The happiness I felt should have been reflected in the color of the sky. It should have exploded in brilliant colors of red, mauve, orange and pinks. The sun should have been a blaze of color from beginning to end of the horizon.
It wasn"t.
The morning blew in with a soft breeze. There was a shadow of a half-moon in the dove-gray, feathery lightning of the horizon. The stars were mere dots, winking on and off.
I reached up, patted the home I had come to love and followed, as Joseph led the halter of one donkey in his hand. I fairly skipped down the road, holding onto the donkey Jesus was riding. The animal had been exercised little since our arrival in Egypt, so he was frisky and ready to walk smartly behind me.
A half sun peeked over the horizon, turning the clouds into pink and gray fluffs as we passed the sparse weeds and grass outside of town. We stumbled over pebbles and disturbed the sand so it swirled around our ankles.
We were so excited about going home, our steps were rapid. It took little time to meet Abner and company at the caravansary. When we had passed it upon entering Egypt, it was merely a small gathering place, with walls tumbling down. Now, it seemed so much larger and much better maintained.
“Look, Joseph.”
Joseph grunted. “I heard someone was working on it. The last time Abner was here, we were discussing it...how travel and trade had caused many places to grow and prosper. This place seems to be one that definitely prospered.”
“Do you think it was because so many of our people came to Egypt?”
“It could be.”
I looked around. There was an enormous building with a wall enclosing it. As we neared, the hustle and bustle of travelers was evident. A group of men with loaded camels left by the gate, disturbing the sand as they turned west, another group turned north, while another was ready for departure.
We recognized Abner in the last group.
He welcomed us with open arms as though he had not seen us just the night before. “Thank God, you"ve come,”
he greeted us. “I could tell last night, you both needed to go home.” He kissed me, then walked to the front of the group.
He turned to all of us and spoke. “We shall move along quite briskly. If any of you have a problem keeping up, please let me know. We"ll make arrangements to help each other.”
He looked directly at the women and children who had grouped together. “It won"t be an easy trip. But we do hope it will be easier than it was when you traveled to Egypt. It was much more difficult then because you were running away from a tyrant. Now, you"re going home.”
Happiness etched itself on each face as he continued.
“I know it would be a much easier trip if we could travel north without going across the mountains. However, many of you left homes between here and Jerusalem and this is the shortest route. Mountains are not as difficult to cross as the others were. We are attempting to get everyone home as rapidly as possible, so we must travel across the desert. Thank God it is not one as large as the one Joseph, Mary and others traveling with us had to cross.
“We will make as good time as we can. Most of the goods have been packed atop camels, so children can ride the donkeys when they tire.”
Parents were particularly happy about this arrangement.
“We will all work together, eat together and even watch the children together. In that manner, no one will get too exhausted doing one job. Now, are you ready?”
“Yes!” the group said, together.
We all bowed our heads as Abner said a prayer, asking God to watch over us. As he said, “Amen,” the sky exploded in a fiery display. The reds merged into orange and gold and yellow. God"s paint brush outdid itself as clouds became smears of color.
Abner called, “let"s go!”
There were twenty people in our caravan, including Abner and his two assistants. The five couples and seven children followed like a duck leading her chicks to water.
Joseph and I recognized the couple we"d met just before we began our journey when we all fled to Egypt. I thanked God silently we all survived Herod"s edicts. I grinned as I noticed the baby teetering along on unsteady fat legs, clinging to his mother"s hand.
“It"s the baby!” Jesus exclaimed, looking up at Joseph.
The young man offered his hand to Joseph. “We didn"t introduce ourselves when we fled our homes.”
Joseph clasped his hand and said, “I"m Joseph, this is my wife, Mary and our son, Jesus.”
The young man grinned. “My name is Joshua, my wife is Esther and our son is David. We"re finally on our way home, thank God.”
With that, David broke from Esther"s hand, took a few steps, plopped down and looked astonished. We all laughed as Jesus raced to him, held David"s hand and lifted him.
We watched as Daniel took small steps as Jesus held him upright. “Can he ride?” Jesus asked. We all nodded and Joseph strapped both boys into the saddle.
