by Tim Chaffey
Laleel playfully slapped him on the chest. “Don’t talk like that.”
Garun grabbed her hand and kissed it. “We’ll be alright. Besides, I wasn’t talking about you. You don’t look a day past 400. Let’s stop worrying about things we don’t know.” He glanced up at Noah. “We have an ark to build.”
Noah chuckled, knowing Laleel was well beyond 500 years old. Then he shifted his gaze to Emzara. “Sound good to you?”
“I think so — for now.”
Noah briefly studied his notes before moving toward the exit. “Let’s go tell them.”
Stepping into the late morning sunlight, Noah shielded his eyes until they adjusted to the brightness. Emzara leaned softly against his shoulder as he scanned the gathering and thought about what he would say. Circled about the fire pit, which was barely smoldering from the previous evening, their group quieted down when they saw him. Garun and Laleel took up the bench to Noah’s right. Purlek stood near Evet behind the next log while Kezia played with a cloth toy Elam had made for her. To their left, Methuselah relaxed next to Lamech. Japheth and Rayneh sat on the other side of Noah’s father, their hands covered in soil. Elam rested on the next bench by himself, with plenty of space next to him for the two young men racing toward them from the field where the herds were kept.
Moments later, Shem and Ham sped into the assembly, with Ham slightly in the lead. As he hurried around the bench to sit first, Shem leapt over the log and quickly sat next to Elam before Ham found a spot.
“I win,” Shem said as he pushed dark locks away from his eyes.
Ham shoved his shoulder. “You cheated. I got here first.”
“You started first.”
“No, I’m just faster than you.”
“I wasn’t even trying.”
Ham shook his head. “Let’s do it again. Right now. I’ll beat you anytime.”
Noah smirked as the squabble reminded him of growing up with Jerah. “Shem. Ham.” His words came out loud and firm, but not angry. “Not now. You can race later.” He pointed at Methuselah. “Besides, you have no reason to boast. A 900-year-old man made it here before both of you.”
The group laughed as the boys folded their arms across their chests. Noah winked at his sons and said, “You’ll need to save that energy for something else.” He quickly looked around the group again. “Thank you for taking a break from your work. I’d like to make today a day of celebration.”
“What are we celebrating?” Methuselah asked.
Noah licked his lips. “The Most High appeared to me again this morning.”
Methuselah’s smile faded and he scooted forward. Evet picked Kezia up and implored her to listen. Even Shem and Ham stopped whispering back and forth and turned their full attention to their father.
“He said that we have done well by preparing for the building of the ark. Then He gave me some basic instructions.”
“How big is it going to be?” Japheth asked.
Lamech held out a hand in front of Japheth. “You can tell us that later. I want to know what He was like.”
“I’ll tell you all about that during the celebration.” Noah put an arm around Emzara and squeezed her shoulder. “The ark is going to be huge — bigger than I imagined.”
“Will it be larger than the ships you made back in Iri Geshem?” Elam asked.
Noah nodded. “Nearly twice as large as the biggest I’ve ever made.”
Elam’s eyes grew wide. “Twice as big?”
“Almost. I have a lot of planning to do.” He pointed at his youngest son. “You’ll get to use that engineering mind as we determine the best way to do this.” Noah looked at his father, Japheth, and Rayneh. “The three of you can keep growing crops for now. At some point, we’ll need to start storing up food for the animals. And Purlek, I’m sure we’ll need plenty of strong braces for the ship’s joints. I’ll need your help in planning the best way to build them.”
“I’m happy to help,” Purlek said.
Noah held his arms out and raised his voice. “We have much to celebrate today. Beginning tomorrow, we start planning. I believe this project is going to take a long time to complete.”
Chapter 25
Land of Eden — Noah’s 590th year
Emzara set the knife down and carried the plate of sliced vegetables across the room to a small table. “Is the bread almost finished?”
Ducking low, Rayneh stared into the stone oven. “Almost.”
Kezia placed a bowl of dipping sauce onto the table. “Do you want me go tell everyone that midmeal is ready?”
