Ashes of the Red Heifer Read online

  Annie pushed her finger into a rip in his shirt from the bullet and pulled, tearing the fabric away so she could get a better look. Blood pumped from the opening. Annie looked around for anything to staunch the flow. She sat back and whipped her t-shirt over her head, wadding it up and pressing it to Moshe’s arm. With only her bra for warmth, gooseflesh dimpled on her arms.

  The cargo door sealed and David pulled Annie’s arm. He shouted and pointed to red canvas slings along the wall. “We’ve got to get in the troop seats.”

  David and Annie got on either side of Moshe, hoisted him up and dragged him over to a sling. He was weak but able to help as they buckled him in. They hurried into their own slings. Annie didn’t know what to expect from take off. She gripped the straps and clenched her jaw.

  The vast expanse of the plane’s belly looked large enough to hold a hockey rink. Cargo half-filled it, wooden crates stacked high and tied down with straps. Most of the freight was loaded close to the cockpit, creating an open space for the cows in their crates in the rear of the plane. Noises from the engines, the wind, and a high-pitched squeal from the servo-motors grated Annie’s ears.

  What had they left behind on the prairie? Was Melvin dead? Would the Silim goons hurt her family? She turned to Moshe, who hung in his seat with his head drooping. He held her shirt to his arm but couldn’t be applying much pressure. She had to get out of this swing and get his bleeding stopped.

  Annie held on to the straps as the immense dragon turned around, gained speed, and lifted from the Nebraska prairie. When the noise decreased to a numbing rumble and the plane seemed to even out a little, Annie unlatched the buckles of the sling and slid out. She stumbled and crashed to the floor twice before getting to Moshe.

  David helped her free Moshe and laid him on the hard floor. “Find a first aid kit,” she shouted to David. “See if there are any blankets and anything we can use for bandages.”

  Moshe lay with his eyes closed. Annie peeled back the bloody t-shirt from his wound and examined him. The bullet rested close to the surface and it should be fairly easy to pull it out, though it would hurt like the devil. The main issue was stopping the bleeding. She replaced the shirt and held it firmly.

  Moshe opened his eyes and searched Annie’s face. He tried to speak but he didn’t have much strength. Annie leaned close. “I know it hurts but you’re going to be fine.”

  David returned with the first aid kit, several blankets and a few shirts. The crew probably had bags with extra clothes. He handed one shirt to Annie. “Put this on.”

  It smelled of perspiration but she slid her arms into the sleeves of the blue cotton shirt, buttoned it and rolled the sleeves then tore into the first aid kit.

  By the time she’d cleaned the wound, extracted the bullet, put in several stitches and fashioned bandages and a sling, she was exhausted. They made a bed for Moshe with blankets and he fell asleep.

  In the dim overhead light, Annie checked on the heifers. Each stood in her own crate, a four-foot by eight-foot aluminum-paneled stall lined with hay. The heifers had everything they needed, water, hay, security. They looked a bit wild-eyed now, but in a few hours, when they got accustomed to the sounds and smells of the plane, they’d be drowsy and content. She checked ear tags and inspected their bags and rears again, confirming they should all calve soon.

  David leaned over one of the pens studying the cattle. “You need to rest.”

  Annie retrieved the vaccine case. “I’m going to vaccinate the heifers.”

  David nodded, looking apprehensive. “Are you sure this is the formula you had at Shalom-Hagolan?”

  She pulled out a syringe and inserted it into the vial. “No. I’m not at all sure. They wouldn’t let me talk to Hassan so what I’ve got is a guess. And thanks to Melvin, I have one less critter to work with.”

  He looked startled. “I thought you knew the right formula.”

  His words punched into her belly. “Stress induced proteins can reduce infection and high iron concentrations promote killing of brucellosis. We tried so many combinations of iron sequestering proteins and other siderphores. Our research showed fusion proteins stimulate protective responses. I think this is what we used on Esther.”

  David looked skeptical. “When we were at Shalom-Hagolan, you said you had the formula. Now you sound uncertain.”

