Monday 16 June 2008

Overheard

"Good morning" said Bethuel. This was strange, he didn't normally address me until the end of the day, I didn't need to reply. "I woke up last night to the sound of my mother crying in the other room." He said, "I could hear my father's voice whispering something to her and I moved to the edge of the room to hear what was wrong."

"My mother's sobbing was becoming quieter and I heard her ask my father '...do you know when it happened?' My father answered 'From what I can gather it would have been about seven or eight weeks ago'. My mother replied 'but she's barely 17 years old, that man is disgusting to take a girl of that age.' My father didn't agree 'what difference does age make? She was the daughter of the king and now our master's wife has asked her to carry the master's child. There is nothing we can do about this.'

My mother's voice became cold and hard 'there is plenty we can do, there is certainly much that I can do, one woman to another. That girl trusts me and I will make use of that trust to ensure that our son gets what he deserves.'

"I didn't hear any more after that. Today I am going out into the fields with the master's nephew, he's going to teach me about how to shepherd the animals. Goodbye." Said Bethuel.

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