Emzara shook her head. “I’ll do it. I want to see how the water collection system is coming along. I suppose you could tell your father and anyone else who might be outside.”
Kezia smiled. “I can do that.” She leaned close to Emzara’s ear. “Let’s just hope Rayneh doesn’t burn the bread again.”
“I heard that.” Rayneh giggled and tossed a rag at Kezia. It missed and fell harmlessly to the floor. “It was Japheth’s fault last time.”
Kezia picked up the cloth and threw it back with a laugh. “You won’t be able to blame your husband this time.”
“We’ll be back soon,” Emzara said as she walked out of the unfinished space that would eventually be part of the living quarters in the ark. Light spilled in from the long opening along the roof, illuminating much of the ship, an extremely helpful feature, now that the first layer of the hull had been completed.
“I still can’t get over how big this is.” Kezia swept an arm toward the bow end. “It’s amazing.”
Emzara stepped around an array of little cages designed for the smallest creatures. Stacked five high and five across with small ramps under every cage to catch and direct each animal’s waste, Ham’s clever idea would allow the family to efficiently feed and clean up after the animals when the time came. “It truly is. Can you believe Ham designed all these things?”
“He’s so smart, and always inventing something. I don’t know how he thinks of some of those things.”
“Well, he gets that from his father, but his good looks come from me.” Emzara waited to see if Kezia would react to her comment about Ham’s appearance and was disappointed when the girl said nothing else. Don’t meddle, Em. After walking silently for a moment, she asked, “So are you enjoying your work?”
“Most days are fine.” She shrugged. “But sometimes it seems like we’re doing the same thing over and over without making much progress.”
“I know what you mean. But then when I think back to when you were born, I remember that this was just an open field with some crops. And now the end is finally in sight.”
“That’s how I think about it, too. It helps me stay optimistic that our efforts aren’t in vain.” Kezia turned toward the large open doorway on the opposite side of the ark. “I’ll see you soon.”
Emzara ascended the ramp to the third deck and found Noah and Garun holding a ladder in place while Ham fastened a long tube plant to a large clay vessel on the storage shelf.
“Is midmeal ready?” Noah asked.
“Almost.” She looked up at Ham. “What’s he doing?”
“I think it’s ready.” Ham climbed down a few rungs. “Mother, you’re just in time.”
“For what?”
Ham jumped to the floor. “Watch this.” He knelt down and twisted a valve attached to the bottom of the tube plant. Water gushed into a trough until Ham turned the spigot off.
Garun squeezed Ham’s shoulder. “Looks great.”
“That’s part of the water system?” Emzara asked.
Ham stood and faced her. “It’s from the rain we had last night.” He pointed toward the ceiling. “It runs down to the edge of the roof, and we allowed some of it to drain into that cistern. We can put a bunch of these in to get fresh water during the flood.”
Emzara’s lips curled up on one side. “Amazing. You’re doing a great job.”
Ham pointed toward the middle of the second deck. “I can
even run some to the living quarters, so you won’t need to come up here to get water.”
She touched the tube plant. “Do you have enough of these?
“Not yet, but Japheth found some on the other side of the river. We’ll need him to plant a lot more.”
“I’m sure he’d be happy to do it,” Noah said.
“Well, we can talk to him about it at midmeal.” Emzara gestured for them to follow her as she turned to leave. “Let’s go.”
Noah walked beside her while Ham and Garun discussed specifics about the size and number of cisterns that could be installed.
“Just remember,” Noah said as he looked over his shoulder, “I still want to bring a lot of drinking water in the clay vessels.”
“We’re working that into our calculations,” Garun said.
“It’s too bad you don’t know how long the flood will last,” Ham said as they descended the ramp to the second deck. “It sure would make it easier to figure out how much food and water to take.”
Noah raised an eyebrow. “Perhaps the Most High has already told us how much we need to bring.”
“Did He say something that you didn’t tell us about?” Emzara asked.