  He should know better. He’d been around enough scientific research to understand about experiments. “Nothing is absolutely sure until it’s tested.”

  With the small stalls, it was no problem for Annie to vaccinate the heifers. Within minutes she fit the vial back into the case and snapped it shut.

  She faced David and brushed her hands together. “Now I guess we twiddle our thumbs until we get to Israel.”

  David’s eyes were warm and caring. He softly kissed her lips. “I know I can’t give you back your family, but I love you.”

  She’d been doing fine until he touched her. Until then all her fear and worry were locked behind an iron door in her mind. His kiss broke the latch and she fought the pain. “They haven’t been in my life since I was a kid, leaving them shouldn’t bother me now. But I always thought someday I’d go back. I’d be like the prodigal son, only this time, I’d bring the fatted calf home.”

  David rubbed a firm hand up and down her spine, soothing the tension. “You’re better off without them.”

  Annie laughed but it sounded more like a sob. “Maybe. Will they be okay, though? What about Hassan? And Moshe? And when will The Corporation let me make the vaccine public? The whole world has gone to hell.”

  David held her and kissed the top of her head. “It’ll be okay.”

  She didn’t believe that but couldn’t do anything to fix it. Right now, she needed someone to stand with her. She rested her head on his chest.

  David’s fingers kneaded the muscles between her shoulder blades. “I put some blankets over there.” He pointed to a niche between crates.

  He led her to an almost cozy space. She sat down and he settled next to her. “We’ve got ten hours before we get to Israel. Try to get some sleep.”

  She shook her head. “I’ve got to check on Moshe.”

  David gently pushed her down. “He’s sleeping.”

  How could she possibly sleep? She closed her eyes and saw Hassan, pale and bleeding, Lizabeth stood behind him with her accusing eyes. Her father’s face contorted in pain. Little boys scratched at a locked door…

  Annie awoke with a start. Disoriented, she sat up quickly and looked around. David lay on his back next to her, snoring in a deep sleep. The rumble of the plane’s engines permeated her whole body, becoming as much a part of her as her heartbeat. She sat cross-legged on the makeshift bed, getting her bearings and trying to calm her anxiety. Her mouth tasted as if a family of rodents had nested there and her eyelids felt so heavy she’d need toothpicks to keep them open.

  The plane still rumbled around her like a hungry animal. It was as if, like Jonah, she’d been swallowed by a whale. Perhaps the analogy wasn’t quite on track. Jonah had been alone in the whale’s belly. Inside this beast, she was accompanied by dozing heifers who hadn’t slowed their natural body processes in the hours they’d been in flight. Even though manure and grassy smells of hay and feed were as much a part of Annie’s world as sunshine, the close quarters and lack of circulation made the plane rank, even for her.

  Annie stood and stretched the stiffness from her legs and back. Limbering up with each step, she took one last look at David and left their bed to check her charges. The heifers dozed.

  Moshe lay on his side, eyes wide, watching her approach. He didn’t seem happy to see her. She knelt beside him and felt his forehead. “You’ve got a little fever but not too bad. How are you feeling?”

  He looked away without a word.

  She checked his bandage. “Looks like you’ve stopped bleeding. That’s good.”

  He wouldn’t look at her.

  She put her fingers on his chin and softly pulled hi
s face around. “What’s wrong?”

  He studied her with hostility she couldn’t understand. As if making a decision he took a breath and opened his mouth to speak.

  “Yes, what’s wrong?” David’s voice startled her.

  Moshe’s mouth clamped shut. He stared at David. Annie glanced behind her at David then back to Moshe. “You can tell me. It’s The Corporation, isn’t it?”

  Moshe kept his eyes on David.

  Annie leaned closer to Moshe. “You don’t believe them anymore, do you?”

  He shook his head, his speech directed toward David. “It is not lies. God has led us to this moment and we need to be obedient.”

  Annie let out an exasperated breath. “God is a myth. The Red Heifer is a fairy tale.”

