Read Online Journey to the Well: A Novel by Diana Wallis Taylor - Free Book Online Page B

stretched her shoulders again in the warmth of the morning sun and resumed kneading the bread. She continued to ponder the events of the last few months. When the pain of that first week had passed, she felt she would survive. Athaliah watched her every move. When the time of women came to her that first month, Athaliah had sighed loudly, shaking her head. When the second month passed and Athaliah did not see her washing her women’s rags, she began to watch Marah’s every movement.
    One particular night Marah wrestled with the nausea that came and went. Marah turned from Zibeon, feeling she was about to retch. It angered Zibeon, for he had raised his arm as if to strike her.
    “I am that repulsive to you?” he roared.
    “Forgive me, Husband,” Marah cried in desperation, “I am with child.” She covered her face with her arms to ward off the blow. She hunched herself on the pallet and made herself small, feeling wretched.
    Zibeon’s reaction had been instantaneous. His hand stopped in midair as he stared at her.
    “You are ill due to carrying a child? You are sure of this?”
    “Yes, my lord. I am sure.” She had passed her second month.
    Zibeon stroked his beard, savoring this new thought. Then his chest swelled noticeably.
    “So, I am to have a son at last!” He sat down suddenly on the edge of the bed, smiling to himself. Then he lay down, crossed his arms over his chest, and went to sleep.
    With a small sigh of relief, Marah lay down also. This man she had married was very unpredictable! Zibeon was pleased. She had done what was expected of her, but it was no small comfort.
    The next morning Marah was preparing the morning meal when he strode into the room, grabbed Athaliah, and swung her around.
    “I am to have a son,” he announced.
    The startled old woman barely caught her breath. Her mouth worked but no words came out. As he put her down again, she huffed, “Oh that I should have borne such a man. Did you think I did not know I was to have a grandchild?”
    Zibeon grinned as he took some bread and cheese. “I am to have a son,” he almost shouted and strode out the door.
    Marah slowly shook her head. Men. How could he be sure it would be a boy?
    Marah stared down at the bread she had been kneading as a thought struck her. Zibeon had been almost kind to her these past months, as had Athaliah. Her mother-in-law wanted a grandchild as much as Zibeon wanted a son. Marah prayed fervently that it would be a boy. If she gave Zibeon a son, who knows, life with him might just be bearable.
    The babe is sturdy , Marah thought as she felt the child move powerfully within her.
    Shimei came quietly through the courtyard and went into the house. Marah had become used to Shimei’s elusive comings and goings. She saw that he feared Zibeon as did Athaliah, but for different reasons. “I wonder why he has never married,” she mused, half aloud. As far as she could recall, Athaliah never mentioned finding a wife for him. Those large, sad eyes watched her from time to time. When Zibeon was at the shop and Athaliah was not around, he made life easier by doing small tasks for her. When his mother and brother were around, he studiously ignored her and faded into the background. A strange man, Shimei, he would often disappear for days at a time. Marah understood that he went to the next village. Yet when she ventured to ask about Shimei, if he had friends he visited there, her mother-in-law had given her a strange look.
    “There are some things best left alone,” she rebuked her daughter-in-law sharply. Marah asked no more questions about Shimei.
    The chickens squawked, bringing her out of her reverie. Athaliah returned from the marketplace and approached to inspect Marah’s work. Marah put the dough on the paddle and set it to rise by the earthen oven.
    “Did you knead it long enough?”
    “Yes, Mother-in-law.” It was the same question every day but Marah answered patiently. Athaliah still had a criticism for