about it, and I didn't want to say anything with Little Salome there. My feelings grew darker and darker and the fear was there, very near.
We were moving fast it seemed to me, down and down through the mountains, and the plain was spread out and beautiful in the sunlight with palm trees everywhere, even though smoke was still pouring up from the burnt places, and there were many houses on all sides. It wasn't hard to see that people everywhere were going on with what they had to do as if the bandits had never come.
Bands of pilgrims passed us, some singing, and some were on horseback, and they had cheerful greetings for us.
We drew near villages where children were playing, and we could smell the cooking food.
"You see," said my mother, as if she knew my thoughts, "it will be this way all the way to Nazareth. These robbers, they come and they go, but we are who we are." She smiled at me and it seemed I'd never be afraid again.
"Do they really fight for the freedom of the Holy Land?" Little Salome asked. She was looking to the men now for an answer, as we were somewhat drawn together.
Cleopas laughed at the question. He rubbed her head.
"Little daughter, if men want to fight, they find a reason," he said. "Men have been fighting for the freedom of the Holy Land by raiding the villages whenever they want to for hundreds of years."
Joseph merely shook his head.
Alphaeus reached out to gather Little Salome up to him.
"You don't worry," he said. "Once it was Cyrus the King who watched over us, now it's Augustus Caesar. We don't care, because the Lord in Heaven is the only King we know in our hearts, and what man thinks he is King here on Earth, we don't care."
"But David was King of Israel," I said. "David was King, and Solomon after him. And King Josiah, he was a great King of Israel. We've known this for as long as we've known anything. And we're the House of David, and the Lord said to David, 'I will make you reign over Israel forever.' Isn't that so?"
"Forever ..." Alphaeus said. "But who is to judge the ways of the Lord? The Lord will keep his promise to David in the Lord's way."
He looked away as he spoke. We were in the valley now. The crowd of those coming out of the mountains was large. We pressed together. "Forever . . . what is forever in the mind of the Lord?" he said. "A thousand years is nothing but a moment to the Lord."
"A King will come?" I asked.
Joseph turned and looked at me.
"The Lord keeps his promises to Israel," said Alphaeus, "but how and when and in what way we don't know."
"Do angels come only in Israel?" Little Salome asked.
"No," said Joseph. "They come anywhere and everywhere and whenever they want."
"Why did we have to go to Egypt?" asked Little Salome. 'Why did King Herod's men—."
"This is no time to tell you," said Joseph.
My mother spoke up. "There will come a time, a time to tell you everything slowly so that you understand. But now is not that time."
I knew they would say this, or words like it. But there had been a chance, and I was glad that Little Salome had spoken up. I didn't know where my older cousins, Silas and Justus, had gone, or any of the others, or what they thought of what Elizabeth had said. Maybe those older boys knew things, surely they knew things. Maybe Silas knew.
I dropped back slowly in the press of the family, until I was walking close to my uncle Cleopas on the donkey.
Cleopas had heard us talking, I was sure of it. Had anyone made me promise not to ask him questions? I didn't think so.
"I pray I live to tell you things," said Cleopas.
But no sooner had he spoken these words, than Joseph stepped back beside him, and began to walk with us and he said quickly:
"I pray you live to let me tell my child what I will." He was gentle but he meant it. "Enough questions. Enough talk of the bad things of long ago. We're out of Jerusalem. We're away from the troubles. We have good daylight and we can go far before making our camps."
"I wanted to go into
We were moving fast it seemed to me, down and down through the mountains, and the plain was spread out and beautiful in the sunlight with palm trees everywhere, even though smoke was still pouring up from the burnt places, and there were many houses on all sides. It wasn't hard to see that people everywhere were going on with what they had to do as if the bandits had never come.
Bands of pilgrims passed us, some singing, and some were on horseback, and they had cheerful greetings for us.
We drew near villages where children were playing, and we could smell the cooking food.
"You see," said my mother, as if she knew my thoughts, "it will be this way all the way to Nazareth. These robbers, they come and they go, but we are who we are." She smiled at me and it seemed I'd never be afraid again.
"Do they really fight for the freedom of the Holy Land?" Little Salome asked. She was looking to the men now for an answer, as we were somewhat drawn together.
Cleopas laughed at the question. He rubbed her head.
"Little daughter, if men want to fight, they find a reason," he said. "Men have been fighting for the freedom of the Holy Land by raiding the villages whenever they want to for hundreds of years."
Joseph merely shook his head.
Alphaeus reached out to gather Little Salome up to him.
"You don't worry," he said. "Once it was Cyrus the King who watched over us, now it's Augustus Caesar. We don't care, because the Lord in Heaven is the only King we know in our hearts, and what man thinks he is King here on Earth, we don't care."
"But David was King of Israel," I said. "David was King, and Solomon after him. And King Josiah, he was a great King of Israel. We've known this for as long as we've known anything. And we're the House of David, and the Lord said to David, 'I will make you reign over Israel forever.' Isn't that so?"
"Forever ..." Alphaeus said. "But who is to judge the ways of the Lord? The Lord will keep his promise to David in the Lord's way."
He looked away as he spoke. We were in the valley now. The crowd of those coming out of the mountains was large. We pressed together. "Forever . . . what is forever in the mind of the Lord?" he said. "A thousand years is nothing but a moment to the Lord."
"A King will come?" I asked.
Joseph turned and looked at me.
"The Lord keeps his promises to Israel," said Alphaeus, "but how and when and in what way we don't know."
"Do angels come only in Israel?" Little Salome asked.
"No," said Joseph. "They come anywhere and everywhere and whenever they want."
"Why did we have to go to Egypt?" asked Little Salome. 'Why did King Herod's men—."
"This is no time to tell you," said Joseph.
My mother spoke up. "There will come a time, a time to tell you everything slowly so that you understand. But now is not that time."
I knew they would say this, or words like it. But there had been a chance, and I was glad that Little Salome had spoken up. I didn't know where my older cousins, Silas and Justus, had gone, or any of the others, or what they thought of what Elizabeth had said. Maybe those older boys knew things, surely they knew things. Maybe Silas knew.
I dropped back slowly in the press of the family, until I was walking close to my uncle Cleopas on the donkey.
Cleopas had heard us talking, I was sure of it. Had anyone made me promise not to ask him questions? I didn't think so.
"I pray I live to tell you things," said Cleopas.
But no sooner had he spoken these words, than Joseph stepped back beside him, and began to walk with us and he said quickly:
"I pray you live to let me tell my child what I will." He was gentle but he meant it. "Enough questions. Enough talk of the bad things of long ago. We're out of Jerusalem. We're away from the troubles. We have good daylight and we can go far before making our camps."
"I wanted to go into
Similar Books
