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Authors: Diana Wallis Taylor

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Mary Magdalene: A Novel (12 page)

BOOK: Mary Magdalene: A Novel
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24

N
athan ran his hands along the rail of the new boat, feeling its smoothness. This one was going to a young fisherman in Tiberias; it had been paid for by the father to set his son up in business. The father raised sheep and goats, but the boy loved the sea. As Nathan studied the structure of the boat, he remembered his own joy as he sailed out on the blue waters, even just to deliver a boat. He had once been an apprentice like Daniel, but now, thanks to Jared, he owned half of the business.

Deep in thought, Nathan was unaware of Amos until the young man was standing next to him, speaking his name. Amos had become a friend when they worked together, and even though Nathan was now half-owner and his employer, it had not affected their friendship. Amos was one who had sought news of the Teacher.

“You are miles away in your thoughts, my friend.”

Nathan turned and smiled. “That is true. What news do you have for me?” He was aware stories were running rampant through Magdala of the amazing rabbi who could merely touch sick people and they were healed. Never before had there been a leader so powerful that demon spirits fled before him. Neighbor whispered to neighbor of the lame healed and the blind eyes opened. Nathan had watched and listened, considering what would be his best opportunity to bring Mary to Jesus. Word came that Jesus was in Gennesaret, and Nathan wanted to see where the Teacher would go from there.

Amos shrugged. “He travels through much territory. I know this. He angers the scribes and Pharisees. They do not understand him. He breaks tradition. They follow him and condemn his actions, in spite of the miracles he does. The Teacher called them hypocrites, for they honor God with their lips but their hearts are far from him.”

“He has courage, I’ll say that.”

“Courage or he’s foolhardy. He is up against powerful leaders.”

“More powerful than the Most High?”

Amos was thoughtful. “True. If he is indeed the Messiah, they would be protesting against God.”

Nathan pulled on his beard and looked out again toward the sea. “Do you know where the Teacher is headed from Gennesaret?”

“My sources say he is moving in the direction of Tyre and Sidon.”

Nathan’s heart sank. That was far from Magdala.

Seeing the sadness on Nathan’s face, Amos clapped him on the shoulder. “His home is in Capernaum. Surely he will return there soon. Take heart, my friend. There will be the right time.”

“That is the hope I cling to, every day.”

The two men were silent, each with their own thoughts, and finally Nathan shook himself mentally. “We have work to do. The new load of pitch will be delivered this afternoon. Tell the men to prepare the buckets.”

Nathan watched Amos stride away. It was good to have a friend to count on who knew what he was seeking to do. He turned toward the stone building that served as the business center for the yard. Zerah had entered the boatyard a short time ago and gone in to talk to Beriah. Whatever Zerah was up to was usually not good.

As Nathan approached the building, he heard laughter. Was he hearing things? Zerah, laughing with his father? Puzzled, he entered and found his father smiling up at Zerah from the low table where the scrolls were laid out for accounting.

“Nathan, my son. Come and join us.”

He approached, frowning, his mind full of questions.

Zerah came forward. “We were discussing an encounter I had with a Roman soldier while you were gone.”

“You are lucky you escaped. They do not handle encounters with our people well.”

“Ah, this one was drunk.” Zered smiled broadly. “Fortunately, he was more drunk than I, but it caused me to think about some things. I have been too harsh with you. For a successful business, we must work together.”

Nathan stared at his partner, eyebrows raised.

“I am a changed man, Nathan. HaShem spared my life and there was no reason for him to do so. I was unworthy of his mercy.”

Did he see tears in the eyes of this man who had been so harsh and unfeeling? Zerah’s countenance was indeed changed, softened. In his heart Nathan realized the man was telling the truth.

“I am glad to hear that. I have need of your advice and there is work enough to benefit us both.”

Wine was poured all around and they drank to Zerah and the future.

Daniel burst into the yard running toward them and, spying Nathan, made straight for him. “Sir, I have news.”

The men crowded around him.

Nathan gave the boy a chance to catch his breath. “What is it, Daniel?”

“The Teacher. Remember when we saw him feed the crowd in Bethsaida?”

