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what childbirth is like I’ll never want to get married.”
    Hilkiah laughed. “Jerusha is a very wise woman.”
    “I won’t have to worry about babies if Abba never lets me get married.” She took Hilkiah’s plump hand in both of hers and held it to her cheek, feeling the soft texture of his skin, loving every wrinkle and age spot.
    “You’re his youngest, Dinah. His baby. It’s hard for Eliakim to let you go. But once he gets young Joshua settled down, your day will soon follow. You’re only eighteen, after all. Hardly an old maid.”
    “But Joshua wants to marry my best friend, Yael, and she’s a few months younger than I am.”
    “Is that where he disappeared to tonight?”
    “Yes. If he keeps eating dinner with them, Yael’s father won’t have any money left for the wedding.”
    Hilkiah laughed. “I daresay your brother is love struck. But that’s nothing compared to the way your father was. You never saw a man more in love than Eliakim.”
    Dinah knew what was coming. She had heard the story countless times but never grew tired of it. It was fun to imagine Abba acting silly with love for her mother. And it was so romantic to dream about a suitor loving her that much.
    “Your father used to be handsome, you know, before his hair grew thin on top and his beard turned gray. Your brother Joshua reminds me a lot of him at that age, with his unruly black hair and mournful eyes. He’s tall like your father, but Joshua is even thinner than Eliakim was, if that’s possible. And, of course, your mother was such a beauty. Who could blame him for being smitten with her? But I daresay you’re even more beautiful than your mother, Dinah.”
    “You’re just saying that to cheer me up.”
    “No, no, my child. You know I don’t lie. You’re so slender and delicate, like fine porcelain. And that perfect face . . .” He held it in his hands as if he were appraising a precious jewel. “No wonder the suitors are lining up. One look into those dark eyes of yours and they’re lost. No, your father won’t give you away to just any man. Only—” Loud pounding on the front door interrupted him.
    “The messenger!” Dinah cried. “Tirza’s baby!” She jumped up and ran to answer it before the servants did.
    “It’s going to be a boy,” Hilkiah called after her.
    But when she opened it, a dozen palace guards stood outside. Before Dinah could speak, the guards pushed past her and forced their way into the house.
    “If you’re looking for my father, Lord Eliakim, he—” “We want his son Joshua,” the captain said. “Is he here?”
    “Why do you want Joshua?”
    The captain gripped Dinah’s arms and forced her to sit on the bench by the door. “If you stay here and keep quiet, nothing will happen to you, girl.” Then he nodded to his men. “Search the house.”
    They spread out in all directions—upstairs, down the hall into the living areas, into the kitchen and servants’ quarters, out into the courtyard, and into her grandfather’s bedroom. It sounded as if they were tossing the house upside down, searching it. She heard Hilkiah’s startled voice in the next room.
    “Who are you? What are you doing in here?” A moment later a soldier dragged him into the hallway in his nightclothes and stood him in front of the captain. Dinah jumped to her feet.
    “Leave my grandfather alone!”
    “Hush, Dinah. I’m all right.” Hilkiah nodded for her to sit down again, then turned to the captain. “Why don’t you tell us what you’re looking for, and then you can be on your way?”
    “We’re only interested in Joshua ben Eliakim.”
    “My grandson? Why?”
    “If you tell me where he is, you’ll be free to go.”
    “What’s wrong? Has something happened?”
    “Do you know where he is or not, old man?”
    Dinah knew her grandfather wouldn’t lie. It was her fault for placing him in this dilemma. She had told Hilkiah where Joshua was.
    “My brother is King Manasseh’s best friend!” she