Till Shiloh Comes (23 page)

Joseph was taken to his spacious new quarters, introduced to his servants, and showered with gold necklaces, armbands, and vases. It took two slaves to gather all the treasures that Pharaoh heaped upon him.

Pharaoh could not do enough for his new favorite official, his second-in-command. He gave orders for the construction of an eternal dwelling place and conferred on him many exalted names: Great Provider, Friend of the Harvest of God, Nourisher of Egypt, Chief Mouthpiece, Prince of Mediation, and Good Shepherd of the People. There had not been such a thing before in the history of Egypt, and the people reveled in it as they will over any new thing.

Joseph kept a calm presence amid all of this, and that was one of his many charms. Most men would be puffed up with pride by such an elevation to power, but this did not happen, and it endeared him even more to the people. As soon as Joseph could persuade Pharaoh to cease having celebrations in his honor and giving him new names, he set about doing the job Pharaoh had assigned him. He became a great lord at court and in the entire country. All other favorites were demoted, and only Joseph's presence could make the king happy. Joseph never overstepped the bounds of his authority, but he promptly set in motion the plans necessary to save Egypt from starvation.

His first task was to undertake a journey of inspection throughout the country. He gathered a staff of young men who were brilliant and capable but had not been permitted to rise in government because of the older men who were firmly established in the positions of power. He quickly attained a thorough knowledge of the land and the laws concerning property. He discovered that, although theoretically everything belonged to Pharaoh, the actual estates of Pharaoh were not quite so spacious. The land was mostly divided up among small farmers and large landowners, all of whom paid taxes to Pharaoh but who owned the land themselves.

After his tour, Joseph established his staff in a large building and at once proclaimed the new law of the land. Without respect to persons, it fixed the produce tax at one-fifth, to be delivered to the royal storehouses at harvest. He gave orders for the construction of many new storehouses to hold one-fifth of the harvest of the land for the next seven years. A traveler in Egypt after this time would never be far from the sight of a cone-shaped corn bin, many of them standing in close rows or grouped in squares around a courtyard. They opened on top to receive the corn and had stout doors below to empty it out.

Joseph set all the machinery in motion to manage this new system of taxation. From the first day of Joseph's administration, the reins were tightened on the one hand and loosened on the other. It was a masterful stroke that put the emphasis of government on collecting the corn rent while looking leniently on other debts. Thus Joseph managed to achieve the goodwill of the nobles as well as of the common people of Egypt—and most of all of Pharaoh.

****

Ever since she had bowed low to Joseph in the outer throne room, Asenath had lived in a constant state of agitation. She, like all others in the land, was fascinated by the elevation of an ex-slave to the position of second in the land. She had followed his career with an intensity she had never given to any political situation, and she was shocked and amazed, yet pleased, at how rapidly Joseph took over the reins of government.

At the same time she was troubled by the situation. It was not Joseph's political prowess that bothered her, however. Instead she was caught up in a deep inner struggle. At Joseph's coronation, she had been shocked by the splendor and beauty of the man. She had always been aware of his intensely masculine good looks, but in his royal attire, he appeared to be a different individual altogether. She went over and over in her mind her first memories of him—how she had seen him garbed in a slave's apron, his back bruised and bleeding from the beating Ufa had given him. Every time she thought of it, her face burned, for although she had been only a girl at the time, she was ashamed of her behavior toward a helpless slave. She remembered clearly every encounter she'd had with him since then, and she began to see herself as far less admirable than Joseph. He had never shown her anything but quiet humility, while she herself had acted like a spiteful child.

Another thing was very obvious. Her father was badly shaken by the political changes signaled by Joseph's rise. She had been aware of this long before he came to her and spoke in a nervous, high-pitched voice with hands not quite steady.

“There's never been anything like it in all of Egypt!” Potiphera paced the floor for some time before speaking of his own position. “The pharaoh is so easily swayed. He may decide to close all the temples of all the gods.”