“Yes, over five thousand by my estimate.”

“He did it again. Some say there were more than four thousand this time, on the mountain near Capernaum.”

“Capernaum? He is heading this way?”

Daniel beamed. “HaShem has heard our prayers, sir. The Teacher crossed the Sea near here and has landed in our region.”

Here. Jesus was coming here. Nathan’s heart raced with excitement. “Then he will come to the city.” He pressed a coin into Daniel’s hand. “Go and let me know exactly where the Teacher is. Go quickly.”

Daniel grinned, nodded, and clutching the coin, raced off again.

Zerah had watched this all with his eyes wide and, when the boy was gone, turned to Nathan. “What is this the boy is talking about? The Teacher coming here? Do you mean the Jesus I’ve been hearing about?”

“Yes. He lays hands on the sick and they recover. He has even cast demons out of those afflicted—”

“And you are thinking of Mary?”

Nathan spread his hands. “What other hope do I have for her?”

“Then I will help you. She is my niece and I wish to see her well also. If Jesus comes to Magdala, I will do whatever I can to bring him to her.”

“Thank you, Zerah, your kind words mean a great deal to me at this time.”

Nathan returned home in high spirits and told Eliab of Daniel’s news. A slow smile spread on the dark, wrinkled face of their servant. “It is time then. I have felt it. I must be on my way to my home, but not yet. I will wait.”

“I understand, Eliab.” He stood for a moment, noticing there was silence from Mary’s room. “How is Mary?”

“She sleeps now, but do not let the silence fool you. If you enter the room, she will awake and try to attack you. The evil one gives her great strength.”

“But not for long, Eliab, not for long.”

Nathan went to see what Huldah had left for their evening meal. He hated eating alone, and since no one else was around, he convinced Eliab to join him. The servant was reluctant, even after so many years, but gingerly eased himself down at the table. When he saw how it lifted Nathan’s spirits, he relaxed and dipped his bread in the stew.

As Nathan ate, his mind turned and the two men discussed all the possibilities.

“There will be a way, young master. Your God will show you the way.”

Nathan looked at him and said earnestly, “If you saw the miracles he did, and listened to him speak, he would be your God too, Eliab.”

Eliab’s face was passive, but the dark eyes looking back at him held a fire. “The young mistress will be healed and then I will return home.”

Nathan laughed softly. “I could use your confidence, my friend.” Whatever happened, they would get Mary to Jesus if they had to carry her kicking and screaming. He sighed. That might just be what they had to do.

As if reading his thoughts, Eliab nodded. The two men finished their meal. There was nothing to do now but wait.

25

N
athan was aware of a low buzz of excitement stirring through the neighborhoods of Magdala. Word came to him that people were flocking out to the hills where this rabbi named Jesus was teaching. Pushing, shoving, hurrying to be the ones closest to see, they came for the excitement—to see the miracles Jesus performed. Like a sea of hungry children, they murmured among themselves and stretched their necks to watch what the Teacher would do next. Those who were closest passed the word to those behind as the sick were brought and healed. Samuel and Huldah went to hear Jesus and came back changed. They believed he was from God.

That evening, Zerah came to the house and he, Nathan, and Eliab discussed how they might get Mary through the crowds.

Mary’s uncle raised his eyebrows when Eliab slowly came to stand near them. Then with a shrug, he went on dipping his bread in the warm goat meat stew. He chewed thoughtfully as he listened to Nathan’s ideas. Eliab hung back, puzzled, his dark eyes upon the two men. Nathan motioned for him to join them.

“Eliab has been part of the family for many years. He is not a slave.” Nathan knew the old Zerah would have angrily objected. The new Zerah merely nodded and went on eating. Nathan raised his eyebrows at Eliab. In one fluid movement, Eliab sat down beside Nathan and reached for a chunk of warm bread, and for the first time in a long time, Nathan saw Eliab smile.

Nathan, almost too excited to eat, had an idea. He set his cup of wine down on the low table. “What if we put her in a cart?”

Zerah shook his head. “A thought, my friend, but not practical. She could easily climb out and be lost in the crowd. What if we tied a rope around her waist?”

