Ashes of the Red Heifer

by Shannon Baker

  “He’s not doing anything. You’re trying to twist his arm.”

  Alanberg bristled. “We aren’t forcing the prophecy of the Red Heifer any more than Moses forced his will on God. God has brought us here together at the right time and led us to discover this. If we have to use our heads and put out effort, is it any more than he asked of Moses and Aaron?”

  If he wanted Biblical sparring, she’d give it to him. “What about Abraham trying to help God out. God promised him heirs as plentiful as stars in the heavens. But poor Abraham kept getting older and Sarah was no spring chicken. So Abraham figured God must want him to do something. He took Hagar and they had Ishmael. If I’m not mistaken, the battle of Isaac and Ishmael has translated into the Muslim/Jewish rift of today.”

  Alanberg barked at her like a terrier. “If God didn’t want the Red Heifer to come now and from your hand, he wouldn’t have brought together everything as he did.”

  “If God were behind this, don’t you suppose he’d provide the heifer himself?”

  Alanberg paced in the narrow lab, picking up papers or equipment and setting it down. “You don’t understand the way God rules the world. Life isn’t a random set of experiences. It’s planned by God from the beginning of time until the end.”

  He opened the case she’d used to tote the vaccine to Nebraska. He didn’t close it.

  Annie looked up at his silence. He stood with the envelope of money. “What is this?”

  She bent over her work. “Dad didn’t want your money.”

  David stood up, his eyebrows drawn down. “What did he say?”

  She shrugged.

  Allanberg tugged on the back of her t-shirt. “What did he say? Exactly?”

  His touch felt creepy. “Something strange about Israel turning back to God.”

  David spoke slowly. “‘Do not try to take advantage of Israel as they seek to turn back to God.’ Is that it?”

  They looked downright spooked. “I guess. Sounds like it.”

  Alanberg clasped his hands in front of him and mumbled a prayer.

  “What?” Annie asked David.

  He swallowed, his face pale. “Those are the same words Dama ben Natina spoke when he delivered the last heifer.”

  Her head hurt. “I need to check on the heifers.” She pushed past Alanberg and went to the front door.

  Moshe scrambled to his feet. Someone behind her, either David or Alanberg, gave Moshe permission to open the door. Annie strode to the cattle pen, glad to escape Alanberg and his whiny religious mumbo-jumbo. What she saw made her scramble over the pen fence and slowly make her way to one of the heifers. “Here we go.”

  Alanberg stomped out of the lab heading toward the mess hall. Good. The last thing she needed was Alanberg flitting around while she worked.

  The heifer’s water bag had broken so Annie had Moshe help and they prodded the heifer into the lab and the headstall.

  David jumped up when he saw them bringing in the heifer. “Is she calving? Does it look okay?”

  Annie patted Moshe’s back. “We’ll make a ranch hand out of you, yet.”

  He gave her a shy grin. “John Wayne.”

  She laughed but it was like trying to wash away the ocean with her arm. Worry and pain rushed in like the next wave before the sound of her laugh died out.

  David studied the heifer. “This might be the one.”

  Her heart beat in her throat. Three down, three to go. The numbers weren’t in her favor.

  It appeared that labor had quit proceeding so Annie snapped on gloves. The initial exam revealed a fully formed calf. Annie struggled through the birth, hoping with all her strength that the calf lived. As she looped the chains on the hooves and cranked the jack she pleaded, “Please live, please live.” The head crested and she cranked faster. “Please.”

  But it was dead. Dead! Her stomach twisted and she felt sick when she saw the little heifer looked perfectly red.

  David knelt beside the calf. His voice sounded strained. “It’s a heifer.”

  She pulled off her gloves. “Yes.”

  A muscle worked in his jaw. “I don’t see anything but red on it.”

  She washed her hands. “It’s not as if I took a gun to them.”

  He stood up, hands clenched. “The Corporation won’t like this. What do you think they’ll do to Hassan when they find out?”

  She closed her eyes and swallowed the stream of accusations she wanted to fling at David. She hated him for using Hassan’s life as motivation in his sick passion play.