The men of the group helped Abner"s assistants lead the animals, and we women watched the children. When we stopped at night, women prepared enough food for the following day. Abner had traveled this route many times and knew exactly what we should prepare. The meals were not nearly as exotic as the food he fixed the night Joseph and I met him in the cave. But it was wholesome and plentiful.
There always seemed to be an abundance of wine to accompany our meal, however. Packets of dried meat, fish, fruit and vegetables were added to our bread and cakes. When we passed near a settlement we bought milk, knowing it would usually spoil within a day. We also added fresh fruits and vegetables as often as possible.
It was a different journey than the one we made coming to Egypt. The last trip was made as rapidly as possible with eyes always looking back, as we hurried to our destination. On this trip, we traveled rapidly, but in the open. We felt we had been released from prison.
I, along with most of the women, danced down the roads with the children. When we climbed mountains, we pretended to be goats, helping the children make the journey with as little trouble as possible.
The desert was bothersome, but there were no storms, for which we thanked God. When we stopped at an oasis, we drank our fill. The children romped in the coolness of the date palms and the men enjoyed sitting around, talking. The best part of an oasis was that we could bathe.
We were returning to Judea a different way. When we reached Ascalon, we took a less traveled road to Hebron.
Traveling by this route, we discovered the mountains were not so high as before. We saw plenty of Riverine grass and forest, as well. There were trees to give us shade. All of us felt better for being out of the burning sun and sand, as we walked under the trees. The animals were happy to have green grass to eat, as well. Birds accompanied our steps with their different calls. We often saw them flitting in and out of tree branches, falling to earth to pick up a seed or a worm, then back into the foliage.
It was also much cooler moving under the trees.
Walking through these forests, I noticed the sun frolicking through the leaves. They shimmered and danced like they had just been cleaned, then dressed for an important party. The low mounds of green plants were a welcome relief from the stark emptiness of the deserts we crossed on our earlier journey.
Unfortunately, I grew tired much more rapidly than before. I hated it when I had to mount the donkey. I felt I was losing my independence. The first time I fought the weariness, Joseph saw how exhausted I was and insisted I get on the animal.
“Mary, this is foolish. Why won"t you get on the donkey?” he asked, his voice sounding exasperated. “You must realize that you are not a super woman. You must take care of yourself.” His voice was more firm than I had ever heard it before.
“But Joseph...” I protested. He wouldn"t let me finish the sentence.
“No buts about it. You are with child,” he said very low so no one else would hear, “and you certainly don"t need to push yourself. I love you and this baby too much to take a chance on losing either of you.” He looked down at me, and I saw the love reflected in his face. “Mary, please.”
When he looked like that, how could I refuse? Besides, I was so exhausted I could barely take another step. I nodded and he removed Jesus and placed him on the ground. Jesus clapped his hands with delight. Joseph then helped me on the donkey"s back, picked up Jesus and placed Him on his shoulders. Jesus clasped fat little hands around Joseph"s forehead, then bent down and gave Joseph a sloppy kiss on the top of his head.
“Looka" me,” He called. “I"m riding on my donkey too.”
“Yes, you are. And it"s the most wonderful donkey God ever made.”
I didn"t have to ride often, but when I did, I blessed Daniel for keeping this donkey. I especially blessed him for making a gift of him when we began that long-ago trip to Bethlehem.
This journey was so pleasant, it hardly seemed any time had passed before we approached Hebron. It was mid-afternoon and I was glad we were near and could rest. Many had left our group at various spots to walk the short distance to their villages or towns. The last couple and the baby left us that very morning. Jesus wanted to take the baby with us, but we convinced Him the couple needed their son.
Their families lived in Bethsura and we knew it would take only a little while for them to be home. Since it was a short distance from Hebron, they continued their journey home that day. We hated to see each group leave.
We had become friends and only God knew if we would ever see each other again. Abner suggested we stay overnight in Hebron and rest.Stopping there prolonged our journey by one day, but neither Joseph nor I complained.
Knowing Abner would leave very early the next morning, I said, “we"ll get the donkey unpacked and you can take him with you.”