Nathan snorted. “And lead her like a goat?”

Eliab listened to the various suggestions and finally spoke up. “If two were at her side, holding her arms, and I was behind her, could we not guide her to the Teacher?”

“Like a human wall around her?” Nathan nodded. “That might work, Eliab.”

Eliab gathered some grapes, cheese, and bread dipped in the stew from the table and put them on a platter. “She is hungry,” he said simply, and turned toward the house.

Nathan watched him go. “He has a way with her. She lets him in and has not attacked him.” He hung his head. “Such is not the same with me. Why?”

Zerah shook his head slowly. “It is the ones closest to us that the enemy would devastate. She loves you, but the enemy will not let you near her, and that is torture to her soul and to yours.”

He was right, and Nathan knew it, yet now there was hope. His heart burned with the expectancy that something was going to happen that could change their lives. He didn’t know when or how, but he clung to that hope with all his being.

“Stay the night, Zerah. The Teacher is close. Tomorrow is our best opportunity while the Teacher is as close as he will get to us.”

Zerah nodded. “I will stay. Let us both think on what we can do. HaShem will show us the way.”

Nathan settled his guest and then blew out the lamp in the courtyard. The small lamp in the main room of the house burned, giving off a dim glow. He checked the oil, noting there was enough. As he wearily lowered himself down on his bed, his mind turned. Slowly he moved onto his knees and, in the darkness, poured out his heart to the only One who could help him.

Mary listened to the footsteps on the stone stairs. It was Eliab. She had been sitting on the floor but crawled to her bed and now slowly got up. She had eaten little and her stomach let her know its craving for food. She longed for light, but lived in the darkness. They could not trust the forces that drove her. A lamp and fire would provide ways for her to harm herself.

She watched the door, cowering back. The bolt slid and it moved open. She waited. Eliab stepped carefully into the room, a platter of food in his hand.

“I have brought you your dinner, mistress. Come, partake and be strengthened.”

She eyed the door.

If you move quickly, you can escape!

You do not need food!

Just run!

He cannot catch you!

The voices cried at once in her head, urging her, petulant, demanding. Her eyes found Eliab’s and he watched her calmly.

“It is not time to go, mistress. But soon. You will be free soon.”

Free? She tilted her head and stared at him. “What is free, Eliab?” Large tears began to roll down her cheeks. “This room is my prison. My body is my prison. How can you say I will be free?”

“There is One nearby who can help you. You must conquer those who try to guide you, and let us bring you to him. Tomorrow.”

“One who can help me? No one can help me. No one.” She wrapped her arms around her body, swaying back and forth.

“His name is Jesus. He is a healer. He heals the sick and has made lame legs walk. He has driven out the forces of the evil one from those afflicted—”

Her eyes widened. “He has healed those like me?”

“Yes, mistress, but you must help us. You must not run away. You must let us bring you to him.”

Raucous laughter erupted in her head.

Do not listen to him.

He tells you lies.

No one can EVER free you from us.

She tried to ignore the voices. She was hungry and the food looked inviting. She grabbed the chunk of bread and began to devour it greedily, letting the sauce run unchecked down her chin. She kept her eyes on Eliab as if he would steal a morsel from her.

The sadness in his eyes moved her as nothing else would. She paused with the bread in her hand. “I would see this Teacher.”

He smiled broadly. “Tomorrow, mistress. Be ready.”

She eyed the doorway again and he followed her gaze. Shaking his head, he slipped through the door, moving even more quickly than she did. His swiftness in gauging her actions always surprised her.

After a moment she heard the bolt slide into place and she slumped against the door, desolation once again covering her with its shadow. She crawled slowly over to the platter on the floor and reached for the small bunch of grapes. Holding them in her hand, uneaten, she stared at the darkness outside her window a long time.

As dawn slowly colored the sky with its palette of pink and gold, Nathan rose and, stretching his arms, moved to the doorway to stare at the panorama before him. He was surprised he had slept so well. Usually the night hours found him prowling about the house or courtyard wrestling with his thoughts. A sense of expectancy filled him. What would the day hold? Success or failure? He only knew that if he didn’t try, life would go on as it had, and the thought of that made his heart heavy. If Mary wasn’t healed, would he find a place for her and take a second wife? He’d been without the comfort of a wife too long. He bowed his head and beseeched HaShem for a miracle.

