Uzzi was the first to return to the house, followed quickly by Hanan and then Caleb. The boys laid their respective burdens by the fireplace and looked at Miriam and Gili in surprise.
Hanan scrunched up his face and asked, “Why are you dressed like that?”
“Because your father told us to,” Miriam replied. “He wants you to do the same—dress in your warmest robes.”
“Why?” Caleb asked curiously. “Where are we going?”
“I don’t know,” Miriam replied. “All I know is that you must hurry.”
The surprised and startled look on Uzzi’s face suddenly changed, and his eyes got wide with excitement. “I know where we’re going!”
The confusion on Hanan’s face changed to incredulity. “You do?” he asked.
Uzzi nodded his head. “To the caves.”
Caleb looked at Uzzi with even more confusion on his face than before. “Why?” he asked.
At that instant Gideon burst through the door and frowned at seeing the boys still dressed in light linen tunics. “Boys, you must hurry and get on your warmest robes. Go now!”
Uzzi was out of the room almost before Gideon finished talking, but Hanan and Caleb didn’t move. It was Hanan who asked, almost pleadingly, “Where are we going, Father?”
“To the caves. I’ll explain more as we walk, but you must hurry.”
“Why must we leave now, in the middle of the night?” Hanan complained.
Gideon clenched his jaw to control his irritation. “Hanan, go and get your robe now! There is no time for discussion.”
Hanan was about to object when Caleb pushed him and said, “Come on. Let’s go change into our robes.”
Hanan swatted Caleb’s arms away. “I—”
“Go, Hanan,” Gideon interrupted. “I’ll explain as we walk.”
Hanan scowled, shrugged his shoulders, and trudged from the room without saying anything more.
Gideon looked at Miriam and could see the confusion in her eyes. Before she could say anything, he said, “Thank you for changing. The caves aren’t cold, but they are much cooler than we’re accustomed to.” Then kneeling on one knee in front of Gili, he wrapped a strong hand gently around each of her arms. “Are you doing okay, little lamb?” he asked.
Gili gave a slight smile and nodded her head. “Yes.” Then looking deep into her father’s eyes, she added, “They’re coming now, aren’t they?” They were the first words she had spoken since she had stopped crying uncontrollably in the bed. The words were spoken calmly and evenly, without fear, and not so much a question as a statement.
Gideon encircled his young daughter in his arms and hugged her close. “I’m not sure,” he said honestly, “but if they are, we’re going to be in a safer place.”
Miriam’s mind was whirling at a frantic pace, trying to sort everything out. “Safer?” she asked. “How?”
At that moment, Uzzi, Hanan, and Caleb hurried into the room, each dressed in heavy, black woolen robes that could keep out the chill of a winter day. In addition, they had each put on a heavy cloak. “We’re going to roast dressed like this,” Hanan complained, holding his arms out from his side.
Gideon smiled at the remark as he looked at each of his sons. Uzzi was the brave one, afraid of no one and nothing. At sixteen he was already big and strong, agile as a cat and coordinated. Things requiring physical strength or dexterity came naturally to him.
Caleb was the smart one. He possessed native intelligence that allowed him to size up a situation and practically and methodically sort things out. Whatever he did was done with as much efficiency as his twelve-year-old mind could fashion, which was frequently more than most men.
And Hanan. He was as kindhearted and gentle as he was strong willed, the one who would carefully set a baby sparrow back in its nest. At fourteen he still choked back tears when a lamb died and would console anyone who was hurt or distressed. He could spend hours sketching a flower or plant and was far more at ease reading a papyrus scroll than shooting a bow. They were different, each with his strengths and weaknesses.
Gideon rose from his spot next to Gili and walked to where the bows, arrows, slings, and stones lay in front of the fireplace. He had debated how best to say what he was about to say and had finally decided to be as honest and straightforward as he could.
“We’re going to the caves in Edrei,” he said.
Miriam looked at him in dismay and fired back, “Why? What will we eat and drink?”
“It’s all there,” Gideon replied, “except for what I’ve just loaded on the donkey.”
Miriam looked at him quizzically and was about to say something when Gideon said, “Trust me, Miriam, it’s all there—everything we need to live for a month, if we need to. I even have some clothing for each of us but nothing warm like you’re wearing now. Please, I’ll explain as we go, but we can’t lose any more time.” Then turning to the boys, he pointed to the pile of items on the floor. “Pick all this up; we must walk quickly.”
