Transgression Read online

  So Ari had no real evidence. It would be his word against Damien’s. There had to be some way to persuade Rivka that Ari was a liar.

  Come to think of it, Ari had got her crying real good this morning. Maybe the job was already done. Damien lay down on his bedroll. He would give Rivka until noon tomorrow to come to him. If she didn’t, then he would go looking for her.

  He needed Rivka’s knowledge. If she wouldn’t tell him voluntarily, he would make her volunteer.

  And if a few eggs got broken along the way—tough.

  Chapter 19

  Ari

  WHEN ARI ARRIVED BACK AT Baruch’s house, the sun had risen and he felt famished. He had gone to the morning prayers with Brother Baruch before sunrise and then taken a walk alone around the streets while the city woke up.

  The streets of old Jerusalem resonated deep within his soul, rousing some yearning he hadn’t known. These ancient, strange people—these were his family. However deeply you probed into the universe, you had to come home sometime to your family. This place was home, these people his family, and Baruch his brother.

  “Shalom, Brother Baruch!” Ari shouted. “I’m hungry as a bear!”

  Baruch smiled at that and pointed to the table, where bread and cheese and pickled vegetables were laid out. “I have already eaten. Your friend Rivka came by looking for you. She wishes for you to come visit her when you are ready.”

  That was a good sign. Ari sat down and tore off a chunk of bread. Then he caught himself and said the blessing over the bread. If he wasn’t careful, all this praying and blessing was going to become a habit.

  Ari ate quickly, fending off questions from Baruch about the country from which he and Rivka had come. When he finished, he washed it all down with a stone cup full of good kosher beer and then stood up.

  “Baruch, thank you for the delightful meal. I’m going to go see Rivka now.”

  Baruch nodded. “And I shall be praying in my room upstairs. I am much disturbed about my Brother Mattityahu. Something is very wrong.”

  “Pray for Rivka also, my friend,” Ari said. That surprised him. Just a few days in this environment, and already he was adapting to the local speech patterns. Very strange.

  “I shall pray for Rivka,” Baruch said. He tilted his head for a moment, as if listening to a voice far away. “And I believe I shall pray also for you, Ari. There is a whisper of fear in my heart.”

  “I’ll be all right,” Ari said. As long as he didn’t run into Damien West. If that happened, there would be trouble. He walked around the table and reached for his backpack, which he had left on the floor the night before.

  It was gone.

  “Baruch, have you seen my pack?” he asked.

  Baruch shook his head. “You did not take it when we went to pray this morning?”

  “It was dark and I forgot it,” Ari said. “Which was stupid, because it has my medicine. I need it.” He went upstairs. The pack was nowhere in sight.

  When he came down, Baruch stood out in the street, looking around.

  “Baruch, is it possible that Rivka might have taken it with her when she came by this morning?”

  Baruch shrugged. “Possible, yes. I do not remember. She did not stay here long.”

  Ari felt a surge of annoyance. Why would she do that? In addition to his medicine, that backpack contained a lot of personal things. He didn’t want anyone rummaging through it.

  Just to be sure, he searched the entire house again. The backpack was gone. Rivka had to have taken it.

  “Shalom, my brother,” Ari said. He turned and began walking briskly down the hill toward Hana’s house. It was still cool, and the streets weren’t yet busy, so he made good time.

  When he reached the bottom of the hill, he saw three boys throwing stones at the eaves of a building. They kept throwing as he came nearer.

  He held up his right hand. “Hold, hold!”

  They stopped throwing and let him pass.

  A stone whizzed past his head the instant he had gone by.

  He spun around and shouted in Hebrew, “Too close, boys!” forgetting that they would only understand Aramaic.

  But the boys hooted in glee, pointing. Ari turned to look. Hornets’ nest! A gaping hole hung open. Out of it gushed dozens of buzzing hornets.

  Ari backpedaled as fast as he could. He heard the boys yammering behind him. He tripped over one of them, and they both fell in the dirt. Ari rolled off the boy and scrambled away on his knees as fast as he could.