  Moshe finally looked at Annie. “No. It is true. Since the destruction of the Second Temple the Red Heifer wasn’t important because we’d lost everything. We could not follow the ancient rites—the animal sacrifices. But now, things that were lost in the Diaspora are turning up one by one. The crown worn by the High Priest, golden incense jars, lyres used at prayers, and flaxen robes of priests—these things the faithful have recovered. The Red Heifer is one of the last missing pieces.”

  His son and wife were prisoner to this fiction. Did he believe it, or was he reciting it to convince himself? Whatever Moshe’s confusion, she wasn’t buying the story. “I don’t see how the Red Heifer can save anything. It’s a cow, for heaven’s sake.”

  “No, not just a cow. No one knows how or why she cleanses but we follow the laws of God.”

  She wanted to hit something. “Why do people follow the ritual when they don’t understand?”

  Moshe glanced over her head at David. “In the Torah this kind of rule is known as a chok. A chok is a commandment we accept that we know we’ll never understand.”

  Annie scowled at him. “Looks to me like everything in every religion is a chok. I can’t think of anything more dangerous than blindly following words if you don’t understand them.”

  Moshe swallowed. “It is faith.”

  “Where do you get all these directives? I’ve read the Bible a few times and never seen half the stuff The Corporation is peddling.”

  “When Moses was given the revelations on Mount Sinai, God taught him the Written Torah during the day and Oral Torah at night,” Moshe said. “Most of the details for carrying out God’s orders are in the Oral Tradition, called the Mishnah. The rules for the Red Heifer are there.”

  “Why a red heifer?”

  The way Moshe explained it to her, she could picture him with Jacob on his knee, teaching him life’s lessons. “When God told Moses to lead his people out of Israel, he wanted Moses to take only Jews. But Moses pleaded to take all of the people who wanted to leave. This is called the mixed multitude. The mixed multitude was responsible for the Golden Calf and they continued to bring trouble to the Jews throughout the ages. The sages say the Red Heifer sacrifice and purification is atonement for the Golden Calf.”

  Annie couldn’t hide her frustration. “You said the Red Heifer was a chok. No one could understand the significance, yet you just gave me a mouthful of symbolism. And none of it has to do with cleansing from death, which you said was the purpose of the sacrifice.”

  Moshe’s eyebrows drew together in concentration. “I am not a sage. I am only trying to be obedient to God. Rabbis much smarter than me say the time of the Red Heifer is upon us. According to the great prophet Maimonedes, ‘the tenth Red Heifer will be accomplished by the king, the Messiah.’”

  Annie rolled her eyes. “The Corporation has sure fed you a line. And you bought it all.”

  Fear tinged Moshe’s eyes and he looked at David. “The Corporation did not make this up. This is the word of God and we are acting as his agents.”

  His quick dismissal irked her. “Maybe. But let’s say The Corporation is desperate to gain power. Let’s say they aren’t even particularly religious, but they know religion is a strong tool. If they use the right scriptures, they can create a force of soldiers willing to sacrifice everything in the name of God.”

  Moshe frowned.

  “They study passages about a red heifer. Ah, now they’re on to something. Here’s the plan, get someone to create a perfect Red Heifer and they can declare conditions are right for the coming of the Messiah. The world gets worked into a religious froth and suddenly, from the inner circle of this Corporation, comes someone they can claim is the Messiah. He takes his rightful place as ruler and—viola! The Corporation is in power. Who knows what they intend to do with all this power, but you can bet they have a plan.”

  David put a hand on her arm. “You shouldn’t get Moshe upset. Let him sleep.”

  Of course. What was wrong with her? Just because she was scared and angry she shouldn’t take it out on poor Moshe. He had to be confused, torn between his religious beliefs and fear for his family. Guilt slapped her upside the head. She put her palm on his forehead. “I’m sorry.”

  He looked at her face then quickly at David. Without any word he shut his eyes.

  David stepped back. “I’m going to see how much longer it will be before we land.”

  Annie started to stand but Moshe’s hand shot out and grabbed her wrist. He didn’t open his eyes but his grip was like iron.

