by Summer Lee
She prayed constantly; both silently and with Sam. She had a tightness in her stomach that she knew wouldn’t go away until they found the lost half of their team and left Noah’s timeline behind.
Achava felt like she was getting closer to Sam. He was becoming a better friend. She didn’t want anything to spoil that, but she had severe doubts about their current situation. Her humanity was increasing on a daily basis.
She looked at Sam and just wanted to be his woman. She wanted to rest her head on his chest and be comforted, without feeling like she had to give anything but love in return. Even though he proved himself both mentally, and now physically, she still had to be strong.
That was all she knew.
“Sam,” she said, reluctantly. “I promised I would be completely honest with you and I will.”
Sam looked confused, as they continued walking toward the unknown. “I appreciate that, Achava. I don’t ever want to make you feel that you can’t talk to me. We’re partners.”
“We are more than that,” she replied. She saw that it was to Sam’s delight. “I have not mentioned anything about possibly attempting to Soul Merge since we have arrived here.”
“I noticed.”
“You did?”
“Hey. You don’t owe me any explanations about that,” he returned, while kicking a few rocks. “There are a lot of things I still don’t quite understand, but that doesn’t mean I’m going to be as quick to judge as I have been before. If it’s something I need to know, you’ll tell me when you’re ready. I just have to be patient.”
She was speechless. She knew he was a good listener, but her heart skipped a beat after what he had just said. She clasped his arm with both hands. She wanted so much to hug him tight, but she knew it would cause him pain, because his body hurt all over from the fight.
She would not have to tell her weakness. A single tear rolled down her cheek. “Thank you. I mean—really. Thank you.”
He smiled. “Anytime.”
Batting her eyes, she smiled back. Momentarily, her mind went back to the day she first met Sam at Professor Salinger’s home. He was just a pupil, and seemed like such a young boy back then. The professor had trusted him enough to take him to Israel in search of the staff of Moses. But after the death of Salinger, Sam had taken the staff of Moses home with him. He had returned home to take over the teaching position of the late Dr. Salinger, using the staff for years. Now here he was, retired, and so strong and mature. She felt him looking at her, so she looked up and smiled.
“A penny for your thoughts,” he said.
“Just thinking about us. Those guys found us last night because we built a fire,” she said. “We must not build a fire tonight. You need your rest.”
“What do you propose?”
She pointed to a grassy area hidden in the midst of bushes. “Let’s sleep in there.”
“But it’s not dark.”
“I know. But you need your rest. Your body will heal faster.”
Chapter the Sixth
WHEN SAM AWAKENED the next morning, he felt Achava’s hand on his chest. He picked it up and kissed it. “Hi.”
“Hi to you. Did you sleep well?”
“Yes. I felt you close all night.” He smiled. “And I loved it.”
“Me too.” She stood. “Time to continue our search for the ark. That is, if you are up to it.”
They were on the trail early that morning, walking again toward the ark. He leaned on the cane that Achava made for him, as they walked along. He had no idea where they were going, but as long as he was with Achava, he knew they could overcome any obstacle. They stopped by a stream of water to rest. Achava walked out into the water where a school of fish was swimming by. She grasped four of them and killed them. Building a fire, she prepared breakfast. They then bathed in the water. She put a salve from the backpack, on his wounds, filled the water bottles and then they moved on.
Sam looked around. “I don’t see the ark anyplace. Do you think we’ve gone the wrong direction again?”
“By now I am trusting God to lead us.”
They stopped at midday for a granola bar snack. After that, Sam and Achava sipped water from the remaining two water bottles. As evening came, they only had a few granola bars left. So they would have to find food soon. There was no telling how long they would be in Noah’s time-zone, and Sam did not want to assume anything.
They came up over a hilltop, and Sam stopped short. He was shocked, as he thought his vision was playing tricks on him. “Achava!” he called out in shock. “Look at what I see.”
Sam couldn’t stop smiling.
She looked at him and then followed his stare. About 500 yards away, there appeared to be a small town of sorts. She squealed. “That is so exciting.”
“We hope it is exciting,” said Sam. “Perhaps they will be friendly.” As the two got closer, they could see several dwellings.
“Oh yeah. Maybe they’ll give us food.”
“Maybe we should sneak around the back, or something,” Sam said, nervously. “I don’t want a repeat of what happened with those huge nomads earlier.” He looked at his bandaged wrists and knew he would be of no help to Achava if he was needed in a fight.
Achava sighed. “My frustration stems from not being able to communicate with the local inhabitants. As soon as we speak, I fear that any chance of befriending them is gone. I need to pray.”
She cleared rocks away from the bushes. She got on her knees and clasped her hands in prayer, while looking up at Sam. “I am going to ask God for help. Care to join me?”
He smiled, as he knelt down and clasped his hands as well.
