19

In hopes of catching a word of when the leaders of Israel would gather, in the coming days, Mahlah sauntered along the Tabernacle curtain listening to gossip and quarrels. She and her sisters would seek out Moses at the assembly when witnesses abounded to hear Moses’ wisdom.

Was she foolish to approach Moses in front of God’s appointed overseers? What if the voice she thought she’d heard wasn’t from God? What if the sky had brightened all on its own? She clasped her arms around her waist and strolled toward the tents of Moses and his nephew, Eleazar, the priest. If she and her sisters had any hope of staying together and carrying her father’s name into the new lands, they would need a blessing from God’s spokesman.

A group of Levites headed in her direction. Would they know of an assembly? They took care of God’s house. She let the Tabernacle servants pass. Turning to follow, she came nose to neck with Reuben. A fully-clothed Reuben. A man who had disregarded her claim to land. She drew to her full height so they were almost eye to eye.

Reuben’s face was void of his customary smile.

And how do you fare this morning, Mahlah?

“You didn’t tell me the fever Jonah suffered was due to the plague. Wasn’t I due the truth about my son?”

How dare he greet her with an accusation. She breathed deep to halt a hasty response. The smoke from the Tabernacle offerings filled her nostrils. The ashen scent did nothing to calm her anger; it only irritated her nose.

“I gave you the truth.” She would not allow him to sully her reputation, not when she needed to be held in high regard before the assembly. “I answered your question with enough knowledge so you would not worry. Jonah’s fever had broken when I left camp. The plague’s hold on your family’s tent was no more.”

“Thanks to you.”

His statement lacked the customary praise one would expect for saving another’s family. But she would not take the credit.

“Thanks to God.”

He widened his stance and crossed his arms. A blue-corded tassel splayed over his tunic. His face filled with wrinkles.

“Basemath told me about the idol worship.”

She admired the weave of the curtain beside her, tracing the scarlet threads with her eyes and leaving Reuben to wait for her response.

“Your sister was too drunk to join in the worship.” She turned her attention back to him and forced a bland expression. “I believe our kinsman Eli is to blame for her state.”

“You are the one who went after her.” He emphasized her role with a hint of castigation.

“I went after Hoglah.” She allowed her bond with her sister to hang in the smoke-hazed air between them. “With a proper escort,” she added. “And if I hadn’t seen the image of their pagan god, I wouldn’t have been able to banish your sister’s armlet to the fire pit.”

“You threw my mother’s gold into the fire as well.” His arms fell to his sides. “So, I’ve heard.”

Ah, now that the illness had passed, his father must be fuming at his charred wealth. And who better to slander than the unwed girl with no father.

“I couldn’t be certain your sister wasn’t generous with her tainted baubles.”

“My sister? Generous?” He cracked that endearing smile.

Her body readied to leap into his embrace. Traitor. Though, he had tried to warn her about the counting. He must have been fatigued from battle.

“I don’t know how I would have survived the grief of losing my son.” His eyes glistened. “I wouldn’t have been able to enter camp to bury him. How could I have left his body to decay in this heathen land if we were called to march?”

She banished any thoughts or images of Jonah’s lifeless body. Her heart ached for the briefest of moments, for she had left her father’s body to decompose in pagan soil.

“He brings me joy, too.” She swallowed, hard. Thinking of Jonah caused her to grin despite his father’s questioning. “And worrying about him for days, well, I didn’t want you to despair.”

Reuben nodded, his eyes all the more captivating with tears ready to overflow.

“After all, I told you I would watch over him, and you know how stubborn I can be.” She cocked her head, knowing he agreed with her assessment.

He laughed. With a sniffle, he said, “I promised Jonah he could visit your tent later. My father and I must take our places at the assembly.”

An invisible horn blasted in her ear. Her brain cleared of all their chatter.

“Has Moses called a meeting of the tribal leaders?”

“Tonight. He wants Eleazar to bless the lots cast for land.” Reuben turned toward the intense colors of the curtain as if noticing the location of the Tabernacle for the first time. “Father wants me to make an offering for our tribe before the prayers this evening.”

“How wise.” She cast a glance at the cloud covering their place of worship. This meeting with Reuben did not happen by chance. Those wisps of white meant God was with her people. With her. Right now.

I Am.

Her heart rallied, quaking her clothing. “I best not keep you from your duty.”

He turned toward the entrance. “You’re always thinking of others, Mahlah.”

Oh, Reuben. If he only knew.

Tonight, she would be thinking solely of the daughters of Zelophehad and claiming their rightful inheritance.