THE PROMISED WAR

window above him.

He paused, sweat dripping into his eyes, and realized that he could be wrong about this window, despite what he had told Bin-Nun. It might not be the same window that Rahab had lowered him out of.

Lord, help me, he prayed, knowing full well that he had already committed himself at this point to entering this window. Before Deker had even thought to pray, the good Lord would have had to rearrange the entire architecture of Jericho to suddenly make this Rahab’s window if he was wrong. Which seemed ludicrous to Deker. I’ll never have the faith of Abraham.

Cautiously, he raised himself up so he could look inside. But it was too dark to make out anything. He listened for a moment. Then, detecting no sound, he crawled through the window and into the cellar hewn out of the city wall.

With immense relief he realized that this was, indeed, Rahab’s cellar. He took a breath, said a silent prayer of thanks and began to look for the rope that Rahab had used to let them down before so he could help Elezar up.

He found the rope coiled in a corner among the jars and skeletons. He never thought he’d be so happy to see those Reahn skeletons again. He picked up the rope and turned toward the window to let it down for Elezar.

But as he moved toward the square of stars, a big shadow moved in front of the window. A feeling of blind panic seized Deker as all the skeletons in the room seemed to step toward him.

Then the grillwork behind him opened and he saw a hooded figure holding an oil lamp. The hood came down and he saw Rahab, dressed much more modestly than during their first encounter.

“Rahab,” he said, starting toward her.

But she said nothing, looking over his shoulder.

Her oil lamp flickered and Deker looked around the dimly illuminated cellar. He was surrounded by four Reahn soldiers.

They must have been waiting for me as soon as they saw the pillars of fire go up at Gilgal and knew the Israelites had crossed the Jordan.

Rahab pointed at him and told the soldiers, “This is the Hebrew spy.”

38

Deker watched Elezar haul himself through the window. He looked relieved to set his feet on solid ground until he saw the four Reahn soldiers behind Deker.

“Rahab’s brothers,” Deker told him. “We’re good.”

Rahab said, “They were all conscripted into the Reahn army as teens. Their uniforms disguise their hearts. We aren’t all what we seem.”

With a steely gaze Elezar asked, “How is this good, Deker?”

“They’re going to get me into the fortress to plant the C-4,” Deker said. “They know the weak spots in the wall. I’m going to plant two charges with timers—one short and one long—to blow the walls. Fortress wall first, city wall second.”

Rahab translated what Deker was saying to the biggest and apparently the oldest of her brothers, who looked no older than twenty-four and whose rippling physique would have qualified him as a Mr. Universe contestant in the twenty-first century.

Ram, as Rahab called her older brother, looked at him intensely, with all the passion of an eldest brother. His unspoken warning seemed to say, Mess with my sister and I’ll rip your head off. Then he turned to Rahab and said something in a deep, gruff voice.

Rahab said, “Ram knows the disbursement of troops in the city, the checkpoints and roadblocks, as well as the layout of the fortress, secret gates and guard shifts. But he wants to know what assurances we have, if we help you now, that your soldiers won’t destroy us along with Reah?”

Deker glanced at Elezar and in English said, “Nice to know that at least they think I’ll be successful.”

“Tell her we gave her our word and that’s enough,” Elezar replied, going back to his original non-promise to her when she first helped them escape a week earlier.

“Thank God even Bin-Nun is more principled than you.” Deker shook his head and turned to Rahab and said, “General Bin-Nun declares that you and all who are with you in your house will be spared on two conditions.”

Rahab repeated this to Ram, who showed no change in expression, and looked at Deker eagerly with her dark, animated eyes. “Tell us these conditions and we will meet them.”

“I will meet one of them for you now.”

Deker was aware of Elezar’s death stare as he pulled out his dagger, cut a piece of the red rope on the floor and moved to the open window. He found one of the bronze hooks inside the top of the window used to keep grillwork in place. He fastened the scarlet cord to the hook and then closed the hook with one sharp, soft blow from his axe.

Now Bin-Nun and his scouts would know from the start that she hadn’t betrayed him and everything was a go.

“This is your blood on your doorpost, Rahab,” he told her. “This is the sign for our angels of death to pass over your house when they storm the city.”

Deker watched her eyes grow wide and mouth drop as she heaved a sigh of relief and wonder. Truly, she considered this an answered prayer.

“If this cord should be removed, however,” he warned her, “we will be blameless in your deaths.”

Rahab nodded profusely and repeated everything to her brothers, who glanced at one another and nodded tentatively.

“What is the second condition?” she demanded anxiously.

“You must bring your entire family into this house or they will not be passed over and will be slaughtered with the rest of your people.”

“You mean my mother and father and brothers?”

“Yes,” he told her. “They will be spared.”

“What about my brother Ram’s family?”

Deker could hear Elezar groan behind him as he answered, “Them too.”

“And my girls who work for me?”

“Holy shit,” Elezar said. “Enough, Deker. One whore is enough.”

Deker ignored him. “All who belong to you, Rahab,” he said. “Bring them into your house. But do not tell them about our deal. Simply offer them refuge in advance of the siege.”

Rahab again repeated everything to her brothers, who finally began to ease up. Deker realized she had probably negotiated quite a lot on behalf of the family for years and they’d trusted her on more than one occasion to secure the best terms on the deal points.

“Remember,” Deker warned her again, “whoever ventures outside the door of your house into the street, his blood—or hers—shall be on his own head, and we will be guiltless.”

Rahab nodded slowly, and Deker realized the deal had hit a snag.

“Here we go,” grumbled Elezar.

“We have a problem,” Rahab said. “Ram can get his family inside the house before the attack. But he must take his post on the walls when called or he will be labeled a deserter and they will look for him and his family.”

“Then what’s he doing here right now?” Elezar shot back.

“His shift starts soon,” Rahab said. “He’ll have to leave.”

Elezar was suspicious. “How convenient that all of your brothers happen to be off duty just when we happen to climb through your window.”

“Oh, these aren’t all my brothers,” Rahab said. “I have six more on duty right now.”

“Jesus Christ, Deker!” Elezar cried out too loudly. “This is why Bin-Nun takes no prisoners.”

The tension was palpable in the room, Rahab and her brothers listening carefully to see if Elezar’s bark had attracted any attention, however unlikely that would be from their location.

Deker lowered his voice and said, “You want us to be captured, Elezar?”