Seventh Dimension - The King - Book 2, A Young Adult Fantasy (19 page)

Shale responded, “And to you, too, Master.”

The rabbi smiled. “Follow me.”

We left the crowds and he led us to a secluded spot.
I lagged, still nervous. The rabbi motioned for Nathan to sit.
Nathan sat on a flat rock in front of him. Great anticipation
covered the boy’s face.

The face of
Yeshua was different from anyone I had met. He didn’t strike me as
a lunatic or a fraud. He didn’t seem impressed with his
popularity—or lack of. Some people appeared to oppose him, but he
seemed not to care.

The rabbi said
a Hebrew prayer, spat into his hand, and touched Nathan’s tongue.
Looking up to heaven, he cried, “Ephphatha!”

Nathan opened
his mouth wide and moved his tongue. Once he realized he could
speak, his eyes grew bright. He laughed as if surprised by
joy.

Nathan dropped
to his knees before the rabbi. “Thank you, my Lord.”

I stared at the healer—mystified by what I had just
witnessed.

Yeshua
acknowledged the boy’s thankfulness.

Nathan turned
to the crowd that had followed us. They wanted to see the miracle
the rabbi had performed.

“I can speak! I
can speak! Hear me.” Nathan took hold of my cloak and yanked on it.
“Daniel, can you hear me?”

I laughed.
“Yes, Nathan, I can hear you.”

He went over
and bowed before the king once more. “Thank you, my
Lord.”

The rabbi said to him, “When you leave, don’t tell
anyone what I’ve done.”

The crowds
stared in amazement. Many shook their heads.

Shale ran over and hugged Nathan, tears in her
eyes.

She faced the rabbi. “Thank you for healing my
brother.”

Yeshua smiled.

Others asked, “Who is this man that does such
miracles? Where does he come from?”

“He comes from Nazareth,” a woman replied.

“Nazareth—can anything good come from there?”

Division
mounted among the crowds. I wasn’t the only one with unanswered
questions.

Unexpectedly, Yeshua looked at me.

I glanced away. His eyes were all knowing, making me
feel uncomfortable. I forced myself to look back at him—and meet
his gaze.

“Thank you,” I
said in my mind, “for healing Nathan.”

The rabbi’s eyes looked beyond my
uncertainty. I suddenly realized he was looking at me like he knew
me—really knew me. Not even like my own family. Was he clairvoyant?
And why did I feel so emotional? There was either something totally
real about this man or this was an incredible case of mass
hypnosis. I didn’t know which.

All I knew was this was more than about
reading minds. He could read mine like he’d been doing it for
years. Surely he was more than a man, more than a teacher, more
than a healer, and more than a rabbi. Who was he?

Some Jews still waited for the Messiah.
Others identified Yeshua as the Messiah. Could the Jews have been
wrong for the last two thousand years? My skepticism wouldn’t let
me go that far.

I would search the Hebrew Scriptures to see
if they said anything about this man named Yeshua. There must be
prophecies about a coming Messiah. I wanted to know more. I knew
Yeshua was mentioned in the Christian Bible in 2015, but I knew
nothing about him appearing in the Torah or Tanakh—then or now.

My musings turned to Nathan. He walked among the
crowds sharing his healing. Some wanted to touch him. Others wanted
to hear every word he uttered.

I overheard one man commenting, “He even makes the
deaf hear and the mute speak.”

Some doubted. “I bet he could talk all along,”
another man said. “Someone who has never talked couldn’t talk as
well as he can.”

I saw myself in him, refusing to believe because it
was too hard to believe in miracles.

A short while
later, the rabbi fetched a small boat and paddled a short distance
away from the shoreline. The crowd became quiet as Yeshua began to
teach. When had I heard a rabbi speak with such passion and
authority? His calm presence was reassuring. I sat by Shale and
listened, my curiosity piqued.

Yeshua told a
story. “The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in
his field; but while people were sleeping, his enemy came and sowed
weeds among the wheat, then went away.