The boys loaded everything in their arms and walked out the door without looking back. Miriam reached down and took Gili’s hand but didn’t move a step. As the small yellow flame from the olive oil lamp flickered and danced, she looked at the rugs on the floor, the chairs and couch with their brightly colored pillows tucked neatly against the walls, and she felt a rush of sadness blanket her.
Gideon strode to the table on which the lamp rested and took a breath to blow out the flame. He hesitated when he saw Miriam pensively examining the room. “I think I’ll leave the lamp burning,” he said gently, “so we’ll be able to find our way back when this is over.”
Miriam smiled at him; it was a symbolic gesture. She knew the oil in the lamp would burn out before they even reached the caves, and the home would be lost in the darkness. Tugging slightly on Gili’s hand, Miriam said, “Come, sweetheart, we must leave.”
Gili pulled her hand from Miriam’s; said, “I’ll be right back”; and ran quickly from the room. A moment later she came back holding a small leather pouch. “I couldn’t leave Prophet’s topaz here,” she said with a smile, tucking the pouch inside the folds of her robe. Then slipping her hand back in Miriam’s, Gili smiled and said, “Now, I’m ready to leave.”
The two of them walked out of the soft light and stepped into the darkness of the night. Gideon followed closely behind, and after taking one last look, he closed the door and walked to his waiting family.
Uzzi, bow slung over his shoulder, led the way down the narrow, stony path. He was followed closely by Caleb and Hanan. Miriam and Gili, walking hand in hand, came next. Gideon was last, leading the small donkey packed high with small sacks of grain, skins filled with goat milk, three flasks of olive oil, fresh goat cheese, and two madly squawking chickens tied securely to the uppermost sack so they couldn’t fly away. Two dogs trailed behind, panting lightly and tongues hanging out from chasing each other. The soft white light of the pale moon sliver flooded the countryside, silhouetting the little column of figures as they walked down the trail to the main road into Edrei. They walked single file or two abreast. Except for the occasional outburst when a sandal-clad toe jammed against a rock, each person walked in silence, too confused and uncertain to know if they should be excited, frightened, or both.
As they stepped from the winding trail that led to their house and onto the main road into Edrei, they all stopped. Hanan plopped down on a nearby rock and removed his sandals, brushing the accumulated sand and tiny rocks from the bottoms of his feet. Replacing one sandal he asked, “Father, will you please tell us why we’re doing this?”
With every footstep he’d taken over the past hour, Gideon had turned over in his mind exactly what he was going to say and how to say it. He wanted them to have enough information to be satisfied but not so much they would be alarmed. He chuckled to himself when he thought about not alarming them—everything he’d said or done in the past few hours had done nothing but alarm them. At this point, anything would be anticlimactic. In the end, he decided he would be honest but brief. He would give them the facts and then answer their questions.
“Yes, Hanan, I will tell you, but before I do, I want to thank you for being so obedient. You’ve followed my instructions without complaining and without knowing why.” Although the darkness made it impossible to clearly see any of their faces, he knew they were all looking at him with questioning and eager eyes.
“Many months ago while selling sheep to an old trader in the village of Aphek, I ran into a small contingent of Israelite soldiers. Their leader was a man I served with when I was in the army. I asked him why he was so far from his post in Samaria, and he told me there were rumors the Syrians were making plans to invade outposts in Israel. His company was spying on them to know if it was true.”
“Was it?” Uzzi interrupted.
Gideon nodded his head. “Yes. And he warned me that I should be alert for signs or hints of Syrian activity around Edrei, that it might be one of the first villages they attacked.”
“Is that why you bought bows and swords?” Uzzi interjected again.
“Uzzi, be quiet and let Father talk,” Caleb said with some exasperation.
“Partly,” Gideon said in response to Uzzi’s question. “Some time after my conversation with him, I was in Edrei having a plow repaired by the blacksmith. A group of nomads stopped to have him repair something for them. It was very hot, so we all sat and talked while we drank cool water. They said they had just left a small valley twenty miles north of here because their goats had eaten all the grass, so they were moving on. But while they were there, a small group of Syrian soldiers stumbled into their camp. The soldiers were nearly dead from lack of water and in need of food, so these men had helped. Because they never see soldiers so far in the desert, the nomads asked many questions. One of the soldiers let it slip that they had gotten lost on their way to Edrei to check its defenses.”
