(Translation: Batsheva rarely traveled far, but Rivkah's family needed help finding her. Her cousin, Ari, had accompanied her to Israel to ask Rivkah's friend Arela if she had seen her recently. Failing that they were going to ask the neighbors because there weren't enough in their own small part of Jerusalem. It was probable that no one had seen her here, either, but they needed all the help they could get. It had been impossible for Menachem to search for his daughter due to completing the year of mourning for his wife, and now he was worried. So he had asked Ari and Batsheva to look.
As they knocked on the door, they hoped someone was home....
OOC: This was my dare from Maxie, and his really hard to do in a serious post because you want to laugh even though you are creating serious drama!)
Walking home through the streets towards home that evening, Arela couldn’t help but notice the beauty of the bright lights that shone through the windows of the nearby houses. Out here everything appeared so peaceful, there was chirping in the air, announcing night to all who couldn’t see it coming. It made her not want to go back. For a moment she hesitated, her feet stopping her forward movement. She could turn around right now. She could go back to Teris… No! She pushed herself back into forward movement, Nissa was at home. No, not just Nissa her family was at home and they cared for her. Besides... she couldn’t hide forever.
Her feet navigated the streets, a left here, a right there until she could see her house - her home ahead. There was just one thing out of place. There were people at her door. As she watched they knocked and Arela knew that inside had been thrust into ‘clean-up’ mode. She began to approach these strangers, curious as of their purpose. A few more steps and she realized she knew this couple though from where she couldn’t fathom. The closer she got the more perplexed she became, racking her brain for an answer knowing they had only moments left before the door opened and one of her parents peered out. Once that door was open her curiosity would forever remain unsatisfied. Unable to dally any longer she completed her approach rapidly, practically running up to them. "Who are you?" then, without giving them a chance to reply she continued, "Hurry! We don’t have much time before my parents open the door!"
Arela came toward Ari and Batsheva so quickly that both of them almost lost their breaths watching her. She explained that they had better hurry because her parents would open the door soon. Batsheva looked vaguely disappointed that they'd come at a bad time, but Ari wasted no time on such things. It couldn't be helped, and anyway, time was of the essence, and not just to Arela.
"Ari of Asher and Batsheva of Miriam! We're cousins of Rivkah of Lael! Have you seen her at any time... any time at all? Think fast!"
Batsheva recovered her tongue. "Menachem of Yosiah sent us! She's been missing for... roughly a year. When Uncle Menachem came home alone after the siege, he said she'd been kidnapped, but since Aunt Lael died, he can't search, so he gave her time. She was kidnapped a few days after Aunt Lael died in Awwal."
Little would Menachem have known! He now had a granddaughter, born on the twenty-fifth day of Tammuz.
"We've looked everywhere!" Ari added. "It's like they- El Shaddai I hate to say this- It's like whomever took her just vanished."
She was probably dead, but neither of them could bring themselves to tell Menachem that. But it was still likely.
Unless she would have been traveling through the desert in a sandstorm, she didn't get lost easily. But she was a little off her game at nighttime, which did worry them.
She was extremely pleased that the two strangers had caught on to her hurried tone of voice and made their words quick as a result. The sooner she knew who they were the sooner she knew if they were worth pulling aside. Their answer was enough for her to know she needed to hear them out. As soon as they finished speaking Arela pulled the pair away from the door out of sight behind the house. As she turned the corner she heard the door open and a few seconds later close. "Don’t worry, I can let you in later."
Rivkah was missing. How on earth could that be? "Last I heard, her family was moving to Egypt." Apparently they hadn’t made it, if Menachem had made it home why couldn’t Rivkah? "Just because she’s not here doesn’t mean she’s dead." Arela stopped to think about that for a second, "Well maybe it does, but don’t give up hope. After all she’s only seventeen." But even as she said it, an odd sinking feeling in her stomach arose. Perhaps she had - no. If there was no more hope for Rivkah than her cousins wouldn’t be standing here now. If there was no hope they would be busy grieving. "She might come back on her own." Maybe. It was possible.
"I can watch for her in the streets. My family cares about her so they might be able to help. If someone took her they couldn’t have vanished. They must be somewhere, clearly you just haven’t looked everywhere." She could ask the soldiers - wait no. They would be bringing almost every girl in the city to her. "El Shaddai would not forget her."
"That's the thing," Batsheva said. "Menachem knows she was kidnapped. Because he saw!" At the very mention, she turned a little pale. "I can't imagine what that must have been like. After they had buried Aunt Lael, they traveled and stopped at an oasis, but he thought the men he saw were just merchants, you know, for cloth and the like. Rivkah... well, you know how she is. She knows when someone doesn't like her, because Aunt Lael resented her not being a son so much. She sensed it. Uncle Menachem didn't."
Ari tapped his foot in annoyance. She was taking too long!
Leave it to Batya to go with the feeling side of things, Ari thought. She was right, though- but they really need not stay much longer if Arela had promised her family's help.