“No. That is my gift to you for adopting me into your family. Besides, I need a reason to visit you in Nazareth.”
I moved toward him, opening my arms. “You never need an excuse to visit us. How could we not want a favorite relative to see us often?”
He squeezed me tightly, saying, “I do get to Nazareth once in awhile. I"ll find you.”
“Please do, Abner. I can never tell you what you"ve meant to Joseph and me. Thank you so much.”
He turned and shook Joseph"s hand as smiles passed between the two friends. “Take care of your family, Joseph.”
“I will. God go with you.” He called as Abner walked toward his space in the caravansary.
Though rather warm, the next morning we were so exhausted, we slept very late. Abner had already departed.
We ate the last of our cakes, drank our water, gave Jesus the last drops of milk, then took a much traveled road leading directly to Bethlehem.
Crowds multiplied like peas in a pan. We had forgotten just how crowded Bethlehem was. People swirled around us as though we were at the center of a circle. Jesus" eyes were at once leery of so many people, yet excited at the activity.
The noon sun was shining hot and bright. Sweat poured from our bodies, drained our energy and wet our robes.
Even Jesus, riding one of the donkeys, was lethargic from the heat.
Stony earth was dry and sand danced around our feet. A small cloud of dust surrounded us as a caravan of camels, people, carts and donkeys left the entrance to the caravansary.
“Look, Ruth is trying to keep our tree alive.” I pointed to the tree I had planted. The dark green leaves glistened in the hot, searing sun. The flowers I planted were long dead and Ruth had planted more. Wilted by the sun, I hoped they would revive later in the day.
The donkeys" hooves clopped over the sparkling stones making a loud clatter. Even with this noise, no one appeared to hear our approach. I knew Ruth was probably cleaning or supervising the cleaning of the rooms and Matthew was bustling about, making sure there were sufficient supplies for the Inn.
We were much too early for travelers to stop for the night.
“I know it"s silly, but I thought Ruth and Matthew would be standing, waiting for us to enter the gates.”
Joseph laughed. “It would be nice, but it would also be impossible for them to know we were even on our way.”
My sigh was inaudible. “I must say I"m a little disappointed, though.”
Jesus was looking around as though he recognized the Inn.
Joseph and I looked toward our former apartment at the same time.
“It"s still there.”
“Sure feels like home, doesn"t it, Mary?”
I nodded as my eyes tried to take in everything at once.
There were no animals in the stalls or people on the walkway outside the upstairs rooms. I turned to look at the rest of the caravansary and noticed there had been a few changes since we began our journey to Egypt.
“Mary!” A figure came flying out of the door of the second floor and down the stairs. Before I could take a step in her direction, I was engulfed in Ruth"s arms. Oh, how I had missed her. We squeezed each other tightly, tears of joy running down my dirty face.
“Why you crying?” Jesus asked, his face looking sad, as though he might cry at any moment, too.
“Oh, Jesus,” I said, as Ruth released me. “This is Ruth, who knew you when you were a tiny baby. I"m crying because I"m so happy to see her.”
He was content sitting on the donkey, until he saw me cry. Now, he wanted to be held. He needed to be reassured everything was really all right. I lifted him from the donkey and introduced him to Ruth.
Matthew was pounding Joseph on the back and Jesus just looked from one parent to the other, wondering if we were mad.
“So this is Jesus.” Matthew said, an arm around Joseph and one around me as they looked at the small boy. “He has certainly grown a great deal in the past year.”
“Jesus, will you please come to me?” Ruth asked, as she held her hands out to him.
He looked at her long and hard as though he were trying to remember if he knew her or not. Then he giggled and leaned toward her, his arms outstretched. She took him in her arms and squeezed tightly. They chattered at each other as we followed them into the shadowy, cool, eating room.
Matthew and Ruth gave us a light meal. We were so exhausted we could barely move. Ruth said,“Come, you shall have your old apartment. I"ll have food and wine sent up for your evening meal.”
“But...” Joseph began.