  David walked toward the cockpit. She should call out to David but something made her hesitate. Moshe slowly inched his head in her direction. He opened his eyes and watched David. His voice was tortured. “What has he told you about my son?”

  “Who?”

  He kept his eye on David. “I am no fool. I trusted you but you are with him.”

  “You can trust me. What are you talking about?”

  His eyes flitted to her then back to David. “You let him touch you. You are with him.”

  “Yes. I’m with David.”

  He scrutinized her then let go of her wrist. He sounded mystified. “You don’t know.”

  “What don’t I know?”

  Moshe closed his eyes.

  A light hand rested on her shoulder and David said, “They said the plane is landing. We need to get Moshe into a sling.”

  TWENTY-FOUR

  David and Annie helped Moshe up. He was much stronger than when they’d taken off but he still clamped his mouth against pain.

  When they had Moshe harnessed David spoke to them both. “The crew told me we have very little time to unload the animals. They will radio about engine trouble, go down and open the cargo door. As soon as the cargo door opens, we have to get off as quickly as possible. The crew won’t check to make sure we’re safe. To keep authorities from suspecting anything, they won’t stop completely. When the door is fully open, they’ll apply sudden full power and the animals’ crates will slide out on the rails. The tethers have already been detached. Then they’ll gain slight altitude and falter for good a few miles from here. We should have about ten minutes to get out of the area before rescue teams arrive for the plane.”

  Suspicion flared across Annie’s brain. What had Moshe tried to tell her? Why did David know the plan so well? She tried to keep her voice steady. “Sounds like a pretty elaborate plan.”

  David took her arm and directed her to a sling. “With security so tight, a person can’t simply fly into Israel and unload contraband. We have to fake engine trouble, and we have to have legitimate cargo to keep the authorities from being suspicious.”

  Annie’s throat went dry. David said “we” not “them.” She fought to keep the pieces from falling into place but it was clear. Moshe’s hostility when he caught them together. His fearful glances at David. When her father had a heart attack, it had been David giving orders, not Moshe. Alanberg didn’t know about their research but David did. He’d known where Hassan asked her to meet him. Too many clues flashed in Annie’s memory.

  Moshe’s eyes were on her. He purposely looked to David, who was getting into his sling, then back at Annie and nodded.

  She tried not to know, to deny
the truth of this ultimate betrayal but her body turned to burning ice. She couldn’t breath. This man, his charm, his killer smile, his touch, oh god, his touch…. She struggled to stop the panic even as it spread through her. She closed her eyes.

  Breathe. Like giving mouth to mouth to the dying calf Annie concentrated on inhaling then exhaling. David touched her and she let out a small scream.

  He laughed. “You look scared to death. It’s not that bad.”

  She couldn’t let him know she’d figured him out. She fought for the control to put the fear behind another door in her brain. Maybe the head doctors wouldn’t appreciate her well-honed ability to squash emotions but the practice came in handy now. She tried for an imitation of a smile and pulled the straps on her halter tighter.

  Her heart kicked into overdrive and her empty stomach roiled. “The plan is to wriggle out of the halter, help Moshe out of his, race down the ramp of a moving plane, and get clear of the crates so we won’t be mowed down and the dust and gravel from the desert won’t shred us.”

  David nodded, his face grave. “Essentially, that’s it.”

  Annie swallowed, anxiety coating her throat. “Is this kind of procedure normal for the crew?”

  David rested a hand on her arm. “Don’t worry. The Corporation has planned meticulously.”

  Annie gripped the straps of the harness fighting the instinct to slap his hand. “Yeah, they take care of everything, like Melvin, for instance.”

  “He shouldn’t have interfered.”

  She never thought she’d end up defending Melvin. “As far as he knew, we were cattle rustlers. I would have done the same thing.”

  “No doubt. You’d have had us roped and tied inside of five minutes.”

  The plane tilted toward the earth at an alarming angle. She sucked in a breath and tightened her grip on the canvas harness.

  Concern colored David’s face. “Are you okay? You look pale.”

  Annie didn’t lie. “As a matter of fact, I’m scared shitless.”