"Anyway, it wouldn't take her a year... I think... depending on how far they got. If you see her at all, please let us know. I don't think she's dead, but beyond that I don't want to imagine."
Now she was getting somewhere, but Ari, as much as he found his cousin too wordy, had to add one more thing, only because he sensed it too.
"El Shaddai would not forget Rivkah... but I don't think she knows that. Her mother's resentment... her so-called friends...the siege...and now this. Even I admit, she needs some good things to happen. Just pray."
"Lost in the desert, but which one?" he mused. "If I knew, I'd go there myself. It's excruciating-to sit here knowing she's gone."
Kidnapped! Now that was something Arela had not expected to hear. And after warning her father too! Previously Arela had been so sure of Rivkah’s ability to survive after being lost - she was a tough girl after all but now… Forcibly taken from her father. It was a terrible fate. She imagined herself in Rivkah’s sandals, the choice being taken from her. Taken from her family. It was a fate she wouldn’t wish on anyone and despite what she usually felt about her siblings, she did occasionally care about them. They made her life interesting.
This family was hurting and it pained her that she could do little to nothing to fix it. "Of course I’ll let you know. In fact if I see her, she’ll tell you herself. I hope you find her and continue looking until hope is completely gone."
She turned to Ari and her face fell further as she listened to what he had to say. It was understandable that after all that happened to her in such a short amount of time her faith would be lacking. Everyone needed something good to happen to them to stay positive. "I will be praying both for good to come her way and for her to return home."
Ari’s musings confused and perplexed Arela. "If you find it so tedious to just sit why do you not visit the oasis where she was taken? There may be clues there." Her voice was very matter-of-fact and it took her a moment to realize just how Yardena she sounded. "Sorry, force of habit. You’ve probably already tried that."
She sighed, wishing she could do something more and yet also unwilling to put herself out there and offer. "If you find her make sure to send her my way. I’m sure my family would be thrilled to see her."
"We've been to the oasis, but beyond that we could not say," Ari admitted. "All that desert... it's just so easy to get lost. We'd need a guide, and that costs money."
"Not that money is the problem, exactly, with Ari and Uncle Menachem being merchants," added Batsheva. "But the guides... they... understandably vary their prices, some of them anyway. And you can never tell how much money you're going to have to pay from day to day if someone decides not to be honest. If I had to guess, she could be in Egypt, but that's as far as we've gotten. "
"She's pretty enough to be in someone's harem," Ari agreed, gruffly, trying to hide the fact that his voice was starting to shake. "And if she is... it's too late. We could bring her back here, but her life would be ruined." He hoped Arela would know what he was referring to. Things needed to change, so that women who had been unwillingly taken advantage of could have lives full of love and purpose, if they wanted. But he knew that likely wouldn't happen in their lifetimes, if ever. "But if we could have any chance of recovering her, where else in Egypt- provided she's not a slave- does a lost person even go?"
That was the question. He didn't know anything about the policies of Egyptian temples, much less their myriad gods. He might have thought to look in one if he had. But all that would have depended on getting through the endless desert, anyway. They'd had to turn back.
Not to mention that neither of them knew a word of actual Egyptian language. With the military presence of the Taengeans, they were far more familiar with Greek.
Finally, Ari sighed and flexed his foot to get rid of a cramp from standing for so long. "Well, thank you for keeping an eye out, and the prayers are appreciated, too. If it's not too much trouble, you might tell your folks. Uncle Menachem could use someone to make sure he's taking care of himself. "
"Or distract him," Batsheva added, preparing to leave, too. "Sorry for the trouble. I hope they won't be angry with you."
She knew that it was probable that her suggestion had already been thought of and used, but knowing that it had already been tried told her it wasn’t the best suggestion. And though she immediately thought of another suggestion she quickly shushed herself, still feeling slightly awkward from the last one.
At the mention of a harem, Arela’s face expressed revulsion. It was difficult to think about a child such as Rivkah - no anyone not being able to choose their own fate though she knew that such things were all too common. Even she herself often felt like she had no control over her destiny. For a moment Arela was confused over the meaning of Ari’s words but quickly put the pieces together - reminding herself of a fact that she would rather forget. In Judea there was no tolerance for one who disobeyed societal norms. Not even for one who had no choice in the matter.
Ari’s next question, Arela took to be rhetorical as she too didn’t know the answer. When she was lost she tried to get home but if home was across a desert? She didn’t know what she would do. For a minute the three of them stood in silence, Arela both wanting to say something but at the same time not knowing what to say. What could she say? She didn’t know how to deal with the situation.
When Ari spoke next it was in preparing to leave. "Of course, I hope you find her. But I think my family would better listen to you than they would to me. If you wouldn’t mind of course." To Batsheva she assured her, "It’s fine, they won’t be angry - not much anyway…" She smiled, she wasn’t too much later than usual and besides if the pair came in with her then she had an excuse.
At Ari and Batsheva’s consent she guided them to her house and cautiously pushed the door open. "Hey! Remember Ari Batsheva? They have some news."