  Two more dead calves. She’d done everything she could think to keep them alive. What if the other two calves didn’t make it? The whole Corporation might be praying, but it wasn’t doing any good.

  The door to the lab opened and Alanberg ran in. “What have you done?”

  Annie kept her eyes on David, challenging him to hold his temper. She answered Alanberg. “Stillborn.”

  Alanberg grabbed the edge of her desk. “Dead?”

  She nodded, then pointed to a dark space behind the headgate. “It’s back there.”

  He hurried over to the dead calf.

  Annie and David stared at each other. She couldn’t read his face. Was he about to tell her who he really was? If he did, what would that mean?

  Alanberg ran back to her. His voice was high-pitched with strain. “It was red. Perfect. A heifer.”

  “We’ve got two more chances.” She tried to calm him before he had a stroke.

  “Not good enough! We need the Red Heifer. Time is running out!” His face turned a mottled red.

  “What do you mean?” David barked at Alanberg.

  “They say the Silim is getting close. They are looking for us. There is no time.”

  David took a deep breath. “Listen to me, old man. We will get the Red Heifer. The Silim won’t find us.”

  Annie shook her head. “I’m not so sure you’ll get your Red Heifer, not with these two anyway.”

  David turned to her. “Give them a booster. That’s all they need.”

  She couldn’t help her sarcasm. “Booster. That’s easy. What level of proteins do I use? What’s your best guess?”

  David focused on Annie. “What do you need?”

  She stood toe to toe with him. “I need Hassan.”

  “Impossible,” he said.

  “Then I’ll do my best and make another guess. But Hassan is right here. And I know he remembers exactly what levels we used with Esther. You know it, too.”

  “Why not have Alanberg ask him?”

  She shook her head. “I need him here. You’ve seen us work. We’re a team. Me without him won’t give you success.”

  David stared at her for a long time. He almost shouted at Alanberg. “She needs to have Hassan to complete the booster. Tell Moshe to bring him.”

  David was slipping. He hadn’t bothered to hide that he gave the orders.

  TWENTY-SIX

  Annie’s heart pounded while she waited for Moshe to bring Hassan. Her last view of him had been days before when they’d dragged him away, one finger missing. Since then he had never been far from her thoughts. She’d worried about infection and loss of blood. Always there was the constant threat The Corporation would kill him. But they were bringing him to her now. At least that meant he was alive.

  The door swung open. Instead of Moshe, an irritated Adi shoved Hassan into the lab. He sounded angry when he looked at David. “This is a bad idea.”

  David’s mouth flattened in irritation. “If you want the Red Heifer there is no choice.”

  “So she says,” Adi spit back. “But what is her word worth?”

  Annie couldn’t have cared less about their pissing match. She ran to Hassan. “Are you okay?”

  He looked pale. Of course, he had been locked away for days. His eyes were missing his usual spark. He had a general weariness about him and dark circles lay thick under his eyes. A slight limp was the only evidence of the gunshot wound.

  His same caring voice greete
d her. “How are you?”

  She took his hand. “You look like you’re in pain. Any infection?”

  He held up his hand. At least they’d given him a clean bandage. “So far so good.”

  A sudden sob burst from Annie, surprising even her. She threw her arms around Hassan, pulling him as close as she could. “I’m so sorry.”

  Adi grabbed her shoulder and yanked her away from Hassan. “You work. No extra talking. No touching. Just work.”

  She glared at Adi. “What makes you such a prick?”

  “Annie,” Hassan said in his quiet, chastising voice.

  That brought a fresh wave of tears to her eyes, though she didn’t make a sound. Since freshman year Hassan had been after her to clean up her vocabulary and because of him she’d given it a good try. His quiet persistence squeezed her heart. If she’d only been an assignment from the Silim he wouldn’t have cared what she said, how she ate, when she slept. But he’d mothered her for years.

  A sudden thought hit her. “If the Silim was so afraid of a perfect red heifer being born in Israel, why did you work so hard to cure BA 23 with me? You weren’t sabotaging the research; I’d have known.”