  One of the boys screamed. Ari sprang to his feet. Before he could take a step, another boy barreled into him. Ari staggered wildly, then fell. The boy yelped.

  Something settled on Ari’s neck. He brushed at it frantically, then pushed himself off the ground. Something tickled his right arm.

  He swatted at it wildly with his left.

  A needle of poison lanced his arm, just below the elbow.

  Ari smashed it an instant later. A dead hornet fell out of his hand to the ground. And then he was running.

  He had only one hope in the world. Rivka had better have his backpack.

  He looked at his watch. 7:12 A.M. Without his medication, he could survive till 7:30.

  Possibly.

  * * *

  Rivka

  Hana had been gone for an hour when Rivka heard her name being shouted out in the street. Footsteps followed and then the door flung itself open. Ari stood there, a look of stark terror on his face.

  “Ari. What—”

  He held up his red, swollen arm. “Hornet sting!” he shouted. “Do you have my backpack?”

  She stared at him stupidly. Backpack? “Um…no, Ari. Why—”

  “I’ve got to have it!” he shouted. “Now! I need a shot of epinephrine!”

  “Oh my gosh!” she said. “I…I haven’t seen your backpack, Ari.”

  “You didn’t take it when you dropped by Baruch’s house?”

  “No, of course not!” Her heart pounded in her chest. “What can I do for you? There’s got to be something—”

  Ari’s face went completely white, and then he slumped down on the floor. “Rivka,” he said, “I want to tell you something before I…”

  She knelt down beside him. “No, you’re not going to die, Ari! Please, no!”

  “Rivka, listen to me!” Ari swallowed hard. “I’ve never told a woman this before, so please don’t laugh.”

  “Yes?”

  “I’m…in love with you, Rivka.”

  Rivka stared at him, stunned. Love? That hadn’t occurred to her. The past few days, she hadn’t even been sure they were friends. Wasn’t it only yesterday they had been arguing yet again about something they were never going to agree on, while they watched Baruch—

  “Baruch!” Rivka said, jumping up. “Don’t move, Ari! Is Baruch at his house?”

  “Yes, he’s praying,” Ari said. “Rivka, will you kiss me? I’m going to die.”

  Rivka bent down and kissed him hard on the lips. The smell of fear clung to his body like a vapor. She wanted to tell him that he could know he had eternal life. The four spiritual laws and all that. But what if he didn’t buy it? Move, Rivka, now! She dashed out the door and down the street.

  How far to Baruch’s house? Maybe half a mile, maybe a little more. She knew that a good runner could run half a mile in two minutes. In running gear, on level ground.

  Rivka was not a good runner, and she wore leather sandals. And after a short downhill stretch, it would be uphill all the way.

  Soon she was gasping and had to slow down. Women stared at her as she ran past. A group of men shouted filthy remarks at her. Children pointed. Rivka didn’t care.

  God, please don’t let me get lost. Please let Baruch be where I can find him. Please let me be on time. Please, God, save Ari Kazan.

  By the time she reached Baruch’s house, her breath was coming in ragged gasps and her chest ached. She pounded on the door, found it unlocked, and charged in.

  The lower room was empt
y. Rivka staggered up the stairs and tried the door. Latched! She beat on it and tried to scream, but she could not catch her breath.

  The door swung open. Baruch stood there, his eyes wide, his phylactery askew. “Why have you interrupted me during my prayers?” he said. “And where is Brother Ari?”

  She pointed back in the general direction of Hana’s house. “Not here,” she gasped out.

  “It is not fitting that you should be here alone with me,” Baruch said. “You must—”

  “No!” she said. “Listen!” But that was all she could get out before having to pant again. Finally, she caught her breath enough to gasp out a few words. “Ari is dying! You must pray for him!”

  “Where?” Baruch dashed past her down the stairs and out into the street. “Brother Ari!”

  Rivka followed him down. Her knees felt weak, and she wanted to collapse.

  “Where is he?” Baruch shouted.

  Rivka pointed toward the east. “In the house of my friend Hana. I’ll have to show…” She fought for air. “I’m so tired!”

  Baruch turned and ran.

