Faith of My Fathers by Lynn Austin Read Free Book Online Page A

know. If not . . .”
    Eliakim groaned. “I’ve been trying to think back over the past few days, to remember something that might have happened to set Manasseh off like this, but I can’t think of anything that’s relevant. I stood beside him at the Temple this morning and again tonight. He held court today as usual. Nothing out of the ordinary happened. I went home for dinner to see if there was any word on my daughter’s baby and—”
    “So you’re going to be a grandfather, Eliakim?”
    “I already am.” Eliakim knew that Isaiah was trying to distract his thoughts to help pass the time, and he decided to play along. “My older son, Jerimoth, and his wife have a baby girl. My daughter Tirza is married to a priest, so of course she’s hoping for a son, and—”
    Eliakim heard footsteps descending the stairs. The cell gradually began to grow lighter as the torches drew near. He sprang to his feet. “Oh, thank God!” He helped Isaiah to his feet, and they felt their way toward the cell door as three soldiers came into view. The one in front carried a torch, while the other two carried what looked like a heavy sack between them. Probably some bedding. That meant he and Isaiah would be left down here all night.
    “Stand back!” the first soldier shouted. “Turn around and face the wall with your hands over your heads.”
    As they obeyed, Eliakim glanced at Isaiah’s face. He looked calm, but his eyes were tired, his face ashen. His robes were covered with rotting debris from the cell floor. Eliakim heard the soldiers struggle with the heavy beam barring the door, and then he heard the hollow squeal of rusty metal as the door swung open. There was a soft thud as the sack fell to the floor; then the door groaned shut again and the bar slammed into place. Eliakim quickly turned around to examine the bundle before the light disappeared again. But the mound wasn’t a sack of bedding straw. It was his father.
    “Abba! God of Abraham, no! It’s Abba!”
    Eliakim sank to the floor and lifted his father into his arms, cradling him. Hilkiah moaned softly. Isaiah crouched beside them. Then the light was gone again, the cell as dark as pitch. Eliakim felt his father’s face with his fingertips; it was swollen and sticky with blood. Eliakim didn’t want to believe that Manasseh would involve Hilkiah in this nightmare.
    “Abba, what happened to you?”
    “Eliakim?” he whispered.
    “Yes, Abba, I’m here.”
    “I can’t see.”
    “That’s because there’s no light in here.” Eliakim’s sleeve began to grow damp where his father’s head rested against it. He touched Hilkiah’s hair with his other hand. It was matted and soaked with blood. “Dear God, Abba! Who did this to you?”
    “Soldiers . . . They wanted Joshua.”
    “Joshua? What for?” Hilkiah moved his head slightly as he shook it. “Was Joshua home? Did they arrest him, too?” Eliakim asked.
    Hilkiah shook his head again. “I . . . didn’t tell . . .”His voice was slurred, as if he talked out of only one side of his mouth.
    Eliakim gently squeezed his father’s right hand. “Can you feel this, Abba?” Again, Hilkiah shook his head. But then he lifted his left hand to his ear as if to swat away a fly. Eliakim touched his father’s ear to see what was bothering him. The side of Hilkiah’s head was slick with blood, but there was no wound. The blood was coming out of his ear.
    “Eliakim . . . I’m dying. . . .” he mumbled.
    “No, Abba, you’re not! Don’t die! Oh, dear God. . . !” He gently lifted Hilkiah into Isaiah’s arms and scrambled to his feet, banging his fists against the cell door. “Jailer! Somebody!” he cried. The sound of his voice and pounding fists echoed in the tiny cell, bouncing back at him, deafening him. “My father needs a physician! Have mercy on him! He’s an old man! He’s done nothing wrong! Please!”
    He heard no reply, no footsteps descending the stairs.
    “Rabbi? Am I dying . . . for a