Chapter 2
The Lion and the Lamb ~ continued from Chapter 2 | All We Do Is Fight
The wind blew the great fields of barley and wheat back and forth under a menacing sun.
“When can we start the threshing?” Obed called to Iram down the long table.
The brown-skinned man put down his beer.
“We have enough to start late today or tomorrow,” said Iram as he wiped his mouth with his hands.
“Can we take some of the workers up to the threshing floor today?”
“Yes,” Iram said.
“We need to finish before the rains come.”
Obed ate a piece of bread and cheese.
“I’ll come up,” Shimea said.
Obed nodded his head.
David looked down at the floor and mimicked Shimea.
“I’ll come up,” he said.
“Boys,” Obed said.
Iram stood up. “Abe, take the women up to the threshing place.”
He pointed to the young men still drinking beer. “We will do the rest of the harvesting while they start.”
The men quickly put down their beer and sat up straight.
“Yes, Iram,” one of the boys managed.
“Good,” said Iram as he left the table.
The threshing floor was high above the rocky, stony paths that encircled Bethlehem. It was level and clear of stones, grass and brambles and was where the chaff was separated from the grain. The high plains wind blew off the lighter chaff and the remaining grain fell to the floor.
Haga’s cheeks became red as she walked along the path that led up to the hilltop, for it was there on the threshing floor where Iram had made love to her in the darkness. She stayed behind Hannah and the others as her mind wandered back to that night. Her fingers gently touched the bushes and wild plants that dotted the rocky pastures. She walked along the inhospitable land and saw everything in a sweet light of beauty and romance. How she longed for him to whisper to her “Tonight,” and all her hardship and sorrow would vanish. Her rough skin would become dew-like again, her hair soft as the night breeze.
She could not know that many couples including Iram and Hannah had had in this high plains chapel. Jesse had asked Obed for Nitzevet’s hand in the privacy of the hill. Boys came here with their first jar of beer and threw stones off the hillside, raging at the night.
“Let David and Shimea take the threshing board up to the floor,” Obed called to Iram.
The threshing board was a wide, heavy piece of wood with sharp pieces of stone and rock attached to cut the grain.
The two boys raced up the hill while workers gathered the stalks of barley. One man brought a donkey to the fields and the others started packing the long stalks on the beast’s back for the trip through the stony terrain.
The tall fields were dotted with stacks of freshly cut barley; the wind was warm and the entire village had come out for one of the most important harvests of the year. The rains had come and washed away the fears of the community and now they could be joyful and perhaps even have enough grain to save in the storehouses.
It would take the rest of the afternoon to move all the barley up the hill and two more days of cutting before all the fields were harvested.
Continue reading… Chapter 2 | We Can Fly
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