The Galilean Secret: A Novel Read Free Page A

had ever seen, but he was also a gentleman and a successful merchant like his father, with his own food and clothing market.
     
    Dismas, on the other hand, had shunned business to become a stonemason and to join the Sicarii , the dagger-wielding Zealots intent on overthrowing Roman rule. Now the thought of abandoning her learning and comforts for a vagabond life in the desert made her gasp, as if winded after a footrace. It is not too late to back out , she told herself. But how could she? As kind and good as Gabriel was, she felt nothing for him.
     
    She swallowed hard and buried her face in her hands. Tears stung her eyes; she struggled to catch her breath. Looking up, she peered through the gray-black darkness and made out the candle on the nightstand. She thought of the girls who accepted loveless matches as if they were mandated by God, and she thought of the Jews—her own family included—who had nothing but contempt for the Romans but did nothing about them.
     
    She could no longer live with such hypocrisy. With the wedding only hours away, she had to flee what she feared most—a passionless marriage. I must go and fight the Romans with Dismas, she told herself . In his arms I become the woman I long to be . The thought of making love to him calmed her trembling. Her heart leapt. She grimaced and reached for the candle. This time she seized and held it tightly. She tiptoed into the hall again and approached the lamp. She lit the candle from its flame and quietly returned to her room.
     
    She strode to the window and placed the candle on the ledge; then she went back to the bed and reached under it. After retrieving the long rope she’d hidden there, she returned to the window, tied the rope to its frame and peered out. Where was Dismas? She moved away and rummaged through her bag. Made of homespun cloth, it was full of clothes from the oversized wooden chest in the corner of the room. Her mind was full of questions. Had Dismas reneged on his promise to elope with her? Had bandits robbed and beaten him?
     
    Assured that she had packed everything, Judith lifted the bag onto the bed and sat to brush her long chestnut hair. Comforted by the scent of pine, a gift from the trees along the street, she heard footsteps below. Dismas! She threw the brush into the bag and ran to the window. His gaze was directed upward, his hair windblown, a faint smile on his ruggedly handsome face. A shudder ran through her; she gripped the ledge, hesitating.
     
    He waved. “Please hurry!”
     
    Judith froze, unable to bring herself to climb down the rope. How could she betray her betrothed, shame her father, ruin her mother’s wedding plans, disrupt the lives of two families and more than one hundred guests? But then, as she gazed into Dismas’ expectant eyes, she wondered, How can I not go with him?
     
    He paced nervously. Before she could decide what to do, he seized the rope and began to climb up, his muscular arms moving in tandem with his sure steps on the wall. In an instant, he had entered her room. She brushed away a tear and put a finger to her lips.
     
    He met her gaze and whispered, “What’s wrong?”
     
    “I am not sure I can do this,” she said.
     
    He studied her, as if admiring her glinting hazel eyes. When he spoke, his voice was low. “After all our planning, are you going to back out now? What about the anguish we’ve known under the Roman fist?”
     
    She turned away. “What about Gabriel’s anguish?”
     
    “He’ll get over it.” Dismas reached for her arm. “But if you marry him, I never will. And neither will you.”
     
    She studied his sculpted athlete’s frame and tight-set jaw. “I am afraid of the desert, of what might happen to us.”
     
    “That’s why you need me. I’m strong enough for both of us, and where I want to take you is the only place worth going.” He said nothing more, but took her in his arms, whispering her name.
     
    Then he was kissing her, igniting a flame