Day of War by Cliff Graham Page B

injury before reaching his men.
    In the morning, Benaiah tied his equipment on properly for the day’s journey and set off north, leaping from dry spot to dry spot as best he could, occasionally snagging his foot in a mud pit. Small streams of runoff crisscrossed his path, and he jumped over them frequently. He saw no one else the rest of the day, and by midafternoon, he found a path of dry ground that ran parallel to the foothills on his right side.
    He ran past the Philistine city of Gath, following a path between the foothills to avoid the city where the giant Goliath had come from. He relished the irony of David wandering freely in their streets, deceiving their own king. Benaiah wondered how annoying it must be to the people to see the conqueror of their greatest champion coming and going through their gates as he pleased.
    Benaiah remembered that there was some sort of pagan festivalthe Philistines were celebrating over the next few days. David’s men had been given strict orders not to go near there.
Because of the prostitutes. Unclean.
    He spent another night near the city of Gezer. Benaiah was making good time despite his injuries and detours to avoid populated areas. One more day of traveling and he would reach Aphek, where he would demand a full meal of roasted meat. Although Benaiah had the supplies sent with him by Jairas’s wife, he craved more nourishment.
    The plains were getting drier the further north he traveled. He was now close enough to his own men that travel on the trade road was possible. He ran, desperation growing in his spirit as he thought about the helpless families in Ziklag.
    Around noon he crossed paths with a caravan of merchants, who told him that the army had passed them, traveling north.
    Benaiah was grateful to be arriving
behind
the army. David and his men marched at the rear of the Philistine ranks because many of the kings from Philistia did not trust them, believing that when they reached a narrow gorge David would order his men to turn and ambush them. It was David, after all, who had destroyed many thousands of their best soldiers when he served under Saul. King Achish was David’s only ally among the Philistines, and only because he thought David was destroying towns in Judah.
    Marching at the rear of the column also meant that they were forced to inhale the dust and feces left by the war horses of the regiments. It was intended to humiliate David and his men.
    As the last rays of daylight fell over the Great Sea to his left, Benaiah finally reached the plains surrounding the city of Aphek. Exhausted and in pain, his wounds leaking a yellow fluid, Benaiah stumbled toward the tents and campfires of the army. He made his way carefully around the outskirts, looking for the distinctive tents that the Philistines had given the Israelites while they stayedin their camp—simple coverings, much less elaborate than the Philistine battle tents.
    At the southern edge of the encampment, he found them. He stumbled toward the nearest fire in the middle of them and collapsed next to a man sitting bare chested and eating bread, who called out for help. Benaiah heard voices, commotion, and then nothing more.

SIX
    The terrified man, muttering in fright, was escorted toward a small cluster of tents tucked deep in the forest behind the lines. When they reached the command area, the escort pulled the flap of the center tent aside and announced the man, then darted back to his post.
    The questioning went on for an hour. Eventually the chieftain decided that the tent was too full, so he ordered everyone out except his senior counselor and the bedraggled figure sitting in front of him. There were complaints and grumbles, but the men slowly filed out the flap of the tent and huddled together for warmth a short distance away.
    The chieftain rubbed his eyes and cracked the knuckles on his hand. “You say that he used both sword and spear, and that he gave orders in their tongue. Was there anything else