SIN and HONEY: Seven Years of Longing

Chapter 16: Rachel

Leah smiled, her eyes welling with tears. "You aren't as obedient as I thought."She retrieved the basket of fluffy ewe wool and pushed thick wads of it into the heels of Rachel's white wedding shoes made from kidskin. From a basket near her mat, Rachel pulled out the expensive, finely woven garment that she had planned to wear for her wedding tomorrow morning. She would still wear it, but not as herself.

"How did you meet Levi?"Rachel asked, shaking out the creases in the dress. It felt so good to be here with her sister, conspiring as they did when they were children.

"Don't you remember?"Leah replied, examining her handiwork with the shoes. "His boss became ill, so he was going to Haran looking for work and stopped here ..."

            Rachel. "No—I mean ...how did you fall in love?"

            "Oh."Leah paused for a moment. "It was sunrise. About five years ago, on the riverbank, during a drought season. Father had just tried to pawn me off on Elias Ya'atan, that old wine merchant who drank more than he sold, you probably remember."

            Rachel did remember. Elias Ya'atan left Haran in the middle of the night because he was found in the bed of a slave after negotiating a bride-price for Leah. Rumors spread that he had found Leah "too plain." 

            "It was a scandal,"Leah continued, a sad smile sweeping across her face. "Humiliating. I was walking by myself to avoid pitying looks. I hadn't wanted to marry that oaf anyway. Levi approached me. He'd only been at camp a few weeks, but seemed so different from any other man I'd ever met. He was solemn. He moved through the world carefully, almost as if he didn't want to disturb its balance. And he listened to me instead of waiting impatiently for his turn to talk."

"His mother died when he was young, too, didn't she?"Rachel asked. Jacob had said as much when Levi first came to the camp.

She nodded. "For a man who grew up without a mother, he seemed to genuinely care about women—about me. He taught me to carve wood and use a hammer. He taught me everything he knew about numbers, things only boys can learn. And did you know there are many different types of honey one can make? Almost twenty that Levi has tried by now."

            "Weren't you afraid of the bees?"Rachel thought of her own fear.

            "Yes, but ...when something feels important, you're less afraid, don't you think?"

She was right. Rachel should be terrified of what they were about to attempt, but she couldn't stop smiling. Maybe this was what being brave felt like.

"Leah. Were you scared? When you and Levi ..."She let the sentence trail off.

Leah blushed. "No,"she whispered. "It was perfect."

            "Laban's made a decision! I have to take Leah to the tent soon, girls,"Achan called through the fabric of the tent.

            The sister shared a tense glance before Leah helped Rachel out of her robe and into the wedding garment. Rachel reached for a belt by her mat to pull the fabric closer to her body, but Leah stopped her.

"You have to wear it loose like I would, remember?"

Leah put on one of Rachel's favorite day robes, her hair down and loose—but suddenly, touching the ends, she seemed troubled. She picked up a shearing knife by the edge of the cot and held it to her hair.

"Leah, no!"Rachel cried out in a harsh whisper.

"I have to,"she said. Leah looked at the ends of her hair with longing. "It's too long. If even part of it is seen through the veil—or once Levi and I are gone, along the Perath, someone could figure out that it is me. If it's shorter, it will curl up and look more like yours."She took a deep breath and started to cut evenly across her hair by the tops of her shoulders, and her hair fell to the ground. Leah was right, the ends coiled and wrapped around one another like Rachel's. Together, they picked up the ends and threw them into the fire, leaving a sour scent in the air.

            Rachel grabbed her belt and wrapped it tightly around Leah's waist, cinching in the robe so it fit like Rachel would wear it. Then she lifted the bridal veil from her basket and pulled it over her head. It was heavy white wool with a sheerer, rectangular strip of cloth over the eyes. Still, she was almost blind.

"Are you sure?"Leah asked, pulling Rachel in close for one last embrace.

Rachel nodded, certain but terrified. "After I go," she said, "wait a few moments before you head in the opposite direction. Don't stop until you get to Tyre. Don't look back."

****

Will Leah make it to Tyre and escape with Levi? Will Laban believe that Rachel is actually Leah? 

Pre-order SIN AND HONEY's 2nd novella THE TOUCH OF BETRAYAL (a retelling of Samson and Delilah) now! Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Touch-Betrayal-SIN-HONEY-novella-ebook/dp/B00ZB2P7VY/ref=sr_1_2?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1435150894&sr=1-2 

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