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16 |Two Days Outside Jerusalem 10th Century BC
“Someone approaches from the rear!”
Jonathan turned in his saddle, the long caravan continuing its slow journey toward the Red Sea and eventually Africa, where this bastard son of a king, Menelik, was from. He didn’t care if he was the son of a king. He wasn’t Jewish, despite his claims to the contrary. Yes, pagans were converted to Judaism all the time, and that was a good thing, and they were welcomed into their new community.
But not this Menelik. Jonathan had heard Menelik’s mother had visited over twenty years ago and converted, then returned to her kingdom, where there were no Jews beyond some scholars sent with her. How could she possibly know what it was like to be one of God’s chosen? And how could her son? They were Jews in name only, and couldn’t possibly know the ways of his people.
And couldn’t possibly rule the Israelites.
The notion was ludicrous, and he agreed with his father.
Solomon had to be stopped.
It would be Jonathan’s duty, and that of the others, to make certain Menelik never returned. They had the Ark to protect them from their enemies, but the enemy in their midst would have to be dispatched by themselves. And though his father hadn’t suggested it, he was already formulating a plan on how to accomplish the task.
For Menelik would never reach his home.
How, he did not know.
Yet.
But in time, he’d formulate a plan, inform the others, and they would execute it, leaving no witnesses. Then they’d return home, with a tale as to how Menelik had been killed by some unknown enemy on the mysterious continent.
But what of the Ark? How do we explain that?
He smiled.
Menelik stole it!
He reached the rear of the caravan to find a breathless messenger coming to a halt, challenged by a small contingent of firstborns. As the senior among them, Jonathan addressed the man.
“Identify yourself.”
“I am Jesse, a messenger from the court of King Solomon.”
Jonathan suppressed his excitement. Could Solomon have changed his mind? He doubted it. More likely, the theft had been discovered.
But why only a messenger? Why not an army?
“What is your message?”
“By order of the King, you are to arrest Menelik and return him to Jerusalem.”
Jonathan’s eyes shot wide. “Why?”
“He has stolen the Ark of the Covenant!”
The others, all now in the know, exchanged uncomfortable looks, too many of them glancing at the cart containing their precious possession, held near the back of the caravan to minimize the chances of Menelik’s people discovering it.
“What is that?” asked Jesse, urging his horse toward the cart. “What is under that cloth?”
Jonathan blocked his path. “It is none of your concern.”
Jesse stared at him. “But I come under the authority of the king. I am to find the Ark and secure it with your help.”
“The Ark is secure, I assure you.”
Jesse’s eyes narrowed. “You act as if you already knew it was here.” His jaw dropped as he realized what was going on. “Menelik didn’t steal it, you did!”
Jonathan drew his sword and plunged it into Jesse’s stomach, twisting the blade and scrambling the man’s innards. He yanked the blade free and tossed it to one of the others, then reached forward, slapping a hand over the man’s mouth, silencing his final cries lest they attract the attention of those farther down the caravan.
The life drained and the body still, Jonathan secured him to his horse then sent it out into the night. If the man was lucky, his steed would return him home for a proper funeral, with no one the wiser as to how he had met his end.
“Why did you kill him?” asked Zimri. “Surely that wasn’t necessary.”
“He discovered our secret.”
“Your secret. Most of us had no part in this treachery.”
Jonathan regarded Zimri. “Would you rather the Ark not be here?”
“I’d rather us not all be traitors to our people.”
“So, you would happily follow this bastard child to his backward kingdom, and spend years from your family trying to teach these heathens to be civilized, without God’s protection?”
Zimri glared at him, then finally sighed, his shoulders slumping. “No.” He waved at the horse disappearing in the distance. “But now what do we do? We can go home! The king wants Menelik. He thinks he stole the Ark, not you. Our orders are no longer valid.”
Another of the noble firstborn agreed. “We should leave now, with the Ark. We can be in Jerusalem within two days. We’ll tell them that Menelik escaped, but we managed to rescue the Ark.”
Jonathan considered the idea. “But Menelik knows the truth, and if we leave him alive, he may return to find out what happened to us. You saw the king, how enamored he was with Menelik. He might believe him, then we will be suspected.” He eyed them all. “It would only take one of you to break under questioning, and I swear, if I go down for this, I will bring you all with me for not having immediately arrested me when you discovered what I had done.”
Zimri shook his head. “Some friend you are.”
Jonathan frowned. “I did this for all of us, to protect us so that we didn’t die. Do you really think I want any of you to die to protect me? We need a better plan, one that will confirm what the king already suspects.”
“I think we should just return home, and pray Solomon believes us.”
Jonathan shook his head. “You’re forgetting one thing.”
“And what’s that?”
“We just killed the messenger?”
“You killed the messenger. But how is that important?”
“If we return without the messenger, don’t you think the king will wonder how we knew to come back?”
Zimri cursed. “So, we’re stuck on this ridiculous journey because you couldn’t control your blade.”
Jonathan regarded his friend, someone he had thought intelligent to this point. “Do you honestly think the king sent only one messenger?”
Zimri stared at him blankly.
“We can expect that at least several were sent to find us, and this was but the first to arrive. And if you all would simply listen to me rather than question me, I’ll tell you exactly what we need to do to ensure we’re home with our families inside of two days.”
Zimri bristled. “Very well. What do you have planned?”
Jonathan gestured toward the cart with the Ark. “First, we need to do something about that.”