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Chapter Four
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Jaben asked, "Could I have the canteen?" As Sarah handed it to him, he took a swig of stale water, and rubbed his eyes. The harsh sun blazed in his eyes. "Why don't we do Bible study now, and then worry about what else to do today? I'm sure we'll be able to find something," he said, then muttered under his breath, "though I'd much rather be programming," and continued, "and, with something to eat, we'll have the day before us."
The others yawned their assent, and went back to the tents to get their Bibles.
"Whose turn was it to read? Lilianne's?" said Sarah.
Lilianne said, "No, I think it was Amos's."
Amos said, "Yeah, that's it." He paused a moment, and said, "Shall we pray?"
They joined hands, and bowed their heads in prayer. Jaben squeezed Lilianne's hand.
Lilianne prayed, "Father, we come before you a little excited, a little nervous. We don't know what the course of the fire will be, or how long it will burn, or why this is happening. We ask that you preserve our meeting place and the property around it, and most of all human life. We thank you that we were able to escape the fire, and we meet to give you glory. Amen."
They were sitting in a circle, on some logs, around a fire pit. Amos said, "I'll be reading from I Kings 18, verses 41-46. Elijah has been chastising king Ahab, there is a drought, and Elijah has at the end of chapter 17 been staying with the widow. Earlier in the chapter, he has his famous contest with the prophets of Baal, where he called fire from Heaven down on the bull." He cleared his throat.
"And Elijah said unto Ahab, 'Get thee up, eat and drink; for there is a sound of abundance of rain.' So Ahab went up to eat and to drink. And Elijah went up to the top of Carmel; and he cast himself down upon the earth, and put his face between his knees, and said to his servant, Go up now, look toward the sea. And he went up, and looked, and said, 'There is nothing.' And he said, 'Go again,' seven times.
"And it came to pass at the seventh time, that he said, 'Behold, there ariseth a little cloud out of the sea, like a man's hand.' And he said, 'Go up, say unto Ahab, "Prepare thy chariot, and get thee down, that the rain stop thee not."'
"And it came to pass in the mean while, that the heaven was black with clouds and wind, and there was a great rain. And Ahab rode, and went to Jezreel.
"And the hand of the LORD was on Elijah; and he girded up his loins, and ran before Ahab to the entrance of Jezreel."
Amos had been bending over the Bible, looking intently; now, he rested and sat up.
Jaben said, "Thoughts? Observations?"
Désirée said, "This story is one of my favorites, with the one before it. I like the Elijah stories."
A minute passed, in which they looked at each other. "Lilianne?" Jaben said.
Lilianne stared off in space.
"Lilianne?" he said a bit louder.
"Huh? Oh, I was having a daydream about three mermaids swimming in a moonlit pool, and chasing the fish around, and petting them..." She paused in thought a moment and said, "I think I got into that daydream by thinking about the water in the story."
"Sarah?"
"It's a good story."
Amos said, "What about you, Jaben? You've got to have something to say."
Jaben said, "I always have something to say when I've had my morning bowl of coffee. Ugh, not even an espresso machine. Let me get back to you."
Ellamae said, "Why don't we get some more sleep, then go into town and get something to eat, maybe some coffee, and then maybe, maybe, try this again."
The others nodded their groggy assent and padded off back to the three tents: one for the unmarried men, one for the unmarried women, and one for the married couple.
Jaben woke up, feeling delightfully refreshed. He felt sweaty, and the air was oppressively hot. The air felt slightly humid to him. He sat up, and looked around. Thaddeus was still sleeping, breathing deep breaths. Jaben slid out of his sleeping bag and stepped out of the tent.
The sun was high in the sky, and the sky was clear. He walked around on the pine needles, and lazily yawned. He walked over to a log, sat on a low part, and began to think.
