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© Copyright 2003 Richard S. Barnett  
 

OTHNEIL

The Force of God

Chapter Fifteen

 

by Richard S. Barnett

 

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

 

"We will lay an ambush for the Kushu tonight," I told my soldiers.

I had led them, fewer than two hundred strong, into the wooded hills that overlooked the west side of the valley where the tribe of Dan dwelt. I studied the land while our men made camp without fire. The three white peaks of Mount Hermon hovered beyond the east side of the valley. Lakes and marshes in the south end of the valley filled the whole basin with a haze that hid the mound of Chatsor, making it impossible for anyone to guess how many enemies might lurk there. The people of Dan had settled where springs feed the Jordan at the north end of the valley. Gharaf pointed out the lower slopes of the nearby hills where he had led his sheep to pasture only a few months earlier.

I learned from Gharaf and other Danites that Kushu raiders and settlers had filled up all of the fertile land of Dan, but they had never claimed the cliffs and crags that overlooked the valley from the west. That would surely be their next step when their king decided to seize the land of Naphtali. I told my men about my plan for the night.

"I have gone ahead to see for myself, and the Kushu use the next ravine to the north whenever they raid Naphtali. It's the pass to Kedesh of Naphtali--the best pass on this side of the valley.

"We attack when Gera blows his horn. If any man twitches a muscle before all the Kushu have walked into our trap, I'll feed him to the Kushu myself!

"If nothing happens before midnight, I'll take a troop down into the valley and see what we can do to make trouble. The rest of you will stay here and guard the pass until I return.

"One way or another, the Lord will fill our trap!"

"May I go with you, sir?" Gharaf begged.

So many men clamored to go with me that I had to order silence. "If we go, I can take only the most cunning and stealthy among you: Ehud ben Gera and his troop!"

Groans but no argument followed my answer. The others had already seen how you, my left-handed Benjaminite, could throw a knife better than anyone else and trick your attackers in a dozen ways. The men of Ephraim and Manasseh lived in awe of you and envied Ebed when you took him into your troop.

Gera and I led our men into the Kedesh pass at dusk. I whispered to each troop leader in turn, "Don't move until Gera sounds his horn, not even if someone's about to step on you. Trust Gera, he knows just when to spring his trap."

Nothing happened by midnight, so I told Gharaf, "Fetch Ebed's troop. Gera will take charge of the ambush party."

After blackening our faces, Gharaf and I followed you down the Kedesh ravine and tuned north. A waxing moon had nearly set, and your men moved slowly by starlight along a trail at the foot of a wooded cliff. It amazes me that you young Benjaminites can see so much better than me in the dark. Your men knew where they were and could glide along without a sound. I kept as close as I could to you, and Gharaf followed with my shield and spear.

The troop halted and crouched by the trailside while you crept forward. You returned and whispered, "We've found a Kushu camp. Can't you smell their campfire? There's maybe a dozen of them fast asleep!"

"Well done, Ehud. Creep up on them and capture as many as you can. Kill the rest."

You melted into the night. I heard the call of an owl followed by the yelp of a dog. The yelp ended suddenly, but more dogs started barking and then I heard one scream that quickly died off in a gurgle.

"One of Ehud's men was clumsy," I told Gharaf. "Let's see what they've caught."

We walked into the camp site where your men had rekindled the fire. I saw several corpses and two men lying bound and gagged.

"Two of the dogs got away, sir," you reported. "We caught everyone else. Ebed could use more practice in slitting throats, but he'll do all right."

"Your men have done well, Ehud," I said. "Now strip the bodies, break the sign of Mot, and leave this. It's nothing but a raven's feather, but the Kushu think that ravens fly on the black winds of death. Bring all their weapons and anything else you find, and scatter wormwood and ashes. I'll take this pair now."

The Benjaminites hauled the two prisoners to their feet and yoked them together by their necks. I prodded them into motion with my knife and herded them to the Kedesh pass. Your men soon caught up with me, and we reached our camp well before the end of the short summer night.

I left my son Kermesh in charge of posting lookouts and guards at the mouth of the pass, with orders to send a messenger to Gera and me and to be ready to trap anyone who entered. I placed my youngest son Sheal in command of two more troops to watch the top of the cliff, warning them to keep out of sight. "We must know everything about who comes and goes down below you, how many, and what they are doing."

I sent your troop to get their rest. "You have another long night ahead of you," I warned them. "Ehud's not one to sit around bragging."