“He won't do that, Father,” Asenath assured him. “He knows there would be a revolution.”

“Who knows what that child will do? For that's exactly what Pharaoh is—a child. And this man Joseph has his ear.” He turned to her with a look of panic. “Why, I might be thrown out. We would lose everything!”

Asenath put her hand on his arm. She was fond of her father, yet they had never been very close. “It will be all right.”

“You've met the man. You told me about him years ago when he was a slave in Potiphar's house.”

“Yes, that's true.”

“Well, what did he appear to be then? Did he seem like a man who could rise to such a position?”

“He was only a slave.”

“Did you ever speak to him? Did you hear him say anything?”

Asenath was not anxious to repeat to her father the account of her first meeting with the Joseph who was now the “Provider of All Egypt.” Her cheeks reddened, and she said, “He was only a slave, Father.”

“But we saw him later when he was sent to prison. You remember that day?”

“Of course I remember it.”

“And we condemned him strongly for his crime, did we not? He'll remember our part in that, Asenath. We're in grave danger.”

“If he had any plans to seek vengeance against us, he would have done so already.”

“Not necessarily. He may be waiting to expose us publicly. He's been busy with all these new programs, but you wait and see. We'll pay for the way we treated him!”

Asenath shook her head. “There's no point in worrying about what may never happen. I'm going over to see Kesi.”

“And there's another one that's probably going to feel the wrath of the Great Provider. After all, there was gossip around that Joseph was not guilty of the crime he was accused of. I've heard rumors that it was Kesi herself who tried to seduce him and he refused.”

“Where did you hear such a thing?”

“I have my spies out. Servants always talk.”

“It's foolishness, and I wish you wouldn't speak of it again! I'm going now.”

Leaving the room at once, she made her way toward Potiphar's house. “It
can't
be true! People always tell lies,” she muttered as the bearers swiftly carried her litter along the roadway. “But I need to find out if there's anything to it. Kesi can be such a foolish woman. She might have done anything.”

****

“Well, your days are numbered, Ufa.”

Ufa was pale and unsteady, as he had been since Joseph's elevation to second in the land. “Please don't say that, master,” he whimpered. “It wasn't my fault.”

Potiphar, who had been sitting alone in the room where he liked to read, put his papyrus scroll down and stared at Ufa. He shook his head but could feel no pity for the man. “You were the one who had Joseph beaten.”

“But Lady Kesi commanded it.”

Potiphar had thought of that and had no answer, but he kept his bright eyes fixed on Ufa. “I would say that when Joseph has time to think of it, he will go through his past and pull out all of us that have hurt him. And, of course, I'll be one of them just as you are.”

“You … you mustn't talk like that, sir! He was always a kind man, as you well know. All the servants loved him.”

Potiphar grinned wolfishly. “All except
you,
” he said with a rather fierce delight. “You were cruel to him from the time he arrived as a poor, skinny Hebrew slave. He's an intelligent man and has an excellent memory. I think he's letting us simmer a bit in our own juices. You'd better enjoy yourself, Ufa. That's what I intend to do.” He picked up a glass of wine and sipped it, then looked up and said, “Now, be off with you. I might suggest that you run away. Very far away. Maybe you can find a place to hide. Just leave me alone.”

Ufa scurried away, and even as he did, he encountered one of the servants, who told him, “Asenath is here. She wants to see the mistress.”

“Well, take her to her, then.”

The servant escorted Asenath to Kesi's room. Kesi was crouched in a chair, but when she saw Asenath, she jumped up and ran to her. Her eyes were swollen with weeping, and she threw her arms around her as if she were her mother. “Oh, Asenath … Asenath, you've got to help me!”

“Now, now, don't cry. What's the matter?” Although Kesi was several years older than Asenath, the two had changed positions socially and emotionally some time ago. It was now Kesi who was the child and Asenath the mother figure. “Come and sit down,” she said. “Tell me what's wrong.”

“You know what's wrong,” Kesi sobbed. “It's Joseph. He's going to kill me! I know he will!”