They both closed their eyes, as Achava began her prayer. “Almighty Father in Heaven. We come to You for help and guidance. We are here, because we have been traveling around, protecting Your artifacts, and now we need assistance. Please guide us, so that we may be able to somehow communicate with the people from this period of time. We do not want to cause confusion. Nor do we want to cause any disruption with the writing of your sacred text. You are the only one who can show us the light. We are also hungry and thirsty, my Lord. We thank You for Your blessing us with food in advance, and we ask that You keep Khassima and Anthea safe as well. These things we pray, in the name of the holy Son, Jesus Christ. Amen.”
“Amen!” Sam added. As they stood up, he looked at her. “You are a godly woman.”
“I need to be. My calling requires it.”
“I understand,” he said. “Now I have a question.”
“Please ask,” she replied.
He took in a deep breath. “I know it’s going to sound ridiculous, but I was just wondering why you change up your prayer wording. I’m not trying to judge you or anything. I was just curious, because some people that I’ve known who prayed, stuck to the same phrases all the time.”
“That’s how I talk to you, Sam.” She smiled. “Everyone must pray the way they feel best. I feel the words my heart wants to say and say them. If they repeat, then so be it. If they are different, that’s alright as well. The words have to echo your heart. If you pray and do not feel it, then maybe you should not be praying at that time. Personally, I never pray unless I know that it is coming from my heart.” She paused and studied his face. “I hope I have answered your question.”
He nodded and then looked into her eyes. “Your eyes!”
“What’s wrong with my eyes?” She looked nervous. “Is everything alright, Sam?
“Absolutely nothing is wrong with your eyes,” he said. “They’re glowing a brighter gold than ever before. Pupils, irises, everything is a bright golden glistening color.”
“It’s the Lord,” she said. “That means that God has answered my prayer.” She beamed. “Do you remember that as soon as we saw the crown of Christ, my eyes turned into a golden hue.”
“I remember.”
“That is how God is guiding me now,” she said. “The solution has been with me this entire time, Sam. How could I have b
een so ignorant? Sometimes, I have so much faith in God that I forget to have faith in myself to trust Him.”
“So when I see your eyes glow, I am to know God is leading us.”
“Yes, Sam.” She squatted down and touched her hands to the ground. Lifting her eyes toward heaven, she smiled. The golden glow around her eyes spread out, and soon surrounded her entire body. “I can feel it. This is the right way.”
Sam looked around to make sure that she wasn’t attracting undue attention. He saw no one. The coast was clear. “What will happen next?”
The glow seemed to follow the length of her arms pulsate into the ground. It was as if heaven came down. After several golden pulses, the glow started to fade. Achava was a little disoriented as Sam ran to help her up.
“Wow,” she said, calmly. “That was definitely different. Whew!”
“Well, at least you’re in good spirits about it,” Sam replied, thankful that she was alright. “I’m not even going to ask what happened, but I suppose it has something to do with communicating with the locals.”
“That and finding Noah,” she replied. “I think it means we are on the path God wants us to be on. There is only one way to find out.” She raised her brows and took in a deep breath. She pointed. “Let’s go that way.”
They started out again toward the back of the town. As they got closer, they could see that the primitive housing appeared to be windowless, baked brick houses.
Achava walked with a renewed confidence. Sam was eager to see if she could talk to the first person she ran into. He needed to stop second-guessing her. It was a process he went through automatically, since they had basically worked independently of each other, despite them teaming up. Considering their differences, learning to get along with each other was a hard process for both of them.
The town was quiet. There was no activity coming from inside it. No one was outside either. “Let’s go around to the front. It looks safe.”
The front was clear—no people were home. Achava slowed her pace, as they carefully walked past several dwellings. There were low openings to allow people to enter on their hands and knees. Otherwise, there were no doors. “It looks cold.” Sam said, “I imagine that they put up some kind of material over the doorway to protect the inhabitants from the winter.”
“They have to be primitive,” said Achava. “We need to watch for their return. We need a game plan. Maybe we can blend in when the people return,” Achava said, as she eyed the dwellings.
Sam nodded. “I agree. Do you think we should go inside one of these houses to see if they might have some extra pieces of clothing lying around that we can borrow?”
“I doubt they have closets.” Achava giggled, knowing she made a joke. She got on all fours and crawled inside without hesitating, while Sam stood guard. There was no need for both of them to get caught.
She came out as quickly as she went in. She shook her head. “There are sleeping mats rolled up and tied to the walls. The fire circle is cold. On to the next one.”
Sam peeked in the next one. He was just glad that no one was inside sleeping, or doing anything personal.
Achava went to the next one, and so on as they took turns. It wasn’t until the sixth one, that she came out with a smile on her face and an armful of what appeared to be some kind of rough cloth and several strands of rope.
Achava knew exactly what to do with the material. When she folded it, there were automatic arm holes, so she didn’t have to rig those. She wrapped it around her, making sure there was enough to make a hood for her head. She used the rope to secure the headdress, so it would not slip.
Once she was ready, she dressed Sam. Sam felt the roughness of the cloth. It seemed more like a cut up potato sack then clothing. Once he had his robe on, she tied a piece of the rope around his waist for a belt. She then removed his wrist bandages and replaced them with the cleanest cloth she could find. She cut the cloth into strips to cover his wrists.