The sun had risen when we began to question the prisoners. Gera and I seated ourselves beneath an oak tree and I made myself comfortable with a pomegranate while Gharaf stood beside us with my shield and spear. Two men dragged the prisoners before us, ripped off their gags, and stood guard over them.

I saw how Gharaf stared at the two Kushu. He had never seen the murderers of his family so close. They were short, stocky men with tattoos and scars all over their bodies and faces, and they wore their hair tied in a knot on top of their heads. Their amber eyes glowed with such hate they made me feel uneasy.

"What do you think of this pair," I loudly asked Gera, arching one eyebrow.

"I thought the Kushu painted their faces," Gera said.

"That's before they go into battle," I told him.

"These would look better painted. Which is the leader?"

"It must the older one--the one with the most scars," I said. "All it needs now is the sign of Mot and it will be ready for its journey to the underworld."

"Worm!" I told the prisoner, "A loyal servant of Mot should wear his sign!"

The man glared at me but said nothing.

I drew a pattern on the floor in front of him and said, "You need this mark on your face."

The prisoner shuddered and tried to rise. One of the guards pushed him on his face instead.

"Where's Ehud?" I asked Gera.

"Light a fire for me and get Ehud," Gera called to his men.

Both prisoners were trembling by the time you came. "Yes, father," you asked, "Do you need help here?"

"Ehud, these two worms need the sign of Mot, and the fire is hot." Gera answered. "Do you know how to make this sign?" He pointed to the sign I had drawn.

The prisoner began babbling. "Sir, have pity on your servants. We'll do anything you say."

"What can worms such as these do for me?" I scoffed.

"You could ask them to tell you about their army and their king," Gera suggested.

"What would filth such as these know about such things?"

"My lord," the prisoner pleaded, "we'll tell you all we know."

"How would a worm know what's in the mind of Cushan-rishathaim?" I demanded. "How could a worm know how many soldiers he has?"

The two prisoners didn't know everything we asked them, but I could have laughed at the way that your father drew out their answers.

We slowly pieced together the story of what the Kushu had done. We had caught their party on its way back from a raid, loaded with loot. Cushan-rishathaim himself was taking his ease at his summer house in Syria, but he had sent perhaps a thousand men to occupy the land of Dan. Most of them had begun settling in the places they had taken from Hebrews. The prisoners thought that Cushan-rishathaim wanted to use Dan as a base to attack Israel after the end of summer.

"He's waiting for winter, is he?" you said in disgust.

"Shouldn't he be fighting somewhere instead of waiting?" Gera said.

"Of course. He must be bored. It's a shame to keep him waiting," I laughed.

"Let's see what we can do to help him," you suggested.

"First, we need to send this pair back to Hudaba so he will hasten to send us some more men. We'll have to send a troop to guard them. Then we shall begin to harry the Kushu," I decided.

"Before we get rid of this pair, you could find out if they have seen any Hebrews among the Kushu," Gera added.

The prisoners didn't know of any such men. They knew only that their king had a bodyguard of Lukka and Thekel, men of the Sea People who were as tall as giants.

"Your brother isn't any taller than you," Gera said.

"No, if he's alive," I agreed. "Those bodyguards have come a long way from the sea too. We must help them find their way back to where they belong."

We sent our two prisoners to Hudaba before making our plans to raid the Kushu. We began by taking Gharaf, Khermesh, Sheal, and a few Benjaminite archers to scouting the edge of the cliff above the valley of Dan. "We’ll have to learn all the ways in and out of the valley if we want to harry the Kushu," I told the others.

We spent the day walking up and down every deer and goat trail we could find, taking care to stay hidden from any possible watchers. We had just started up the cliff on one trail when one of the two bowmen we had left on watch came scrambling down.

"We see strangers coming, sir," he called.

"Not Kushu?" I asked as Gera and I hurried to the top of the trail.

"No, we don't know who they are. There must be forty or fifty of them."

"Men of Naphtali, I'd say," Sheal suggested.

I saw the men coming towards us and surrounding the head of the trail. Before the rest of our men reached the top, I sent the last man in line back downhill with orders, "Get Ehud--I need him fast!"

I stepped toward the men with my hands open as a sign of peace.

Three of the strangers, thin short fellows with hollow cheeks, came forward without putting their staffs aside. The oldest started berating me without so much as one word of greeting.

"We don't want any trouble with the Kushu," the man told me, "so get yourselves out of our land."

"My friends, we have come to get rid of the Kushu," I answered.

"We don't know or care who you are. You mess with the Kushu and they'll take it out on us," the elder snapped.

