Chapter 2
The Lion and the Lamb ~ continued from Chapter 2 | We Can Fly
The Lion
A few days later Nitzevet cradled David in the late afternoon shadow of an olive tree. She gently anointed his forehead with rose oil and whispered of her mother’s love through the rolling hill country of Hebron.
“I am The Mystical Rose, the light of the burning bush that burns brighter than the sun. The light of The Rose will guide thee and the path of The Rose will lead you from east to west and beyond.”
The boy squirmed out of his mother’s grasp while rubbing at the oil and ran toward the hunting party emerging from the dark orchards.
David’s father, Jesse, approached first, drinking from his wineskin with a wolf carcass hanging over his broad shoulders.
“You did well today, Shimea.” He slapped the boy on the back. “You are a hunter now.”
Nathaniel and Abeem, trailing their brother closely, laughed as he tripped over a branch.
“Yes, he can hunt but he can’t walk,” Abeem smirked, his head high and his brown eyes glistening with pride.
“We need to hunt the lion before the rains set in,” Jesse said as he looked out over the hillside where the last sliver of light was beating back the shadows.
David ran to the hunting party and gazed up at the tall boys. He took a slingshot from the pocket of his gray tunic and aimed it menacingly at the brothers.
“I can hunt too,” he cried.
The brothers walked on.
“I can hunt too!” David said loudly. He kicked an older brother in the shins.
Abinadab pushed the boy away and continued down the orchard trail while Jesse and Shimea walked the path in tandem, drinking from the flask and laughing to themselves.
“The lion,” Jesse said. “We should go back tomorrow and kill it.” He rubbed his hands in the November rain.
“Be back by sundown,” Nitzevet reminded him a little later.
She placed a jug of wine upon the family table, a rough-hewn, wooden gathering place that sat outside their home.
“I thought I heard a growl from the hillside,” Abinadab commented.
“I’ll kill it with my sling,” David yelled. He aimed at a tree branch and let fly his stone. With perfect aim the branch fell to the ground.
“We need to harvest before the rains come,” Nitzevet said to Jesse.
“Yes, yes, we will,” he said hurriedly. “But we need to catch that lion first. He will attack the sheep and then run for the hills.”
“It’s dangerous,” she said.
“I have Shimea the great hunter to protect me now,” Jesse laughed as his son gulped his food ravenously and glanced up.
The brothers laughed at this and slapped the boy on his back.
“We go tomorrow then?” Ellab asked. “We should take the dogs too.”
“Yes, up around the hillside near the limestone ridge.” Jesse’s eyes glowed in the growing dark. “I saw his eyes watching us.”
“I will kill it,” David whispered.
Jesse looked down at the scrawny boy and saw an eerie determination etched in his angelic features.
“I don’t know what you will do.” He turned away toward his wine.
“Kill lions.”
Shimea gave a short, brazen laugh before biting on his chicken bone.
Nitzevet gazed at her husband imploringly.
“I will,” David continued. “I’ll kill it.”
“We should have the boy look after the sheep,” Ellab thought out loud. “He should do something useful.”
Jesse looked up at his son. “He could help rather than sit at home.”
“He is only a boy of nine,” Nitzevet intervened.
Jesse took a softer approach.
“All he needs to do is watch and tell us if there is danger.”
David looked up at his mother.
“I can do that.”
Continue reading… Chapter 2 | King of the Goats
[…] Chapter 2 The Lion and the Lamb ~ continued from Chapter 2 | The Lion […]