The Journey Begun by Bruce Judisch Read Free Book Online Page A

You’ve told me nothing! You’re in here tearing the place apart, and you tell me nothing. Even Mother could hear you. If you think of no one else, think of her. The last thing she needs is to be upset.”
    “Don’t tell me what Mother needs! I know what she needs!” Helplessness and confusion strained Jonah’s voice. “I’ve been taking care of her too, haven’t I?”
    “That’s nothing, compared to how she’s taken care of you!”
    Jonah slammed the pouch onto the table and spun around. “What do you know?” He pointed a finger at Ehud’s face. “What do you know about anything?”
    “Oh, now, that makes a lot of sense.” Ehud pushed the finger aside. “Jonah, you used to be the most level-headed person I know, but these past few years, ever since that delivery to Megiddo became a jaunt to Samaria—which you still won’t talk about—you’ve been…different.” His tone softened. “Jonah, I’m your brother. When are you going to let me in on this?”
    Jonah turned away. “It wasn’t a ‘jaunt.’”
    “Right. Hadassah told us you were following a business lead, but nothing ever came of it. What are we supposed to think?”
    “Grandfather?” Ehud jerked his head around to see Joshua’s head peering around the door, searching Ehud’s and Jonah’s taut faces.
    “What is it?”
    The boy flinched at Ehud’s sharp tone. “Mother needs you. She’s at the house.”
    “What’s wrong? Can’t it wait?”
    “I think it’s Grandmother Deborah.”
      Jonah’s eyes shot up and he rushed for the doorway. Ehud was already over the threshold, ushering his son out. The three of them hurried down the slope to the house and jammed through the door.
    Miriam knelt by her grandmother, a nervous hand on her shoulder. “She’s trying to sit up. I told her to stay still, but she won’t listen.”
    Deborah gasped, trying to speak. Since her stroke, she could only manage a few halting words at a time. Although she slurred, Jonah learned to read her like a new mother learns to read her infant’s expressions. She showed improvement as her brain fought the effects of the seizure, but her muscles still resisted control. What did recover from the stroke was the intensity of her eyes. They made clear what her tongue could not.
    Miriam rose as Jonah knelt next to his mother, taking her hand in his. “Mother, you need to lie still.”
    She leveled her gaze at him. “Lyin’...shtill...tuh...lung...” Deborah sank back, grimacing.
    “I know it seems too long for you, Mother. You are getting better, though, I can see it. We all can. You need to be patient.” Jonah brushed a wisp of hair from her damp forehead.
    She rolled her head to face him. “Noish. Wuht...hap’n?”
    Jonah averted her look. “Nothing happened, Mother. I was just banging around in the tanning shed. Some things fell over.”
    Ehud folded his arms, but said nothing.
    Deborah narrowed her brow. “Truph.”
    “That is the truth, Mother. I just...” He trailed off to a cough.
    She jerked her arm up and hit his knee. “Loog...a...meh!”
    Jonah returned his gaze to hers but could not abide her searching eyes and he faltered.
    Deborah tipped her head and looked at Miriam and Ehud. “Go...alone...Zhoneh.” Jonah saw her eyes soften, signaling they should not take the request to be alone with him for a rebuke.
    Ehud’s hardened eyes glistened as Miriam took his arm. “Let’s go, Father. I’m sure it’ll be all right.” They ushered Jesse and Joshua outside and closed the door.
    Jonah fidgeted, still not able to hold his mother’s stare.
    “Zhoneh...tell...” She laid her head back and swallowed. “Tell...truph.”
    Her son settled back on this heels, but he couldn’t speak.
    “Thuh...voish?”
    His eyes snapped back to hers. How does she know these things? There was no way to avoid the truth now.
    “Yes, the voice.” His own voice was barely above a whisper.
    “Wuht?...Who?...Wheng?” She held him with her eyes.
    Jonah