CHAPTER THREE
Lane led ZIBA into the tiny kitchen, now lit by oil lamps. He offered his right hand to his uncle.
“May the Lord bless you for showing us the kindness of this visit, Uncle. Greetings!”
Lane could see concern written on the face of his mother, but he addressed his uncle. “What’s the matter?”
It had to involve the uncle, or why this visit? That was the way Lane reasoned it out. This was silent, though, in his own head.
MAHLI responded. “I need your mother’s assistance.”
“Is there something I can do?” Lane offers. He figures this is the right thing to do with family, and any chore is his responsibility, not his mother’s.
MAHLI shook his head. “I don’t think so.”
Tamar finds humor in this situation, but she rescues her son from his own lack of understanding. “Your uncle asks me to return with him to Shiloh.”
“Why would you do that?” Lane’s words are still directed to his uncle.
Hearing the confrontational tone of her son, Tamar now rescues MAHLI. “There’s going to be a new baby in the family. You’re going to have another cousin.”
Tamar is now smiling at both the boys, for the information applies to each.
ZIBA shook hands with MAHLI. “Congratulations, Uncle.”
MAHLI peppers his reply with humility. “Your merriment might be too early.”
“What do you mean?” Lane wants to know, but the confrontational tone is gone. It’s replaced by concern. “You merit our respect, Uncle.”
Tamar interjects again. “It’s about your aunt. He’s talking about Maria.”
ZIBA’s a bit older than Lane, and his mind went to the right answer. “She’s too old.”
“Too old?” Lane didn’t get it yet.
Tamar saw that MAHLI was out of his element, so she explained it. “It’s hard on some older women. She could bleed.”
MAHLI now rejoined the conversation. “I’ll need your mother to look after Maria.”
“What about Joppa?” Lane had grown used to the idea of Tamar going into the city with him. He didn’t want to change his plans, not after coming this close.
“I’ll look after your mother.” MAHLI and ZIBA spoke the words in unison.
Embarrassed, Tamar looked at the floor.
MAHLI spoke now. “Tamar has explained to me that you are going into Joppa tomorrow.”
Lane confirmed it. “I plan to and, Lord willing, I am.”
“You’re looking into what happened to your father?” MAHLI questioned him still.
“That’s right. I need to know why he didn’t return.” Lane paused and then put it into words. “There’s a reason he didn’t come home, and I want to know what happened.”
MAHLI spoke for everyone else in the room. “We will look after your mother.” His eyes indicated that ZIBA was included in this promise.
“You think it’s a bad idea to go into Joppa?” Lane asked, partly to see whether his uncle might already know something.
MAHLI scratched his head with both hands, rubbing his temples, actually, and he took his time before responding.
“Joppa’s a dangerous place. Your father meant well in his quest to share the word of God. But, there is something wrong in that city.”
“What do you mean?” Lane asked it, but all other ears in the room were listening.
“Your father is not the first person to go into Joppa and fail to return home. It’s been going on for some time.” MAHLI explained.
Everybody in the room was interested.
MAHLI continued. “Others have gone down there to talk to those Romanists. Some return, but there are others. Their families never see them again.”
“What do you think is going on?” ZIBA asked this question, but he wasn’t the first to think of it.
MAHLI responded. “The Lord only knows.” And, he turned again to face Lane. “May He bless you Lane. May the Lord’s hand be with you to expose those in the city, or anyone outside of Joppa, so we can know what to look for as dangerous there.”
Lane pursued the conversation further. “You think those Romanists are dangerous?”
His uncle nodded. “I don’t know whether I would say that of all Romanists, Son. But, there’s something very wrong in Joppa. People who have gone to speak with this group from the north seem to only find troubles.”
Tamar excused herself from the kitchen. “I’ll need to gather some things for Maria.”
“I will look after your property and the animals.” ZIBA offers this to his cousin and follows up with a promise. “You don’t need to worry about home.”
Lane looked to his uncle. “Can you offer advice?”
“Trust the Lord!” MAHLI began. “Your age is probably going to make things easier.”
“Why my age?” Lane was oddly offended.
“Some men will not take you seriously, but that’s their weakness.” MAHLI had seen the result of his words on Lane’s face. He decided to encourage him.
“You can trust in the Lord to use their lack of confidence in your age to expose the truth in what’s being done there in secret.” ZIBA added this last part, for he had seen Lane’s reaction, too.
By midnight, Lane watched everyone either depart, as in the case of ZIBA, or bed down, in the case of his mother and uncle.
He was alone with his thoughts, but his thoughts went to the Lord.
“Lord. I need you to show me what to do tomorrow. Mom is going with uncle MAHLI. That’s a relief. Please, tell me where to go and to whom I must speak. Uncle’s words bother me, and I need to be cautious.”
He looked at the moon through his window, just a sliver hanging over the Mediterranean, if he could see the water.
“You made that, Lord. It’s a light to those in need. That’s what I’m asking for in you. Please, make my path visible.”
He smiled to himself. “I don’t have the first clue what to do, or how to protect myself. I am counting on you.”
And, Lane’s thoughts went to others in his family.
“Lord. Please look after Mother. I know enough to see that Uncle is giving her something to do, a place for her to go, while I am gone. Yet, Uncle has many things to think about himself. Please show your love to both him and Maria. May their new child learn to love you, too.”
He thought about ZIBA and the animals.
“There’s one more thing, Lord. ZIBA’s going to be looking after this place. Give him success, as you’ve been doing for me all this time. Please.”