"They have already helped themselves to the land of Dan, all of this great and wide valley before you," I reasoned.

"What's that to us? They leave us alone," the elder said, more cross than ever.

I struggled to calm him. "Yesterday they took Dan, my friends, and today they're raiding Issachar and the south of Naphtali. They'll covet your land next."

"We don't believe you. They'll be our friends if we give you to them." The men with the speaker shouted threats in support.

Gera's bowmen reached for their arrows, but he held up a hand in warning. "Don't move! Wait for Othniel."

"I'd as soon trust a brood of vipers," I laughed. "No, brothers. Isn't it better for you to place your trust in the Lord who gave you your land and join with us? Aren't we your brothers in Israel? Behold, here is shade. Come, let's sit down in peace and talk more about this matter."

I beckoned to an oak tree nearby and took the elder gently by the arm. I breathed a sigh of relief when the elder grudgingly gave in and let me lead him to the tree.

"This is the great oak of Zaanannim. It marks our land, so don't you people bother it none," the elder warned.

The other men were still angry, but they crowded around their elder so they wouldn't miss a word. Gera and the others waited at the back.

"I am called Othniel ben Kenaz, my brothers. My friends and I have come here because the Lord has heard the people of Dan, Naphtali, and Issachar crying out against the Kushu."

"They haven't never troubled us," the elder argued. "The other tribes just don’t know how to get along with their neighbors."

"Isn't Khaddar of Naphtali also your neighbor? See, he and his friends saved this youth from the Kushu." I pointed to Gharaf. "Let him tell you how Cushan-rishathaim treats his neighbors. Let him tell you how the Kushu fell upon his family and neighbors and butchered them as offerings to their gods."

"Lies!" charged the elder. "Khaddar don't speak for us. He's no kin of ours. He thinks he's better than us."

"As the Lord lives, my friends," I went on, praying for calm, "Cushan-rishathaim and his Kushu do greater evils than you can dream of. Your servants captured a few of their men last night. Won’t you come and break bread with us and see what they have taken from your neighbors."

"How do we know you didn't steal those things yourselves?" the elder asked. I could see his men welcomed the offer of a feast despite their hostility.

"Behold, the Lord is my witness and I place myself in your hands," I told the elder. "What can stop you from going to see for yourself?"

My men gasped at my rashness in putting myself in the hands of such a rabble, but I could also see you and your troop, Ehud, waiting beyond the gathering. Your men looked poised for trouble and more than a match for the poorly-armed men of Naphtali.

"Ehud, my son," Gera called out. "We have guests. Will you show them the way?"

All the men of Naphtali but their elder looked shocked to find themselves surrounded by a stronger force. The elder said, "We shall see, Othniel, we shall see." He let me help him to his feet. "I'm Ghalil. Shall we go?"

We led the way back to our camp. I could have laughed at how quickly a little bread and wine melted the hostility of the men of Naphtali. They laughed and joked while they sat around watching the goats roasting in their honor. I wondered when they had last eaten so well. Gera and Ehud joined me and my sons and Ghalil, and Gharaf stood behind me, still holding my spear and shield, while Ghalil looked over the pile of things we took from the Kushu.

We all saw how Ghalil's men coveted the simple household goods for which the Kushu had murdered many Hebrews--bronze tools and weapons; clothing and a few modest ornaments; and sacks of grain. Ghalil and his men coveted these everyday goods as if they were treasures.

"All these must go back where they came from, my brother," I told Ghalil, "but here are the Kushu weapons and gear. Their spears and knives will do if you can't find anything better, although their bows and arrows are not fit for firewood; just ask Ehud. We give these weapons to any of your men who wish to come with us, and we'll get more if there aren't enough. May they find favor in your sight."

Gharaf admired the gleaming bronze weapons of the Kushu as much as any of Ghalil's men, but Ghalil pretended not to notice them.

"Othniel," he protested. "What do you take us for? We may be poor but we don't take bribes. We know our duty to the Lord."

"Praise the Lord," I answered. "Yet you know that a soldier is only as good as his weapons. Do you really want me to lead your men unarmed against a foe like the Kushu?"

"Well, if it pleases you," Ghalil grumbled, "any of our men who want to fight will come when you get enough spears and shields for them."

We counted enough spears and gear to outfit the first fourteen of Ghalil's men. The same number chose to wait their turn for the next supply of loot, and the rest decided they wanted no part in our plan. The hardest part was getting them to agree to spread out among all of our troops. Like Hudaba's men, they wanted to form their own troop.

