Not a particle of sunlight permeated the black rock of the cavern, and Miriam waited for her eyes to adjust to the dim light of the lamps. She couldn’t see the small stream on the far side of the cave, but she could hear the water trickling over small rocks. She held her lamp high above her head, expanding the fragile circle of light to reveal black walls and a domed ceiling twenty feet above her. The room was roughly rectangular, much wider than deep, and larger than she expected. It was probably three or four times the size of the home they had just left. A slight draft kissed the back of her neck, and she watched the small flame of the lamp dance to confirm there was air moving through the darkness.
She shuffled cautiously toward the back of the cave until the light illuminated the rear wall. Piles of rock were strewn against the lower portions of the wall, but above them she was surprised to see what resembled a series of chiseled steps that disappeared up into the darkness. “That’s our back door,” Gideon said from the shadows. “Climb up those steps, and you’ll find a narrow shaft leading outside.”
The thought of a second way out of the cave was somehow reassuring to her. “How large is the shaft?” she asked.
“You can get through it easily, Mother,” came Uzzi’s voice.
“How do you know?” Miriam asked.
Uzzi chuckled. “Hanan, Caleb, and I have explored all these caves many, many times. We know them all, and this is by far the best.”
“What makes it the best?” Gili asked innocently. “To me it’s dark and scary.”
“Well,” Uzzi said, suddenly proud to be an authority on the caves, “first of all, it has not two but three ways out.” He walked forward with his lamp until its pale yellow light shone on a dark hole into which the small stream disappeared. “If you don’t mind getting a little wet, you can scoot on your back into the next cave. It’s too small to belly-crawl; you must go on your back. You’re in total darkness, but it’s only about thirty feet. Inside the next cave is a small opening in the roof, and you can climb a pile of rocks and get outside.”
“You’ve done that?” Miriam felt a sense of claustrophobia sweep over her at the thought of inching her way through a tunnel in total darkness, on her back, with her nose and shoulders only inches from solid rock.
“Oh sure,” Uzzi replied, “we all have.”
“What else makes this ideal?” Miriam asked.
“You can’t see it and no sunlight comes in, but there’s a natural vent in the ceiling. When you light a fire in just the right place, the smoke rises in a column and goes outside.”
“How do you know that?” Miriam asked in amazement.
Caleb let out a short exasperated sigh. “Because we’ve done it,” he said. “What do you think we did when we came down to these caves, just walked around?”
Turning in a slow circle, she saw one wall of the cave was lined with bags, pots, and jars. “What’s all that?” she asked.
“Food, cooking supplies, oil for the lamps, some clothes, and even some soap,” Gideon replied. “Walk a little closer and you’ll see a large stack of wood, enough to last for a month.”
“Father,” Hanan said from the blackness, “are we going to tell anyone else about the raid?”
It was a serious question, one Gideon had wrestled with constantly over the past few days. One he had not answered.
“I don’t know. To be honest, Hanan, I don’t know what I would say to someone.”
“You could tell them exactly what you’ve told us,” he replied.
“And what if I’m wrong? What if there is no attack?”
“But what if there is? Shouldn’t we warn our neighbors?” Hanan replied.
“Who would you warn, Hanan?” Gideon asked with slight irritation in his voice.
“Micah and his family,” Hanan shot back without a second’s hesitation.
“Ooo,” Caleb teased, “you just want Samara to be here with you.”
Miriam and Gideon’s mouths dropped open at the same instant, and they both looked into the darkness where Hanan was sitting. When there was no rebuttal from Hanan, Miriam said, “I didn’t know you liked Samara.”
“We’re friends,” Hanan said defensively. “That’s all.”
“Sure it is,” Caleb said. “If that’s true, why didn’t you mention Jabesh, Gaal, Ebed, and their families?”
Sensing Hanan’s awkward situation, Gideon said, “She’s a pretty girl, Hanan, and very talented at playing the lute.”
“Should we talk to them?” Hanan asked.
Gideon thought for a moment and then said, “How about this: After we get everything situated and we eat our midday meal, I’ll go into town. If I learn of more danger, we can talk to them then. They only live a short distance from here, and we could bring them quickly.”
Hanan sat quietly in the darkness and brooded over what his father had just said. Years of experience told him there would be no benefit in arguing with the man. He had decided, and there would be no further discussion. “Whatever you think, Father,” and he said no more.
“Come, boys,” Gideon called. “Let’s go unload the donkey.”
While Gideon, Uzzi, and Hanan unloaded the donkey, Caleb built a small fire. Even with the flickering flames lighting most of the room, it was well past noon before Miriam was satisfied with how things were organized. Then she fixed a small meal of goat cheese, bread with honey, almonds, and dates.
“Come, everyone,” she said. “Let us give thanks to Jehovah and eat.”
The boys attacked the food like starving wolves. They had eaten no breakfast and were famished. Gili nibbled at her food but almost immediately said she was sleepy and asked if she could lie down. Gideon nervously picked at his food and finally said, “I think I’ll walk into the village to see what I can learn. I should be back within an hour or two.” Turning to the three boys, he said, “Help your mother clean up, and then you can sleep as well.”
Taking a small stick from the fire, Gideon lit a lamp and walked up the tunnel. The brightness of the midday sun almost blinded him, and he raised his hand to shield his eyes while they slowly adjusted from the dark of the cave. Placing the lamp on the ground at the cave’s entrance, he thought about extinguishing the flame but changed his mind; he didn’t have any way to light it upon his return.
His eyes fully adjusted, Gideon began walking the half mile to the center of Edrei, but his eyes were focused on the hills to the east of the village, out toward his home. He wasn’t sure what first drew his attention to the small clumps of trees a mile beyond the village. Perhaps it was a quick reflection of sunlight off metal or the birds he could see circling in the air, but as he swept the distance with his eyes, he continually returned to the trees.
Stopping in the middle of the road, he raised both hands to his forehead and strained to make out the odd shapes clustered unnaturally beneath the limbs. It was then he saw an army of men begin running from the trees with swords and spears. The wind was at his back, so he could hear nothing, but he was certain there were trumpets sounding and screams coming from the mouths of each of the attackers.