IT’S A LITTLE BIGGER THAN RAMAC, EH? ” NAHSHON asked his son, who seemed to have become as tall as he was overnight.
“More than a little,” Sala replied as he looked around the teeming waterfront. Gaza was one of the greatest ports on the Great Sea, a stronghold that once was part of Canaan but had been annexed by Egypt years before. Sala’s father was a successful merchant in the smaller port of Ramac, farther north on the coast of Canaan, and he was in Gaza to purchase a new boat to accommodate his increasing shipping business. Nahshon might be a Jew, but everyone knew the Egyptians made the best ships in the world. And when it came to business, Nahshon was not fussy about who he associated with.
Father and son stood together under the bright afternoon sun, their eyes taking in the sights in front of them. Dark-skinned porters carried heavy loads on their backs to and from the many ships docked along the wharves; merchants haggled over the prices of their wares, and a crowd of noisy urchins clustered around a man with a bright-colored bird in a cage. Then there were the sailors with packs on their backs shoving their way through the crowds, probably headed for an inn and a jug of wine. Ramac had a busy waterfront too, but Sala had never seen anything as loud, colorful, and crowded as this.
“Come,” Nahshon said, and Sala followed his father down the cobbled path to the wharves, where more ships were tied up than Sala had ever seen in his life. His eyes darted from one to the next, admiring the furled colored sails and the gleaming wood. His father stopped in front of a sturdy wooden boat whose broad deck was neatly stacked with barrels of wine and bales of wool. The top of the boat’s tallest mast bore the carved figure of a winged woman looking proudly forward.
“This is just the kind of boat I need,” Nahshon said with satisfaction.
It was a good boat, Sala agreed, a useful boat for a merchant. But his eyes went wistfully to the long, elegant ship that was just now putting out to sea. It had eight oars on either side and they slid through the water as easily as a knife slides through a piece of fruit. It must be some Egyptian noble’s private ship, he thought, his eyes caressing its long sleek lines.
“Time to go back to the inn,” his father said briskly. “I have an appointment in an hour.”
Sala nodded, his eyes still on the elegant craft as it sailed regally toward the horizon.
Nahshon slapped him on the shoulder. “Look all you want, my son, but that kind of life is not for us. Israelites have not fared well in Egypt since the time of Joseph, and I have been careful to keep my religion out of any dealings I might have with the people here. These ship builders are only interested in my money, but there’s no sense in borrowing trouble. They think I am a Canaanite from Joppa, and that’s how I want to keep it.”
“I understand, Father,” Sala said, and the man and boy made their way back up the cobbled steps into the streets of Gaza.
Nahshon had not come to Gaza with just his son. He had brought some of his workers with him, and when they returned to the inn, Sala found himself surrounded by men from home, all of them talking about ships. Sala was interested in ships, but he was also sixteen years old and this was his first time in a city bigger than Ramac. He wanted to look around without someone keeping watch on him. So when his father’s appointment, a wide man with a sweaty face and a pungent odor, arrived and the men disappeared into the common room to discuss business, Sala slipped out the back door of the inn.
The warren of streets that wound throughout the city might have daunted another boy, but Sala had been blessed with a keen sense of direction. He did not doubt that he could find his way back to the inn, no matter how turned around the streets might become, and he set off with confidence.
The sun was bright overhead, but the streets were so enclosed that it rarely penetrated into the maze of shops and stalls and markets that made walking in a straight line impossible. You must be able to buy anything you want in Gaza, Sala thought as he strolled along the winding streets, taking in the jumble of wares set out for sale. Bakers, weavers, potters, sandal-makers, fishmongers, and fruit sellers manned the shops. There were also basket makers, barbers, wine sellers, and stonecutters. There was jewelry that Sala thought must be made of real gold, it was so beautiful, and many stalls offered the little scarabs so prized by Canaanites as well as Egyptians.
As he wandered, fascinated, through the crowded alleys and streets, Sala lost all sense of time. He was looking at some honey cakes and inhaling their tantalizing smell when it dawned on him that he was starving. Luckily he had some money with him, and he bought one of the cakes and leaned against the side of an old mud-brick building to enjoy it.