  He hung his head. “The Silim released this disease and it was a terrible mistake. We never thought it could harm people. So I’ve got to do everything I can to cure it.”

  Adi spit into a corner of the lab. His lips pulled back in an animal snarl. “You lie.”

  David stepped between Adi and Hassan. “What about the formula for a booster? Annie said she needs your help.”

  Hassan asked Annie, “What did you use for the vaccine?”

  She led him to sit in one of the chairs and pulled the other close. She opened the computer and set it in front of him. He always manned the keys.

  With a pang she realized he couldn’t type. Damn The Corporation. Damn the Silim and every other religious gang. She pulled the computer in front of her. “Okay, this is what I’ve got.”

  * * * *

  It was nearing midnight when Annie and Hassan filled two syringes with the booster vaccine. Hassan could barely sit up. His breathing was labored but not at a crisis point.

  Annie stood and stretched. “I feel pretty good about this one.”

  Hassan nodded. “Too bad we can’t release it to the public.”

  David had been dozing in one of the guard’s chairs. He stood and stretched. “I’m sure once The Corporation gets the Red Heifer they will release it. They don’t want more people dying.”

  Adi wandered over and looked at the syringes lying on the counter. “How many people will die in three years?”

  David scowled at Adi.

  “Three years?” Annie asked. “Unchecked, the virus could be like any epidemic. Remember swine flu or foot and mouth disease? Right now very few people have been affected.”

  “More all the time,” Adi said. Again, David threw him an irritated frown.

  Annie felt a jab of worry. “What do you mean?”

  He shrugged. “They said some people on a kibbutz by The Dead Sea are sick with this. Six old people are in the hospital. Maybe they will die.”

  “Bismillah al-rahman al-rahim,” Hassan whispered.

  Annie took a step toward Adi. “You have to get this out there. You have to save those people.”

  Adi shook his head and looked at David. “Three years.”

  Annie asked David, “Why does he keep saying three years?”

  David sounded impatient. “How do I know?”

  Hassan’s breathing grew more labored. Annie frowned at Adi. “Well?”

  Adi held David’s gaze. “To complete the Red Heifer sacrifice, the animal must be three years of age. Until that time she must do no work, have never had a yoke upon her back or even be tied up unless it is for her protection. And she must remain perfect, no white hairs, no scars.”

  Annie sat back in her chair and stared at David. Three years of withholding the vaccine so the Silim wouldn’t find out they had a Red Heifer. Three years for those little boys to stay hidden inside the cliff. It was monstrous. Unthinkably cruel.

  David straightened. “We should vaccinate those heifers, don’t you think?”

  Annie put a hand on Hassan’s arm. “Where is your inhaler?”

  “Ran…out.”

  Alarm squeezed her chest. “How long ago?”

  He shrugged.

  Rage filled her. “Hassan needs his inhaler.”

  “I’m…okay,” Hassan wheezed.

  It seemed David struggled with his temper. “Look around, Annie. Do you see a 24-hour pharmacy? There is no inhaler.”

  She glared at him. “Why didn’t anyone tell me he ran out? I’ve got one in my bag.”

  “You have Hassan’s inhaler?” David sounded unbelieving.

  “I’ve been hauling them around for so long I’ve got them stashed everywhere, even with my toothbrush,” she said.

  David picked up the syringes and handed them to Annie. “Good. That’s good. You’ve got an inhaler for Hassan. Of course. But first we vaccinate the heifers.”

  Adi hurried to the door and unlocked it. David walked in front, shining the flashlight. They went to the cattle pen.

  Annie spoke softly. “I’ll climb over the fence and do this. You all stay here.”

  Hassan’s gasping breaths accompanied her across the pen and David kept the flashlight pointed in her direction. It was short work to give each heifer a dose. They barely moved. She was over the fence in a matter of minutes.

  “Let’s go.” She took Hassan’s arm.

  All four of them started across the compound for Annie’s shed. By the time they stood outside the door Hassan’s wheezing had intensified.

  Annie put a hand on his back and rubbed. “Hang on. It’ll only be a minute.”

