landlost | ONC 2024

six.

"SEDEQET? IT'S ME, Na'el." I shifted aside the soft sheep hide that closed off the entranceway of the tent. Sedeqet lied in her nest of furs, her eyes tightly shut.

I bit my lip, wondering if I should disturb her. Even in sleep, her brow was tense. I wasn't sure how I could relieve her anguish, but for now, some honey-drizzled dates would have to do.

I crouched and placed the plate alongside her head, and then brushed back her curly, copper-coloured hair, trying to rake out the tangles formed by fretful sleep. That was how I used to comfort Naamah, anyway, and Sedeqet released a small sigh under my touch.

I studied her round, freckled face. Her cheeks were pale. She'd barely left her tent since those men had attacked her and Ada, almost three days before. Shem tended to her dutifully, but now he was with his mother, applying soothing balms on his pained wrist. So it was my turn to try and coax Sedeqet to eat, even if just a little, for breakfast.

"I'll come back for the plate later," I whispered gently. I gave her one last touch on her shoulder that I hoped reassured her in her dreams, and exited the tent.

"—— should find them," Ham was saying, his voice low and heated. Noah stood beside him on the other side of the firepit, his eyes fixed on his youngest son. "Teach them not to come back here. It could serve as a lesson for all of them! All of them!"

Every seven days everybody would halt their duties working on the Ark and tending to the crops, for once. The camp became a center for peaceful chatter and last week —— my first time seeing the men at rest —— Sedeqet had sung for us.

But there was no singing this time. And Ham and Noah looked anything but peaceful as they faced each other.

Noah rested his hand on his son's shoulder. "Elohim gave them lesson enough, Ham. Our God will have our vengeance; our duties don't lie in the town."

Ham shrugged his father's touch off, a scowl darkening his face even further. "Sedeqet's a nervous wreck! Mother sits and waits for another attack in fear! One man has to stay at the camp at all times, you said, to look after them. But doesn't that just slow down construction of the Ark even more?" A muscle ticked in his jaw. I felt uncomfortable watching them argue, but I stood frozen in place, afraid their attention would fall on me if I so much as moved.

"If we have Elohim protecting us, then why does it seem like you're still afraid?"

"Enough, Ham." Noah's voice took on a harsher tone. I felt my ears flush, as though I was the one being rebuked. "Everything will grow better with time. Haven't I taught you enough patience? Or do you need another ten years working on the Ark?"

"Coward," Ham spat. His hands tightened into fists, and I couldn't help but feel pity for him as he left the camp. Wanting vengeance, I thought, was a logical desire. I couldn't fault him for that, even though I reckoned it would be overkill. Those men had fled without a second thought at the sound of the thunder; if they shared the same religion as my mother, I knew they would take such things as a superstitious warning.

Noah exhaled, and deflated. His eyes traveled to me, widening with surprise, like he hadn't even noticed my presence. "Na'el? You didn't go with Japheth and Adataneses?"

They'd gone to collect honey from a beehive Japheth had found the night before, but I always felt awkward chaperoning them. I was almost certain collecting honey was not the only thing they were doing.

I shook my head, embarrassed under his gaze. "Sedeqet," I offered, by way of explanation. He nodded absently, and then retreated, entering he and Ezmara's tent to perhaps see how Shem was getting on.