Noah (9 page)

She stood as he approached.

“Ham…” she murmured. She wanted to say more, but there were really no words left. He’d been a fine brother to her.

He smiled sadly at her. “For what it is worth, sister, I’m glad it begins again with you. Maybe we will learn to be kind.”

He murmured goodbye and then moved past her.

Ila watched him go, sadness filling her heart.

He had to leave, she knew that. He had to make his own way. He’d never forgive Noah for what had happened to his Na’el, and the bitterness was destroying him.

She glanced up at the seaside cliff again.

It was time
.

She finished washing the cup and then started up to the cliff.

* * *

Ila waited for him, sitting on a rock looking out at the sea. At last he emerged. To Ila’s surprise, his clothes and face were clean. For a moment they stared out at the sea together.

“Ham’s gone,” Ila told him.

Noah nodded. He seemed to know that already.

“Will he come back?” she asked.

Noah shrugged. “Some things cannot be unbroken.”

Ila drew in a breath. “I have to know,” she began. “Why did you spare them?”

Noah closed his eyes, looking pained. “I gazed down at those girls, and all I had in my heart was love.”

“Then why are you alone, Noah?” Ila demanded. “Why have you shut yourself off and done this to yourself? I can see that you are in anguish.”

“Because I failed Him,” Noah replied. “And I failed all of you.”

Ila shook her head. “
Did
you fail?” she asked. “I believe He chose you for a reason, Noah. He showed you the wickedness of man and knew you would not look away. But when you looked, you saw goodness too. The choice was put in your hands because He put it there. He asked you to decide if we
were worth saving. And you chose mercy. You chose love.”

Noah looked at her, surprised.

Ila took his hand and held it for a moment. Then she went back to the hearth, where Shem and her daughters waited.

* * *

More days passed. Each day Ila looked up at the cliffside, waiting.

Then one day, she took a bucket to collect some berries. Nearby, Naameh was chopping the dirt with a spade.

“I’m planting a new herb garden,” she said.

Soon they both heard footsteps. Ila looked up—it was Noah. He had come to join Naameh.

Naameh dropped down, kneeling in the dirt to pull out stones and other debris.

Silently, Noah dropped down beside her. Together they worked, picking the stones out of the family’s garden. Neither said a word. But Ila saw their fingers touch and then they embraced.

* * *

The wind blew as Ila gathered her family at the top of the mountain. Noah stood with them.

He looks older
, she realized. The years and events aboard the Ark had scarred him, just as they had scarred all of them. Something fierce and determined still lurked around his dark eyes. But something else was present there now too…

Warmth
, Ila decided.
Maybe even peace
.

She watched him look at each member of their family: Naameh, Japheth, Shem, his two granddaughters, and then Ila. When he was ready, he opened the satchel Ham had left in the cave, uncoiled the ancient snakeskin from its pouch and began the blessing.

“The Creator made Adam in his image and placed the world in his care. That birthright was passed down to us… to my father, Lamech. Then to me and my sons, Shem, Japheth, and… Ham.”

Noah slowly wrapped the holy talisman around his arm. Ila saw it shimmer and spread, just as Noah had described to Ila long ago.

He looked down again at the babies in her arms. “And that birthright is now passed to you, our grandchildren. This will be your work, and your responsibility.”

Ila watched as the sacred object undulated with a heavenly light. Noah reached out his hand and let the reptile skin tickle the babies’ foreheads.

Ila smiled, watching the babies, and then she smiled at Shem. Her arms too full of babies to reach for his hand, she stepped closer, letting her shoulder brush his.

“We are in another garden, a new Eden,” he murmured. And she nodded.

Although some things remain unchanged
, she thought. Once, long ago, Shem’s mother had promised that Shem would take her hand and he wouldn’t let it go. As he stood
beside her now, it seemed to Ila that he was still holding her hand, and always would be.

Noah’s next words seemed to echo from the top of the mountain. “So I say to you. Be fruitful and multiply, and replenish the world!”

Ila bowed her head in gratitude. Silently, she thanked the Creator for Shem and her daughters and the rest of her family gathered around her. For Ham, who might be making his way across new territory, where he’d find a new beginning. And for Noah and the choice he had made, the peace he had found.

Happiness washed over her.

The storm is finally over
, she thought. She could feel the proof of it in her heart. And when she looked up, she saw it above her too. A golden shimmering light filled the sky, forming an arc that suddenly blazed with brilliant colors.

A dazzling rainbow over the earth, and Ila knew it was the Creator’s blessing.

THE END

SUSAN KORMAN IS THE AUTHOR OF OVER THIRTY BOOKS
ranging from picture books and licensed works to YA novels. She has written tie-in novels for
Ice Age
,
Monsters Vs Aliens
,
Kung Fu Panda
,
Kicking and Screaming
and various
Transformers
movies. She has also written YA titles under her own name including
Overexposed
and
Bad Deal
(a 2012 ALA Quick Pick for Reluctant Readers).

susankorman.net