People of Babel (Ark Chronicles 3) by Vaughn Heppner Page B

and Deborah broke from the crowd.
    “ Canaan, Canaan,” Deborah said, with a veil before her mouth. “Oh, it has been much too long.” She embraced him, and Kush gave his brother a bear hug.
    People cheered and clapped.
    Then the prettiest maidens mobbed Zidon, Chin and Heth’s sons, handing them cups of beer and brushing dirt from their coats. One girl hugged the handsomest of the sons of Heth, kissing him. People laughed and clapped anew, chanting, “Canaan! Canaan! Canaan!”
    Canaan leaned near Zidon, saying, “I hadn’t expected this.”
    Zidon shook his head . “Keep your wits about you, Father. Remember why we came.”
    That evening, everyone feasted well with tables set in the streets. Lamb and steaming bread, beer and palm wine, dates and figs and fish from the Euphrates filled everyone to bursting. Canaan spoke with almost everyone, passing from man to woman, shaking hands and kissing cheeks. He commented on Babel’s bounty and that Shinar indeed was the land of plenty. More guarded, Zidon still ate heartily and drank too much wine. The sons of Heth had never enjoyed themselves more. Each of them was surrounded by adoring maidens.
    Afterward , people danced to harps and cymbals. More wine and beer flowed. The sun went down and men lit lanterns. Swirling dresses flashed. People laughed, cheered, clapped and embraced.
    “ It was never like this when we lived near Ararat,” Canaan shouted to his father.
    Ham swayed, with glassy eyes and a pot of beer cradled in his hands . He sipped through a bamboo straw.
    “ Noah would have had a stroke seeing people having so much fun,” Canaan said.
    Ham nodded sagely, before glowering, finding his beer-pot empty. He staggered off to find more beer.
    “ Mother!” Canaan shouted.
    Rahab wore a shawl and stood by her son . On the street, the dancers swirled, clapped, laughed and embraced, including Gilgamesh and Opis. Meanwhile, Uruk glowered in the shadows.
    “ They’re living to the fullest,” Canaan said. “You should, too, Mother.”
    “ Eat, drink and be merry?” Rahab asked.
    “ Oh, Mother, you haven’t changed a bit.”
    “ But you have,” she said. “Why aren’t you dancing? You aren’t that old yet to act like a patriarch.”
    The bits of gray in Canaan ’s hair were the only indication of his sixty-five years of age. It gave his handsome features a touch of ruggedness. “Too much weighs upon me to dance. Besides, Miriam would scold me for a month if she learned that I had.”
    “ You must join us here in Babel, Canaan. Return to your own.”
    “ It’s not that easy, and I have more than just myself to consider.” Canaan glanced about. “By the way, where are Nimrod and Semiramis?”
    Rahab clutched his arm . “Nimrod doesn’t want to ruin your first night here. So he’s staying out of sight, and he ordered Semiramis to do likewise.”
    “ Their staying away is deliberate?” Canaan asked.
    “ Canaan. Nimrod isn’t the lad you knew. He has strength in him.”
    “ He’s the Mighty Hunter, they say.”
    Ham swayed near with a new pot of beer in his hands . “Seems like a silly title, I know, the Mighty Hunter. But I’ve seen what Nimrod does.” Ham nodded. “When everyone else stands frozen in an emergency, Nimrod moves, like when he drove away the leviathan. If the monster had been given a moment longer, it might have swamped our vessel and devoured each of us at its leisure. The lad is indeed unique.”
    “ So is Beor,” Canaan said.
    “ Yes,” Ham said, as he sipped beer. “So is Beor.”
     

26.
     
    Ham lay in bed. A flickering candle cast shadows on the curtained walls. On the chest lay a half-finished blanket. Rahab sewed, it seemed, almost every hour of every day. But Ham sensed someone other than Rahab in his bedroom. This someone held a candle, the one annoyingly flickering in his face. Ham cracked open an eyelid. Oh, his head ached and his limbs felt leaden.
    The s omeone shook his elbow. “Great Grandfather,