Ham shook his head. “Father thinks that since the Creator said how big the ark needed to be, there will be enough room for everything as long as we use the space wisely.”
Emzara looked up for a moment. “That makes sense. He knows how long the flood will last and how much space we’ll need for food and water.”
“Mmhmm. I hope your animal records are accurate.” Noah pointed to one of the larger animal enclosures near the center of the ark. “We won’t have room for too many more cages that size.”
“And they take me a while to build,” Garun said.
Emzara smiled. “Maybe you men will just have to trust that the Most High has already provided that information, too.”
Ham chuckled. “Well, we could always kick Shem out of his bed if we need space for another pair of animals.”
Without warning, the ark shuddered, sending Emzara lurching to her left, bumping into Noah as he staggered to maintain his footing. Timbers creaked and groaned. A basket plunged from a shelf and crashed onto the floor while an array of small cages tipped over and slammed against the deck. What’s happening? Suddenly, the quaking ship pitched her to her right and Noah held onto Emzara to keep her upright. Then, the shaking ceased as quickly as it had started.
Rayneh used the open doorframe at the entrance to the living quarters to hold herself up. “What was that?”
Emzara opened her mouth to ask Rayneh if she was all right, but stopped when a dreadful thought invaded her mind. Most High, please don’t let the ark be damaged.
“I wonder if one of the piers broke.” Noah seemed to speak the words to himself as he rapidly looked about the space. Then his eyes grew wide. He grabbed Emzara’s hand and bolted for the large door. “Everyone outside!”
“What’s wrong?” Emzara asked as she tried to keep up.
“I’m not sure, but we don’t want to be in here if it collapses,” Noah said as Ham and Garun sped past them.
“Wait.” Emzara pulled her hand free and spun around. “Rayneh!”
“I’m coming.” Rayneh turned the corner from the hall and sprinted toward them.
Emzara held out her arm. “Come on.” After Rayneh took her hand, they hurried out of the opening. Emzara squinted in the bright sunlight as Noah directed them down the ramp. Rayneh raced ahead as Emzara focused on the sturdy wooden planks under her feet, sensing Noah’s steps pounding behind her.
“Where are we going?” Emzara asked.
“Away from the ark — in case it falls over.”
Emzara reached the bottom of the ramp and turned toward the fields where Lamech and Japheth stood watching them.
Lamech held a hoe against the ground with one hand and gestured with the other for them to come to him. “Over here.”
Garun and Ham arrived first, and they were followed by Rayneh who ran to Japheth and hugged him.
“Are you alright?” Japheth asked.
She nodded. “Just a little scared. What happened?”
Japheth tipped his head toward Lamech. “That’s what we’re trying to figure out.”
Emzara bent down to catch her breath.
“So you felt it, too?” Noah asked.
“Of course.” Lamech tapped the ground with the hoe. “The whole earth shook for a moment.”
“Father!”
Shem’s call caused Emzara to glance up toward the herd of nervous bleaters. Her middle son ran to them and stopped next to Ham. “What was that?”
An ancient memory surfaced. Emzara looked at Garun and Noah. “Remember what happened in Havil after the ground trembled like that?”
Garun nodded. “That mountain exploded and the city was devastated.”
“What?” Ham held his arms out. “You’ve never told us anything about that.”
“Your father can tell you all about it.” Emzara smiled at Noah but he seemed distracted by something in the distance. She followed his gaze to see what held his focus. “What are you looking at?”
“I just wanted to make sure there was no smoke coming from that hill.” Noah pointed toward the site where he had met the guardians. “Before the explosion in Havil, the hill there had a steady stream of smoke for weeks.”
“Do you think this is something different then?” Emzara asked.
He shrugged. “I don’t know.” He spun to face the ark and swept his gaze slowly from left to right. “It looks fine from here, but we need to make sure it didn’t sustain any damage. If one of the piers gives way, it could ruin everything.”
“Then let’s split up.” Shem pointed to the ark’s stern. “Ham and I will check this end.”
“Good idea.” Noah looked at Emzara. “Your mother and I will inspect the bow. Father, would you and Garun examine the middle?”
