I Am Not an Adulteress Anymore

Chapter 27

Near Sunset:

"Simeon?" I call. The man on his knees turns his head, and my breath catches. It's him, Jesus.

"Sorry," I say, turning my gaze and pulling my veil up over my mouth.

"I was waiting for you," he says.

I shake my head and keep my eyes down. "No, you must have me mistaken with someone else. We have never met. Although I have seen you."

I am blabbering now.

He manages to catch my eye and again, I have that awful feeling that he is looking straight into my soul.

"No," he says. "Hanna, I was waiting for you." He purses his lips. "Do not do what you are about to do. It will cause destruction."

My heart fills with shame, and suddenly I know he knows everything.

"I...I don't know what you mean," I say, and turn quickly to run away.

The guilt is too much, and my heart is tight within my chest as if an invisible string this Jesus is holding is pulling me back towards him. But I won't go. I pick up my skirts and run, feeling his gaze on me the whole time. I turn right beyond a grove of trees and run straight into Simeon.

"Oooof," he gasps as our bodies collide. I pull back, dizzy.

"You look like you're running from a ghost," he says. He lifts his hand to my cheek and it burns. "No, no, I whisper. Just...some man back there. Let's go somewhere else." And I grab his hand fast before he can respond and I yank him forward down the hill back towards Jerusalem.

Soon, we have found our own little grove of trees on the edge of the mount, protected and remote and far removed from the reaches of this praying Jesus. Still, I do not feel comfortable. My skin itches, and I have the distinct feeling that I shouldn't be here, that I shouldn't be with Simeon, and that I absolutely must not do what I am about to do. I have the distinct feeling Jesus' warning will come true.

"What is bothering you?" asks Simeon. His voice is tender and he reaches out his hand to touch mine.

I sigh. "The person I saw in the garden, it was Jesus, the one everyone is talking about."

"Jesus?" he asks. He is almost up on his feet, a new light in his eyes. "Where is he?"

But I pull him down again, shaking my head. "He...he filled me with guilt. He knows about us, somehow." I lower my voice. "He commanded me not to do this, that it would lead to destruction."

Simeon looks at me, realization dawning in his eyes, and then he lets out a long low laugh.

"Is he some fortune teller?" he asks. "And what business is it of his anyway?"

He snorts. "Probably just jealous."

I have not seen this side of Simeon before, and I cast my gaze down.

"According to our laws, we should be stoned," I say quietly. And suddenly I feel very very sick.

Simeon nods and then moves further away from me. "Ah," he says. "I see what this is about."

I look up at him.

"You would have us marry."

I suddenly hear the edge in his voice, the incredulousness with which he speaks. I felt guilty in front of Jesus, but Simeon has made me a fool.

"Listen," I say. "I need nothing from you."

And then I turn away from him and without knowing exactly how, tears suddenly spring to my eyes and he is there with his arms around me holding me tight and rocking me and saying. "Hanna I know. I am sorry. I truly am. If we could" And then he kisses me softly but with firmness and intent, and suddenly all thoughts of Jesus and guilt are pushed to the very back of my mind and soon, I am lost again in him.