“When the wheat
sprouted and formed heads of grain, the weeds also
appeared.

“The owner’s
servants came to him and said, ‘Sir, didn’t you sow good seed in
your field? Where have the weeds come from?’

“He answered,
‘An enemy has done this.’

“The servants
asked him, ‘Then do you want us to go and pull them up?’

“But he said,
‘No, because if you pull up the weeds, you might uproot some of the
wheat at the same time. Let them both grow together until the
harvest; and at harvest time I will tell the reapers to collect the
weeds first and tie them in bundles to be burned, but to gather the
wheat into my barn.’”

Murmurings
reached me through the crowds. I overheard some of his disciples
discussing the point of the story. I glanced at Shale—did she
understand more than I did? I didn’t think the story was really
meant to be about a farmer dealing with weeds.

The rabbi was
different from my preconceived notions—he seemed more Jewish than
Gentile and surely the Sanhedrin wouldn’t be upset about such
simplistic stories as these—there must be more. Besides, I had just
witnessed Nathan’s healing. Perhaps I had the wrong impression
about this rabbi.

Regardless, my
curious was piqued. I would have to search the Tanakh and learn
what the Hebrew Scriptures said. Brutus had many scrolls I could
examine to find out more. What were the Messianic predictions? I
was ashamed to admit that I didn’t know.

After a while,
I realized we needed to return home. I tracked down Nathan and
Shale in a small group of Gentiles who were searching for answers
to Nathan’s healing and wrapped my arm around Nathan. “We need to
head back.”

We’d almost made it back up the hill when Shale
stopped to speak to someone. I waited, but time was passing.

“Shale, come on,” I called to her. She waved back. I
gave Baruch some fresh water and oats.

Nathan asked me, “When do you think my father will
be back in town?”

I shrugged. “I don’t know, but we need to send word
to him about your miraculous healing.”

“What do your writings say about Yeshua?” Nathan
asked.

“The rabbi?”

“Yes.” The boy’s eyes were wide.

“I don’t know. Maybe I should find out.”

“Being Jewish,
you must be curious.”

I smiled and
gave Baruch some water. “Yes, I am.”

At last, we
were traveling back home. Shale was quiet.

“Are you okay?” I asked.

“Yes,” she replied.

I glanced at her face. She looked exhausted. Her
eyes were half- closed.

“He’s the king above all kings,” she stated
dreamily.

“You think so?”

Shale became defensive. “And you don’t?”

That wasn’t what I meant. “I don’t know what to
think.”

We headed down the road not saying anything
else.

Soon we had a visitor. Worldly Crow landed on a palm
tree as we passed by. I heard Shale saying, “He didn’t learn,
Worldly Crow.”

“What’s that?” I asked.

“Oh, nothing. Worldly Crow called the healer a
magician.”

I grinned. “That’s a thought.”

Shale asked Nathan. “What’s the first thing you’re
going to say to Scylla when we return?”

“I’m not going to say anything,” he whispered.

“What? Tell me
you are kidding. You’re healed and you’re not going to share with
others what the king did for you?”

Now it sounded like a brother and sister going at
it. While I didn’t like the cross words, the sibling rivalry seemed
refreshing.

“Didn’t he tell me not to tell anyone?”

Shale rolled her eyes. “I don’t think that’s what he
meant, Nathan.”

“What did he mean when he told me not to tell
anyone?”

Shale shrugged. “I don’t know. Maybe don’t tell
people until they are ready to listen.”

“I want my father to hear me first.”

Shale was indignant. “You mean, we brought you all
the way out here and you aren’t even going to speak to Scylla?”

Shale’s anger
probably had more to do with her dislike of Scylla than wanting to
get even with her.

“Besides,” Nathan continued, “I want Daniel to
remain with us and not leave. That won’t happen if Scylla knows I
can talk.”

Nathan needed a
man-to-man talk. His impairment had made him self-centered—a form
of self-preservation. He would have to learn the world didn’t
revolve around him.