“Don"t argue. You"re the reason we"ve made so much money on that apartment. It"s so grand, people don"t mind paying more. And we owe it all to the way you two fixed it up before you left. So it"s yours, whenever you come to Bethlehem.”
Joseph kissed her on the cheek as I took Jesus.
Matthew called one of the boys who lifted the packets from the backs of the donkeys and walked in front of us up the stairs. After placing them on the floor, he turned and skipped downstairs
We entered our former home. “It feels like we"re home, Joseph,” I said as I put Jesus down. “There"s our bed and Jesus" bed you made.”
Jesus ran to the little bed and peered at it. “Mine?”
“Yes, Jesus,” I said, “Father made that for you when we lived here a long time ago.”
“I like it.” He said and tried to climb over the rails to get into it.
“Wait,” Joseph called. “We"ll help you. All right?”
Jesus nodded, then went exploring. He ran his hand over the table and the benches Joseph built long before. “I like.” He said.
“I do too.” We helped him get to bed. In only a few minutes, he was sound asleep.
When we awoke, the late afternoon had arrived with Jesus still sleeping, and coolness had entered our home.
We opened the outside door. The sky was now a dusty gray with pale streaks of pink and mauve moving up the blackening horizon.
In the cool dimness, we heard clattering hooves of animals and the feet of many people in the courtyard. We glanced at the crowd.
“The Inn has really increased its business, hasn"t it, Joseph?”
He nodded, stretched, and reached his arms toward the ceiling as Jesus moved between Joseph and me. Joseph picked him up. “Awake?”
Jesus nodded and we stood and listened to the noises.
A cacophony of sounds blew up the stairs. Voices with different languages intermingled. Laughter erupted, the clap of a hand against a donkey"s flank as a boy took him away. Music sounded from the dining room as the door opened.
A group of men rode through the gates, the horses" hooves clattering loudly. One of the group slid from his horse and ran toward our home. I was so frightened I hurriedly took Jesus from Joseph and squeezed Jesus tightly, who clutched my neck. Suddenly, I was again running from Herod. I looked hastily around, wondering where we could escape to.
“Mary!” A voice called.
I turned slowly, then recognized Jeremiah as he loped up the stairs.
“Oh, Jeremiah.” I was so weak I would have fallen if Joseph hadn"t caught Jesus and me.
Jeremiah hugged me as though he"d never let go. Jesus whimpered because Jeremiah was clasping us so tightly.
“Oh, sorry, little one,” Jeremiah said, and moved onto a lower step.
I introduced Joseph and Jeremiah, explaining to Joseph how I met the older man.
Jeremiah said. “Saw your Father last week, Mary.”
“Oh, how is he?”
Before he could answer, Joseph said, “Why don"t you come up with us and we"ll talk?”
“I"d like to. First, let me get cleaned up and eat, then I"ll be up.”
“Good, we"ll see you then.” Joseph said, as I danced through the doorway, swinging Jesus from side to side.
Joseph watched as Jesus laughed with delight.
A young girl with a tray knocked on our door. Joseph took it, thanked her, then placed it on the table.
As I put food from the tray onto the table, I looked at Joseph. “I"ve missed this so much. And yet, I can hardly wait to get to our home in Nazareth.”
Joseph hugged me tightly. “Me too.” He leaned down and kissed the top of my head as Jesus tried to squirm between us. We laughed and moved a little apart, including Him in our circle.
We put Jesus to bed after he had eaten, and he was again asleep almost before we had him covered.
Jeremiah bounded up the stairs not long after and stopped at our door. “My, how beautiful!” He exclaimed, as his eyes glanced over the entire apartment, furniture and all. “It looks just like it did the last time I was here.”
“They didn"t change it at all while we were gone.” Joseph remarked, looking around almost as though he were seeing it for the first time.
Jeremiah swung his arms to encompass the entire room. “All this furniture. We talked about your making furniture to sell, but that had to be postponed because of your journey to Egypt.” He was especially looking at the tiny bed where Jesus slept.
Joseph nodded. “Well, yes. We had very little when we moved in and needed everything. I drew the plans, then made each piece of furniture.”
