Chapter 190

© Jeannie St. John Taylor

At the top of the ladder, Atarah wrapped her fingers around the pitch-blackened frame of the gopher-wood window and stuck her head partially through the hole. Warm sunlight bathed her face. A gentle breeze carried the smell of fish and water. “There’s a warm wind,” she called down to the family who had gathered at the base of the ladder. She breathed deeply, briefly enjoying the moment before scanning the horizon. Sure enough, a few rocky peaks poked out of the water. “I see them,” she exclaimed before hurrying down so others could take a turn.

“Do you think I could safely stroll in and pet the lions?” Atarah asked as she shoved a portion of dried venison through the iron bars of the lion’s cage. The big cats pounced on the meat and she withdrew her hand quickly.

Chapter 189

The Epilogue

© Jeannie St. John Taylor

“When Shem was 100 years old, he fathered Arpachshad two years after the flood. And Shem lived after he had Arpachshad 500 years and had other sons and daughters.” Genesis 11:10,11

Atarah shaded her eyes with the flat of her hand and peered into the bright sunlight streaming through the open window overhead, waiting with bated breath. Not even Shem’s fingers intertwined with those of her free hand could draw her attention away from Noah who had his face to the window at the top of the ladder.

The quality of life on the ark vastly improved once the rains stopped and Noah was able to open that window -- which ran all the way around the top of their shelter. In accordance with God’s plan, the window occupied the perfect position for welcoming warmth and light during the day. And all that natural light was wonderful! They no longer needed artificial lights.

Chapter 188

© Jeannie St. John Taylor

With a thundering boom! -- the door to the ark slammed and locked. The sound of wood on wood reverberated through the corridors. Wind that had been rushing in through the open doorway instantly ceased, and Atarah stared numbly at gopher-wood where the outside world and her mother used to exist. Her hands, which had frantically begged Mother to enter the ark, hung limply at her sides.

She felt Shem’s arms encircle her and she collapsed into him. Not crying. Barely thinking. Her senses blunted by shock.

“You okay?” he whispered into her hair.

Chapter 186

© Jeannie St. John Taylor

The camel side-stepped the crevice. She urged the beast forward with a burst of new courage born of the need to embrace her daughter one last time erasing every other thought and feeling.

She clung to the camel’s neck, her pulse bouncing in her throat. As soon as the quake passed, she slipped trembling from his back and led him on foot the final distance to the ark.

A wide ramp at the top of a man-made hill led to a broad open doorway in the ark’s side. She cautiously ascended the rise, then stopped at the base of the ramp, unable to move forward.

Chapter 184

© Jeannie St. John Taylor

What could he say? Atarah’s mother deserved her daughter’s disdain, so she couldn’t know Atarah had forgiven her. Silently, he put his arms around Atarah and pulled her close. With her head on his chest, he held her as she sobbed.

She would have to choose: God, Shem, and hard work on the ark followed by a new life in a new world -- or reconciliation with her mother. And death. Seemed like an obvious choice to Shem, but maybe not to Atarah. Guilt did strange things to people and she felt guilty about her mother.

Chapter 182

© Jeannie St. John Taylor

“Well, . . .” Shem adopted a thoughtful pose, a fish dangling from each hand. “Music comes from our mouths and throats when we sing, so maybe the music in his wings was something like the music that comes from our bodies.”

“You don’t know?”

“I’m speculating,” Shem admitted sheepishly. “I only know for sure that Satan went astray because he grew proud over his own splendor.” He opened a door. “Hang on for a second.” He disappeared inside carrying the fish and she could hear seals barking. A walrus whoofed.

Chapter 180

Fish Face

©Jeannie St. John Taylor

“The waters increased and bore up the ark, and it rose high above the earth. And the waters prevailed so mightily on the earth that all the high mountains under the whole heaven were covered. The waters prevailed above the mountains, covering them fifteen cubits deep.” Genesis 7:17b, 19 -20

Shem shook the fin of a smoked salmon between his thumb and forefinger. “You might want to stay by the door so one of these guys doesn’t smack you in the face.” Row after row of the large fish hung from racks rising all the way to the ceiling in this room.

A bemused smile lit Atarah’s face. “You expect a dead fish to wriggle over and slap me in the fa . . . Oof.” She pushed a salmon away from her nose with two fingers. “Yuck. Okay. Okay. I’m backing up. Standing by the door.”

Chapter 178

© Jeannie St. John Taylor

Stew bubbled in a pot on the flat top of the metal dome over the fire pit in the family area. Shem’s mother bustled through the room and out the door with a wave telling Atarah and Shem she was on her way to help Father and everyone else had already eaten.

An image of Atarah’s own mother flashed through her mind and she couldn’t help comparing the two parents. How different their lives had been! Though Atarah dreaded the idea of separation from Shem for even the few days it would take to find Mother, Atarah looked forward to bringing her to a place where she could experience peace. Atarah fretted over whether to let Shem know she was leaving. If she told him he might try to talk her out of going. If she didn’t tell him he might be hurt. It was a dilemma.

