Abigail Read Online Free PDF Page B

come down from the hills into the valleys, rushing forward and pushing him to act. The woman his father had dumped on him was beautiful, he’d give her that, but her devotion to Adonai and her clever way with words had annoyed him from the moment she’d opened her mouth at their wedding feast. She could barely speak a sentence without some reference to Adonai, praising Him for His creation or reminding Nabal of one of His laws. Her father had been a fool to allow a woman to learn the law of Moses, and his father had proved his utter disdain for his own son by binding him to such a God-loving woman. He deserved better. He deserved a woman who would worship his every word.
    He laughed aloud, though the sound was bitter, and stared down at Abigail now, who crouched before him like a frightened animal. She deserved everything he planned to give her for that brazen tongue. He had half a mind to cut it out of her and be done with her pious nonsense, but he couldn’t quite bring himself to permanently mar her beauty.
    Which was why he stood hovering over her, turning the whip in his hands. She was right about one thing. No one should know about this, least of all her father, though he doubted the man would ever hear of it. He was too big a coward to do anything anyway. The thought bolstered his confidence—and his anger at this woman who had caused him so much grief.
    She covered her face now, hiding what little the moon would reveal of her beauty. Beauty that did not move him as it once did. He slapped the whip against his palm, enjoying the way she winced each time she heard the smack. He would put the blows in places that wouldn’t permanently harm her, lest she be unable to give him the son he needed when he so desired. Her clothes would hide any bruises or cuts, but he would definitely have his way with her tonight.
    She would not get away with her insolence. He would see to it.
    The first blow jolted Abigail, stinging her forearm. Instinctively, she covered the spot with her hand, but he was quick to deliver a succession of follow-up blows, whirling her around and placing each one in a different spot. Fire coursed through every limb, and she cried out, begging him to stop until her voice grew hoarse.
    “Silence!” He bellowed the word after each of her pitiful cries until her common sense finally kicked in, and she clamped her mouth shut no matter how severe the pain. When she crumpled to the dirt, covering her head with both hands in a gesture of self-protection, he growled some unintelligible sounds like a wounded animal.
    Oh, Adonai , help me. What have I done to deserve this man?
    She’d asked the question a thousand times since her wedding night. Despite her father’s attempt to dissolve her marriage, she knew he expected her to live well, never needing anything, never knowing she would want for peace and safety every day of her life.
    “Get up!” Nabal’s demand cut through her thoughts. He yanked a clump of her hair and pulled.
    “Ow!” Her unintended cry was rewarded with a slew of curses.
    “I told you, stupid woman, to be silent!” He tossed the whip into the bushes and pulled her toward him. She tasted his wine-soaked breath as his mouth came down hard on hers. Before she could respond, he ripped her torn clothes from her and forced her to the ground again.
    Moments later he stood, looked down on her with a satisfied smirk on his face that he had finally humbled her, and walked away, leaving her naked in the dirt.
    She fumbled blindly about for her robe after he was gone. She thrust a trembling arm through each sleeve, cinched the robe closed, then fell once again to the dirt and wept in silence.

6
    David pushed his weary limbs from the hard-packed earth and stood, glancing down at his sleeping wife Ahinoam. Light flickered from a clay lamp embedded in a crevice of the cave’s rock walls and cast shifting shadows over her huddled form. Even in sleep her brows wrinkled and her hands curled into tight