ALL ARE MORTAL. Greg Pius
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finger was aimed at a man standing guard. This man they now both stalked.
When not feeding and caring for their animals these two men would often hunt down vicious predators. They knew how to creep up on an alert animal. Now they crept up on an human predator. As Lot sprung up one meter from this man's position to distract him, Abram slipped in behind his back. One swipe across the neck with his blade silenced this sentry. Now they sought a place to hide and wait for sunset.
The sun set in such a way to temporarily blind anyone looking westward. Knowing this, the two stalkers crawled into the camp of the raiders from the western most side. Hiding in unused tents they waited for the raiders to fall asleep. The sounds of drunken arguments made them confident. As these raiders went into a deep drunken sleep they moved from man to man. Short sharp knives flashed across many throats. Soon the ground was deeply covered in blood.
Only then did Abram go to the prisoners' tent in the camp. He could see how the children had been caroled like animals inside this tent. Now covered in blood he slid into the tent. There lying on his blankets was the raider's chief. He had being satisfying his lustful desires but had got too drunk. This time Abram woke up his victim. When the man saw death in Abram's eyes, he reached for his weapon. But the gurgling sound that came from his throat signaled the way he was to die.
Not knowing if there were other raiders scouting ahead, Abram and Lot roused the children. At first the children screamed at the sight of such bloody apparitions but Lot calmed them with his voice. They all left the oasis but did not go back to their old camp site. Instead they walked to the neighboring sheikh's land. Finally they stumbled into his camp at midday. The children could hardly walk another step. Abram and Lot saw them safely into the warmth of caring arms then fell dead tired to the ground.
When Abram woke, he was looking at the concerned face of the sheikh. Knowing the answer before he heard it, the sheikh asked in a sad tone of voice
"Abram my friend and neighbor what happened? Where are your women? Was it raiders?"
Nodding, Abram said the dreadful words he could no longer hide from anymore. His sleep had been haunted by all their faces. He gasped in a painfully brittle tone of voice,
"The adults are all dead. Women, old men, slaves, all my animals. None of those survived the raid. I got the children back from the raiders' camp."
Now the Sheikh saw something evil flash across Abram's eyes. He guessed what had happened to those raiders. How only two men could do such a feat was still a mystery. But it was one the Sheikh had no wish to uncover. So he just said in a strong tone of voice,
"Your children are been tended by my women. Lot is being personally tended by my daughter Izelle. You are all welcome in my tent. We will talk later of this matter."
When the Sheikh left, Abram rose from his bed of pain. He dressed to go and comfort the children. The problem of what to do with them had already been solved in his turbulent sleep. As he talked to each of them he saw their pale faces constantly seek out their new found carer. So this was to be their new reality.
Abram now accepted all this as the one God's will. He had come back from doubting the greatness of his God. Had he not delivered all his enemies into his hands? No, his God was not responsible for this disaster. He alone was responsible. Abram would never forgive himself for such a lapse of judgement. From this moment he vowed to follow the will of the one God to the letter of the law.
Eventually Abram and his nephew were fit for travel. It was too painful to stay in the Sheikh's camp watching the children forget their parents. Abram's own youngest daughter now called another man father. Accepting this as part of his punishment he now accepted the rest. Going up to the Sheikh he said,
"God is sending me into exile for my failure to protect my women. Please can you keep my children here with you. They are already bonded to their carer families."
Shocked that a father would give up lordship over his daughter, the Sheikh tired to get Abram to change his mind. But his stubborn refusals eventually wore down the Sheikh's resistance to Abram. So Abram took his meager possessions with them and walked westward from the camp.
The parting of Lot from both his little cousin and his love was very painful. He could see that tears smeared their faces as they held out their arms to him. But Lot accepted his uncle's verdict. As he saw it, if his uncle was guilty of neglecting the safety of their women then so was he. This exile applied to them both as far as the young man was concerned. How could he marry someone as beautiful as Izelle if he could not guarantee her protection to her father. Two sad figures soon faded from sight but both men would continue to live in the hearts and minds of at least two females who longed for their eventual return.
Chapter 2
Both of them had stopped at their destroyed camp site on the way to bury their dead. Abram and Lot lovingly dug deep graves for their family members. After observing all the death rituals, the two deeply saddened men walked away from that camp site for the last time.
Returning to the city they had gone into they lined up to be checked. The guards at the city gates recognized Abram and Lot. Yet they were puzzled to see them without stock to sell. The head guard asked this question,
"Why have you come back so soon? And where are your animals to sell? We have great need of live animals for our many temples to sacrifice to our many gods."
His immediate junior laughed before saying,
"Didn't you know? Abram here believes that there is only one God. Don't you Abram?"
Abram knew that he would have to endure their teasing, but was not prepared to hide his beliefs. So he said proudly,
"Yes there is only one GOD! I know because I have heard his voice."
The head guard did not believe his ears. He said rather sarcastically,
"You sure it wasn't the wine talking? We have all had too much to drink then heard voices. Though why mine always has to end in my wives yelling at me, I will never know."
Shaking his head, Abram said,
"It could not have been that as I do not drink."
Now all the guards were laughing at him. They could hardly speak so just waved him on to move him from blocking the main city gate.
As they walked into the city, the two desert herders held their noses. They both knew that eventually they would no longer smell the evil odors of this city. But for now the assault on their noses was unrelenting. Manure, human waste, tanners pollution, fetid water, rotting food and other odors combined to send up a smell that made the eyes of any non-city dweller water.
There was an immediate problem That was distracting Abram and Lot enough to stop them from vomiting. Abram had given the Sheikh all the money they had got from their sales at the last market day city visit. This was to pay for the up keep of his daughter and provide her with a dowry. But that meant that Abram was without money for food and accommodation.
Then a rare piece of good fortune came his way. As they passed a man looking for workers, Abram heard the city name for grave diggers. He joined the queue of willing applicants, with Lot just behind him. They made their way to the front of the queue. The man hiring was dismissing most of the applicants. Eventually Abram could hear what his main objection was as the man's voice became clear,
"GRAVEDIGGER! Not grave-robber you cur. Get away from me. I need honest men who can dig deep graves. If that is not you then go away."
When it came to Abram's turn, the man looked him squarely in the eyes. He exclaimed,
"At last an honest man. I can always tell by the eyes. Let me look at your hands..... Fantastic! Callouses and new blisters. These are just the sort of hands for digging graves. You are no stranger to hard, solid work I see. When can you start?"
Abram could not believe he got to the top of that long queue let alone get the job. So he said eagerly,
"At once. We were out looking for work."
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