Leah fumed at Samara as the two of them hustled along a broad avenue, heads and faces hidden under scarves. They had just committed a criminal act. It could make them both subject to arrest for breaking and entering, as well as burglary. Samara retained a calm demeanor, yet she didn’t like the situation one bit. She was tired of thinking she might be arrested at any moment.
“You shouldn’t have made me do this, Samara. It frightens me too much.”
“If you hadn’t done it, Leah, a wicked man would still be having his way with you.”
“But doing it makes me a robber.”
“Not a robber, but a woman who retrieves her own possessions.”
“Innocent people are going to be blamed for what we did.”
“Not innocent people. A notorious thief who was arrested today will be blamed for this little crime. It’s all arranged. Don’t walk so fast. It draws attention to us.”
“My ex-husband Hamish or his relatives could appear on the street any moment.”
“If they do, they have no reason to suspect you, Leah.”
“I don’t understand how you can be so sure that the Egyptian thief will be blamed for the theft we just performed.”
“Because Valerius himself gave me the incriminating evidence that we left behind there.”
“What we left there was just an old shoe and a burlap Egyptian head-scarf. Do you think that’s going to be enough?”
“Yes. Valerius knows how to dissemble by falsifying evidence. He learned it at the Roman War College and at the Roman war with the Dacians along the Bosporus. Besides, your ex-husband would never imagine you would break into his home and steal back what was yours.”
“I don’t know why your lover would be so ready to protect me.”
“Don’t call Valerius my lover! He’s my fiancé, and he’s protecting you because you’re my friend. Also, because he knows that your former husband took your jewelry from you without any justification other than his greed based on stupid traditions. Please stop tugging at your blouse. It makes us look conspicuous.”
“I’m tired. I‘m wearing so much heavy jewelry under my clothing that it’s hard to walk without clanking.”
“Just slow down. We don’t have much farther to walk.” Samara was getting worn out also. She kept looking back over her shoulder to see if they were being pursued. Yet she had to seem calm to Leah, because Leah could easily fall apart.
Leah exulted, “I did love grabbing my ruby bracelet when I found it on top of Hamish’s neatly folded prayer shawl which he never wore. I’m so proud that I’ve given it to you, Samara, as a symbol of my everlasting friendship.”
Samara pulled her cuff back for a moment and gazed at the beautiful bracelet, its crimson stones glinting in the sunlight. “Yes, it’s lovely. What I value about it the most is that it represents your courage. But Leah, you’re going to have to show your courage again. The next thing is that you must tell your parents you’re leaving Jerusalem.”
“I cannot, Samara. I know I promised you, yet I don’t feel strong enough to face the dangers of leaving Judea.”
“You’re getting stronger, Leah.”
“What can I say to my parents?”
“Just tell them you were chosen to join a trade expedition led by the Legate of Judea.”
Leah laughed. “As if they would even begin to believe such a thing, or approve of it. When might I tell them we shall be coming back?”
“You know I cannot say. Just tell them three months.”
“We’re never coming back. That’s what my parents shall think. That’s what I think as well. I don’t believe I can leave Jerusalem, and I don’t know how you can either. You’ll still have to tell your father you’re in love with the Legate.”
“I already told him.”
Leah stared at her. “What? How did you do that, Samara?”
“By blurting it out and turning red.”
“But when did you do it? What did he say? Where did you get the courage?” Samara heaved a long sigh. “Oh, at last. We’re here at Baruch and Zipporah’s. Give Zipporah your jewelry; she’ll keep it safe for you. Then I’ll tell you the whole tale.”
At the kitchen table, Samara picked up the cup of tea Zipporah gave her, and her hand shook. She had concealed her nervousness from Leah, yet that didn’t mean she wasn’t frightened. It wasn’t every day that she burglarized a home.
Leah had been anxious before the deed, and after it, yet in the process of breaking in and finding the jewelry, she had been calm and steady. Samara was surprised by her strength.
“Tell me right now, Samara,” Leah said, “how it went with your father.”
Tears welled up in her eyes. “I’ve never done anything harder. His face fell apart when I told him I’m about to leave Jerusalem with a man I love, a man who’s not Hebrew, and even worse, a Roman conqueror. It’s strange to think that in all these years of holding in his grieving for the loss of my mother and my stepmother, I never saw him melt into tears. Yesterday he did, and it broke my heart.
“We kept arguing and arguing. Finally, I saw his face fall even further. He didn’t beg me to stay, though. After a long silence, he finally mumbled, ‘Would you at least honor me and our family by always keeping a kosher household?’”
She said sadly, “Imagine. He seemed to care the most about a ritual matter. I said to him, ‘Of course, Father, no home of mine is ever going to be anything less than clean and kosher.’” She wiped her eyes.
“He does love you, Samara.”
“The news that I love a Roman shocked and hurt him. I could tell he’s afraid I’m endangering myself, his only daughter. He’s lost two wives. I had to reassure him that I’m returning, although I have no idea if it’s true. I hope it is.”
“What about Ephraim? What does he think of our quest?”
“I haven’t told him yet. I’ll let him know today. But I did insist to my father that he must start sharing everything about the family business with Ephraim. Our business shall need to be protected. My father shall make Gershon accept Ephraim as the family accountant, and Ephraim shall report back to my father on whatever deals Gershon makes. Gershon is so reckless that left to his own devices, he could easily ruin the business. Ephraim, on the other hand, always takes the long view He’s sixteen now, the same age I was when I became a successful trader, and he’s already an excellent accountant. If my father trains him well, he could manifest riches.”
Leah was shaking her head. “Don’t you hear what you’re saying, Samara? Your family needs you. We should stay in Jerusalem, both of us. What you propose is too dangerous.”
“If we stayed here, your family and mine, Leah, would confine us to our fathers’ homes, or try to marry us to men we could never love. Isn’t that dangerous?”
Leah shook her head again. “How could we ever feel safe if we left our families? I can’t imagine being as independent as you are, Samara.”
Samara felt a wave of dismay and disappointment at Leah’s doubts and nay-saying. Looking at Leah through narrowed eyes, Samara slowly unfastened the clasp of the ruby bracelet that Leah had given her, and cradled it for a few moments in her palm.
Then she flung it forcefully at Leah. It hit her in the chest and slid into her lap.
Leah stared, mouth agape.
“Here’s your ruby bracelet,” said Samara, “the one you were strong enough to take back from your ex-husband, a man who was ready to chew you up and spit you out. Stay here tied to your mother and father for the rest of your days. If you go on denying how brave you are, you deserve no better.”