by Bodie Thoene
My world was once again turned upside down in 1956. The Sinai Campaign was fought to put an end to terrorist incursions into Israel and to end the Egyptian blockade of Eilat. Varrick was among the Israeli field commanders who transformed the IDF into a professional army. He was at the heart of the planning. I did not see Varrick after the first of October 1956. He was involved in creating the battle plan for the operation.
October 29, Varrick was one of the soldiers who parachuted into the eastern approaches of the Mitla Pass near the Suez Canal. The French and British gave an ultimatum to Israel and Egypt, calling on both sides to withdraw from the canal area.
On October 30, in spite of the British and French ultimatum, heavy fighting between Egyptian and Israeli units raged. In an operation of a hundred hours, under the leadership of Moshe Dayan, the Sinai Peninsula fell into Israeli hands. The cost of our victory was the lives of 231 Israeli soldiers killed.
On October 31, 1956, there came a knock on my door in Tel Aviv. I was faced by IDF officers, dear friends of Varrick, who gave me the news that my husband had been killed in action. This time there was no question.
EPILOGUE
HAMPSTEAD VILLAGE, LONDON, ENGLAND CHURCH ROW
DECEMBER 22, 2008, 11:46 P.M.
The embers on the grate glowed red and gold. I caressed the cover of the journal and closed my eyes for a long moment. Could it be? I wondered silently. A row of three Meissen teacups stood as honored sentries on a high shelf.
Moments passed. There was a footstep in the room behind me. The nightingale rustled her feathers in the cage beside the piano. It then began to sing.
I gasped and raised my eyes to meet Loralei’s unwavering gaze. Beside the beautiful young woman stood a strong, dark-red-haired young man of about thirty, dressed in a brown tweed jacket and moleskin trousers.
Loralei’s red lips curved in a gentle smile as she observed my expression of wonder. “The nightingale always begins to sing when Evan comes into the room, Bodie.”
“Evan?” I closed my eyes again and covered my face with my hands.
Loralei answered, “My husband. Evan.”
The man spoke. “Evan. A good English name, don’t you think?”
“Oh,” I cried. “Oh! When I saw your face at the door tonight, I thought of the photograph: Lora at the White Rose Inn. And Eben standing behind her. Look at you!”
He went to the bookshelf and removed a battered metal box. Opening it, he smiled down at the contents and passed it to Loralei. She carefully unfolded the blue silk scarf and showed me what she had seen that night when the bombs rained down on London.
An enameled tin mask of a man’s face, perfect in every detail, lay within.
I gasped. “Judah?”
Evan nodded and answered my question with a quiet compassion. “One of many names over the years.”
So it was out. I began to cry quietly and asked stupidly, “Did you ever find the woman…the one pictured in the cigarette case?”
Loralei smiled. “Yes. Eben found her many years later. She was glad to have it back. Glad to know.” She knelt beside me and wiped my tear with her finger, placing it to her lips. “Don’t cry, my dear friend. I’ve wanted to tell you everything for so long. But…you understand.”
“Only letters. Never face to face.” My thoughts tumbled through my mind faster than I could speak. “But I heard the voice of a woman upstairs. An old woman’s voice.”
Loralei replied, “My sister, Jessica, lives with us.”
I stammered as understanding stole my breath. “It was you! You’ve not grown old! But…you are…you…both of you…”
Evan opened the birdcage door and extended his hand. The nightingale hopped onto his finger and remained as Evan held the songbird close to his cheek and stroked the tiny feathered head. “It is almost midnight for the world. These are the final moments of The Book of Hours. We who remain have been granted permission…live…until He returns.”
The vivid memory of Jesus’ words in Scripture exploded in my mind: “And if I want him to live until I return, what is that to you?”
Evan smiled. “We wanted you here with us tonight. Sixty-eight years since that night in Oxford. The blink of an eye. We thought of you when Lora found the injured bird in the garden.”
