The Complete 8-Book Guardians Adventure Saga

by Summer Lee

  “Greetings, beautiful Achsah,” he said.

  “Greetings, Othniel,” she responded as the corners of her mouth quivered in excitement that he was here with that special light in his eyes that he always had when he looked at her. “I thought you would be far afield for some days on the front line. What are you doing here?”

  He looked into her eyes. “I’m picking up supplies for your father from one of our caches. My father has gathered Canaanite clothing from abandoned houses. Some of it, he has torn into bandages for the battlefield. He sent word for me to come to the cave and get some things that he put in there.”

  She nodded her approval. “I saw the cave, but I did not have an oil lamp with me to see what was inside. That is good that your father is supplying our caches. Soldiers go through a lot of bandages.”

  “Yes, we do.”

  “Are you going to stay near the base camp for a while?” she asked.

  “No. Why?”

  “I need you here.”

  “You do?” You need me?” he said, smiling. He stood closely in front of her now, so close she could feel his minty breath on her face. He must have been chewing some recently.

  “Greetings, Achsah, my love,” he whispered, as if he had just arrived. He always talked like that when they were alone. It thrilled her.

  “Greetings, again.” She sighed and smiled. “I think you are getting the wrong idea, Othniel. I’m afraid at my watcher post. That is why I need you here. Fear.”

  “What is going on around here that frightens you?”

  “Not much, yet, but I need someone close by in case there is a skirmish near camp today.”

  “A skirmish! Here? So far from the front lines? None would dare!” He stepped back and laughed. “This is not a game, Achsah. This is war—the real thing. If you need me to protect you, that’s one thing. If you are asking me to stay for frivolous reasons, that is quite another. I cannot stay and play courting games with you right now, as much as I would like to do so.”

  “I know. Believe me, I am aware of war. I am the daughter of a soldier. A chief.”

  “How well I know that you are the daughter of Chief Caleb. I wish he was not your father, but somehow, I will make him like me.”

  “I’m sure he likes you. You are a good soldier.”

  “That I am. Come here,” he said. “Listen to the heart of a soldier, how strong it is.”

  Moving closer, she placed her head on his chest and listened to his heart beating. She wanted to tell him that she was frightened because a strange, giant creature had been there and might return, but she liked being in his arms. It was scandalous to be in his arms, and his nearness sent tingles through her.

  “I just want you nearby, Othniel. I would feel safer if you stayed close to me.”

  “I will always be here for you. In spirit.”

  “I know, but you know what I mean. You need to be here, in the flesh.”

  “Goodness, girl! You obviously need a husband right away. Let me see what I can do about that.”

  She giggled. “Othniel, you are such a flirt!”

  “No, I’m serious. Sadly, your father is the one stopping me from marrying you. All he has to do is say the word and you would be mine. I could protect you so much better that way. Keep you closer to my heart. Oh, he loves my courageous fighting, but he hates it that I am the son of a ragman. I cannot seem to advance to the rank of captain, either, which is what I truly deserve.”

  “I know,” she said. “I wish I didn’t have to admit it, but you are speaking the truth. My father judges you for the circumstances of your birth. He is like that.”

  “Bah! My father’s livelihood has been the bane of my birthright. Know this, Achsah. I will work harder than any other soldier to rise above my humble beginnings, perhaps with your help.”

  “Oh, Othniel! How sweet!” she exclaimed. He was always so romantic.

  “I carry the vision of your face with me into battle and I do all that I do not just for Israel, but for you as well. I see the enemy coming at me and I am fierce with them because I know that if I let them past me, they could find you and hurt you. It makes me braver in battle than a man has any right to be. Please know that my love for you makes me fearless. You are always in here with me.”

  He placed his hand on his heart.

  She was very moved by his words. “That is where I wish to remain today, tomorrow, and each day after. In your heart,” she admitted.

  She squeezed her closer to him and she could smell the honest sweat of him and the tremor that ran through him, for her.

  With her head still on his chest, she noticed that for a brief, shining moment, their hearts beat as one. It felt like a small miracle.

  His hands clasping her waist, he held her tightly against his body, and said, “I will always be here for you, whenever you need me. That is the kind of relationship we have. We are here for each other. I have my fighting duties, though. I cannot be in your presence every moment of every day. It is not that I don’t want to be here next to you.”

  “I know. There is a kinship in our hearts which is unshakable. I am so happy that you came back to the camp for supplies. And Caleb should be grateful for your father’s services. War cannot proceed without a continuous supply of clean, rolled bandages from the ragman. It is an honest living, so please do not resent your father. Though his work is humble, Israel needs him and you should not be ashamed of what he is or what he does.” She paused. “Apparently, he is a good father?”

  “Yes, he is. Very good. Thank you, Achsah,” he said gratefully. “I wish everyone valued what he does and thought the way you do.”

  She continued, “We all do what we can in this war, from the greatest, like Joshua and my father, to the men like you, a soldier and the son of a ragman, and down to the likes of me, a girl who cannot fight beside men in battle.”

