“Good.”
We sat for a few moments, he reluctant to leave his charge, I with nothing more to say.
“Then I go,” he finally said.
I nodded. “I’ll be here. Don’t lose your way.”
He didn’t bother responding, for it was an absurdity.
“Be safe, my queen.”
Queen. The word stung me.
He tapped his camel’s neck with his riding stick. The beast protested with a soft grunt but obediently plodded forward.
“And Saba?”
He twisted back in the saddle. “Yes, Maviah…?”
“Remember to keep your head covered, it’s far too distinguishable.”
My vision was too clouded to see if he smiled, but I heard mirth in his voice.
“You must not worry, Maviah. Walking among the enemy is like drinking milk for me.”
Who could instruct a Bedu warrior in matters of raiding?
“Milk is white,” I said. “You are the color of pitch. Please be careful.”
“Of course.” And then he left me alone in the wash.
I stared at the hill over which Saba had vanished, feeling strangely comforted by his assurance. Was there any other man as dependable as the black tower from the east? Only Judah, I thought. If anyone could succeed, it was Saba.
My only task now was to wait.
And so I did. First on my camel for a long while, then in gathering wood for a fire as the camel grazed on bushes nearby. I prepared a simple meal of figs and bread baked in the sand, as Judah had shown me, and I drank milk Saba had collected that morning, for I was too worn to pull at the she-camel’s udders.
Finally, when darkness hid the world and there was nothing more to be done, I lay on my bedroll near my camel and listened to her chewing her cud. Alone in the night, I began to cry.
I cried for Judah.
I cried for my son.
I cried for my shame.
And finally… I slept.
“THIS IS THE WOMAN?”
I heard the words in my dreams, thinking I was being accused.
“She looks like no queen from the desert…”
“As I said,” Saba’s voice responded. “She has seen great suffering.”
“Then we must help her.”
I was a woman in need of help, I thought. I was worthless now.
“Maviah.”
A hand shook my shoulder and in my dream I opened my eyes. Day had come and a figure knelt over me, its blurred form wrapped in white cloth. The notion that this was a ghoul crossed my mind before it occurred to me that perhaps I wasn’t dreaming.
I sat up and looked about, trying to blink the world into focus. Then I recalled all. I was partially blind. We had come to Sepphoris. Saba had gone to find Joanna.
“Saba?”
“It is Stephen!” the man said. “Son of Gamil. Joanna has asked me to come with Saba and so I have.”
He immediately reminded me of Judah, for his voice was full of courage.
I pushed myself to my feet and looked past him. Saba stood beside a camel that bore a woman. I realized then that I did not wear my veil and they could see my eyes. They were the first in Palestine to see me as I was, and I felt naked.
I glanced down to where my covering lay on the bedroll.
“There’s no need to cover yourself,” Stephen said. “Your eyes will soon see, it is certain.”
Was the clouding in my eyes so obvious?
“You’ve brought Joanna as well?” I asked Saba.
“No,” he said, stepping forward. “The woman’s name is Sarah.”
“I bring Sarah,” Stephen quickly announced. “She too must find Yeshua and so I take both of you. We will go to the sea and then north by boat to Capernaum. If he isn’t there now, he will be soon.”
He saw my hesitation, and continued.
“Do not worry, desert queen. You will see the world as it is soon enough, and then no king will stand in your way. The earth itself will bow before you; the stars will see one who believes and all the world will rejoice.”
“You know him?”
“The king?”
“Yeshua,” I said.
“As a brother!” he cried. Then, careful not to mislead: “Though I do not claim to be one of the twelve.” He lifted his finger. “But I surely follow the teacher to whatever end.”
“And you know Nicodemus?” I asked, for I wanted to be sure.
“But of course! It was I who told him to seek out Yeshua. Speak to him, Uncle, I said. Speak to him and all of your madness will fall away. You cannot reach God by washing your hands any more than you can see him by bathing your eyes. Yeshua gives new eyes and new hands. Those who follow him walk in a new power even now, where heaven has come to the earth. And now I, Stephen ben Gamil, will take you to him straightaway. With Sarah.”
My spirit was lifted by Stephen’s exuberance. There was nothing more I needed to know.