Loralei said, “That generation almost all flown away now. So many old friends. Soon Jessica will leave us. But you—you must save the memories.”
Evan completed the thought, “The sages say that the ink of the scribe is as precious in the eyes of the Lord as the blood of the martyr.”
Loralei nodded. “You must write what we were in that generation. How the world turned away and what apathy and ignorance cost in the end.”
Evan lowered his chin and held me fast with his green-gold eyes. “We have begun a new life now. A new generation. The names of those two lovers who lived in the garret room above this house are written in water. But their love and their stories must be recorded in stone.”
Evan moved toward the French doors, throwing them wide to the garden. “The past must not be forgotten.” Tucking the bird beneath his chin he motioned, beckoning us both out into the frigid night air.
The stars shone clear and bright like a diamond pathway above our heads. Light from the lamp beside the piano fell upon the trellis of a rose tree. A few brown-tinged leaves stirred as suddenly a second nightingale hopped out. The male bird cocked his head and eyed them expectantly.
Loralei whispered, “Look! There he is, Eben!”
Evan nodded. “He’s been waiting there for her, Lora. Singing to her every night. Waiting until she was free.”
Loralei put her arm around my shoulders. “So many songs yet to sing…”
Evan lifted his hand, releasing the nightingale. She hesitated only a moment, then, seeing her mate, fluttered away to his side.
“Adieu! Adieu! Thy plaintive anthem fades
Past the near meadows, over the still stream,
Up the hill-side, and now ’tis buried deep
In the next valley glades:
Was it a vision, or a waking dream?
Fled is that music: do I wake or sleep?”8
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8 John Keats, “Ode to a Nightingale.”
TAKING IT DEEPER…
Questions for individuals and groups
1. For over ten years, Bodie the journalist has been intrigued by Loralei’s life story. Whose life story intrigues you? What interests you specifically about that person? If you could interview him or her for ten minutes, what questions would you ask?
2. “I was both fascinated and terrified by the thought that Eben might be my nightingale” (p. 43). “He sacrificed himself to save the white rose. He gave his life for hers. By the shedding of his blood, the white rose was given life. A picture of Christ, some say” (p. 43). How did Eben truly become Lora’s “nightingale” toward the end of the book? What price did he pay, in return, for loving his white rose? How does this help you understand Jesus’ sacrifice for you?
3. “Knowing I’m right is not the same as showing I am, in front of people who might otherwise believe such stupidity…things will only get worse. If I…if we are not prepared for everything to come, this lunacy will continue until…I don’t know what will happen. I just know that they’re very bad people, the ones who make these claims based on science, and they will use gullible people to do unspeakable things if we don’t all know how to speak up.” Do you agree with Varrick’s statements (p. 51)? Why or why not? What examples can you give from history—and the lives of your loved ones? In what situation now can you make a difference if you take a stand?
4. Lora, an American, makes a stunning decision to marry her friend Varrick, in order to keep this member of the Kepler family safe from the Nazis (pp. 73-74). Would you have made the same decision? Why or why not? What life event(s) do you look back on now that caused you to suddenly grow up? To see things from a different light?
5. “It seemed incredibly un
just that Judah and the good sergeant, who had accomplished so much and brought us so far, should have died so near to safety…it left me feeling bitter and angry” (p. 192). If Lora could have known then that Judah didn’t die but lived on, how would that have changed her perspective? If you could look down the road a few years and see “the good” that may come from a current situation in your life, how might your perspective change to make you less bitter and angry?
6. “The world as we knew it was coming to an end, yet I could only think of myself,” Lora says (p. 196). “It was as though there was no tragedy…no story but my own. There was me, selfish and self-absorbed…and then were those hundreds of thousands of refugees all lumped together into one tragedy.” When life gets chaotic, do you tend to become more “me-centered” or “other-centered”? Why do you think that is? What patterns did you see modeled in your own family as you were growing up?
