Historical Fiction

176

Born during Israel's wilderness wanderings, Achsah is the beloved only daughter of Caleb, one of Israel's twelve spies. Caleb disapproves of Achsah's infatuation with a handsome but devious warrior. In a heated argument with his impetuous daughter, Caleb rashly vows to give Achsah in marriage to the next victorious warrior. How the headstrong girl deals with her uncertain future is a journey of faith in the midst of deadly enemies.

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Angela Hoy
Caleb's Daughter

Death stalked Israel as they waited in nervous anticipation. The people of Judah kept scanning the bround for any signs of the deadly snakes. Their growing uneasiness spread to rising panic as the screams of their friends and neighbors drew ever closer.

Achsah wished now that she had stayed with the rest of the company of her father's household. She would have felt safer with Bachar and the other servants. To sit by helplessly and wait for death seemed unreasonable and foolish. She watched as people began piling up tents and packs to climb on for refuge. Her goat, Shaal, picked up on the thick tension in the air and leaned against her for safety. Protectively, Achsah placed her hand on Shaal's wooly head.

Then she saw them--the thin, black bodies of the vipers, a writhing wave of sure and certain death. Full-blown hysteria broke loose in the tribe of Judah. Mother's shrieked their children's names. Men called out to the Lord. There was no longer any attempt to keep tribal order as people stampeded in all directions, terror-stricken, trying in vain to escape the stinging bites. The snakes were everywhere, twisting and threatening.

Achsah snatched up Shaal and ran toward the only safety she knew--home and her father. But the screaming mass of sheer panic all around her threw off her sense of direction. She called out over and over, the dust choking her cries, but no familiar voice answered. Fear finally mastered her and she began sobbing, turning around aimlessly, hopelessly. Blinding sand stung her eyes as salty tears streaked her face. The goat's extra weight toppled the slight girl off balance. She stumbled and fell in the churning dust--landing face to face with death.

Achsah stared, frozen and breathless into the cold eyes of the serpane that could snuff out her life as quickly as a flick of its tongue. The snake began to coil itself casually, preparing to strike. Shaal struggled free and dashed off wildly into the crowd, but the snake seemed unconcerned with the little goat, as if it knew that its mission involved only humans.

And there was a human locked in its deadly, hypnotic gaze. Achsah could not break the power that held her in its sway. She stared, transfixed, into her own death. Her heart racing, she waited for the dreadful strike, the sting of death.