Sarai (Jill Eileen Smith) Read Online Free PDF Page A

you travel. Have you considered Eliezer of Damascus? He seems capable enough.”
    Sarai’s mind drifted as the two men continued to talk, to work out the details they would need to travel to . . . where? Abram’s God had not told him where. He had simply said to go. But when they did go, they obviously needed to take many camels to carry all of the supplies. They couldn’t go without servants, of course, and they would need flocks of both sheep and goats. She must set the servants to sewing tents made of goat’s hair, and food needed to be gathered and stored . . .
    She started as Abram squeezed her arm, drawing her attention back to him.
    “We will leave within a month. That should give us plenty of time to gather all we need,” Abram said, pushing to his feet and drawing her up beside him.
    “Only a month, my lord?” Sarai glanced at Terah, who was slowly making his way to the steps. “There is so much to be done.” Had she been lost in thought so long that they were ready to retire to their beds? Or was the urgency of leaving pushing them onward with unseen hands?
    Abram held her back from following their father. “We must do all we can to obey Adonai soon. A month is a reasonable time.” He bent closer, his dark, speckled beard grazing her cheek. “Make sure to pack plenty of things for the coming little one. You will bear my son yet, beloved.” He nibbled her ear, making tingling sensations rush through her.
    “Do not fool with me, dear husband. Unless you plan to do something to make this supposed promise come to pass . . .” She let her words trail off and captured his gaze with a twinkling one of her own.
    Abram looked up at the sound of their father grunting his way down the steps, mumbling to himself. A small scowl drew a thin line between Abram’s brows, and Sarai turned to follow his gaze. When their father was out of earshot, Abram pulled her closer. “He will make the trip difficult, but I could not refuse him.”
    “Of course not. He is our father.”
    He nodded, relief flooding his face. “I knew you would understand.” A smile turned the corners of his mouth, and he bent to kiss her. “Now let’s go below and find a way to see Adonai’s promise fulfilled, shall we?”
    Her heart sang as she smiled her response and let him lead her down the steps.

    Abram stood in the courtyard of his father’s vast estate, shading his eyes against the sun’s afternoon rays. He would normally rest in the relentless heat, but the need to gather provisions and obey Adonai’s call urged him to push harder, to finish the work. He had already dispatched Lot to purchase more servants who would come with them to tend the sheep and help with the move, while his brother Nahor had begun preparations to take over Terah’s estate once Abram and Terah had departed. Would they truly be ready to leave by week’s end?
    He ran a hand along the back of his neck, watching the road in the distance. Abram had chosen to sell his portion of his father’s lands to his older brother at a reduced rate in order to keep the ancestral lands in the family. He could not afford to simply give them away, lest they run short of needed funds to purchase supplies that they might need along the journey. The enormity of what he had done, what he was about to do, only skirted the edges of his thoughts. He would not allow it to sink in too deeply. Not until they were on their way with no chance of turning back in disobedience.
    He scanned the area in front of him from left to right, at last spotting his servant Eliezer coming toward him across the field, leading a heavily laden camel. Abram stepped from the stones of the court to walk the worn path toward the edge of the gated estate. He passed beneath the shadow of the ancient terebinth trees that kept watch over the land, trees older than the flood itself. The camel snorted as it came to a stop behind Eliezer, obediently bending at the knees and lowering itself to the