“Don't be foolish. He'll do no such thing.”

“Potiphar says he will. He'll have us all killed, everybody in the house.”

Asenath saw that calming Kesi down was going to take more time than she thought. Privately she was not certain that Kesi's fears were unfounded. As she listened she became even more convinced of this.

Finally her sobbing friend said, “Joseph didn't try to rape me.
I
was the one who tried to seduce him.”

“Oh, Kesi, is that the truth?”

“Would I lie about such a thing? I wanted him so badly! I thought I loved him. I just couldn't help myself, Asenath. I couldn't help myself!”

For the rest of the morning and on until the afternoon, Asenath stayed with Kesi. She gave her an herbal concoction, furnished by Masud, to help her sleep. While Kesi slept, Asenath thought of speaking to Potiphar but decided there was no point in that. She did hunt up Masud again and found that he was the calmest one in the house. “Masud, aren't you afraid of Joseph's wrath?” she asked curiously.

“No, I'm not. I treated him well. All of the servants loved him, except Ufa.”

“Your mistress is terribly afraid.”

“So is Potiphar, although he tries not to show it.” Masud shrugged. “I think they have reason to be fearful.”

“But Joseph doesn't seem like a cruel man.”

“That's the old Joseph—Joseph the slave, Joseph the prisoner. What would you do, my lady, if you had been whipped unmercifully and thrown into prison and forced to do odious tasks? How would you feel toward those who did such things to you?”

Since Asenath had done some of those things to Joseph herself, she did not care to answer and merely shook her head. “I'm worried about the mistress.”

“I think you should be. Joseph will come, and justice will be done.”

****

Justice did come the next day in the form of the Great Provider of Egypt—Joseph himself. Asenath had stayed all night to try to keep Kesi's nerves settled, but during the morning of the next day, she heard a frightened shout and went to the front vestibule. She stayed out of sight while she watched Masud answer the door; then she ran to Kesi's room.

When Kesi saw her face, she sat up and asked, “What is it, Asenath?”

“We have a visitor.”

“A visitor! Who is it?”

“It's Joseph.”

Kesi let out a loud, piercing scream and fell backward onto her couch, covering her face. “He's come to kill me! I know it!”

“I don't think so. Come. We must wash your face.”

“I can't go to meet him!”

“You must. He's the royal representative of the pharaoh. We must all go meet him and bow down low. You know that, Kesi. Now, come on.”

Asenath managed to get Kesi presentable and took her to the largest room of the house, where Potiphar was standing flanked by servants on all sides. He was pale, but his face was calm. “I was about to send for you, my lady,” he said to Kesi.

“Husband, save me! Don't let him kill me!”

“I have no power in this case, as you well know.”

Asenath took one glimpse around and saw that the servants were not nervous, except Ufa, who was gray with fear, and his knees were clearly trembling. She had not time to look at him for more than a moment when the outer doors opened, and two royal guards stepped inside, then took their places beside the doors. Joseph entered grandly, and as he did so, Asenath could not help thinking,
He may kill us all, but he's a fine-looking executioner!

Indeed Joseph was looking strong and healthy. His journeys throughout the land had brightened his cheeks and his eyes. His hair was black and sleek, and the muscles of his arms and chest were exposed by the short-sleeved garment he wore. The gold necklace around his neck flashed, as did the gold rings on his muscular arms.

“Welcome to my house.” Potiphar fell onto his face, as did everyone else in the room.

As Asenath touched her face to the floor, she heard Joseph's strong baritone voice saying, “Rise, please, all of you.” She got to her feet at once and saw that Joseph was looking around the room. His eyes touched on the servants and then on her, where they paused for a moment. He bowed slightly and smiled. “Mistress Asenath.”

“Great Provider,” she managed to whisper, for her heart was pounding.

Joseph turned to face Potiphar, but before he could speak, Potiphar said, “I know you are here to take your revenge, master. I only ask that you spare my wife. Do with me as you will.”