A New Face-Part 2

A bright fire crackled in the hearth below as Kendra lay next to a sleeping Rachel. She listened intently to Daniel and Ithiel's voices through a crack in the floor.

After reaching Ithiel's small cottage, the group had hung up their wet garments and clothed themselves in warm blankets. Daniel had sent the girls straight to bed in the loft, but he and Ithiel had been up for hours talking. Kendra had learned that Ithiel had been out hunting and had come upon them being chased by soldiers and his first thought was to act on their behalf. He had believed it to be a message from God because he had never had the desire to attack a soldier before. After Daniel had told Ithiel where they were headed and why, Ithiel suggested they stay with a man called Joseph Emil. He was a good friend of Ithiel's and would give them hospitality. Daniel had nodded then with utmost trust. The rest of their talk had been catching up on the years since they had last seen each other.

Ithiel had been Daniel's father's mentor and Daniel had nothing but high respect for the old man. As a child, he had often played in front of Ithiel's house when his father came for a visit. Rachel had heard stories of the man who her father and grandfather looked up to and trusted so fully. He had fought in wars and done great services to the Romans, but they had been cruel to innocent people and had taken whatever they pleased. Ithiel wanted know more of it and so sought solitude in the mountains to be with his Lord.

Kendra's eyelids drooped shut as she listed to the voices below tell stories of passed times, but she lacked the awareness to listen anymore and so drifted off into a painful sleep filled with fore and soldiers and a scream in the night.

~

A New Face-Part 1

Daniel stood up, defensive and looking taller than ever. The man approaching was cloaked in dark blue, like the color of night, and walked with urgency in his step. Before he reached us however, he side stepped into the woods and stopped, looked around, then motioned for us to follow as he turned toward the mountains. Daniel narrowed his eyes and stayed put. Rachel and I were on our feet now holding on to each other's arms. The man turned and motioned for us to follow him again, this time more urgently. Daniel turned to us and took Rachel's hand, then took a hesitant step in the direction of the hooded man. As soon as the man saw us move, he began to walk quickly, nearly running, until we were sprinting to keep him within shouting distance.
Running along the forest's edge, the man slowed his pace until he was only walking. We soon caught up with him but Daniel hung back keeping Rachel and I behind him. Daniel opened his mouth to speak, breathless, but the stranger beat him to it.

"You are Daniel, son of Amicus, are you not?" he asked without even a hint of distress from the long run.

Daniel was taken aback and there was a short pause before he answered cautiously.

"Yes," said Daniel. "How do you know me?"

"You look just like your father, and something told me that you were who you now admit to be," he answered Daniel.

The stranger looked steadily at the three of us in turn, his gaze lingered on my face the longest, which gave me the strange feeling that he knew something I did not know. The man was old, too old to be able to outrun us, though he had done just that. His face was worn by seemingly tough weather throughout the years, but his light blue eyes were kind and thoughtful and they seemed to look to your very soul when he turned his gaze on you.

"Why, you do not remember me then?" the man said.

Daniel squinted his eyes in thought as he examined the old man's face. The stranger shrugged and said, "I suppose you wouldn't, seeing as you were just a young lad when I saw you last."
Daniel's expression was now an absolute mess of confusion.

"These are your daughters I presume. One looks just as you did when you were young, but the other must take after her mother. I see no resemblance of you in her," the old man continued.

Daniel looked at me and then back at the old man, nodding his head in answer to the man's presumptions.

"Seeing as I have not yet met your daughters and you do not recognize me, I suppose a formal introduction is required. My name is Ithiel. I am a humble servant of the Lord, Most High, and therefore myself and my home are at your service," the man said with a smile. A sudden gust of wind ripped through the trees and caused the party to stumble, save for the elderly man.

"I guess that the rest of our introduction will have to wait until we are safe inside. Hurry, this way!" Ithiel said as he turned toward the mountains again.

Daniel beckoned for us to follow and we made our way through the forest, just out of sight of the clearing where we had nearly experienced death.

~

It was dark now. The sun had disappeared long ago and Daniel was anxious to find shelter.

"Ithiel, I know you are trying to help us but we need to find shelter. We are being chased by soldiers and the situation is more dangerous then you think," pleaded Daniel.

"Have patience! Do you forget who saved you from the soldiers this day?" replied Ithiel. "My home is just over that ridge." He pointed to a small hill in front of the mountains.

Daniel was quiet after that, seeing that they were not far from where Ithiel had pointed.

"I thought your father knew Ithiel," Kendra pointed out to Rachel quietly.

"Well," Rachel began, "it has been a while and I have never met him before so I suppose they did not recognize one another at first."

"But you seemed so excited when you found out where we were going," Kendra said.

Clouds were looming overhead and it looked as though it would rain before they reached their destination.

"Girls!" Daniel whispered harshly. "We need to be as quiet as possible right now. You can save your talks until we are safely inside."

Rachel smiled a weak smile and nodded. Kendra took it as an "I'll tell you later" expression.

