Daughter of Deliverance Read Online Free PDF

did not recognize sitting at the table. Her father was sitting beside him, and Makon said, “Ah, here’s Rahab. You remember her, don’t you, Hamath?”
    The man seated beside her father was thin and balding, about the same age as her father, or perhaps slightly older. He was apparently shortsighted, for he squinted and leaned forward, then smiled, exposing very bad teeth. “Why, she was just a baby the last time I saw her. She’s grown up well.”
    â€œThis is our kinsman Hamath, Rahab.”
    â€œHow are your kinsmen?” Rahab asked politely. She did not remember meeting the man, but she had heard her father speak of him often enough. Hamath was his second cousin, but you would have thought they were blood brothers by the way her father had always bragged on their acquaintance. “Why, he’s the richest man in Bashan,” he would often say. “He’s got money coming out of his ears. I wish he’d remember me with some of it.”
    To Rahab, Hamath did not have the appearance of a prosperous man, though she bowed to him before going to embrace Oman. Zayna was helping her sister with the cooking, and Rahab whispered to them, “When did he get here?”
    Romar’s whisper was also low. “He just came about an hour ago. I hardly recognized him. The last time I saw him he was hale and strong and dressed in fine clothing. Now he looks like a beggar.”
    â€œWhat does he want?”
    â€œHe’s fallen on hard times. It’s easy to see that. I expect he’ll tell us his story after he’s eaten.”
    The two women prepared a meal, and Hamath ate like a starved wolf while he and Makon spoke of old times. Once the meal was finished and the single bottle of wine in the house was brought out, the two men drank and Makon asked abruptly, “You don’t look well, Hamath. What’s happened to you?”
    â€œDon’t look well?” Hamath snorted. “I guess I don’t after what I’ve been through.”
    â€œYou’ve had hard times. That’s easy enough to see. Where’s your family?”
    â€œDead. All dead.”
    Makon blinked with shock and shook his head. “That’s a hard blow. How did it all happen? Why have you left your homeland?”
    Hamath took a big gulp of the wine and then shook his head sadly. His eyes were dim with the beginning of cataracts. “Cousin, you know how well I did after I left Jericho and moved to Bashan.”
    â€œI remember. Your father was against it. I guess we all were. After all, we didn’t know anything good about those Amorites and people in that country. They’re pretty vicious.”
    â€œMen are vicious everywhere, but it turned out all right. I made a lot of money there. We had a good king. His name was Og. He was a hard man but fair, as kings go. As long as you didn’t displease him, he wouldn’t cut off your head.”
    â€œWell, we heard word that you were prospering. What happened?”
    Hamath finished off the cup of wine, then shoved it over to let Makon refill it. Everyone kept their eyes on the disheveled man who sat at their table. His clothes were filthy and patched. His cheeks were sunken in, and he had all the earmarks of a fugitive. Even sitting there in the safety of their home, he kept glancing back over his shoulder as if he expected someone to burst through the door and seize him.
    â€œEverything was going fine—until those cursed Israelites came!”
    â€œYou mean the people we’ve heard about?” Rahab asked eagerly. “The ones who followed Moses out of Egypt?”
    â€œThe same bunch. They’re a bloodthirsty, wicked bunch of cold-blooded killers.”
    â€œYou don’t say!” Makon said, shock etched across his face. “We’ve heard rumors but nothing definite.”
    â€œWell, I can tell you something definite.” Hamath gulped down more wine, letting some of it