  Once Adi pushed the door open Annie rushed past him. The others followed. David shined the flashlight for her and Adi watched from the middle of the room. She hoisted her bag onto her cot and dumped the contents, rummaging until she found the inhaler. She tossed it to Hassan who leaned against the door.

  Hassan didn’t hesitate and took a deep breath. Before he finished they heard footsteps running outside and panting nearly as loud as Hassan’s had been.

  Alanberg burst into the shed pushing Hassan aside. His wild eyes found David. “You’ve got to come quickly.”

  David started toward him. “What’s going on?”

  Alanberg leaned over his soft belly and put his hands on his knees to try to get his breath. “The Silim. We’ve got a report they’re close.”

  “What report?” Adi said.

  Alanberg’s face was slick with sweat. “I don’t know. But we’ve got to get out of here. We’re sitting ducks in this ravine.”

  David spoke to Adi. “I’ll send Moshe back here.” He ran out the door with Alanberg following.

  Adi’s agitation vibrated through the cabin. Hassan slid to the floor and sat with his head against the wall. His breathing had quieted; he closed his eyes.

  “So the gig is up, huh, Adi?” Annie was tired. Tired of being afraid, tired of having guns pointed at her, tired of wondering if she’d be able to get Hassan or the boys out of here alive. If the Silim showed up at least Hassan would be safe but she’d be their prisoner.

  Adi stared out the door. “He gets too excited. It is nothing.”

  She sat on her cot and rubbed her forehead. “Yeah, probably right. But what if the Silim does find us? That would make your day. You’d get to shoot people, maybe kill a few. Maybe even kill me and Hassan.”

  Suddenly Adi lunged at her. “You think this is what I want? I didn’t choose this.”

  His outburst startled her. “You’re here, aren’t you?”

  Anger poured from him. “I am here for Israel. It is not my choice. I have a wife. I have three children.”

  Annie stared at him. The fight drained from him. “I am an accountant.”

  Moshe’s footsteps crunched on the dirt. Adi stepped out and they exchanged a fe
w words. Adi trotted across the compound and Moshe entered the shed. Dawn hinted in the eastern sky.

  Moshe tilted his head toward Hassan. “He is okay?”

  Hassan opened his eyes.

  Bone weariness dragged at Annie. “How would you feel if they chopped off your finger to prove a point? Then they locked you in a cage and pointed a gun at you and you know when they get what they want they’ll eventually pull the trigger. Sure, he’s fine.”

  Moshe went to the door and looked outside. “It will be light soon.”

  Another day in paradise.

  Moshe addressed Hassan. “Can you run?”

  Annie was instantly alert.

  Hassan stood up. “I can run.”

  Moshe nodded at him. “You will not have much time before they find you are gone. You must go to the police.”

  Annie kept her voice low. “But the Silim is almost here. Hassan doesn’t need to risk escape.”

  Moshe looked at her, tears gleaming in his eyes. “The Silim will kill us all. There will be no one left to find the children. They will starve.”

  “We’ll tell them,” she said.

  He shook his head. “You can not talk when bullets tear out your throat or a grenade blows you up.”

  Icy fear pumped into Annie. He was right. The Silim wouldn’t take time to interview them before the killing started.

  Moshe put a hand on Hassan’s shoulder. “Tell them Eli Elizoam is here.”

  Hassan sucked in a shocked breath then nodded. “That makes sense.”

  Moshe hurried to the door. “You must go now.”

  Annie threw her arms around Hassan, tears running down her cheeks. She had no words for their years of devotion. “Be careful.”

  He pulled away and put his palm against her cheek. “I have always loved you.”

  She watched him run out the door, feeling each of his footfalls, taking deep breaths for him.

  Moshe startled her. “You should sleep.”

  As if every nerve in her body wasn’t popping with fear for Hassan. She turned to Moshe. “Who is Eli Elizoam?”

  Moshe leaned against the door. “He is a Temple scholar. He has collected or made the vessels from the Second Temple. His group of faithful Jews has studied and can perform the sacrifices. They are ready for the Third Temple.”