  “Wait!” Rivka tried to shout after him, but her voice would not carry. She stared at his retreating back. How could Baruch find Hana’s house without her to show him the way?

  * * *

  Ari

  Ari checked the time again. 7:28.

  His arm fell weakly to his side. He lay flat on his back. His throat tightened up so hard he could barely feel the air moving in and out. Dark spots quilted the stone vaulted ceiling of the house. If God existed, Ari would soon meet him.

  He was a fool, of course. He should not have come through the wormhole looking for a woman who couldn’t possibly care for him. He should have looked to see what the boys were throwing stones at. He should not have told Rivka that he loved her. No, on second thought, he felt glad he had told her. Truth mattered, even intensely personal truth. He had done right to tell her, though perhaps she thought him a fool.

  The dark spots closed together. The lights flickered out.

  In his mind’s eye, Ari saw Damien West come into the little house.

  Was it a dream? In the dream, or whatever it was, Ari felt himself start crying.

  “Why are you crying?” Damien asked.

  “Because I love you.” As Ari said the words, he knew that they were true in some strange sense which he could not fathom.

  From outside the room, far up the street, came a distant voice like the sound of an angel’s trumpet, filling the room. Damien vanished. Ari opened his mouth, but no air would come in. A strange, muzzy lightness pressed down upon him, squeezing out consciousness. Then that voice again—Brother Baruch—shouting, “Yeshua!” The door flew open.

  Ari felt something hot explode in his heart. A packet of pure heat surged down through his legs. When it reached his feet, it bounced and raced up toward his head. One heartbeat later, the heat slammed into his lungs, his airways, his throat.

  The iron bands choking him shattered. Light flooded his eyes. Cool air washed into his lungs.

  Ari lay on the floor, afraid to move. It was an illusion. A dream. A near-death experience.

  In a minute, he would see the famous white tunnel, find himself vacuumed through into another mode of existence. Or more likely, into the final darkness. Or even—

  “Brother Ari, can you speak?” Baruch said. “Rabban Yeshua, save him!”

  Ari pushed himself up to a sitting position and turned his head to look at Baruch. “I…don’t understand it, but—”

  “What has happened?” Baruch said. “Rivka said you were dying.”

  “I was dying,” Ari said. “And now I am not.” He shook his head in disbelief. “You’ve healed me, Brother Baruch.”

  “I have no power to heal,” Baruch said. “Give glory to the God of our fathers, Brother Ari. Adonai, Rafayenu. The Lord our Healer. Rabban Yeshua.”

  Ari reached up. “Help me stand.”

  Baruch pulled him to his feet.

  Ari shook the dust off his clothes. He fingered the welt on his right elbow. Almost gone. The pain had gone. If there was any such thing as a miracle, this must be it.

  “Blessed be HaShem,” Ari said. “Blessed be HaShem.”

  Baruch threw his arms around Ari and kissed him. “The Lord our Healer. The Lord our Healer.”

  The sound of a woman screaming echoed outside, far up the streets. The sound of hysterical wailing. Rivka.

  Baruch stepped outside and waved his arms. “Rivka! Here, Rivka! He is alive!”

  Ari felt his heart lurch. How in the world was he going to face Rivka Meyers now, after admitting that he was in love with her?

  You’re a fool, Ari Kazan. But at least you’re a live fool. Blessed be HaShem.

  Chapter 20

  Baruch

  BARUCH FELT ONLY PURE, HOLY joy. HaShem had saved Brother Ari’s life. Blessed be HaShem. And in healing Brother Ari, HaShem had shown him a vision. It must be true. So why did Brother Ari resist the truth? “It was a vision,” Baruch said again. “Brother Ari, you received a vision from the living God.”

  “It was like a dream,” Brother Ari said. “And yet I was awake and I saw my enemy.”

  “He was your enemy,” Baruch said. “But now HaShem has restored him to you. You must make peace with him.”

  Rivka looked skeptical. “It requires two in order to make peace. Yesterday, they fought like tigers. Today, will they make peace? Only if Damien is willing.”