"Are you saying you can't trust my men?" Ghalil demanded.

"No, my friend. I see that they're as fierce as eagles and as brave as lions. Yet their shields and spears are new to them. Once they learn from our men they will become leaders among you."

"Your men can't fight any better than ours, Othniel, and anyone can use a spear."

"What do you remember of the ways of war that Joshua and Caleb taught, Ghalil?" I reasoned. "Have you passed them on to your sons? If so, let's test one another and see who's ready to teach whom."

The idea of a challenge sparked Ghalil's interest and his men were all eager to prove themselves. "Yes, let's see what they can do."

"Here's Ehud, sir, from our smallest and weakest tribe. He's too left-handed to be any use in a fight and he's so skinny he can hardly cast a shadow, much less draw a bow."

Our men could barely keep from laughing because they all knew how stealthy and cunning you can be in a fight. We all held back our smiles and kept quiet as we gathered around to watch.

"Abinoam!" Ghalil called, "let’s show these Benjaminites they aren't the only bowmen in Israel. Put an arrow in the bole of yonder tree." He pointed to an oak twenty paces away.

Abinoam was gaunt but he looked husky beside you, Ehud. He flexed his bow, took aim, and shuffled at length before letting his arrow fly. It hit the tree but glanced. You were the picture of gloom as you came and stood beside Abinoam. You shot an arrow in an offhand way, without really looking at the tree, and it struck the bole squarely.

You looked ashamed and complained, "That's not a fair test, sir."

"That's true, my friend," I told Ghalil.

"If that was too hard for your man, then let him choose his own test," Ghalil answered.

I whispered to Gharaf, and the youth walked thirty paces away from us and tossed his leather cap into the air. You shot it out of the air just as it reached its highest point.

"A trick!" Ghalil protested.

Gharaf picked up his cap, moved another ten paces and threw his cap into the air again, with the same result, which left the men of Naphtali speechless with awe. "Within forty paces, he never misses a partridge in flight," I assured Ghalil. "Would it please you to see what he can do with a sling?"

"Slings are for boys," Ghalil snapped. "Can he stand up in a man to man fight with a staff? That's what our boys do best, and they'll take to using spears right away, once we get them."

I gave in to Ghalil's request after a brief show of reluctance.

"Now don't break his head," Ghalil warned Abinoam. "Just show him how good you are."

Abinoam twirled his staff with a smile while you stared at yours as if you'd never seen one before. Abinoam began with a few thrusts and jabs that you appeared to block by sheer clumsiness until he began to get hot and angry. You gave Abinoam's left elbow a clip that made him back away, rubbing and shaking his arm. He plunged back into the fight with a flurry of thrusts and swings aimed at your head. The next thing anyone knew Abinoam was lying on his face and you were looking as if he had tripped on something and you had never touched him.

"Ehud is a mighty man of war and you never told us!" Ghalil stormed as you helped Abinoam up and promised to teach him what you had done.

"Didn't I say that he is the least in Benjamin, my friend?" I answered as soothingly as I could while trying to keep from laughing out loud. "Now you see that your men have much to learn. They will learn from us if they are not too proud to try."

Ghalil gave in after a few more of my men showed him their skills with sling, bow, spear, and knife. "I could almost pity the Kushu," he declared, "with the likes of your soldiers a-hunting them."

Ghalil broke into a smile when Gera promised Abinoam, "We'll show you how to hunt all right." Abinoam was none the worse for being knocked on his face, and being chosen to go with you won him over. You won my heart too, Ehud, with your ability to confuse your opponents and your readiness to make friends.

I waited with Gharaf the next morning when you and your men brought Abinoam back from setting an ambush for the Kushu. Everyone had a bundle of loot, and Abinoam's air of triumph that told us that he had fought well. He couldn't wait to tell his friends all about his adventure, and his tale won over a few of his friends who hadn't wanted to join us. Even Ghalil set aside his misgivings about the way we split up his men. He gave me his warmest blessing before going back to his home at Kedesh of Naphtali.

"Some folks say one thing and mean another, my son," he told me, "When we give you our blessing, we mean it. I'll send you hundreds more men to fight at your side; you'll see."

Ghalil kept his word, and more men of Naphtali and their neighbors came to join us during the next month. Word of our successes spread and our force grew until we had a thousand men by the end of summer. The Kushu lost so many men to us that they had to give up their night raids. When they found their signs of Mot broken and defiled everywhere they went, they lived in terror of the night. Their leaders sent them out in larger and larger numbers by day, but we easily sent them running back.

