Ashes of the Red Heifer Read Online Free PDF

returned his murderous look on Hassan. With one last seething burst of vitriol, Natan stalked away.
    “What did you say?” Annie asked.
    David shrugged.
    Hassan’s pale face gained a bit more color. “Thanks, David.”
    David put his arm around Hassan’s shoulders. “It’s okay for now, buddy. But I’d stay out of his way for the rest of your life.”
     

FOUR
     
     
           Dusk brought lengthening shadows across the ancient desert as the bus rolled toward Jerusalem. The rumble of tires on the rough road drowned the occasional hushed voices of the people riding. Many slept, their bodies propped against each other.
    Annie and David sat midway through the old school bus and Hassan sat in front of them. No one sat next to Hassan even though the bus was crowded. The others seemed to avoid contact, all except Natan, who cast hate-filled glances at Hassan.
    Annie leaned forward, peering over Hassan’s shoulder. David slouched down, dozing with his head tipped back.
    Hassan’s laptop lay open on his knees. His fingers clicked numbers impossibly fast. “The protein levels seem to indicate the calf had developed an immunity of sorts.” He said barely audible above the noise of the bus. “I’d like to do some more analysis on the tissue itself.”
    Annie sighed. She kept her voice as low as his. “I have the samples in the cooler. As soon as we can get to a lab we’ll do the analysis. In the meantime, let’s put in some variables and see what results we get.”
    Hassan rubbed his eyes. “Can we do this tomorrow? I’ve got a headache.”
    He looked done in and Annie knew if he was half as tired as she was he could use a break. “I’ll mess with it in a while. You try to sleep.”
    He looked at her and yawned. “What variables do you want to change?”
    “It’s okay.” She reached for the computer. “I’m not tired,” she lied. She had to be careful what she asked of Hassan because no matter how it might inconvenience him, he did his utmost to please her. He was so much a part of her she couldn’t imagine life without him. But Hassan needed to find someone to love. He needed to be devoted to himself, his career and life, not to her. Annie wanted to find a love, too, someone to have a family with. Maybe that man was David.
    “What is the point?” He spoke with sympathy. “We are scheduled to be on a plane back to the States tomorrow night. We don’t have a lab here to work. We can’t take tissue out of the country. We’re done.”
    She clenched her teeth. “We’re not done.”
    “What are you going to do? Break into one of the other research labs in the south and use their equipment?”
    She shushed him. “Here’s my plan. First thing tomorrow morning we’re going to see the Ag Minister. We’ll take him our research, explain how close we are, show him the LPS epitopes levels and that Esther’s calf was alive. He won’t have any choice but to let me vaccinate pregnant cows, bring them into Israel and calf them out. The formula works.”
    Hassan reached for the computer. “No one is going to let you bring in cows. No one is going to allow you to stay after the bombing. I know how important this is to you but you have to be realistic.”
    “You can give up but I’m not going to. There has to be a way.” What if she and her father had given up during that late spring blizzard? But Annie and her father had fought the winds and the snow, sorted the pregnant cows and brought in the heavies. They’d stayed up for three nights, calving and warming calves in the bathtub. In the end, their neighbors’ calf crops had been decimated but Annie and her father hadn’t lost one.
    Annie looked away, directly into the burning eyes of Natan. That was enough to get her blood boiling. How dare he blame Hassan?
    “That’s weird,” Hassan said.
    “What?”
    He scowled at the screen. “When I saved the file and closed it, there was an error message I don’t understand.”
    Hassan and his computers.