~

Run-part 3

A bird flew overhead, to our right lay the forest, dark and foreboding, to our left was an open green meadow with no shelter from trees or bushes. Before us lay the vast mountain range, dark purple with the sun hanging just above it. There was no cover for miles besides the forest, but the forest was far from safe now. I stood frozen, not knowing what to do. I could see out of the corner of my eye that Rachel was just itching to move. Daniel knelt to the ground and pressed his ear against the soft earth, listening. After a brief moment, he abruptly stood up and began to run toward us. Rachel jumped up and down a few times in fearful anticipation.

"What is it? Can we please go?" she asked urgently.

"Hush," Daniel replied. "We must hurry towards the mountains. We haven't much time."

He began to sprint and Rachel and I followed. I glanced at the forest as I turned to the mountains and saw what Daniel had apparently wanted to avoid. A young boy, disguised as the forest was running deep into the trees. A hunter perhaps? No, a hunter would not be on the outskirts of the forest where no animals resided. Something was wrong, and Daniel knew it.
We ran at full speed and just as I was slacking off, I heard them. Horse hooves were pounding and I knew they had found us. I began to run even faster than before and dared not look back. Daniel did however, and I saw anger and fear in his eyes.

"Run girls!" he screamed at us.

The soldiers sounded closer now and Rachel was beginning to slow.

"Rachel!" I called and reached out my hand for her to take.

She grasped my hand tightly and I dragged her on. A sudden whoosh past my head made me jump and scream. Were they shooting at us? They couldn't be, the wind that passed my head shot back from me, not from behind. For the first time I glanced behind. There were four Roman soldiers on horse back in pursuit, three now. One had fallen from his horse in pure agony. I was truly frightened now. I looked around frantically but found nothing apart from Daniel looking confused as well. Another whoosh past my head found its target by the sound of it. Another shout of pain left only two men to pursue us. This secret archer was clearly not a Roman soldier. Another arrow hit the grass just behind me and I was suddenly aware of how close the men behind me were. I heard the rub of steel against leather as a sword was drawn from its sheath. I was breathless now and could hear Rachel breathing hard as well. Daniel stopped and turned around.

"Kendra! Rachel!" he screamed with fear in his voice.

He picked up a smooth stone and poised his arm. with his free hand he pointed to his right. I understood and taking a deep breath, leapt to the ground away from the soldiers, just as another arrow whooshed and hit its target. A soldier fell off his horse opposite us and was trampled by the other horse-man. I closed my eyes not wanting to see and heard a loud thunk of stone against helmet.
Horses whinnied and ran around riderless. I opened my eyes relieved to see Daniel's worried face. He was by our side panting heavily.

"Are either of you hurt?" he asked urgently.

Silent tears were rolling down Rachel's face and Daniel grasped her tightly, tears of his own stood in his eyes.
I looked around shakily at the sight. A man lay with an arrow protruding from his chest, and another man with a large dent in his helmet, knocked out cold. Daniel had quite an arm to knock out a man with a stone through the helmet. i realized my hands were stinging and looked down to see them cut up from the fall. Before I had time to patch them up, a cloaked and hooded man briskly walked toward us.

Run-part 2

The next morning was cool and crisp as we reached the edge of the forest. Daniel's relief was evident by the spring in his step and the brightness in his voice. Rachel and I did not show our enthusiasm as he did. We were exhausted, and though we were relieved to be in the open space, there was still no sleep to be had and many miles to be traveled. Daniel stopped and breathed in deeply.

"Ah, what a miraculous morning the Lord has made!" said Daniel magnificently. He turned to look at us with mock pity.

"Come now girls, how much rest do you need? Look at how far we've come!" he said with a smile.

"And look how far we have to go," replied Rachel under her breath.

Daniel did not seem to have heard. He turned and began to walk toward the tall mountains that the sun was peeking over. Daniel was so cheerful, that his cheerfulness began to rub off on me, and then Rachel, too. Although tired, we were soon caught up in the beauty of the morning. Even though Daniel had acted as though we were out of danger, I began to suspect that it had been for Rachel's and my benefit, for I caught him glancing nervously here and there. We had not evaded danger yet.

"Father, where are we going exactly?" Rachel asked after a while.

"Oh yes, it seems I forgot to mention! We are going to Ithiel's to stay for the time being. Does that suit you?" Daniel said as cheerfully as he could manage. Rachel seemed overcome with joy.

"Yes that will suit me just fine!"

She could hardly contain her enthusiasm now and I had to laugh. I caught Daniel glancing around at the sound of the noise and I quieted down. I cleared my throat.

"Who is Ithiel, Rachel?" I asked trying to maintain a care free tone.

"I can not believe that I have never told you before! He is like a grandfather to me and has known Father since," she paused. "Well I don't know how long. Father?"

Daniel turned to look at us. "Hmm?" There was still worry in his eyes but Rachel seemed to have overlooked it.

"How long have you known Ithiel?" she asked again.

"Oh, since I was a small lad," he answered in an even tone.

"Well anyway..."

Rachel continued, but i ceased to listen. I was anxious now that Daniel was beginning to lose his cool appearance. Rachel chattered on and seemed not to care whether I listened or not.
I was suddenly aware of the silence. Rachel had ceased to talk and Daniel had stopped in his tracks. Rachel and I turned to him. He was anxiously listening now and Rachel realized for the first time since the forest, that we were not out of danger yet.

~