Free The Journey Begun by Bruce Judisch

was odd. Jonah rarely went anywhere on foot. For him to be this far from Gath-hepher without his cart was most unusual.
    “He’s resting inside now. We gave him some of Benjamin’s clothes to wear. This is his.” Hadassah jerked her head toward the soggy brown mass half submerged in the trough.
    “I’ll check on him.” The elder Ben Barak clapped his brother-in-law on the shoulder, took the two stairs in front of the house in one step, and pushed through the front door. Benjamin followed him as far as the doorway and peered into the dusky room.
    Jonah’s eyes were closed [B14]   and he appeared to be asleep. Elihu strode to the mat and stood over his lifelong friend. He lingered for a moment, then shook his head and turned away. He slipped back out the front door, and Benjamin eased it closed behind him.
    “Looks like he’s asleep.” Elihu lowered himself onto a wooden bench across from the water trough while Hadassah continued scrubbing Jonah’s cloak.
    “I’m not surprised. He looked asleep on his feet when he stumbled up the path.” She wrung out the cloth and hung it over the washstand.
    Benjamin leaned against the wall of the house as he toyed with an olive twig between his fingers. “Except when I offered to carry his rucksack. He had enough energy left to yank it out of my hand. You’d think he had the treasury of Solomon in there.”
    Elihu knit his brow. “This is strange. I’ve never heard of him acting like this before. He didn’t say where he was going or why he came here?”
    “ No [B15]   .” Hadassah sloshed Jonah’s sandals in the water and set them beside the cloak.
    Benjamin flicked the twig into a mud puddle. “Hadassah’s right. He didn’t say anything at all.”
    Elihu shrugged. “Well, I guess we wait until he wakes up.”
    “You can wait.” Benjamin pushed away from the wall. “I’ve got holes to dig. We’re putting in two more rows down by the wadi. You should take a look.” He glanced over his shoulder at Hadassah. “We’ll be ready to plant those cuttings in about an hour. They’ve soaked long enough. I only have six more holes to go.”
    His wife nodded. “I’ll be along shortly.”
    “I’ll go with you.” Elihu stood up. “I’d like to walk the vineyard and see what’s changed. It seems like ages since I’ve helped with the pruning.”
    His sister flashed him a teasing smile. “Seems like ages to us, too.”
     
    Lll
    Jonah opened his eyes at the click of the door closing behind Elihu. He had decided to feign sleep to avoid what he knew would be a difficult conversation. Not with Eli. Not now. He just wasn’t up to it. The murmur of voices filtered through the wall, but it was too muffled to catch the conversation. He rolled onto his back and massaged his eyes to repel a dull throb assaulting his forehead. The numbness that thwarted any attempts at coherent thought proved no match for the ache pulsing in his head. There was no point in lying there any longer. Sleep would not come.
    The voices in the yard faded and the air went still. Dust motes floated through the subdued sunlight streaming through gaps in the wall around the door and window frames as the atmosphere dried and the sun burned away the outside haze. Jonah pushed himself up and settled his back against the wall, dizzying as the blood drained from his head. He dropped his hand to his side, where it fell against his crumpled rucksack.
    Pulling the soiled bag onto his lap, he inspected the damage. Melded with the mud and water stains were snags and tears, the worst damage showing on one corner where the stitching had unraveled, leaving a gaping hole. The toe of a spare sandal protruded from the gap, along with the tip of a sheathed skinning knife.
    Jonah upended the bag and spilled its contents across the sleep mat. He poked through his belongings. The articles aroused long-forgotten memories that nudged his headache into the background.
    He picked up the small knife, the first one his