Seventh Dimension - The King - Book 2, A Young Adult Fantasy (9 page)

“This?”

“No, the one to the left of that one.”

Why had I
volunteered to help? I grabbed the one with four horns and carried
it over to him. Judd put the saddle on the animal’s
back.

“What about the stirrups?”

Judd scrunched his nose. “Stirrups?”

“Yeah, for the feet.”

“Never heard of that,” Judd said.

“Oh.” Maybe they didn’t use stirrups in first
century Palestine. I couldn’t imagine riding a horse without
stirrups.

Soon Judd had the horse ready. I attempted some
small talk. “How long have you been working here?”

Judd laughed.
“Our families go back generations. We are probably
related.”

“That’s interesting.”

“Lots of history you don’t want to know,” he added.
“Don’t be nosy.”

I threw up my hands. “Just making conversation.”
Family secrets he didn’t want to share—at least not with me.

Judd added, “Whatever you do in this cave, don’t
mess with Assassin.”

“Assassin?” I repeated.

“My donkey.” He
pointed to a large red-haired brute.

The animal
appeared so mean-tempered I didn’t know why he thought I would want
to touch his animal anyway.

A few hours
after Brutus left, things went awry. I heard Nathan’s cries and ran
up to his room. The timing was unfortunate because Mari was usually
around to help, but she had taken the day off to visit a
friend.

When I entered,
I saw Scylla slapping Nathan’s face. “Stop it, you stupid child,”
she screamed at him.

I rushed over to intervene. “Don’t slap him,” I
said. “Let me help.”

She stepped
back, surprised at my sudden appearance. I’d heard his cries before
they were audible. No one knew about my special gift. I had caught
her doing something that Brutus would never approve of. How often
had she done that?
I wrapped my arms around the young
lad.

“Nathan, I’m here.” His pain could not be
spoken. Now I could be his voice. I gave him hope.

Scylla walked
towards the door. “Thank you for coming. Things are not as they
appear.” She slammed the door behind her.

When would
things ever be as they appear? I rocked Nathan to soothe his cries.
The boy probably had reason to be frightened when his father
left.

I took Nathan
outside and we spent the afternoon in the pasture with the sheep.
Perhaps being around the timid animals would do him good. Soon he
forgot about the incident as his thoughts went elsewhere,
particularly when we came across a snake. He pointed at it
excitedly and I could hear him say through mental telepathy, “It’s
not poisonous.”

‘How do you know?” I asked.

“I know all the
snakes around here,” he said through unspoken words.

I was
impressed. I didn’t know much about snakes, except for the
Palestinian viper, the most common poisonous one,
and I didn’t know if it was around in the first
century.
I suppose when you can’t speak, you find ways to
occupy your time, especially when you feel isolated and alone.

I
noticed Judd watching
from a
distance, as if
noting
everything I did. I shook off the distraction and became
preoccupied with Nathan. Our laughter lifted his dampened spirits.
Perhaps someday a miracle might loosen his tongue.

Five months later

Brutus’s trips
had become more frequent because of unrest in the country.
Yochanan the Immerser
had stirred things up, though I
hadn’t heard word of his beheading. I had even heard Yeshua
mentioned in passing on the streets. I knew the firestorm that was
about to be unleashed.

I sighed. I couldn’t have been brought to a more
controversial place than Galilee in the first century. If God
existed, and I believed he did, why did he bring me here? I was a
non-practicing Jew who wanted nothing to do with Yeshua of
Nazareth. Why hadn’t God found a Christian to bring here? Why
me?

The days turned
into weeks. I had not been back to Dothan but fondly remembered Dr.
Luke, thankful he had found me this job. Brutus paid well and my
money was growing. I kept it hidden in my room.

One afternoon I
was repairing the leg of a chair in the dining area. I considered
taking it to the local carpenter, but I didn’t think the chair was
fancy enough to warrant the expense.

Brutus was
somewhere else and Mari had gone into town. Nathan was taking a
nap. The house was quiet. I was on my knees finishing up when what
I perceived to be fingers caressed my neck. I reached behind me and
felt a hand.

I stood and turned to face her. Scylla’s eyes were
drunk with wine. She threw herself at me.

“No,” I said.

I tried to extricate myself from her embrace.

Scylla
persisted, running her fingers through my hair. “Oh, Daniel, my
love—the signs in the heavens are there, like when Brutus came to
me to read his future.”

I looked away
so she couldn’t kiss me. “What signs?”

She burned with
unbridled passion. “I have powers you don’t know about.”

I fell
backwards tripping over the chair that I had just fixed. The noise
echoed in the room, loud enough to wake Nathan.

When I stood
and tried to escape, she trapped me against the wall. She whispered
into my ear. “How do you think I got Brutus to marry
me?”

“I—I don’t know.”

Suddenly she
clawed my neck and cried out in a haunting voice. I writhed as she
ran back into her private quarters. When I touched the open wound,
blood tinged my fingers. I looked up and saw Judd standing in the
doorway. A knowing smirk covered his face.

“It’s not what
you think,” I said.

“I can keep
secrets.” He rolled his eyes and walked away.

Did he believe I had attacked her? What if she made
false accusations to her husband? She had a witness who wouldn’t
mind ruining me. I stared at the broken chair. I should have taken
it to the carpenter.

I was always
thankful when Brutus came home as his good-natured humor lifted
everyone’s spirits. He had a proclivity for speaking in multiple
languages at once, and would wink when we gave him a blank stare.
This time he returned more excited than usual and sought us out
individually.

“I have a big announcement to make,” he said several
times during the day. “Join me tonight at dinner. We’ll celebrate
with a big pot of red meat and vegetables.”

I spent the day pondering what the big announcement
might be.

