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the marketplace to buy food, while inquiring about the road ahead.
    “Oh, you’re not going over the Jericho road,” said a woman selling onions and garlic. “Robbers hide out up there in the mountains and attack the caravans. You won’t be safe alone.”
    “I’m not alone. I’m traveling with my mother-in-law.”
    “Two women? Well, you’d better go down to the camel market and see if you can find a traveling merchant who will allow you to travel with his caravan. No one travels the Jericho road without protection. You’d find yourself snatched up and sold into slavery.”
    When Ruth returned to their little camp near the city wall, she found Naomi cooking unleavened bread on the metal bowl placed over the fire. She turned the bread skillfully with a two-pronged stick. “I’ve been worried,” Naomi said without looking up.
    “I’m sorry, Mother,” Ruth said, hunkering down. “I should have come back and told you what I was doing. A woman in the marketplace told me robbers attack people going over the mountains, so I thought it wise to seek assistance. We’re going to join a caravan tomorrow morning and travel with it over the Jericho road. The man is a Benjaminite, and he has armed guards. We’ll be safe with him.”
    Naomi’s body relaxed. She hooked the edge of the bread and lifted it from the bowl, laying it aside to cool. “I should have thought of that myself.” She sat back on her heels and covered her face.
    Ruth took the bread and broke it. She handed Naomi half. Naomi shook her head. “You must eat, Mother. You need your strength.”
    Hands still covering her face, Naomi wept. “Why didn’t I think of the dangers? I never even considered what could happen to you. What was I thinking to let you come on this journey? I’m a selfish old woman!”
    “You tried to turn me back,” Ruth said with a smile. “It did you no good. Try not to worry. We’re going to be safe.”
    Naomi raised her head. “There’s more danger for a young woman like you than an old widow like me.”
    “There’s danger for both of us, and we’re taking every precaution. The man seems trustworthy.”
    “No one can be trusted these days.”
    Ruth picked up the bread and held it out to her again. Naomi took it and broke off a little piece, eating slowly, still frowning.
    Ruth smiled at her. “How often have I heard you say ‘the Lord watches over those who love Him’?”
    “And punishes those who reject Him.” Naomi’s eyes welled with tears, and Ruth knew she was thinking of Elimelech, Kilion, and Mahlon. Her own grief rose sharply as she thought of her husband. He’d been so young, with years ahead of him. How she wished she’d given him a child! A son to carry on his name.
    “I’m so tired,” Naomi said, her voice tear-choked. “I don’t know if I can even make it home. Those mountains, I remember them so well now. How could I have forgotten how hard the journey was?”
    “We will rest when we need to.”
    “And the caravan will go on without us,” Naomi said dismally.
    “Then we’ll join another.”
    “If we aren’t robbed and—”
    “Don’t!” Ruth said with a sob. She rose and went to Naomi, kneeling down and taking her mother-in-law’s hand. “Don’t even think of such things, Mother. If you do, we’re defeated. Think about what’s on the other side of the mountains: Bethlehem. Our home. If we dwell on all the things that could go wrong, we’ll be too afraid to take another step. Please. Tell me about the Lord again, Mother. Tell me how He fed thousands of people in the desert. Tell me how He brought water from a rock. And pray.” She wept softly. “Pray He has mercy upon us.”
    Naomi winced, her expression filled with regret. She touched Ruth’s face. “Sometimes I forget.” Her eyes were still awash with tears. “I think about what I’ve lost instead of thinking about what I have.”
    “We have each other,” Ruth said. “And we have God. That’s more than enough to