“Come on in, Jeremiah,” I interrupted, “let me pour some wine.”
We sat at the table, talking until very late.
“You said you saw my Father last week?” I asked, barely able to wait to hear the answer.
“He"s fine. He was telling us he heard from you about a month ago and you didn"t know when you would be able to come home.” He continued to look at the beds.
“We heard Herod was dead and it was now safe to return home,” Joseph said. “So we packed up right away.
Abner told us he was coming back to Jerusalem, and invited us to became a part of his group.” Joseph"s face brightened as he spoke.
“I"m glad you came with Abner. He"s a good man.” Jeremiah continued to thoughtfully look around the room.
Suddenly, he asked, “Joseph, have you changed your mind, or would you still consider making furniture for me to sell?”
Joseph looked at me, astonishment on his face. “You"re still interested?”
“Of course. Many people would give a great deal to have some of these pieces.” Jeremiah remarked. “You don"t have to say anything right now. I"ll be through Nazareth every few weeks. If you decide you"d like to do something like that, you only have to say something to Mary"s Father.”
“Thank you. That"s very kind.” Joseph said.
“Not kind at all. I"ll be making money too.” And he smiled at Joseph as though they were old friends.
Later, as Jeremiah started to leave, he said. “I"ll be going to Nazareth in two days. I must go to Jerusalem tomorrow and arrange for the rest of the caravan, as well as the goods we"ll be taking north. We have a larger group than normal, but we"d like to include you if you"d like to travel with us.”
He looked at me, smiled and said, “I"d like to be the person who took Mary back to her family.”
Joseph and I looked at each other, happiness pouring from our faces as we said in unison, “Yes!”
“Then I shall be expecting you in Jerusalem the day after tomorrow, very early in the morning.”
“We"ll be there,” I said, as Jeremiah hugged me, then kissed me on each cheek.
Two days later, we bid Ruth and Matthew farewell before daybreak and walked to Jerusalem. We met the caravan just as it was moving from the gates. Jeremiah welcomed us. “An old friend of yours is here,” he said.
“Who?” I asked.
“Rebecca and her husband. He"s helping me this trip.”
“I"m looking forward to seeing her.”
Jeremiah wheeled his horse around and rode to the head of the column as I looked for Rebecca.
“You certainly know a lot of people.” Joseph commented, dryly. “Everywhere we go, we meet someone you"ve known before.”
I looked at him, not certain whether his voice held a note of jealousy or not. “Oh, she was on the caravan when I went to visit Elizabeth. In fact, she and her husband took me to Elizabeth"s house. Without them, I could never have found my way. She also led me back to the caravan when I started home.”
Joseph held Jesus" hand and I led one of the donkeys as we became a part of the caravan of asses, children, men and women. Soon after we left Jerusalem, Rebecca found me.
Though I hadn"t felt we were particularly close friends, we fell into each other"s arms. “I"m so glad to see you, Mary. I"ve thought of you often.”
“You"ve been in my thoughts too, Rebecca.” I said. “I"ve wondered if you were still walking up and down these roads.”
“Oh, yes. I get much too bored staying home when my husband"s gone, so I just come along.” She had changed little since last I saw her.
“Tell me, Rebecca, have you seen Elizabeth?” I asked, looking around at the now familiar countryside.
“Oh, yes.” She stopped and held my shoulder as she poured stones from her sandal. “She was gone for a few months, you know.”
“No, I didn"t know. What happened?” I looked into the foothills and saw shepherds sitting, watching their flocks. Caves were dark holes in the red of the hills. Suddenly, I wondered if I could see the cave where Joseph and I had met Abner.
“When Herod was killing those babies, she heard about it and fled to the desert with Baby John.”
“Who did she stay with?” I had wondered about that for a long time and prayed the three of them were all right.
“And how did she escape without getting John killed?”
“Zacharias had cousins who lived in the desert just outside Judea,” Rebecca told me, striding along as though she were a young girl. “He sent Elizabeth and John to these people who took care of them until Herod died.
She"s just returned in the past few days.”
