The Gate of Heaven (49 page)

Dinah listened as he spoke on, and a great warmth began to grow within her. She knew what it was now to love a man without selfishness, and she reached up and pulled his face around. When he lowered his head and kissed her, she knew somehow that she had passed into womanhood. She would never again be the selfish, thoughtless girl she had been. “I love you, Demetrius. I want to be your wife more than anything.”

Demetrius held her tightly and after a time said, “There is one detail that will keep us from marrying.”

“No, don't say that!” She hesitated and then said, “What is it?”

“I'm a slave. I belong to you.”

“No,” Dinah cried out, “I belong to
you,
Demetrius. I always will.”

Olam stepped into the light of the small fire and looked at the two, his arms loaded down with chunks of wood and sticks. He began to pile them on the fire and noticed that the girl and her slave were clinging to each other, paying him no heed whatsoever. He built up the fire until it flickered upward, reaching for the sky, then shook his head.
What's all this about? Her father will give her a good caning, and that'll cure her
. He looked over at the two and saw that they were lost to him and to the world. Despite the incongruity of the situation, it gave him a good feeling, and he laughed deep in his chest as he piled more wood on the fire.

A shadow fell across Bilhah, and she looked up from the stone she was using to grind grain. She smiled at once, saying, “Hello, Reuben. I thought you had gone with the other men to the flocks.”

“I did, but I came back.” Reuben knelt down beside her and, reaching over, took the round rock Bilhah held in her hand. “Let me do this for you.”

“You don't have to do that.”

Reuben smiled and pulled the grinding stone before him. His hands were so large that the stone looked very small. “Pour some of that grain in here,” he said.

Bilhah reached into the large pot, scooped out some grain, and poured it onto the hollowed out stone. “This is woman's work,” she said.

“I don't see why it should be.” Reuben took the round rock in his hand and began to crush the grains. With a few turns of his strong hand, the grain was mashed into smaller fragments. “Is that fine enough?”

“No, not quite.”

Reuben continued to grind while Bilhah sat beside him, scooping out the crushed flour and adding more whole grain.

“There ought to be a better way to grind grain than this,” Reuben observed. “Somebody ought to invent something.”

“I wish they would. It seems like I've spent half my life doing this kind of work.” She held out her hands and looked at them ruefully. “It makes the hands so rough.”

“Let me see.” Reuben pulled Bilhah's hand toward himself. He rubbed the surface with his thumb and observed, “Not rough like mine. As a matter of fact, I've always thought you have pretty hands.”

Bilhah grew flustered. She was aware of the strength of Reuben, who was by far the biggest and most powerful of Jacob's sons. She glanced around to see if anyone was watching, then whispered, “You shouldn't be holding my hand, Reuben.”

Reuben gave her a startled look and then flushed. “I suppose I shouldn't.” He released her hand and continued to grind the grain silently.

Bilhah attempted to make conversation. She had always known that Reuben was attracted to her, but she now saw something disturbing in his eyes. A faint flush came to her face, and she rebuked herself inwardly.

When the day's grinding was finished, Bilhah's eyes swept the camp and she said, “Oh my. Look at that.”

Reuben's eyes followed to where she indicated across the camp, and he saw Dinah and Demetrius laughing together. He was holding her arm, and she was gazing up at him.

“They're having a good time, aren't they?”

“Yes. Dinah's so different.”

“I wonder what happened? She hasn't been the same since Demetrius brought her back from that crazy trip she tried to make. She's like her old self again.”

“She's in love,” Bilhah said simply.

Reuben gave her an incredulous look. “In love with Demetrius?”

“Why, of course. Can't you see it? All you have to do is look at her.”

“But he's a slave!”

Bilhah smiled and shook her head. “Do you think that matters when a woman loves a man?”

“Why, of course it does!”

Bilhah had already reached her own conclusions about Dinah and Demetrius. She felt a sudden pang for Reuben, for he was such a simple man. He had never married, although he was the oldest of the boys and had had many chances. She studied his blunt face as he sat watching Demetrius and Dinah. Finally she said, “When a woman loves a man, it doesn't matter what he is.”

Reuben turned to face her. “I never thought of that,” he said. An odd expression flickered in his eyes, and suddenly he seemed embarrassed. Getting to his feet, he said, “I'll carry that grain for you.”

“Thank you for helping me. You're always so thoughtful, Reuben.”

“Why, of course my parents will love you. Why wouldn't they?” Demetrius had been telling Dinah more about his home and family. Dinah had grown uncomfortable hearing about his parents and had said, “They might not like me.”

The two had been standing on the outside edge of the camp when Demetrius had noticed Reuben helping Bilhah grind grain, and now he said, “That looks odd.”

Dinah looked over and saw the big man kneeling awkwardly grinding grain. “He's always been partial to Bilhah.”

“She's a sweet woman.”

“Yes, she is.” Dinah felt uncomfortable, however, with Reuben's obvious attraction to Bilhah. She was much too old for him, and she was their father's concubine. “I wish Reuben would marry. I'm surprised he hasn't already.”

“I've wondered about that myself.”