7. The young Belgian girl, Inga, has gone through such traumatic circumstances that she wishes she were dead (p. 278). Have you ever felt hopeless and depressed, like Inga? How did you respond during those times? Who helped you endure and fight through them? In what way(s) can those tough times strengthen you for the road ahead? How might you encourage others who are going through similar hard times?
8. Eben sits for hours with Lora in the Paddington tearoom as she recounts her story (p. 229). “His eyes, tender, were fixed on me, drawing me out of myself. I talked more than I had intended. I wept without embarrassment. At the same time his gentle questions drew me into his soul. He wiped my tears like an old familiar friend.” When you have felt “inside-out,” as Lora did that day, whom do you turn to? Why is that person so comfortable for you?
9. Were you surprised that Lora found love with Eben, and that they married? Why or why not?
10. In a London park Lora meets a middle-aged woman with a pleasant smile. The woman asks Lora questions about Eben’s photographs, then points out the Hebrew words embedded in the pattern of each rose in his poem. Lora is stunned, because she hadn’t even seen them until her eyes were opened by the woman’s words: “Everything means something” (p. 247). Have you ever encountered a person you thought might be “an angel,” sent to help you? If so, tell the story.
11. Do you believe it could be possible that there are Thirty-six Righteous (witnesses of God’s glory) walking the earth today, holding back God’s judgment against the earth? (pp. 296-298) Why or why not? How could the possibility of it being true influence the way you look at others? Respond to others? The way you relate to your Creator?
12. Would you want your name to be written in water (p. 369)—or stone? Explain.
13. Step into Lora’s shoes for a moment. You’re married to the love of your life when you discover that your first husband, whom you thought was dead, is actually alive (p. 364)! What would you think? Feel? How would you resolve the situation?
14. Do you believe that “We must speak for those who have no voice” (p. 213)? Why or why not? How are you actively “speaking” your beliefs? What are you doing for “the least of these”?
15. Every life has a story to tell. What about your life might be intriguing to “the next generation”? What events might give them hope in the midst of their own tumultuous journeys? Why not share your story? (Even better, write it down!)
ABOUT THE AUTHORS
BODIE and BROCK THOENE (pronounced Tay-nee) have written over fifty works of historical fiction. That these best sellers have sold more than twenty million copies and won eight ECPA Gold Medallion Awards affirms what millions of readers have already discovered—that the Thoenes are not only master stylists but experts at capturing readers’ minds and hearts.
In their timeless classic series about Israel (The Zion Chronicles, The Zion Covenant, The Zion Legacy), the Thoenes’ love for both story and research shines. With The Shiloh Legacy and Shiloh Autumn (poignant portrayals of the American Depression), The Galway Chronicles (dramatic stories of the 1840s famine in Ireland), and the Legends of the West (gripping tales of adventure and danger in a land without law), the Thoenes have made their mark in modern history. In the A.D. Chronicles they step seamlessly into the world of Jerusalem and Rome, in the days when Yeshua walked the earth. Now the Zion Diaries cover the time period between their best-selling Zion Covenant series (1936–1940) and Zion Chronicles series (1947–1948). “These timeless tales are the missing pieces of the lives of some of the most beloved characters from our Zion Chronicles and Zion Covenant series,” the Thoenes say. “Their compelling stories of courage and love chronicle the darkest of times, when good seemed lost, but God’s Truth stood firm and shone as a beacon in the midst of Hitler’s evil. Based on decades of interviews and divine encounters, the Zion Diaries are our most up-close and personal books ever.”
Bodie, who has degrees in journalism and communications, began her writing career as a teen journalist for her local newspaper. Eventually her byline appeared in prestigious periodicals such as U.S. News and World Report, The American West, and The Saturday Evening Post. She also worked for John Wayne’s Batjac Productions and ABC Circle Films as a writer and researcher. John Wayne described her as “a writer with talent that captures the people and the times!” Long intrigued by the personal accounts of history, and the romantic and often mysterious stories based in Hawaii, Bodie has also authored Love Finds You in Lahaina, Hawaii. “There, the past and the present overlap through the lives of elders sharing their memories,” Bodie says. “When I met an old Hawaiian woman, who was making leis in the shade of Lahaina’s banyan tree, I was entranced by her photos—and her personal remembrances of Princess Kaiulani. The rumors she shared shed new light on the old story, as if Romeo and Juliet had a happy ending. As she told me the legends and the romance, I knew I must write it one day.”