“What about us?” Rayneh asked.
Noah stared toward the tents. “Go make sure everyone else is alright.”
Japheth put his arm around her waist. “Let’s go.”
“So what exactly are we looking for, Son?” Lamech asked.
“Look closely at the sides of the ark to make sure there is no damage — cracks, popped seams, buckling — that sort of thing. And then examine the piers. Make sure none of them have shifted, bowed, or cracked.”
Emzara nervously watched the others draw nearer to the towering structure. “And be careful.”
“We will,” Ham said.
“Beat you there.” Shem pushed Ham’s shoulder and took off running.
Emzara leaned against Noah as they walked. “Will those two ever grow out of it?”
Noah gave a small smile. “What? Being competitive? I doubt it. Jerah and I never did.”
She shook her head and her mouth turned upward, too. “Boys.” Even after all this time, she still did not understand them.
While Noah studied more than a dozen large wooden piers on which the ark’s bow rested, Emzara walked around the front of the ship scanning the hull for any signs of damage. Satisfied that everything appeared to be in order, she joined Noah near one of the giant supports.
“Everything looks good from down here,” she said.
Noah breathed a sigh of relief. “Glad to hear it. I don’t see any damage here either.”
Seeing her husband relax, she realized she had hardly drawn a full breath since the ground shook. As she released the tension, Emzara scanned the horizon. God is faithful. Approaching footsteps drew her attention toward the tents.
Breathing heavily from his sprint, Japheth stopped and looked at Noah.
“What is it?” Noah asked.
“A couple of the tents collapsed. I think Purlek and Evet’s suffered the most damage.”
Emzara leaned forward. “Was anyone hurt?”
Japheth put his hand on her shoulder. “They’re fine, but I think they could use some help.” He turned and headed
back toward the tents.
“Let’s go,” Noah said.
Emzara hurried to keep up.
They passed the dwelling shared by Noah’s father and grandfather. It looks fine. She tilted her head, trying to determine if her own home had sustained any damage. A messy pile of fabric lay on the ground where Purlek’s tent once stood. Kezia and Evet held an animated discussion off to one side, but they were too quiet to hear. Purlek sat on the ground with his head down.
Noah walked over to him. “Looks like a bit of a mess, but we’re here to help.”
Purlek shook his head. “Don’t worry about it.”
“Are you sure? We can have this back up in no time.” Noah’s forehead wrinkled as he scrunched his eyebrows.
“There’s no need.” Climbing to his feet, Purlek glanced at Noah, but his gaze settled on Emzara. “I’m sorry, Ma-Zara.”
“What’s this all about?” Noah asked. “Sorry for what?”
Evet stepped close to Purlek, who took a deep breath and stood tall. “We’ve decided to leave.”
“No.” The word leapt from Emzara’s mouth before she thought to stop it. “Have we done something wrong?”
Noah placed a hand on her arm.
Purlek shook his head. “No, it’s not because of anyone here. We love all of you. You’re our family. Look, Evet and I have been talking about this for several years now, and after Jabal’s people made that last delivery of clay pots a few weeks ago, we finally decided it was time.”
Emzara blinked, trying to understand. After all these years, she still viewed Purlek as if he were her own son. “But why?”
He swept his arm toward the ark and the fields. “This. This place is all we’ve ever known together. We’ve been married for 90 years, and we’ve spent all of them right here, working on that ark for more than half that time.” He shook his head slowly. “I’ve stayed about as long as I could. I’ve already made all the braces and fasteners that you’ll require, so you don’t really need a blacksmith anymore. And if something comes up, we’ve installed that little forge in the ark — Ham knows how to use it.” He looked at Noah. “And so do you.”
“Where will you go?” Noah asked.
“To Jabal’s people.” Evet pushed her hair behind her shoulder. “They’ve been really kind to us. We’ll get to enjoy some new surroundings and have a chance to meet new people.” She motioned to Purlek with her eyes. “And they could use a blacksmith.”