We next began raiding those Kushu who had settled in the land of Dan. We started by leading quick night raids into the valley, and we forced the Kushu back towards the head of the valley by the end of summer.

We kept our main camp on the heights overlooking the land of Dan, though I moved north from the Kedesh pass so that I could watch the Kushu better. It meant carrying water up from springs--not work that fighting men relish, but it put an end to any idleness. Nearly a thousand men had joined us by this time, and I wasn't the only one to notice their high spirits.

"Father," Khermesh asked me, "have you seen how some of these fellows think they have come to a feast? They feel that they've done their part towards winning a victory after a few days of eating and drinking, and they want to go home."

"We want our enemies to get that way, my son, not our own men," I answered, "The Kushu still have fangs and they'll draw enough blood to teach our men to beware of them. That's another reason why I always divide new men among the troops we already have. It keeps the new men from idleness and trouble-making while they learn their craft."

I sent Gharaf to call Sheal, Gera, and you, Ehud, to join us. Gharaf stood behind me while we talked over our plans for fighting the Kushu.

"We've steadily pushed the Kushu back into Dan," I began. "Soon we'll cut them off from their king, Cushan-rishathaim, cursed be his name. Ehud, I want a man watching the paths from the east at all times. Cushan-rishathaim will surely come and attack us soon for the sake of his name, if not for the sake of his men.

"Next, I want at least half of our men to stay here with you, Gera, and out of sight of the Kushu at Dan. You mustn't let them know our full numbers before they fall into our trap. While our men wait here, they'll help you to make our trap ready. Our troops will take turns here and in the valley so that every man will have his turn and no man can find fault."

"Othniel," Gera asked, "Don’t you think Ehud needs a guide, someone who knows the hills beyond the land of Dan?"

"Of course, Gera. The Kushu know those parts better than we do. I'll ask Hudaba and Ghalil to see whom they can find. Surely the men of Dan will want to help us. Until then, does Gharaf find favor in your eyes, Ehud? He used to lead his sheep to pasture in those hills before the Kushu drenched them in the blood of his people."

"He's the very one we need, sir," you answered.

I turned to Gharaf. "Well, Gharaf, my son, it seems that the Lord brought you here for a purpose. Are you ready to go with Ehud and show him the secret ways of your land?"

I felt proud at the way Gharaf laid my shield and spear at my side, ran to you, and took your hand.

"Now you'll have to find a new armor bearer, father," Sheal laughed.

"It's a good thing for both of you that the Kushu are city dwellers and not men of the wilderness like the Midianites, Ehud," Gera warned. "Be careful anyway and mind that you bring Othniel's armor bearer back unharmed."

For the rest of that summer and until after the grape harvest we sent your patrols in a wide sweep to the north of the Kushu at Dan and across the flanks of Hermon to watch out for them. They reported that Cushan-rishathaim's army would have to march from the east along a trail that led out of the Syrian desert by a small, lonely lake on the heights below Hermon. The trail then plunged into a gorge where great springs feed the Jordan's headwaters. The wooded slopes of Hermon hid a multitude of caves and springs--if only one knew where to find them. Gharaf's knowledge helped twenty men to stay hidden, so Gera sent three or four new men every few days to allow as many as possible to share in the lookout duty and learn something of the land.

Gharaf led messengers every other day until the messengers knew their way as well as himself. At last, Gera and I went with Gharaf to see the land east of Dan for ourselves. We found you asleep in a cave, well hidden in the foothills of Hermon, waiting for dusk while Abinoam and Ebed kept watch.

"You look well fed," Gera told Abinoam after we had finished greeting each other.

"We bring our bread with us, sir," Abinoam answered, "We also kill a deer or goat when we need meat, so the Lord provides."

"Do you get tired of waiting here for the Kushu by yourselves?" I asked.

"We take turns, sir," Ebed said. "Ehud keeps us busy. It has been very quiet, though. We haven't seen a soul on the trail since the full moon."

"That's because we've encircled the Kushu at Dan and kept them from getting out," Gera explained. "You didn't try to stop anyone, did you?"

"Ehud wouldn't hear of it, sir. He says it's more urgent for us to stay hidden from the enemy," Ebed answered.

"How many of his tricks have you learned?" I asked.

"I'm learning how to throw a knife, sir, but I'll never be able to move around in the dark like him," Abinoam answered.

Ebed added, "I wouldn't want to be the one Ehud stalks in the night."