The aroma of salt, onions, garlic, and cumin soon
filled the house. At last, when mealtime came, we were all seated,
waiting to hear the big news.

Brutus asked me
to say a blessing and I spoke a Hebrew prayer.

“Let everyone
get their food first,” Brutus said.

We took turns as each person took a plate full. Red
meat for dinner was a rarity.

At last, Brutus
raised his wine glass. “Let’s toast.”

We all held up
our glasses.

He smiled and made eye contact with each of us
before the big announcement. “Shale, my daughter, is coming for a
visit.”

I didn’t know he had a daughter. Who else knew?

Scylla’s smile
left her face but returned before anyone else noticed.

Judd showed no emotion, but his lack of joy seemed
strange. He set down his drink and stared at his plate.

Nathan sat up straighter and his eyes bulged.

Mari took a sip of the wine.

Scylla spoke first. “When? You should have told me
earlier. We need to prepare her room, make everything ready.”

“We have two
days,” Brutus said.

“So you talked with her mother?” Scylla asked.

Brutus wiped
his mouth, set down his napkin, and leaned back in his chair. “Her
mother asked if she could come. She’s fourteen now, a young woman.”
Brutus lifted his eyebrow and glanced at Judd.

What did Judd
have to do with this? I couldn’t read minds well enough to know
specific details except with Nathan. I could only read
feelings.

The room was quiet.

Judd had eaten only half his food. “May I be
excused?” he asked.

His request was ignored.

Mari seemed
oblivious to Judd’s sudden lack of appetite. “I look forward to
meeting her. We’ll do everything we can to make her stay
comfortable. Do you know her preferences for food?”

Brutus puckered
his lips. “I haven’t seen her since she was a baby.”

I wanted to
keep the conversation going. “This must be a big event for you to
meet her.”

“Yes. I’m very excited.”

“Let me know if I can do anything to help.”

“Thank you, Daniel. Make sure Nathan is on his good
behavior. You know, I never told him he had a sister. I should
have.”

Nathan smiled broadly.

I glanced at Nathan. “I have a feeling this will be
good for him, to meet his sibling.”

After dinner, I
plodded to my room thinking about Brutus’s daughter. What did she
look like? What prompted her visit? How long would she
stay?

The next day I
helped Judd with cleaning the stalls and the cave. Scylla said
Shale would be coming on a donkey that belonged to the family.
Brutus had loaned the donkey to a friend a few months earlier.
Brutus had asked the man to send the donkey ahead to fetch
her.

Judd was glad for my help, though his aloofness
bothered me.

I enjoyed being around the animals almost as much as
I liked being with Nathan, but I left Judd’s prize donkey,
Assassin, alone.

The day before
Shale’s arrival, we received another strange visitor. A small brown
and white dog arrived on the back portico. She walked around the
outside of the house, sniffing in the corners and checking out the
new herb garden I’d planted. I shooed her away before she destroyed
the plants.

She ran over to
the gate and started digging. A little mound of dirt gathered
behind her legs and she stuck her nose in the hole. The four-legged
animal emerged with a large bone. I laughed. When had she buried
that thing?

After digging out the bone, she brought it to me and
laid it at my feet. I knelt down and scratched her behind the ear.
She barked and ran over to the entrance to the cave.

When Judd came
out, she scurried inside.

“Do you know
that dog?” I asked. I was concerned about what havoc she might
cause and followed her into the cave.

“Much-Afraid,
did she come back?”

I pointed to
where she had left her bone. “Yeah, I guess. I mean, she just
arrived and dug up her bone.”

I added, “What
a strange name for a dog.”

Judd shrugged.
“Much-Afraid ran away after Brutus loaned his friend the donkey. I
heard she showed up at the friend’s farm and stayed. Now that
Baruch is coming back, I guess she decided to return.”

Judd stepped
back inside the cave and walked over to the water bin to wash his
hands. His sudden obsession with hand washing seemed odd. He had
also taken to mumbling.

What did you say?” I asked.

His eyes darted back and forth. “Nothing
important.”

Whatever was
bothering him, he didn’t want to talk about it. I wandered outside
and retrieved Much-Afraid’s bone and then went back inside the
cave. I’d give it to her later.

The dog
appeared to visit all the animals but hung around one pig in
particular. The canine dug herself a bed in the cool dirt beside
the stall. As the dog crouched in front of the pig’s gate, the
squealing hog lumbered over to the entrance. If I didn’t know any
better, I’d say they were old friends getting
reacquainted.

Her resemblance to the dog that followed me around
in the old city of Jerusalem was remarkable. Was it a
coincidence?

That evening I
lay in the grassy field staring up at the beet red sky. I had been
here five months, but it didn’t feel as if so much time had
passed.

Much-Afraid
approached, wagging her tail. She licked my hand and curled up
beside me. I remembered her bone and pulled it out of my bag. She
chewed contentedly as I scratched her head.

My thoughts returned to Brutus’s daughter. I liked
the sound of the name, Shale, but I had a feeling someone else did
too—even if he refused to talk about it.

Evening turned
into night. What secrets hid among the stars? The wings of light
covered the blackness creating unbelievable beauty. I sighed. How
could I admire God’s handiwork and still refuse to worship
him?

I relented. “I
know you are the God of Isaac, Jacob and Abraham, but when are you
going to be mindful of me?” Clouds covered the moon creating
make-believe shadows.

Did God make
deals with man? I didn’t know. I wanted to believe he still
cared.

The next
morning I rose early and finished my chores. Homeschooling Nathan
took up a good portion of the day. I’d read to him in Greek and
Latin. The chance to expand his mind would help him in other ways
even if he never said a word, and I enjoyed the chance to hone my
Greek skills.