Dinah ran her hand over her hair and said, “If we marry and I go back with you to Minoa, will we live with your parents?”

“No. I want to build a house right on the seashore. Every morning we'll get up and there'll be the sea, all fresh and beautiful, and at night we can sit out and watch it. Sometimes the moon rises and forms a silver track in the ocean, very broad close to you, but it narrows down as it reaches toward the horizon. It looks like a silver road leading right to the moon.”

“It sounds so wonderful,” Dinah said wistfully. “But I'm not sure it will happen.”

“Of course it will happen,” Demetrius said. He wanted take her in his arms, but he dared not do that here. He was aware that they had an audience wherever they went. “I'm going to talk to your father today.”

“Oh, Demetrius, I don't know what he will say! He's very partial to me.”

“And you think he might not want you to marry a foreigner?”

“I don't know what he'll think.” She looked up at him anxiously. “Maybe…maybe we should wait awhile.”

“No, we won't,” he said firmly. “I'm going to marry you, and we'll go to Minoa. We'll have children. I'll teach the boys to sail, and you can teach the girls to be as beautiful as you are.”

Dinah laughed then and the fear left. Whatever this man set out to do, she knew he would do it. He wanted her and that was all that mattered.

Jacob looked up to see Demetrius walking purposefully toward him. He had come out, as he often did, in the late afternoon to look over the flocks. Sometimes he grew tired of the hubbub and the talk about the camp, and it was out here in the open spaces that he felt comfortable. The sun was already dropping behind the low-lying hills in the west.

“Master, could I speak with you?” Demetrius had come up and stood before Jacob. “I have something to say.”

Jacob knew what was coming, but he let nothing show in his face. He had been so filled with joy and thanksgiving that Dinah had been rescued, and he had always felt that this young man had something in him most men of his age lacked. He had humor and could make people laugh, and he was an expert in working metals, which had been handy—but it was Demetrius's hunger for God that drew Jacob.

“Come. Let's go sit down. My legs are tired.”

“As you say, master.”

The two men sat down on an outcropping of rock, and for a while neither man spoke. Jacob surveyed the sky and studied the thin moon that already lay askew in the south. He lifted his head and savored the dry, sweet odor of the country. A highly perceptive man, he could feel the life in the earth, could hear small animal feet scampering through the dry grass, could see a vulture several miles away making beautiful circles in the sky. He said, “You know, Demetrius, vultures are ugly creatures when you're close to them, but when they're up there like that, there's nothing more beautiful.”

Aware of Jacob's love of wild things, Demetrius said, “You're right. There's only one thing more beautiful I've seen, and that's the porpoises when they come up out of the water and make an arch.”

“What's a porpoise?”

“A very large fishlike creature. They're not actually fish because they don't have gills. They breathe air. Sometimes they'll follow a ship, a dozen of them. They'll all come out of the water and arch over. They're very friendly. Once I was swimming and one came right up and got in front of me, his head out of the water. I could have sworn he wanted to speak to me.”

Jacob listened, questioning Demetrius more about the creatures of the sea. Finally Demetrius took a deep breath, and Jacob knew that he would now speak of the real matter he had come about.

“I don't know how you'll take this, sir, but I must tell you that I love your daughter.”

Jacob smiled. “I would be a blind man not to see what's been going on. She has blossomed. It was you who saved her from Shechem, and then you found her in the desert.” He shook his head and said, “You know, I think she would have lost her mind after that terrible experience with that awful man if it hadn't been for you.”

“I care for her a great deal.”

“And she cares for you.”

Demetrius blinked with surprise. “Yes, she does. We love each other.” He hesitated and let the silence run on. Then he said firmly, “You probably will be shocked at this…and perhaps angry. But I want to marry Dinah.”

Jacob remained totally still, and thoughts scampered through his head. He had prepared himself for this, however, and now he said, “You are not of our race, son.”

“No, I'm a foreigner. I'm a slave here,” he said. “But back in my own home, I'm not without honor.” He went on to explain how his father was a counselor to the king and how he himself would inherit his father's possessions and even some of his prestige.

“It was a great tragedy when you were shipwrecked and sold into slavery, but I think the great God above brought you to us to save my daughter.”

“I know I'm a slave—”

“No, you are not a slave. I grant you your freedom from this day onward.”

Demetrius could not have been more relieved! He had already been making plans to run away, to steal Dinah if necessary, but this wonderful old man had seen into the heart of each of them. He felt tears gather in his eyes, and he whispered, “You are good, sir. Very good indeed.”

“I am but a servant of the Most High, but I have a little more wisdom now than I had when I was a young man, as you are. God had to run me down and break me before I would really listen to Him.”

“One thing I must tell you,” Demetrius said. “I must know the God that you worship. I could never go back to worshiping an idol.”

“That is good, my son,” Jacob said eagerly. “He is the only God, and there is happiness only in serving Him.”

“I must go back to my parents. They think I am dead. I've been gone so long, and sailors lead a perilous life. Do you think, sir, that the great God will hear me even if I'm not in this land?”

“He is the God of all lands. He is everywhere. You cannot find a place where He cannot come. If you were put into the deepest dungeon under the earth, God would be there.”