  “My love, don’t even think it, that you will fight in battle! If anything happened to you, all of the strength would rush out of me, forever.”

  “The Lord is your true strength, Othniel.”

  “You are,” he replied.

  “No, Othniel. I am just a girl. Your strength comes from your obedience to Him,” Achsah argued.

  “You are a good girl, Achsah. Your modesty does not go unnoticed. It is a rare quality and shows that though you are the daughter of a chief, you are unspoiled and willing to work as hard as anyone.”

  “Thank you. I try to do my best.” She felt his love as his body pulsated against hers, and she refused to move. “Go on with your military business, but return to me quickly, Othniel. I will count the hours until you return.”

  “Your heart is beating so fast. What are you so worried about?” he asked.

  For some reason, she was afraid to tell Othniel about the giant, the Anakim. “I fear something awful will happen today,” she confessed. “I simply wish that you could stay right here.”

  “I understand that you miss me, but your sentry post is fairly safe and set back from the main battlegrounds. And your title as official watcher is more honorary than strategic. Didn’t you know?”

  “No!” she said, stung. “I am a real watcher. The official and only watcher for all of Israel.”

  “Dear girl, fear not. Your father has others that you don’t know about doing the same thing that you are doing.”

  “Oh,” she said, humiliated and disappointed. “I didn’t know.”

  “They are closer to the front, even on the front line, but you are the only watcher for the outskirts of our civilian base camp. I’m sure you are the best of the watchers. The best of all!”

  She smiled because she knew that he always tempered the hard truth with kindness, which was a rare quality in men.

  “You are good to me,” she said.

  “Of course I am.” He placed his finger under her chin and lifted her face until their lips met once again. “My pretty innocent! I take your face with me wherever I go.” He traced a finger down her jawline and kissed her fo
r a long, long time.

  She quivered at his touch. When he finally broke the kiss, she pushed him back a bit and asked, “Please, Othniel. Someone will see us!” She changed the subject. “What is the news from the far battlefield?”

  “Your father, Chief Caleb, is in charge today. He has found an adversary’s camp, and needs backup until he takes it down, but first, my task will be to go further afield with the other soldiers to search the bushes and trees for the archers hiding there. As well as the bandages for the soldiers, I come for more arrows, for water, and for dried figs and dates. The men are very hungry and thirsty and must be sustained in the field. I shouldn’t delay my return to them, my sweet Achsah.”

  “I understand. I won’t be selfish and keep you here when they need weapons, food and water. And bandages. I hope they don’t need too many bandages. I will be afraid while you are gone that something may happen here.”

  “Don’t let your imagination run wild. There is no evil monster trying to get you on the outskirts of the camp of our women and children.”

  She was startled that he read her so closely. “Of course not. There are no monsters, and no giants, such as the ones that Noah spoke of, long ago.”

  “That’s my girl. Be brave. Be steadfast and hold this line with your watchful awareness.”

  “I will,” she promised.

  Holding her close, he kissed her cheeks tenderly and then her mouth again. She did not tell him to stop.

  “You are cherished, Achsah. Someday, if your father will accept me, I will marry you and take care of you always.”

  “Oh my!” she said, as it sank in that he truly meant to try to claim her hand someday. The ragman’s son. What would her father say when that day came? “Please just take care of yourself and return to me just as you are now—without wounds.”

  “I will return soon. I promise.” He moved some boulders to let light into the cave and got the supplies he needed. Then he moved the boulders back in place, something Achsah herself could not do because they were so heavy. Apparently, the cave was an important cache for supplies.

  Then he turned away without a farewell. It was Othniel’s way. As a soldier, he hated goodbyes.

  She blinked back tears as she watched him depart. “Hurry back, Othniel,” she whispered, blowing a kiss to his back.

  As Achsah watched him walk away, part of her heart followed him as it always did when they parted. Oh, Othniel, she thought. I want to plan a future with you. I want to love you, but I can’t. Not yet. I’m not ready for marriage. And what will Father say about you as a suitor?

  She suspected if he knew that Othniel was serious about marrying her, there would be angry yelling from Caleb, a lot of yelling. He did not like to be challenged by his daughter, or anyone, for that matter. His will ruled in their home, even though it was just a tent.

  Tears ran down her cheeks and off her chin. Things had to change. She could not see Othniel so much until she settled other important issues. The giant, for one.

  She turned and sat down on a tree stump.

  For the rest of the day, she sat with her back next to the opening of the cave, watching and waiting for the soldiers to return home, or for the Anakim to come back and take his revenge on her.

  She did not see any more activity over the horizon until evening, when her father, Caleb, returned from battle. Her heart was filled with joy as she stood to greet him and ran next to him to match the gait of his long legs. He always took large steps, despite his age.

  “Father? Did you have a successful day of battle?” she asked, trotting next to him.

  “Yes, and what of your day?” he asked politely, but not slowing down. He never walked slowly, lest anyone think of him as old, which he was.

  “It was…uneventful,” she lied.

  “Uneventful is good. That means that the enemy is not close to our camp. Yet.”

