Read Online Necessary Heartbreak by Michael J. Sullivan - Free Book Online Page B

she next spoke, it was with urgency. “Remember, when we get there, don’t look up until I tell you.”
    â€œDo you have a plan?” Elizabeth whispered from beneath her veil. She noticed the slight variations in color of the stones in the road; from this angle, she could see little else.
    â€œI think so.”
    Elizabeth shrugged. The evening’s remaining light started to slip away beneath the horizon and the shadows on the ground lengthened and blurred into each other. She looked up briefly and saw a majestic mountain ahead, into which miles of buildings were carved. It looked like the mountains she saw in Colorado on television. She looked at it in wonder and thought for one brief moment that the peak must surely reach to heaven. Then she looked down again at her dirty feet trudging through the dust and felt nothing but despair.
    How will this woman in this barbaric town ever be able to help us?

4

UNDERSTANDING THE LANGUAGE

    Elizabeth could see the outline of the Antonia Fortress against the skyline. It was magnificent, looking so much like a storybook castle that she momentarily forgot about the evils and horrors that Leah had described.
    â€œI will do the talking,” said Leah in a low voice. “Keep your veil high on your face. We don’t want anyone to recognize you. If a Roman soldier addresses you, look down, like a hyena would do when faced with a lion.”
    â€œI’ll do whatever I have to do to free my father.”
    Leah gently rubbed her back. “Whatever you do, don’t get angry or raise your voice to the guards there. They’re going to be curious who we are. Just treat them with respect.”
    Near the front gate, they could see another woman talking to a Roman guard, who was listening intently. Leah and Elizabeth slowed their pace, waiting for the outcome. The woman, clothed in a beautiful blue garment, gestured forcefully. The soldier, who had now taken his helmet off and was holding it in his right hand, nodded several times. Then the woman with long black hair and a white veil handed him something. The soldier laughed, then suddenly knocked the woman down, startling her. He then reached down and pulled her upby the arm. “Come with me!” he yelled as the woman’s feet slid along the ground. “I know someone who will be happy to see you.”
    Leah and Elizabeth both gasped in unison. Leah grabbed Elizabeth’s arm and pulled her back in the direction of the city. “Come with me!”
    They could hear the woman’s muffled screams behind them as they fled.
    â€œWe’re not going to help her?” Elizabeth asked, swinging her head around to get another glance at the commotion.
    Leah dragged her forward. “How do you expect me to help her?”
    Elizabeth stumbled and again felt tears coming to her eyes. “I don’t know. What about my father?”
    â€œWe’ll go back to my home. Maybe I can find someone to help me.”
    Elizabeth stopped suddenly. “I’m not going to your home. Didn’t you see what just happened? What kind of a place is my father in? This place is sick. Don’t you have any friends here that can help us? Where’s your husband?”
    Leah looked away. By now they were back within the city walls. She watched the crowds milling around the many marketplaces. “I don’t have a husband,” she said softly, grabbing Elizabeth’s arm.
    â€œWhere are we going?”
    â€œYou’re going home.”
    Elizabeth yanked her arm away. “I am not!”
    They stood in the street about fifty yards from the grate. “This is too dangerous a place for you to be here alone.” Leah looked around helplessly. “I’m not sure we can save your father. Didn’t he know the soldiers would be looking for him?”
    Elizabeth shrugged in confusion. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
    Leah shook her head in disbelief. “He