An overwhelming sense of sadness enveloped Caleb, Miriam, and Samara as they entered Edrei. The happy laughter of children and sound of shopkeepers haggling with customers over the price of cloth or fruit were gone, replaced with the mournful sound of silence. Where the fragrant smells of cooking meals once filled the air, now it reeked of the pungent stench of death and burnt homes. With the exception of a few smoldering roof timbers that sent almost invisible spires of smoke curling heavenward, all the fires had burned themselves out.
Cautiously, almost reverently, Miriam and Samara stepped over fallen block walls as they followed Caleb through the empty streets. A nondescript dog lay whining beside the bloating body of an old man, growling at them as they walked past.
Turning down the last street on the edge of the village, Caleb pointed to the burned hulk of a house. “Uzzi is in a shed behind that house.”
Quickening their pace, the trio strode across what had been the pleasant outer yard of the home and pushed open the door of the shed. “He’s over here, Mother,” Caleb said as he moved a dilapidated feed trough and other things out of the way to reveal Uzzi lying on a bed of straw.
Miriam let out a slight gasp as Caleb carefully lifted a tattered blanket from an unconscious Uzzi. The injured boy was covered with dirt and dried blood, and his wounds were red, swollen, and inflamed.
“Hello, Uzzi,” Miriam said quietly as she wiped away the tiny beads of perspiration dotting his forehead. “Everything is going to be fine, and before long you’ll be running and laughing once again.” After tenderly prodding and examining each wound, she turned to Caleb and said, “We need to bathe and clean these wounds. We’ll need a fire to warm some water and some clean cloth to use as bandages.”
Caleb smiled. “I’ve already been up to the cave and have a linen tunic we can cut up for cloth, and I can easily build a fire.”
Samara pointed to a large metal pot on the ground just outside the door of the shed. “That will do for heating the water.” Turning to Caleb she said, “I’ll get water from the stream while you build a fire.” Then she disappeared out the door.
* * *
An hour later Miriam began carefully washing each wound, and an hour after that, she was applying a combination of honey, herbs, and ointments she had concocted. The task completed, she brushed the hair from her face and looked at Caleb and Samara, who had been coming and going during the entire process.
“You look exhausted,” Samara said as she watched Miriam slowly rise from kneeling beside Uzzi.
“I have one more thing I must do today before the sun sets,” Miriam said looking at Caleb. “You told us you buried father and Hanan yesterday. Will you take me there?”
Caleb gave a weary smile and said, “Father is buried not far from here, but Hanan is buried up on the hillside, and you look very tired.”
As if to add more strength to Miriam’s request, Samara said, “I would like to go to Hanan’s grave as well. We can help each other.”
Caleb wasn’t sure if her last comment meant they could physically help each other or if they could lend each other emotional support. Either way, he thought, they were determined to go. “Follow me,” he said. “We’ll go to Father’s grave first.”
Walking out of the shed, Caleb led the two women through some empty sheep pens to a trail that ran behind the last row of houses. There, in a lonely plot of earth surrounded by rocks and weeds, stood a lone cedar tree. Caleb walked toward the tree, following two small gouges in the dirt made by the heels of his father’s sandals as Caleb had pulled him to the grave.
“He’s buried here,” Caleb said as he stopped and pointed to the ground.
“Where?” Miriam asked as she examined the dirt.
“Right here.” Caleb used his finger to trace an imaginary outline of the grave in the air. “His head rests beneath that small pile of rocks.”
Miriam shook her head in dismay. “But it doesn’t appear to be a grave,” she said, the disappointment evident in her voice.
“I made it to look as natural as possible. I was afraid soldiers or others might come back and disturb it. The only marker is that loose pile of rocks.”
Miriam looked at Caleb with an expressionless face. “He deserves so much better than this.” She sank to her knees, picked up a handful of sand, and let it trickle through her fingers.
“I know he does, Mother. I wanted to bury him at our home, but I couldn’t carry him myself,” Caleb said sadly.
Miriam looked up at Caleb through eyes wet with tears. “Thank you for what you did. Would you allow me to spend a few minutes here alone?”
“Take as long as you want.”
“Perhaps you two would like to go to Hanan’s grave. I will find you in a few minutes.”
The two of them silently backed away from Miriam. Caleb said quietly to Samara, “Hanan’s grave is up the hill. This way.” He started weaving his way around the rocks and up the hill.
Hanan’s burial spot was more of a monument than a grave. Caleb had managed to scrape away only a few inches of topsoil and weeds before hitting a solid layer of volcanic rock. Laying Hanan’s body in the shallow hole, Caleb mounded dirt on it. Then, to keep animals from scavenging, he gathered every rock he could lift and piled them on top of the small mound. Caleb had made no attempt to disguise Hanan’s grave, and the two-foot-tall tower of stones was so orderly no one could have mistaken it for anything other than what it was.
As Caleb and Samara stopped beside the pile of black rocks, Caleb said simply, “I’m very sorry for you. He was very concerned about you.”
The corners of Samara’s mouth lifted into a slight smile. “I’m sorry for you as well.”
Sensing she might want to be alone, Caleb said, “I’m going to walk back to the cave to see what we can use. I’ll wait there for you and Mother.”
Caleb gathered a handful of dried grass and a few twigs as he walked. Using a small piece of flint and steel, he started a small fire at the mouth of the tunnel leading to the cave. Lighting an almost-full oil lamp he found sitting beside the entrance, he picked his way down the tunnel and into the cavern. Walking around the cave, he shook his head in amazement at the food, clothing, and supplies his father had secretly stored. The four of them, assuming Uzzi recovered, could easily live for two or three months.
As he began back up the tunnel, Caleb could see Miriam and Samara silhouetted in the entrance. As he approached, he asked Miriam, “Were you able to find Hanan’s grave?”
“Yes. You did a very good job. Thank you,” she said in a halting voice as she wiped a tear from her eye.
“I’ve been looking at the supplies in the cave. Father prepared very well for us. There’s enough food to last for months and plenty of clothing.”
Looking at Caleb and Samara, Miriam asked, “Do you think we should stay in the cave?”
The two looked at each other and then at Miriam and nodded. Caleb said, “I think we’ll be much safer here, at least for a little while. The only problem is getting Uzzi here. He can’t walk, so we’ll have to carry him.”
“Can we fashion a litter of some kind?” Samara asked.
Caleb nodded. “Easily.”
Miriam looked down the hill to the dilapidated shed where Uzzi lay. “Let’s move him now.”