That was a magnificent passage of Scripture, he thought, and the climax to a larger story. I've always taken away from it something about the wind of the Spirit. In a land dessicated by drought, the servant is told again and again to go back to look for signs of rain, going back even though he has seen nothing. On the seventh time, the servant sees a cloud the size of a man's hand. And then, "Gird up your loins and run, lest the rain overtake you!" That's how the wind of the Spirit blows — nothing for the longest time, and then a faint, imperceptible breeze, and then a storm.
His knee felt funny, as if there were pressure inside.
Now feels like the eye of the storm. Before was the fire, and now a moment of calm, and then there will be cleaning up. But this is a different kind of storm. Or is it?
He felt a soft arm over his shoulders, and turned and looked. Sarah kissed his cheek, and sat next to him.
"Hi, Sarah," Jaben said, and gave her a hug and a kiss. "Are any of the other women up?"
"Yes, we've been up for about an hour. Talking."
"'Bout what?"
"Nothing."
"What kind of nothing?"
"Silly stuff. Girl stuff. You wouldn't be interested."
Jaben reached behind her, and touched the back of her neck very, very lightly with the tip of his finger. She curled up.
Jaben looked at Sarah, as she sat back and relaxed. She had straight red hair cascading over her shoulders, and a round, freckled, face, with fair skin and a ribbon of deep red lips. Her body was — 'fat' would be the wrong word; 'plump', perhaps, or 'rounded'. Gironde. She was attractive. He looked at her, and felt glad that there are some women who do not feel the need to be twenty pounds underweight. Jaben smiled. Sarah plays the perfect ditz, he thought, and getting her into a deep conversation is usually impossible, but there's more to her than meets the eye.
"Did you go and see the lake?" Sarah said. "It's still, still, and every now and then a fish breaks the surface, and then ripples spread."
"I just got up. I paced around, and sat down, and thought. Then you came."
"Whatch'ya think about?"
"The Bible passage. I was thinking through. I feel that there's another thought coalescing, coming together, but I can't put my finger on it."
A faint rumbling came from faroff.
Sarah looked thoughtful for a moment, and said, "Think it'll rain?"
"I don't think so. It could, but... Looking for a prediction of the day's events in the Bible has the same aura as using it as a tool for divination. The fact that we read that passage today just means that this particular passage is what came up on the schedule."
"So you don't believe the Bible applies to our lives?"
"I do, it's just — not that way. I wouldn't have been thinking about it if I didn't believe it applied."
The land around them darkened, and they looked up. A cloud was between them and the sun.
"Hi, guys. May I join the conversation?" Lilianne was behind them.
Jaben's hand shot out, and poked Sarah in the side.
"Eep!" Sarah jumped.
Sarah's face turned slightly red, and she turned to face Jaben. "Do you never tire of tickling me?"
Jaben grinned, and winked. "Never."
"Oh, well." Sarah said, in mock resignation. "I suppose it can't be helped." She looked at Lilianne. "Do you think it's time to wake everyone up?"
"Yes, let's go."
A few minutes later, they were all out sitting on the logs. Ellamae said, "I think we've all had some rest now; food wouldn't hurt, but it's nice to be here, and we should be able to pick up that Bible study. What do you think?" Désirée said, "Um..."
"Yes, Désirée?"
"Well," she said.
There was a rumble of rolling thunder.
"Never mind. Let's go on with the Bible study."
Amos opened the Bible. "I liked the part where Elijah said—"
Splat! A fat raindrop splattered across the page.
Amos's jaw dropped. He wiped the page off, closed the Bible, and looked up.
Another raindrop hit him in the eye.
Soon rain was falling all around them — sprinkles at first, then rain in earnest, then torrents. It was a warm, wet, heavy rain, with the sky dark as midnight, and the scene suddenly illuminated by flashes of stark, blue lightning. The wind blew about them; trees swayed rhythmically back and forth in the rain. Everything about them was filled with dark, rich, full colors, and was covered with the lifegiving waters.
The seven friends joined hands and danced in the rain.
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Chapter Four
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