Gera laughed, "We of Benjamin learned our craft from the Midianites, my sons. They can track a scorpion across bare rock by night, and you never know they are there. They simply blend in with the shadows and become one with the night."

"I can believe you, sir," Abinoam agreed.

"I want all of you to be patient a little longer," I told Abinoam and Ebed. "Cushan-rishathaim, may his name be doubly cursed, will come before the moon is full again. Do you both know what to do when you see his hordes?"

"Yes, sir," Ebed answered.

"Well?"

"We'll send you a messenger as quickly as we can, and keep them in sight without letting them see us," Abinoam said.

"Very good. After we break bread with Ehud, we'll go back the way we came. Gera will hold the pass at Kedesh while I join our men outside Dan. Gharaf will find me there."

Taking two hundreds under the command of Sheal and Khermesh, I began closing in on the town of Dan. We found burned-out villages and fields all along our way, with the remains of Kushu victims on stakes as witnesses to the terror they had spread. After seeing their atrocities, we made short work of any Kushu who got in our way. We had come close to the town of Dan when Gharaf found us four days later.

The urgency in the youth's face alerted me. "So you've seen the Kushu?" I asked.

"Yes, sir," he panted. "There must be thousands of them! You'll see their dust by sundown. Ehud says they'll camp by the pool on the heights and come down to us in the morning. He stayed to count them."

"The Lord is with us, my son" I declared. I could feel my senses heighten as my mind raced ahead. "Good. Now I want you to go back to Ehud and tell him he has done well. We'll attack the Kushu in Dan tonight. We'll set the city on fire to make Cushan-rishathaim send his forces to the aid of his men right away. When he comes charging off those heights, we'll pretend to flee."

"Yes, sir," the youth promised.

"Next, I need Ehud and his men to come in haste and help us close the trap on Cushan-rishathaim, once we lure him into the Kedesh pass. Will you tell him that too, my son?"

"Yes, sir. I know a shorter way back to Ehud. It's uphill all the way, but I'll find him by nightfall, God willing."

After making sure Gharaf had fresh bread and water for his journey and sending him on his way with a blessing, I sent for Khermesh and Sheal to tell them about the coming of Cushan-rishathaim's army. "This is what we shall do. We'll let the Kushu bed down on the heights above Dan before we move. We'll then close in and set Dan ablaze to lure them down from their camp."

We rested until after nightfall and the setting of the young crescent moon. We made a circle around Dan and began shooting fire arrows onto the roofs. Flames and the barking of dogs brought the last of the Kushu stumbling out of their lairs. Some tried to run away, but our men killed the first few and kept the others at bay. To make sure that they had awakened the Kushu army on the heights above, I told every one with a horn to blow it while the others shouted together:

"Smite them, crush them, burn them down;

Slay his servants, smash his crown:

Slosh Cushan's blood on the ground!"

My men enjoyed their taunt song so much that we missed the first signs that we had awakened the Kushu army. I saw campfires blazing along a great length of the heights, and we could hear distant horns and yells.

"They'll come, my sons," I told Sheal and Khermesh, "but they can't all come at once because they have only one steep, narrow trail."

"Shall we lie in wait for them?" Khermesh asked.

"What sort of a place is this to fight the Kushu," Sheal argued.

"You're right, my son." I told him. "But please remember that I only want to lure them into the place of slaughter we have prepared for them. The faster those in front come after us, the better."

Khermesh posted a lookout while the rest of us tightened our circle around Dan, keeping the last of the Kushu in its ruins without trying to force them into a fight. The sun had risen above the dark heights before the lookout came to tell me that he had seen the first of the Kushu coming.

"Five hundreds, sir," he panted.

"What do they look like?"

"A crowd of wild, ugly fellows with painted faces, sir. You can't tell who their leaders are. They have all kinds of weapons, just like us, and red faces on their shields."

"The face of Mot!" Sheal grunted.

"Well, at least their king hasn't sent his best troops after us," Khermesh added.

"He will hold his best men back for the hardest fighting," I pointed out. "Now listen, tell your men to wait till those fellows come close. Let them think they have taken us unaware."

"I'll have my men put black handprints on their shields," Sheal replied.

"What good will that do?" Khermesh asked.

"A sign that the Lord has turned his hand against the ungodly," Sheal explained.

"And that the hand of death is upon them? So be it," Khermesh laughed.

I felt proud to see my sons so ready for the fighting ahead, and I wished that I hadn't left Ahilud behind to keep watch over the Negev. I had no choice, however, because the Midianites would never miss a chance to pounce on our settlements if they knew we had left them undefended.