I spoke as gently as I could to avoid hurting his
feelings. “Nathan, you can’t manipulate people. I go where I want.
No one controls me, not even you.”

Worldly Crow squawked from a tree.

Shale responded, “What do you know about anything,
Worldly Crow? Go away. Let me be.”

For once, I didn’t envy her ability to talk to
animals.

We returned in the late afternoon. I was anxious to
get away, but as we approached, Shale begged me to put Baruch in
the cave.

“If you’ll take
Baruch, I’ll sneak Nathan in the house through the
portico.”

“It’s late,
Shale. Suppose Scylla sees me?”

“We can make up
something.”

“We?” I repeated. “I’m not even supposed to be
here.”

“I’ll prevent her from walking outside until you’re
gone.”

Shale was tired
and clingy, though I had to admire her. I didn’t think I could have
stayed awake that long. I suspected the real reason she asked me to
take Baruch was because she didn’t want me to leave.

If Nathan
spoke, he could impress Scylla and then what could she say? Perhaps
it made sense. Change is hard, even when it’s good. Given time, I
was sure Nathan would overcome his fear and stand up to Scylla as a
man. She had mistreated him for years.

I stopped short of the gate under the palm trees,
where Baruch preferred. Nathan climbed down from the donkey
first.

“I couldn’t believe all the signs I could read,” he
said, for the third or fourth time.

I grinned. “You’re a good student.”

He shook his
head. “No, you’re a gifted teacher.”

Shale
dismounted from her donkey and clasped my arm. “Thank you, Daniel,
for coming.”

I hugged her. The next time I saw her, she might be
married.

“Wait here and let me put Baruch in the back.”

“No, it’s okay.” She yawned and rubbed her head. “I
want to go with you.”

Much-Afraid,
wagging her tail, ran up to Shale.

“See, I told you, we wouldn’t be gone long,” she
said.

Cherios hopped out of the cave and found us.

Shale laughed. “Both of you go back inside the cave.
I need to say goodbye to Daniel.”

The animals
obeyed Shale and the moment had come that I needed to leave. I was
glad we had a few moments alone after such a dramatic
day.

Shale wrapped her arms around me in a warm embrace
and I clasped her tightly. I desperately longed to kiss her but
knew that I shouldn’t.

“Someday we’ll
be back in our own time period together—I just know it,” Shale
stated.

I hugged her
tighter. “I hope you are right.”

After a moment,
Shale stepped back and gently brushed her finger down my chest. Her
eyes appeared watery. “Can I ask you something kind of
personal?”

“What’s that?”

Shale bit her
lip. “Do you have a girlfriend?”

“You mean back
home in 2015?”

Shale nodded.

I laughed. “No, I don’t.”

Shale relaxed
at that revelation. She bit her lip again. “Do you feel that I’m
too young for you?”

I shook my head
and said tenderly, “No.”

She leaned
against me and whispered, “If you get back before I do, will you
look for me? I mean, can we at least be friends on Facebook, or
something like that?”

I pulled her
close. “I’d want to be more than just Facebook friends. I know it
seems impossible now but there is a lot we don’t
understand—especially about the betrothal and how that might affect
the future from which we come.”

Shale nodded. “I know.”

“We’ll just
have to wait and see,” I reassured her. “But I really care about
you.”

“Thanks for
coming with us today and making this happen.”

“I’m glad you convinced me, Shale. We did a good
thing.”

Shale glanced
towards the cave. “I guess I better let you get back to Doctor
Luke.”

We held hands
for the first time as we crossed the veranda in the portico where
we met up with Nathan. Suddenly Scylla appeared and her mouth
dropped. Her gaze went from me to Nathan to Shale and then back to
me. We let go of each other, putting some distance between us. I
then realized Judd had been watching us all
along—hiding.

“This isn’t going to be good,” Nathan said.

I touched
Nathan on the arm. “Let me take you inside.”

He nodded.

Nathan caused me the greatest concern. Shale could
deal with Scylla. Bullying by others had made her strong and her
new faith would temper her compulsiveness.