Read Pearl in the Sand for Free Online Page B

beggars too.”
    Rahab turned away bleakly. “And yet he plans to destroy us.”
    “Yes.”
    She felt torn between fear and longing. Terror over a god who despised her people and longing for a god who championed the forgotten. Terror won. Without thinking, she reached for Debir’s hand and held onto its rough, broad surface until her fingers turned white. “Debir, let’s escape. Let’s run from Jericho.”
    “There is no escape. Don’t you see? The
Lord
has marked out this whole land for his people.”
    “We’ll go somewhere else. We’ll—”
    “Rahab, stop. I’ll not run. Why should I bend my knee to this wandering rabble and their tenderhearted god? I am a man of Jericho, a lord of Canaan. I will not betray my position or my people.” He pulled his hand out of hers and moved away.
    Rahab opened her mouth to argue and then closed it again. Debir felt none of the pull or longing for this new god that she felt. He was only afraid of his power. And that fear did not compare to the measure of his pride. How could Rahab pit herself against Debir’s pride when his own fear of the Hebrew god could not dent it?
    A great sadness settled over her as she studied his tense back. Their time together was at an end, she knew. He was a man who believed he had no future. A man preparing to die. Dying men returned to their families. Suddenly the very things they avoided as annoying or cumbersome seemed precious and worthwhile. Their harlots no longer answered for their needs.
    She approached him and waited near him until he acknowledged her with a glance. She caressed his face with a tender hand. “May you live long, my lord.”
    “Are we saying good-bye?”
    “It is best.”
    He nodded with a soldier’s disciplined movement. “May the god of the Hebrews deal kindly with you. Our own gods seem to have abandoned us.”
    “I abandoned them first, so their loss is no great sorrow to me.” He gave the ghost of a smile. “I will send you a token. Don’t bother saving any of it. Spend it as soon as you can.”

     
    In the ensuing days Rahab spent long hours brooding over her future. She thought about the destructive ways of Jericho and of the pointless passions of her countrymen that led only to unhappiness and destruction. She thought about the Hebrews and theirstrange customs. Most of all, she thought about their god. She could not pluck him out of her thoughts. Could there really be a god who ruled over everything? Could he be real, this phantom of the Hebrews who saved some and condemned others with incomprehensible rationale? Did he really champion slaves?
    After three days of such thoughts and no human contact she knew she was in need of a diversion. She decided to call on her family.
    “Do my eyes play tricks on me or is my younger daughter actually honoring me with a visit?”
    Rahab’s smile was dry. Her mother reached on tiptoes and gave her a quick kiss on the cheek. “Izzie and Gerazim are here too. The whole family’s together.”
    For a moment Rahab felt a wrenching pang. If she had not happened by, would they have invited her? And why should they? She had spurned so many of their invitations in the past. Though she often sent gifts, her visits were few.
    “I’ll be glad to see everyone,” she said honestly.
    “Is that my little sister?” Izzie cried and ran over to envelop Rahab in a hug. “Looking ravishing as always. Come and soil your exquisite robe. I’m cooking and I could use your help.” She leaned closer so that only Rahab could hear her. “Mother is causing me to lose my mind.”
    Rahab laughed, feeling the tension drain from her body. Cooking with Izzie sounded delightful.
    “Mother, now that I have Rahab, you can rest from cooking,” Izzie announced. “Why don’t you go enjoy your grandchildren?”
    “What, and leave you girls to ruin our supper? I don’t think so.”
    Izzie growled under her breath. “Pardon, but I have been running my own household long enough to manage a