“They were coming to Edrei?” Uzzi said anxiously as he adjusted the bow on his shoulder.
“Yes,” Gideon answered.
“Is that when you bought the bows?” Uzzi asked.
Gideon shook his head. “I’d already bought the bows and swords by then, but that’s when I started making arrows and preparing other things.”
“What other things?” Caleb asked.
Gideon ignored the question and went on. Looking at Hanan he said, “Remember last week when you couldn’t find one ewe and her lamb?”
“Yes,” Hanan answered.
“After you told me, I went out searching for them,” Gideon said. “About dusk I was up in the cedars and the oak trees on the ridge behind our house. The wind was blowing lightly, and I could hear voices on the breeze. No one should have been there, so I began creeping toward the voices. I almost stepped on them before I could get a good look at them. There were six Syrian soldiers.”
Miriam let out a small gasp. “Syrians? Behind our house?”
Gideon looked over at Miriam, though he couldn’t see her clearly in the darkness. “Fortunately, they all had their backs to me, and they were paying close attention to one of them who was drawing in the sand with a stick. I eased away from them slightly and dropped on my belly behind a fallen log. They were too far away for me to hear what they were saying, but after only a few minutes, they stood up and crept away.
“Where did they go?” Caleb asked.
“They went north and east, back toward Syrian territory. I followed them until it was too dark; I was afraid they might stop and I’d run into them, so I turned around and went back home. Early the next morning, I went back to where I first saw them and looked at the drawing they had made on the ground.”
“What was it?” Uzzi asked excitedly.
Gideon let out a long, slow sigh. “I believe it was a plan for invading Edrei. It’s impossible to tell for certain, but they had clearly drawn symbols showing the village and the hills.” Then Gideon stopped. After a pause he added, “They even had a mark that I believe represented our house.”
Miriam’s hand flew to her mouth, and she stifled a gasp. But before she could say anything, Gideon continued, “Since then I’ve been making plans and figuring out what to do.”
“Why didn’t you say something?” Miriam said with rising anger in her voice. “We could have left. We could have gone somewhere.”
“Where? Where could we have gone?” Gideon asked defensively. “All the nearby villages are as vulnerable as we are.”
“We could have gone anywhere,” she fired back. “We could have even gone back to that disgusting shack we lived in years ago.”
Gideon didn’t want to debate the issue in front of the children, but he knew they would all be waiting for his response. “How? We couldn’t take all the animals; there are too many for us to herd, and that miserable plot of ground wouldn’t support them all even if we could get them there. And we couldn’t sell them at this time of year; no one has any money. And what about the grain? It’s a beautiful crop.”
“We could have left it all, Gideon,” Miriam said tersely. “We could have walked away.”
“And just leave everything we have, everything we’ve worked for?” Gideon replied.
“We may have been poor, but we would be alive! I hope you haven’t sentenced us to death or, worse, to slavery!” Miriam said, unable to control the fear-laden anger building inside her.
An awkward silence fell over the family, and nobody moved. After several minutes had passed, Gideon said, “Over the past few days, I have been taking food, clothing, and other supplies to one of the caverns in the cliffs outside Edrei. It has a small stream of flowing water, a vent up to the outside, and plenty of fresh air flowing through it.”
“Which one?” Uzzi and Caleb asked at almost the same time. “We know them all.” It was true. The boys had spent countless hours exploring the twisting turns and large chambers that was once a city in the rocks.
“Near the extreme far end, the—”
Without any more of a description than that, Uzzi said, “I know the one you mean. It’s perfect! The best one in all the cliffs. Let’s go.”
And they did. Miriam grabbed Gili by the hand and led the way down the road. She had no idea where she was going, but she felt an overwhelming sense of urgency to get moving.
* * *
Two hours later as the sun was rising over the eastern hills, Gideon poured oil into three lamps and lighted them. Handing one lamp to Miriam and another to Uzzi, Gideon instructed them to get into a single line and follow him through the entrance to the cave and down the long, sloping tunnel into the large cavern.