Kushu yells and howls cut off my thought. We saw the Kushu pouring out of the gorge and spreading out towards Dan. Nearly fifty raced towards us, heedless of the rest. When they came within two hundred paces, I began to wave most of my men back, keeping three troops to cover their retreat. The leading Kushu howled louder and ran faster, waving clubs and spears wildly. I let them close within twenty paces before I gave my bowmen the signal to shoot while I led a tight rank of spearmen in an attack.

Our thrust caught the Kushu off guard and killed or wounded at least ten. The others scattered like curs before an angry bull, allowing my men and me to leave Dan and begin our task of drawing the Kushu across the valley.

The Kushu streamed after us in a loose and disorderly mob, and their cloud of dust kept me from seeing any sign of how far back their king and his best troops were following. We halted to repeat our attack on the leaders whenever the Kushu came too close. Killing four or five at a time made the rest pause and wait for more help. We met Gharaf halfway across the valley, and it dismayed him to see me already bloody from a number of cuts and scratches.

I shrugged them off. "We have to slow them down every now and then, just enough to keep them angry while letting them think they have already won the day!"

Our men continued their retreat while Gharaf told me about what he had seen of the Kushu army.

"They have ten thousand men, sir! Ehud says they have at least five men for every one of us. He saw the king's tent near that pool up on the heights, and he says Cushan-rishathaim has arrayed himself in bronze armor and a helmet made of boar tusks. He has a bodyguard of fifty tall soldiers with plumed helmets, long spears, and huge iron swords."

"Oh? They'll be the Sea People we've heard about."

"Yes, that's what Ehud says, sir. Then he counted four hundreds of men clad in short leather skirts and leather caps with horns. They all have short spears for throwing or close fighting."

"The king's household troops, his best fighters. Go on, my son."

"Just one more thing, sir. Ehud says they have a Hebrew as their guide. He's an older man with a beard."

I frowned but dared not answer Gharaf's unspoken question. It troubled me too much to think that the Hebrew might be my own brother. I put aside any thought of what I would have to do if he really was my brother.

We slowed the Kushu advance enough that it took us well after noon to reach the west side of the land of Dan, where we turned south on the trail at the foot of the cliff. The narrow trail crowded the Kushu together and slowed their pursuit. Our men were in good spirits as they drew closer and closer to the Kedesh pass. Gharaf followed me with my spear while I went from man to man praising my sons' troops and telling them, "Keep up the good work. You have stung the enemy and drawn them out just as I asked. They'll soon fall into our trap, the Lord willing!"

A flock of waterfowl burst out of the deep papyrus swamp on the east side of our trail, not forty paces ahead of us, startling everyone with their clamor. Behind them came a column of men in horned caps and carrying short spears. They all dripped black mud from plunging through swamps and muck, but that had only made them wilder. They charged onto the trail, struck down any Hebrews in their way, and blocked the way against the three troops under Khermesh and Sheal, about fifty men in all.

"Those are the king's own men!" Gharaf warned me.

"They're dead men!" I shouted. "Death to the Kushu!"

The Kushu didn't wait for their full numbers to arrive before attacking us. The first of them formed a column in ranks of six men abreast and charged at our fifty. Khermesh and Sheal formed their men in the same manner, thumping their shields and yelling taunts at them.

"They know you, sir," Gharaf said. "They've cut us off from the rest for a purpose!"

The front ranks of the two forces met in a clash that killed equal numbers on each side. More of our men took the places of the fallen and fought back thrust for thrust. The Kushu behind them now surged into the fight. Our rear ranks were ready for them, but the Kushu attacked so wildly and fiercely that our force soon lost half its numbers. Seeing Khermesh and Sheal fall to Kushu spears, I knew our enemies had surrounded us and my turn would come next.

One of the Kushu broke through our ranks and lunged at Gharaf. The youth froze until the last moment when he tried to fend the brute off with my spear. The stronger man easily turned the spear aside with his shield and kept coming. I stepped in front of Gharaf, shattered the Kushu's spear with my sword, and gutted him just as another attacked me from behind. Gharaf cried out and I turned around in time to see my attacker fall with an arrow in his throat. A flurry of arrows and sling stones came whirring after the first arrow, driving back the Kushu.

"Here's Ehud," I shouted. "The Lord is with us, men! Stand your ground. Let's fight our way out!"