Chapter One Hundred Seventy Six

Four More Days

“Enoch walked with God after he fathered Methuselah 300 years and had other sons and daughters. Thus all the days of Enoch were 365 years. Enoch walked with God, and he was not, for God took him.” Gen.5:22 - 24

With only four days left until the Flood, animals no longer filed onto the ark two by two – pairs streamed on in a near-solid mass of creature-flesh. Shem dared not take a step without keeping his eyes on the floor to avoid tripping over a buggy-eyed aye-aye or crushing a grasshopper underfoot. As he stowed small mammals in cages, his gaze continuously shifted from metal bars to floor planks and back again so he wouldn’t accidentally damage a hedgehog or lemming or even a pointy-nosed shrew by stepping or reaching wrong.

Chapter 187

© Jeannie St. John Taylor

With a shock Elika realized that unless Atarah came out to her mother, Elika would never again look on her face. She lifted her heads to the roiling clouds, tempted to pray to them. A plump drop of water splattered on her chin.

“God of Noah,” she prayed desperately. “Grant me one request. Give me five minutes with my daughter.”

Even as the words left her mouth, Atarah materialized in the ark’s doorway. A smile lit her face and she ran weeping into her mother’s arms. They clung to one another. Finally, shouting to be heard above the howling wind, Elika poured out her heart. She asked for forgiveness, hoping desperately that Atarah could forgive her.

Chapter 185

Elika’s Choice

© Jeannie St. John Taylor

“And theLORD shut him in. And all flesh died that moved on the earth, birds, livestock beasts, all swarming creatures that swarm on the earth, and all mankind. Everything on dry land in whose nostrils was the breath of life died.” Genesis 7:16 c, 21,22

The sheer size of the imposing structure that rose into view as Elika and her camel crested the mountain took her breath away. The ark was simple. Rough. A rounded box that, even from this distance, radiated . . . what? A Presence. A feeling she’d never experienced before. Holiness?

She shuddered as the chilly winds of fear blew across her soul.

Pulling her scarf around her, she vaguely wondered why the weather had grown unseasonably cold. Elika rubbed her arms to infuse a little warmth into them.

Chapter 183

What had come over Atarah? An iron clamp gripped Shem’s heart as he watched her stagger, ashen-faced, in a circle, her eyes dark stagnant pools. “Atarah.” He touched her arm to calm her. She shook him off causing his emotions to jolt and tumble. “You knew about the Flood.”

Didn’t she? Yes. They’d talked about it. He remembered talking with her about the Flood, but had he told her how soon?

Unseeing eyes shifted to his.

Chapter 181

© Jeannie St. John Taylor

Atarah’s statement that she didn’t know who Satan was stunned Shem. That should be elementary knowledge for everyone. “You’ve never heard about Satan?” For some reason Shem hadn’t even considered the possibility that no one had explained the source of evil to her. He kept forgetting that his upbringing had been entirely different from hers.

Piling a one last fish onto the cart, he put his back into pulling the load toward one of the lifts and Atarah fell into step alongside the cart. “So who’s Satan?”

Where should he start? “He was the evil spirit in the Garden of Eden who possessed the serpent and spoke through him to seduce Eve. He’s still the being behind everything bad and violent and wicked in the entire universe. Every evil thought or action on earth results from people surrendering to him.”

Chapter 179

© Jeannie St. John Taylor

“Every seed from every corner of the earth.” He lifted his chin and smiled at her through shuttered lids. “We might have traveled even further than your father.”

His flirty smile stopped her heart and she rose on wobbly legs. “We better get back to work.”

He leaned back against the table, elbows propped behind him on the top surface, and stretched his legs into the room. “We also stored every tea imaginable. What’s your pleasure?”

“I don’t like tea,” she teased. “Got any chicory?”

Chapter 177

©Jeannie St. John Taylor

Atarah froze and her eyes grew wide.

Shem waited until the skunks almost reached her before swooping forward and snatching them up by the tails.” Keeping them upside-down and vertical he walked past a long row of cages, casually opened the door of last one, shoved the skunks inside, slammed the door of the cage and hurried away.

Atarah released a breath. “You did that without getting sprayed! Or getting me sprayed.” She grinned. “I’m impressed.”

Chapter 175

©Jeannie St. John Taylor

His gaze dropped to her mouth and she willed him to touch his lips to hers. Instead, after a long moment he brushed her forehead with a kiss and started toward the stairway. “We should join the family,” he said, huskily. “It’s late and there’s a lot to do tomorrow.”

He waited for her to catch up so they could climb the steps side by side. He didn’t look at her, but halfway to the top he took her hand. Heat from his palm rushed through her arm and spread to her feet. She couldn’t look at him either.