  That name offended Baruch. “You must not call any man a daimon.” No man could be compared to an evil spirit. Man was made in the image of HaShem.

  “Not daimon,” Rivka said. “Damien. It is a common name in our country.”

  Baruch shook his head. “It is a strange country, and I would not wish to visit it. But, Brother Ari, you must do your part to make peace with this Damien.”

  “For my part, I have made peace,” Brother Ari said. “Something happened, and I do not understand it. I do not hate him anymore.”

  That proved it a true vision of HaShem. “It is the work of Rabban Yeshua in your heart,” Baruch said. “He commanded us to do a hard thing—to love our enemies.”

  Brother Ari turned a piercing eye on him. “And yet you hate Renegade Saul.”

  Brother Ari’s words rang on Baruch’s heart like a hammer on hot iron. He lowered his gaze, unable to meet those bright, burning eyes. Had not Brother Ari seen a vision from the Holy One, blessed be he? And now he had spoken a prophetic word. When a prophet spoke a word into your heart, you ignored it at the risk of your own soul.

  “Why do you hate a man who does not hate you?” Brother Ari asked.

  Brother Ari spoke truth, and Baruch knew it. Yet he did not want to follow that truth to its logical conclusion. “Brother Ari, you do not understand who this man Renegade Saul is.”

  Brother Ari gave a harsh laugh. “You are wrong, my brother. I know better than you ever will who Saul is. I know what he has done, and I know what he will do, and I know the effects of his deeds for many years. And yet I do not hate even him any longer.”

  Brother Ari was telling the truth. Baruch could feel the pain in his words, and it wrung his heart. But what must he do? What must he do?

  A woman’s voice from behind startled him. “Why are you here?” The voice sounded at once angry and aggrieved. “You must leave.”

  Baruch slowly turned. Before him stood his worst nightmare.

  * * *

  Rivka

  At the harsh tone in Hana’s voice, Rivka felt her heart lurch. “Hana!” she said. “Why so angry?”

  Hana’s eyes locked on Baruch, and her mouth quivered with rage. “You!” She jabbed a finger at him. “Have you come to pay for your last visit? A year is a long time to wait! I should make you pay double.”

  Rivka thought Hana must be joking, but one look at Baruch’s face told her that Hana was completely serious.

  “Forgive me,” Baruch said in a tiny voice. “I was not myself in those days�
��”

  “Which is a clever way of saying that you do not have to pay,” Hana said. She snorted in disgust. “Please leave my house, all of you. I have a man waiting down the street who will give me real silver.”

  Baruch fumbled for something hidden in the folds of his broad cloth belt. At last he pulled out a leather purse and extracted two coins. His hands shook as he held them out to Hana.

  She snatched them away and studied them intently. “Two dinars,” she said. Her face broke into a smile. “That is more than I deserve, since you were gentle.” She dropped the coins into her belt and went out into the street.

  Rivka locked her gaze on the ground, unwilling to humiliate Baruch further by looking at him. Nobody said anything. A minute later, Hana returned. “You may all stay,” she said. “I have money. I do not need to carry any man’s water today.” She brought in a full jug from outside and poured herself a drink into a stone cup.

  Rivka wondered what Baruch was thinking. Abruptly, he yanked open the door and strode out.

  Ari started after him.

  “Wait,” Rivka said. “He needs some time alone, Ari.”

  “Why did he come here?” Hana asked. “I have not seen him in over a year, but I carried his water often before that.”

  Rivka spent the next several minutes explaining what had happened. She stopped twice to ask Ari questions in Hebrew, and she then translated the answers into Aramaic for Hana.

  “What will happen if he is stung again?” Hana asked.

  “I don’t know,” Rivka said. “Ari, don’t you think we should go back to our own time now? If you’re stung by another hornet, it might be presumptuous to expect God to heal you again.”

  “You’re right,” Ari said. “I would like to say good-bye to Brother Baruch, and then we must go back as soon as possible.”

  “Dr. West says the wormhole will collapse the minute any of us goes through,” Rivka said. “We’ll have to warn him we’re going back, so he can come, too. We can’t leave him stranded here.”