Zerah joined him a few moments later, just as Huldah, who had been cooking for Nathan’s household, came with fresh bread and some fruit for their breakfast. Since being taken in by Huldah and Samuel, Keturah had stayed away. Considering the risk, Nathan decided not to tell Huldah what they had in mind for Mary that day.

Eliab came back to join the men and Huldah nodded to him. Nathan knew she had a soft spot for the huge man who had been so faithful to the family.

When Huldah returned to her home, Nathan and Eliab went up the stone steps to Mary’s room. Eliab lifted the bolt on the door and quietly opened it. Nathan caught his breath. The sight of his wife always jolted him. She was sprawled on her bed, asleep, her hair unkempt, her garments dirty and torn. No one had been able to help her bathe or get near enough to comb her hair in weeks. Today, though, instead of the feelings he’d considered earlier, his heart melted again with pity for her. The miracle he had prayed for wasn’t a change in Mary; it was a change in his heart, a renewal of tenderness for the woman he had loved so long.

Mary had paced her room by the hour, fighting the mind-bending headache that had come upon her during the early hours of the morning. Voices screamed in her head until she fell in a sobbing heap on the floor. Finally, crawling to her pallet, she fell into an exhausted sleep.

At the sound of the bar being lifted, her eyes flew open. She heard whispered voices. Was it Nathan? Or Eliab? When the door opened, she shrank back. She pretended to sleep. Maybe she could catch them unawares and escape. Then sensing something in the silence as they stood there, her eyes opened. It was Eliab and Nathan. They had something in their minds. She could see it in their faces. What were they going to do? Was Nathan taking her somewhere? Yes, the day had come.
He is getting rid of you, a useless wife. He is putting you away.

Then the voices were silent. She watched Nathan’s face, frightened. “Why have you come?”

To her surprise, the look she received from her husband was one of tenderness. “We want you to meet someone, Mary. We want you to come with us.”

They were taking her to meet someone. A new caretaker? Certainly he was getting rid of her at last?

Resigned, she looked down at the floor and barely nodded her head.

As the two men came on either side of her, Mary was aware of the odor that came from her clothes and person, but it didn’t matter. Nothing mattered anymore. She looked from one to the other fearfully. Where were they taking her?

The two men had a firm grip on her arms as they led her out of the room and down the steps to the courtyard. Zerah watched them and then came forward.

“My dear niece, it is good to see you again.” He smiled at her, but Mary could only stare at him listlessly.

Zerah took the arm Eliab held and Eliab stepped back to walk closely behind them. As they made their way through the streets, Nathan glanced warily at her from time to time, and his anxiety only reinforced the idea in her mind that he was taking her somewhere to get rid of her.

Self-pity whispered in her mind.
You are not worthy to be his wife anymore. He will find someone young and beautiful to take your place.

As they passed people in their neighborhood, many stopped and stared at her and whispered to each other.

“It’s Mad Mary. What are they doing with her?”

“Watch the children, that crazy woman is about.”

“Is that Jared’s daughter, Mary, the same woman we have known? She looks like a witch.”

The hurtful words echoed in her mind, cutting into her heart. No one cared. She was the local madwoman. Wherever Nathan was taking her, it didn’t matter anymore. With head bowed, she kept walking with her husband and Zerah holding tight to her arms.

At the edge of town, the voices began screaming in her head and she could stand it no longer. A large crowd of people were gathered ahead of them. She could flee from Nathan and his plans for her and lose herself in the crowd.

Get away!

Get away!

RUN!

With almost superhuman strength, Mary broke away from Nathan and her uncle and ran for her life, blindly plunging into the crowd of people who parted hastily to get away from her. She knew the three men were right behind her, but she would not let them catch her. She laughed, wild with freedom, and darted through the crowd, until suddenly she was stopped by a man standing in her path.

BOOK: Mary Magdalene: A Novel
12.48Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
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