Next was the face bandage.
“I am sorry, Sam,” she said, concerned with exposing who they were. “I can cover your head in the cloth, but not your face. We must remove the bandage from your face. You must go without.”
“That’s okay. It is well enough to air dry.” Sam shrugged, as he removed the bandage from his nose. “I need to blend in, so it’s okay. It’ll give me a naturally rugged look. What do you think?”
“Perfect,” she said, with a sparkle in her golden eyes. She paused for a moment, gazing into his eyes. A sensation of love vibrated between them. They both sighed at the same time.
Sam put the bandages that they removed into the pack on her back. They didn’t want to leave any trace of the future in that time.
They walked past a smoldering fire in the middle of the town. There were large pieces of wood crisscrossed in a pile. No one had been there for a while to stoke the flames.
Both of them agreed to remain silent until they had a chance to come across someone. Anyone!
Sam asked if she thought the town was quickly evacuated because of some huge danger, or if the citizens were just absorbed in some kind of ritual that involved the entire village.
“I don’t know, but I expect them to return before nightfall.”
They ended up walking all the way through the hamlet, and then into a small clump of trees. They worked their way through the trees, but stayed within the perimeter of the village. They were settling in when they heard talking. Ducking under some bushes, they listened. At first it sounded like gibberish, but then Achava understood.
“What are they saying?” Sam whispered to her, as they looked out from the cover of the bushes and trees.
As the voices continued, Achava slowly started to understand what they were saying and gave the interpretation. “They are saying, ‘There will be no rain! There will be no flood!’ One male voice exclaimed, ‘I curse that message from Noah.’”
“Why do we put up with his rants?” A woman asked. “We should have taken care of him a long time ago!”
“We cannot just kill for the sake of the kill,” another male spoke up. Where the others had anger in their voices, this man had sympathy and compassion.
All they could see were shapes and figures. The two could not see anyone clearly because of the leaves and branches. The people chattered on. Sam asked, “Do you understand that?”
“Yes.” Achava tried to contain her excitement of being able to understand what they were saying. “It appears that they are still arguing about whether it will rain or not. I believe they are also talking about Noah. Most of them are angry. They may have heard about us. I do not know if now would be a good time to approach. Perhaps we should wait until they disperse.”
Sam looked around. “Maybe we had better move off to one side, because I think we’re right in the middle of their dispersal path.”
The two quietly and carefully moved to the furthest side of the woods that they possibly could. There they waited and watched without revealing their position.
After about an hour of the same bickering without any solutions, the crowd slowly dispersed. A couple walked toward them, stopping a good 5 to 6 feet away. Sam and Achava squatted as low to the ground that they could. The couple walked on. There Sam and Achava waited without making noise.
Sam looked out into the clearing and said that only one person was left. “Achava,” he whispered, as quietly as he could. “I see one man. I can’t tell if he’s the only one, because of the trees. If we ever have a chance, I think now might be it. I don’t hear any more movement in the trees, so I’ll keep a look out, if you want to go have a chat.”
Achava was shaking, looking nervous and excited at the same time. She was going to actually talk with someone born thousands of years before her. She needed to be a good representative of the true God and only discuss with the local things of the time they were in.
“You have to give yourself a mental check, to make sure that you don’t accidentally say something that will be over his head. So
mething that he could never hope to understand.” Sam urged her forward.
“I know,” she said. “I feel that my appearance should allow me to fit in, but if I give that man any indication as to what the future holds, I could disrupt all of time and space.”
She could also change the way Genesis 6-10 was written. She had a huge responsibility and had to make sure she did nothing to cause a problem.
“Sam,” she whispered. “I think it best that you not only be quiet, but perhaps play mute in front of whoever else we meet here.” She felt uneasy asking him to lie, but she didn’t have much choice.
He smiled and nodded.
She took in a deep breath, smiled at Sam, stood up and then walked quietly and non-threateningly out into the open.
Suddenly, she was surrounded by the wild-looking nomads. They came running out of their huts. At the same time, four giants came toward her. They had been hiding, waiting for her. One of them said in Hebrew, “We fooled you, little miss.”
“Come and get me, boys!” Achava said in their language, as she put up both fists. She knew that Sam couldn’t understand her words, but perhaps he would comprehend what she was saying by her actions. Sam slipped into the clearing behind her, and hid from view.
Achava watched the men move slowly toward her. She usually waited for her opponent to go first. That way she could tell their fighting style and techniques that would make it easier for her to fight them. This time it was different. She had to make her move.
She rushed toward the first man and hit him twice in the gut. She didn’t wait for his response, as she swung around and kicked the next one square in the jaw by almost doing the vertical splits. She then picked up the next one and threw him into the final man. The blow was sufficient enough to knock them both into another dwelling and crushing through the wall.
The first man recovered quickly and jabbed at her with his spear. Compared to Achava, his movements were slow and predictable. She grabbed the spear and pulled it out of his hands. Ignoring the blood dripping from her hand, she then snapped the spear into. It broke in two parts. She threw the pieces on the ground. But the giants were not going to quit.