He had just finished the cake and was dusting his hands together to get the stickiness off when he saw a young girl hurrying down the street in his direction. Her long hair was flying loose and she was almost running. There were plenty of girls of all ages, shapes, and sizes in the market, but what caught Sala’s attention was the look of sheer terror on this little girl’s face.
When she was almost abreast of him, he found himself stepping in front of her and saying in Canaanite rather than his native Hebrew, “Are you all right? Can I help you?”
She pulled up short and tilted her head back to stare at him. Her eyes were dilated and she was breathing hard. She cast a hunted look over her shoulder.
“Let me by!” There was a hysterical note in her voice.
Sala tried to make his voice sound quiet and trustworthy. Her fear was so palpable he could almost smell it. “I can see something is wrong. Please, won’t you let me help you? I won’t hurt you, I promise.”
She bit her lip so hard that blood sprang out. “How can you help me?”
She was young, Sala could see. Her eyes reminded him of a terrified animal, cornered and fighting for its life. “You tell me that. I can see you are afraid. Are you running away from someone?”
If she said she was a runaway slave, he wasn’t sure what he could do. But something about her made him think she wasn’t a slave. And he wanted to help her.
Her face was damp with perspiration, but suddenly she began to shiver as if she was cold. “I was kidnapped by evil men and they are going to sell me as a slave! I managed to get away but I know they are looking for me.”
Sala didn’t doubt her. It was well known that girls of good families were often kidnapped and sold into slavery. “Come with me,” he said, and reached for her hand.
After the briefest of hesitations, she put her hand in his and let him lead her back into the warren of streets he had just come through. She wanted to run but he stopped her. “We don’t want to call attention to ourselves.”
He shortened his long stride so she didn’t have to skip to keep up with him. “Where were you when you escaped?” he asked, trying to focus his attention ahead and not on what might be behind them.
“I think we were on the outer part of the city. They had a big caravan of donkeys and horses that they put into an open field, but they brought me to an inn.” For a little girl, she had a remarkably husky voice.
He tried to sound calm and practical. “I think I should take you back to the inn where I am staying. My father is there and he will protect you. He is an important man; no slavers will dare to question him.”
Rahab thought this was an excellent idea. She had prayed to Asherah and the goddess had sent this boy to help her. She gripped his long, slender fingers with her smaller hand and hurried as hard as she could to keep up with him.
He knows exactly where he’s going. He has to be a native of this city.
For some reason, she trusted him. His grip was so reassuring. He seemed so grown-up and sure of himself. Her initial terror was fading into a sense of security. This boy and his father would take care of her.
Finally the boy said, “Here we are. This is the inn where I am staying.”
It was a much nicer looking inn than the place where the kidnappers had taken Rahab, and she tried to smooth down her disheveled hair and straighten her robe as they walked into a tiny entry room.
“Remain here, and I will get my father,” the boy said.
Suddenly her terror returned. “No!” Rahab grabbed his arm as tightly as she could. “Don’t leave me. I want to stay with you.”
He looked down into her face and she held her breath. Then he gave her a faint, comforting smile. “Very well. Come along with me.”
They climbed the narrow staircase to the second floor and she followed him to a room at the end of a short hallway. He opened the door and peered in.
“Father?” Rahab understood the word, but then he began to speak in a language she did not know. A moment later a man walked into view. Rahab peered at him from behind the boy and bit her lip.
He was tall and stern looking. Rahab waited, poised to run again if she had to. Father and son talked in the strange language, of which she could understand only a few words, then the man looked at her and said in fluent Canaanite, “Come in, little girl. I want to speak to you.”
Rahab cast an anxious glance up at her savior. He said softly, “It’s all right. No one here will hurt you. This is my father, a good man.”
Rahab knew she had to trust him, that she had no other choice, and she walked in the door.
It was a decent size room, with two sleeping mats rolled up in one of the corners. The rest of the furniture was simple wood stools and a large wooden chest that had some clothes neatly folded on top of it.