Your bowmen and slingers were shooting from amid the trees and brush on the hillside. Files of spearmen with black handprints on their shields came scrambling down narrow paths to join us in beating back the Kushu attack. The men who had been ahead of us on the trail also attacked the Kushu from the south. The attack from two directions forced the Aramaeans between us off the trail and back into the wet ground of the valley, while our men joined forces. Gharaf found Khermesh and helped him to safety, but the Kushu on the north attacked again before we could find Sheal.

The Kushu attacked with added fury after seeing me slip out of their grasp, and we let them push us into another retreat toward the pass.

"The Lord has given the Kushu into our hands today, so let's get ready," I told the men around me. I sent Gharaf ahead to pass the order for everyone to keep on moving back to the Kedesh pass.

"Hurry! Let the Kushu think you're running away. Our bowmen will slow them enough to let you through the pass."

The last men of my rear guard shot off a few arrows to taunt the Kushu and lead them on. As we drew closer to the Kedesh pass, I could see we had drawn our enemies into a wild pursuit. The king's troops in their horned caps and the common soldiers all crowded together, shouting and pushing past each other in their zeal to catch us. They had left behind their scouts and leaders and forgotten to stay in their ranks and columns. The ones in front screamed in bloodthirsty delight when they saw the last of us dashing into the pass, and they ran after us as fast as they could.

We barely kept out of reach of the nearest Kushu. As we turned into the pass, except for a dozen Benjaminite bowmen and two or three scores of spearmen with me, the pass appeared empty of Hebrews. The foremost Kushu began to gain on us just as the pass grew steeper. Gharaf panted to keep up with me, tired as I was myself.

"Come on, my son," I urged the youth, "just a little further. We're nearly there!"

Gharaf tried but stumbled and fell, dropping my spear. The nearest Kushu sprinted ahead to spear him, yelling in triumph, only to run straight into my sword. Two more Kushu with horned caps dashed forward to fill the place of the one who fell, and the rest of the pack came hard on their heels. A flight of arrows from our bowmen stopped them long enough for me to pick up my spear and pull Gharaf to his feet. We ran with a new-found strength, but wilted again within a few paces. We pushed on somehow to almost the head of the pass. The howling of the Kushu filled the pass until its rock walls danced and shimmered.

The notes of Gera's horn rose over all the noise--the ram's horn trumpet of the Hebrews. Shouts from above answered the Kushu, and a rumbling of falling stones and rock followed. Gera's men rolled boulders into the pass and they crashed into the Kushu mob below. Rolled bundles of blazing camel thorn and gorse tumbled after the boulders and struck panic into the Kushu.

Gera's bowmen and slingers came to the rim of the pass and took deadly aim at all of the Kushu wearing horned caps. They began casting away their caps and leather armor, although a few tried to call their fellows together for an attack. They too ran when the torrent of arrows and sling stones smashed their ranks.

My son Khermesh came limping back to the battle after having his thigh treated and bandaged, and Gera brought new columns of Hebrew spearmen who were fresh and eager to finish off the Kushu. "They won't get far," he promised me. "They'll have to go through the papyrus marshes to avoid another fight, and we've dug pitfalls and set sharpened stakes out there for the unwary," Gera told me.

I saw Hudaba and Pelayat among the new force and I guessed that they had brought the fresh troops to the battle. I greeted Khermesh with a hug of relief and thanksgiving for his safety, and I turned to Gera. "What would I ever do without you, my friend?" I asked in a shaky voice. "We would have lost this battle but for you and Ehud."

"The Lord is with us, Othniel, and you do have a knack for drawing our foes into the best place for me to smite them." Gera told me. "Ehud saw from the hills how the Kushu tried to cut you off. They had a guide who knew the way through the wetland. Ehud saw him."

"Could it be Kenabi, my brother?"

"Who else would help our enemies?" Gera answered. "When shall we end this slaughter?"

"When we have caught Cushan-rishathaim," I told him.

"Ehud's gone to the north end of the trail to block his way out," Gera explained.

"Good. Let's go after him there, and perhaps we shall also find my son Sheal or even Kenabi."

"We'll help you look for Sheal, but you'd better find Kenabi yourself before we do. I warn you, Othniel, that he's a dead man if anyone else finds him first!"

"I don't blame you, Gera, after the way he has served our enemies," I admitted. "Was it too much to hope that he might change his ways?"

We led our spearmen down the pass after the last of the Kushu. While our men sang their taunt song in triumph, the Kushu had all lost their will to fight and they melted away before us like wax before the fire. We killed any who tried to stand their ground, and we herded the rest downhill for the wetlands and the shadows to swallow.