We trudged along. I felt I remembered something about each step I took. The crooked olive trees whose leaves hid green fruit. Red poppies colored hillsides, blending with the green grass and weeds. Blue flax reminded me of the cloth we made from the plant. Patches of gardens near small farms clung to a hillside.
I had missed all these things. “Rebecca, how is Elizabeth? At her age, how did she manage to survive such harsh living conditions?”
“I saw her the other day. I"d visited Deborah and she told me her mistress was now home. Elizabeth doesn"t look like she feels good, Mary. She and Zacharias have aged greatly since the fright of Herod"s vileness of killing babies.”
“I am so sorry to hear that.” I said aloud, then asked in a silent prayer for God to care for them. As we walked, I remembered the couple who was so very good to me. They had shown care and love at a very precarious time in my life and I loved them dearly.
Just then, Jesus pulled on my robe. “Muver, hold.”
“Who is this?” Rebecca asked, in her abrupt, yet kind manner.
I picked the baby up and said. “This is Jesus, our son.”
“Mary,” Rebecca, with fear in her voice said, “Herod was looking for children his same age. How did you keep him from getting killed? Is it safe to come back?”
“It"s all right, Rebecca. We fled to Egypt and lived there for about a year.” I held on to Rebecca"s shoulder as we stopped to remove a pebble from my sandal. “We heard Herod died, so we can now go home. I"m sure that"s why Elizabeth felt it was safe to return, as well.”
The rest of the journey flew by. Joseph and I awoke before the rest of the caravan every morning, so anxious to be on our way home we tried to hurry the others.
That last day as we crossed the Plain it was almost more than I could manage to harness my impatience. We fairly danced through the vegetation and I felt I remembered every cave on the mountains in the distance. Far off, I heard the slight tinkle of a bell on a sheep. I pointed out familiar land marks to Jesus, who was as tired as Joseph and I.
As we entered the last row of trees, I felt my body could fly. I wanted to run. I wanted to soar down the paths that led to my mother"s home. Joseph said he felt the same way. Like the adults we were, we managed to stay with the caravan until Jeremiah bade us farewell.
Then we quickened our steps, Joseph holding Jesus as I led the donkeys. Not long after we entered our courtyard, Mother spied us.
“Mary!” We both stopped and stared. I dropped the lines to the donkeys and ran, holding out my arms to her as I had as a child. She clasped me to her as I hugged her tightly. We moved from each other and stared in delight.
“Mary, what a wonderful surprise!”
“I"m so dirty, I don"t know how you recognized me.”
“Oh, my Mary. Though you"ve grown from a little girl into a woman since you left, I"d recognize you in the dark.” Her eyes filled to overflowing. “I"ve dreamed of this moment since the day you left for Bethlehem.”
We cried, laughed and hugged each other.
Then she turned to Joseph. “Oh, Joseph,” my mother exclaimed, hugging him as fiercely as she had me. “How happy I am to see you.” I don"t know when Joseph had put Jesus down, but suddenly, He was peering from behind Joseph"s legs.
She looked at Jesus and the smile became wider. Not wishing to frighten him, she placed her face near his and said. “I"m your grandmother Anna, Jesus. May I hug you too?”
He nodded and held out his arms; she picked him up as I saw Father, Daniel, Leah, and Joseph"s family, coming to greet us.
When I was a child I often wondered how everyone knew what was happening to everyone else almost before the deed was done. I still did. Before I knew it, it seemed the entire village was at our home.
What a welcome! Gone only three years, it seemed like an eternity.
Before I could move to hug anyone else, I glanced around at our loved ones. Father. A little grayer than when we left, but so dear, so wonderful. And how I loved him. He took me in his arms and squeezed gently. “It"s been a long time.” There was a catch in his voice and I looked up in time to see a tear drift down his wrinkled face.
“Oh, Father. I"ve dreamed of this moment for so long.” I then squeezed him so tightly, I felt I could never let go. I glanced over his shoulder as he released me.
There was Leah. My little Leah. Now twelve years old, she walked as though she were a princess. Her hair was thick and luxuriant. She had braided it, then pinned it to the top of her head. Her eyes snapped with