“What is your name, my child?” the man asked.
“Rahab.” Her voice came out as a tremor and she said it again, more clearly, “My name is Rahab.”
“A pretty name. And where are you from, Rahab?”
“I am from Ugaru, a village just outside of Jericho.”
“Tell me what happened to bring you from Jericho to Gaza.”
The story poured out of Rahab. She didn’t cry until she got to the part about them wanting to sell her to an Egyptian lord as a slave. “They said they would get a fortune for me. What kind of people would pay a fortune for me? I don’t sing or dance. I have no special talents. I think they must have been mad, those bandits. But they wouldn’t let me go! They were going to sell me to someone here in Gaza who would take me on a ship to Egypt.”
Over her head she saw the eyes of father and son meet. The man said, “Did they hurt you, Rahab?”
She sniffled. “Of course they hurt me! They hit me and tied my hands so I couldn’t escape. They are horrible, horrible people.”
The man looked for a long time into her eyes. Then he nodded, as if he was satisfied. “They wanted to sell a virgin. That would get them more money.”
Rahab shuddered.
The boy asked, “How did you get away?”
She told them about the tiny window and how she had managed to squeeze herself onto the roof and jump onto the ground. “I am skinny and I am a good jumper,” she finished proudly. “Even my brothers say I am a good jumper. I once jumped from the top of the stable into the muck pile. It was very far and I didn’t get hurt.”
“You are an intrepid girl, Rahab,” the man said and he smiled. He looked different when he smiled. “My name is Lord Nahshon, and this is my son, Sala. We are from Ramac.”
Rahab had never heard of Ramac, but she nodded as if she had.
“I am happy to know you,” she said politely, the way her mother had taught her.
Sala said, “We need to return Rahab to her parents, Father. They must be worried about her.”
Tears sprung into Rahab’s eyes. “Oh, please take me home. My mother will have been crying and crying, wondering what has happened to me.”
Lord Nahshon sighed. “I will find some way to get you back to your parents, I promise. You are a lucky girl that you got away from those men. Your future with them would have been bleak indeed.”
“I know,” she replied in a small voice.
“I will go now and ask the landlady to find a room for you. You need to rest. We will talk later.”
“Yes, sir. My lord, that is,” Rahab amended hastily. They had lords in Jericho, she knew, but she had never met any. She had lived all her life on her parents’ farm and had never been beyond their local village. But lords were important people, almost as important as the king himself.
“Stay with her while I go and find the landlady,” Lord Nahshon said to his son in Hebrew. “I had better speak to her myself. This is a respectable house and she will need to be reassured that the girl is not a prostitute.”
“Yes, Father.”
As soon as they were alone together, Rahab looked up at Sala. He was a very good-looking boy. His hair was black as night and worn shorter than the men of Jericho wore theirs. His nose was thin and elegantly curved and his dark brown eyes looked both warm and intelligent. He was quite tall, taller than her brother Shemu, but slender. She wondered how old he was but didn’t think it would be polite to ask.
“What language were you speaking?” she asked instead.
“Hebrew. We are Israelites, Rahab. There are many Israelites in Canaan, but most of them live in small towns in the Judean hills. My father and I live in Ramac, the only Israelite city on the Great Sea. We came to Gaza to buy a new ship for my father’s fleet. He is a merchant.”
“I do not know about Israelites,” Rahab said, careful to pronounce the word correctly. “Are you different from us?”
“Yes, we are different. We do not worship your gods, we worship one God only, the God who created the world.”
Rahab frowned. This sounded strange to her. “Is this god like our Baal?”
Sala’s lips tightened and for a moment he looked forbidding. “He is nothing like Baal, or any other of your gods. He is the one true God; your gods are just make-believe.”
Sala was making her nervous. It was not good luck to say bad things about the gods. Besides, she was sure it was the lady Asherah who had saved her from the bandits. But she did not want to argue with Sala—he was her savior after all. So Rahab smiled and asked a different question and they were still talking when Lord Nahshon came back into the room.