you?”
I hid my diary and headed downstairs to finish my chores. Later, I waited outside the cave for Judd. I had seen him enter earlier. My heart raced, and my dress felt sweaty as I anticipated my next step. I smacked at the gnats that hung annoyingly around my face. How much longer would he be? I didn’t know if he would go along with my plan, so I brought something just in case he needed convincing.
The door opened, and Judd walked out. He was surprised to see me but quickly regained his composure. He glanced at my fisted hand.
“What do you want?” he asked.
I took a deep breath. “I need your help.”
He stepped down the stairs and strolled past me. “You come to me for help?”
“I need to go to Daniel.”
He laughed. “You seemed to be doing quite well with him without my help.”
“I need you to cover for me with Scylla.”
“Cover for you? What does that mean?”
“Must I say it more plainly—I want to bribe you.”
Judd laughed. “Are you trying to trick me to get him back?”
“I don’t think he would come back to me even if I had magical powers.”
“You don’t have any money, so what could you give me as a bribe?”
I exploded. “I do have something, but first, tell me, why did you lie about Daniel and me?”
Judd advanced towards me, but I backed away. Much-Afraid ran up and growled at him.
“It’s okay, Much-Afraid.” I reached down and patted her reassuringly on the head.
“I didn’t lie about you.”
“Yes, you did. You told Scylla lies about Daniel and me, made up stories about us having a relationship. She told me what you said.” My anger grew, and I couldn’t stop the poison.
“I didn’t need to tell her that.”
“What are you talking about? Quit talking in riddles.”
“You were given to me before you and your mother ran off.”
“What?”
“Prearranged marriage. You know what the custom is here. I thought you had returned to honor the contract. Didn’t your mother explain that to you?”
I picked up a fist-sized rock and threw it at him. “You perverted liar! How dare you say such a thing.”
“It’s true. I was glad you had returned. The contract is for the end of next year, when you turn seventeen.”
“Marry you?”
Judd smiled. “There’s a huge dowry for you—you had to return, to keep Scylla from getting all that money.”
I imagined becoming his slave and cringed. “Never!” I screamed.
Judd walked up to me and laid his hand on my shoulder.
“Get away from me, you animal.” I shoved him with my elbow as I stepped backwards.
He persisted, taking a couple of strands of my long hair and wrapping them around his finger.
“Stop it.”
Before I could do anything, Much-Afraid ran over and sank her canine teeth into his leg, tearing the flesh.
Judd winced, falling to the ground. “Get that dog off of me,” he shouted, “before I kill it.”
“You wouldn’t dare,” I shrieked.
Judd grabbed his leg with one hand and flailed at Much-Afraid with the other.
“Let him go, Much-Afraid,” I commanded her.
Much-Afraid backed off though her curled lips still snarled. Judd scooted away, grabbing his injured leg. His torn skin displayed nasty puncture marks as the blood oozed.
“Why did you come to see me?” Judd covered the gash with his fingers to stop the bleeding. I felt woozy watching the red blood trickle. I glanced away. Memories from the hallway and bathroom returned. That seemed like ages ago.
“I want you to take care of the animals while I’m gone. I’m taking Baruch with me, and you must tell Scylla that I’ve gone to Jerusalem in search of my father. That way she’ll take good care of Nathan if she fears a bad report when my father returns.”
“Is that all?”
“That’s a lot for you.” I pointed my finger. “And if you do one thing to hurt Cherios, Lowly, or Much-Afraid while I’m gone, I’ll kill you.” I glared at him, inhaling deeply, as if I were ready to murder him with all the venom locked up inside of me.
Judd’s gray eyes steamed.
How many years had it been since I was now sixteen? How much of that hate was because of me?
“He’s with Doctor Luke. That’s all I know,” Judd said.
“That’s what Worldly Crow told me.”
“Worldly Crow?”
My face grew hot. A slip of the tongue. “Can you please get Baruch ready for me? I–I don’t know about all of those things.”
“Why shouldn’t I tell your stepmother the truth? Why do you expect me to lie for you?”
“You already lied once. What difference is it to you if you lie to her again?”
Blood covered Judd’s hand, and he winced in pain. “I told you, I didn’t lie to her. She didn’t know you were already given to me. She ran Daniel off. Or not, depending on your point of view.”
“You didn’t say one word about us having a relationship?”
“No. But—”
“But what?”
Judd looked away evading my question. “I think it was mutual.”
“What was mutual?”
“Daniel thought it was best to leave.”
“Why?” I glared at Judd, angry that he was stonewalling me.
“Shale, as I said before, you were chosen for me. When Daniel heard about it, he said he needed to go.”
“Why?”
“Shale, are you blind? He likes you, for goodness sake, and he can’t have you. Now please let me clean up my leg before it gets infected or I bleed to death.”
I felt sorry for Judd. I was the source of much of his suffering, but I would not let go of my own pain to embrace his. “Is this all about the dowry that you want to marry me, Judd? Answer me that question. You hate me.”
“No, I don’t hate you. And yes, there’s a contract.”
“So that’s it, huh? Everybody wants my father’s money.” I slammed my foot in the dirt and particles flew up and hit Judd in the face.
“Why did you do that? You don’t throw dirt in a man’s face when he’s down.”
“You can’t have me, you hear that? Ever! Besides, I don’t live here, and I plan to return home. Soon.” I folded my arms in front of me and added a “humph” at the end, to make the point.
“If you want me to help you, I want money in return, which you haven’t got. I’m putting myself out there lying for you. Your stepmother is evil.”
“What do you know? We agree on something.” I stood in front of Judd’s face, but far enough away that he couldn’t grab me. I held up the golden nugget. The stone dazzled in the sunlight. The attraction of the nugget was powerful. Judd stared.
“Where did you get that?”
I tossed it back and forth in my hands. “You wouldn’t believe me if I told you.”
“That’s worth a lot of money.” His eyes followed the nugget as I flipped it like a pancake. “Careful, don’t drop it,” he cautioned, as if he were already claiming it as his own.
I laughed. “It’s not going to break.”
“You wouldn’t want to drop something so valuable, especially if you’re going to give it to me.”
I popped the golden nugget in my pocket. “You make up that story, take care of my animals, get Baruch ready, and I’ll give this to you when I return with Daniel.”
“S
uppose he doesn’t return?”
“You better hope he does if you want your golden rock.”
“Why are you bringing him back here?”
“That’s for you to figure out. Give Nathan some love also. He’s depressed.”
Judd nodded. “Do you have any more of those?”
“I’m not going to tell you. I want to leave as soon as possible.”
“Can you help me get up?” Judd asked.
“No, but I’ll bring you some water to put on your leg and some cloths for bandages. So I can get out of here.”
“Do you know the way to Doctor Luke’s?” Judd asked.
“I need a map—if you have one you can give me.”
Feeling encouraged and thankful that I would soon be leaving, I ran back to my room and jotted in my diary:
“Thank you, Dog. I knew you would come through for me. Now please help me to find Daniel. Bring me success. May I call you Abba?”
Chapter 25
CAN SHALE WOO DANIEL