  She nodded. Going inside their tent, she prepared his supper. They feasted on a lamb’s foreleg and vegetables which had been roasting all day on the edge of the coals of a slow fire. They then ate bread and honey while they visited with one another until bedtime.

  When her father kissed her goodnight on the cheek, her heart felt the weight of her secrets: A giant, and Othniel’s kisses. As for the giant, she knew that, tactically, it would not do to split their army in half—one half to hold the battlefield and the other to search for a wounded Anakim giant. To split the army might result in the deaths of men, or even the fall of the day’s battle. No, for now, she knew the Israelite men must fight united. And if the giant came back, Achsah would have to kill him herself.

  Her heart quivered with this big secret…that a giant was close to the base camp of the civilians.

  For now, to spare the lives of her people, Achsah decided not to tell her father about the giant because it would cause tactical changes in the army’s maneuvers that could affect the bigger battles.

  Nor did she tell anyone how Othniel had acted when no one else was around. Kisses from a ragman’s son were nothing short of scandalous.

  And if her father learned of about Othniel’s kisses, that he had dared to touch her, Caleb might punish Othniel, or even have him executed or sent to some far place in the land. Achsah knew it was not beyond her father to end a problem in that way.

  Othniel’s kisses would need to stay a secret. For now.

  Warrior Woman

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  Also available:

  Beach Angel

  A young adult novel

  by Summer Lee

  (read on for a sample)

  Chapter One

  It was a dry, hot June afternoon in Southern California, and I was bored. Unlike some of my friends, I didn’t have a girlfriend to hang out with. At least not yet. I was planning on changing that someday soon. Either way, I was alone now, my chores were done, the house was empty, and I was bored senseless.

  I dropped in front of the TV, flicked it on, scanned through the channels, and then turned it off in frustration. There was nothing worth watching. I drummed my fingers on the coffee table, which I had just polished. My fingertips mucked up the newly waxed surface. I didn’t care. It was just going to get mucked up again anyway, right?

  I called my best friend, Alex Martinez, a kid I had known virtually all my life. Alex was always a little bigger and a little better than me at everything. And I was already pretty good, anyway. Which meant that Alex was always the star, and always got the girls. But Alex, to his credit, never rubbed it in or even seemed to acknowledge his superiority in just about everything. One of the reasons we were friends.

  “What’s up?” he asked.

  “Nothing, I’m pretty bored,” I answered back.

  “Me too. Let’s shoot some hoops at the school. I’ll help you with your crossover dribble.”

  “It really needs work?”

  “It’s like watching a dying seagull.”

  “Not all of us have been blessed with freakish ability like yourself.”

  “That’s why I want to give back. You know, to the little people.”

  “Ha ha, very funny, Alex. Don’t forget I was taller than you when we were in the fifth grade.”

  “What happened?”

  “Genetics, I guess.”

  “My dad is five feet seven and my mom is five feet.”

  “Well maybe Shaq is a distant cousin or something.”

  “You want to play or not?”

  “Yeah,” I said, grinning. “That would be fine.”

  The club tryouts were soon and I wanted to start on my team. I was a good shooter, but Alex, of course, was much better and I needed him to trust me on the court. Because he would be the point guard and I need my touches.

  “Meet me out front,” he said.

  I stuffed my cell phone in my pocket and got my basketball out of the closet. I then went outside to wait for Alex. It wouldn’t take hi
m long to get to my house. He only lived two blocks away.

  As I dribbled the ball on the sidewalk, I thought about Alex and all the fun we had playing basketball together when we were young. We both always made the teams through grade school, and again last year in the seventh grade. Most games were played on outdoor courtyards.

  We both went to an after school program at a local church called Integrity Boys Club. They played a lot of sports against clubs in other cities, especially basketball. Now we were getting ready for a winter league.

  The Integrity Club was planning a basketball camp for this summer, to further develop our skills. Alex and I both planned to go. That would be cool. I hoped to get more of the fundamentals down so that I could play more competitively in the eighth grade at school. Our parents thought alike and said it would be a good experience for us. As my mom says, “An after school sport would keep you boys busy.”

  Only one person could interfere with my having a great life at Buena Vista Junior High. That was public enemy number one, Chopper Cruz. I knew that Chopper had been after me ever since I took him on last year. I stuck up for my little buddy, Tim Ho, when Chopper punched him. I attempted to kick Chopper’s butt for that.

  But that wasn’t the only time I tried to teach him a lesson. I bloodied his nose last spring when he was pushing some girls around. When they called out for help, I had to defend them.

  Word was out that he now planned to smash my face in. He was a bully who picked on small boys and helpless girls. I was tired of fighting with him, but if he started something, I’d finish it. I hadn’t decided yet what I’d do to him. I couldn’t let him get away with that kind of talk. I had a reputation to defend, after all.

  Respect was big in our junior high. You respected a person stronger than you. I had a feeling that before the year was over I was going to face off with Chopper. One of us would then learn the meaning of the word respect. I preferred it to be him, rather than me.