Brock has often been described by Bodie as “an essential half of this writing team.” With degrees in both history and education, Brock has, in his role as researcher and story-line consultant, added the vital dimension of historical accuracy. Due to such careful research, the Zion Covenant and Zion Chronicles series are recognized by the American Library Association, as well as Zionist libraries around the world, as classic historical novels and are used to teach history in college.
Bodie and her husband, Brock, have four grown children—Rachel, Jake, Luke, and Ellie—and seven grandchildren. Their children are carrying on the Thoene family talent as the next generation of writers, and Luke produces the Thoene audiobooks. Bodie and Brock divide their time between Hawaii, London, and Nevada.
www.thoenebooks.com | www.summersidepress.com
www.familyaudiolibrary.com
THOENE FAMILY CLASSICS™
THOENE FAMILY CLASSIC HISTORICALS
By Bodie and Brock Thoene
Gold Medallion Winners*
THE ZION COVENANT
Vienna Prelude*
Prague Counterpoint
Munich Signature
Jerusalem Interlude
Danzig Passage
Warsaw Requiem*
London Refrain
Paris Encore
Dunkirk Crescendo
THE ZION CHRONICLES
The Gates of Zion*
A Daughter of Zion
The Return to Zion
A Light in Zion
The Key to Zion*
THE SHILOH LEGACY
In My Father’s House*
A Thousand Shall Fall
Say to This Mountain
SHILOH AUTUMN
THE GALWAY CHRONICLES
Only the River Runs Free*
Of Men and of Angels
Ashes of Remembrance*
All Rivers to the Sea
THE ZION LEGACY
Jerusalem Vigil
Thunder from Jerusalem
Jerusalem’s Heart
Jerusalem Scrolls
Stones of Jerusalem
Jerusalem’s Hope
A.D. CHRONICLES
First Light
Second Touch
Third Watch
Fourth Dawn
Fifth Seal
Sixth Covenant
Seventh Day
Eighth Shepherd
Ninth Witness
Tenth Stone
Eleventh Guest
Twelfth Prophecy
ZION DIARIES
The Gathering Storm
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THOENE FAMILY CLASSIC ROMANCE
By Bodie Thoene
Love Finds You in Lahaina, Hawaii
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THOENE FAMILY CLASSIC AMERICAN LEGENDS
LEGENDS OF THE WEST
By Brock and Bodie Thoene
Legends of the West, Volume One
Sequoia Scout
The Year of the Grizzly
Shooting Star
Legends of the West Volume Two
Gold Rush Prodigal
Delta Passage
Hangtown Lawman
Legends of the West, Volume Three
Hope Valley War
The Legend of Storey County
Cumberland Crossing
Legends of the West, Volume Four
The Man from Shadow Ridge
Cannons of the Comstock
Riders of the Silver Rim
LEGENDS OF VALOR
by Jake Thoene and Luke Thoene
Sons of Valor
Brothers of Valor
Fathers of Valor
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THOENE FAMILY CLASSIC CONTEMPORARY
by Bodie, Brock, and Luke Thoene
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THOENE CLASSIC NONFICTION
by Bodie and Brock Thoene
LITTLE BOOKS OF WHY
Why a Manger?
Why a Shepherd?
Why a Star?
Why a Crown?
Writer-to-Writer
THOENE FAMILY CLASSIC SUSPENSE
by Jake Thoene
CHAPTER 16 SERIES
Shaiton’s Fire
Firefly Blue
Fuel the Fire
