Ashes of the Red Heifer Read online

  David laughed out loud. She scowled at him. “What’s so damned funny?”

  “I thought you were fearless. Who’d have thought you have fear of flying?”

  “I’m not afraid of flying. It’s crashing that makes me jumpy.” That, and betraying religious freaks who kill and maim in the name of God.

  The plane screeched again and Annie felt it slow even more. The nose came up and they leveled out. Annie clenched her teeth and clung to the harness. She waited breathless minutes almost hoping the plane would crash. She’d risk dying herself if it would kill David, too.

  She managed to get herself and Moshe out of the sling without falling or dying. How did her body know what to do, when every thought was consumed by the engine’s screaming pitch? She grabbed Moshe by his good arm and flew down the ramp, ran to the first dip in the desert floor and threw herself behind scrub brush. Moshe landed beside her. She wrapped her arms around her head and squeezed her eyes shut, wishing she could burrow far into the earth.

  The engines roared louder and she heard the rattle and crash of the crates as they ejected. Sand blew from under the wheels of the massive plane. It seemed to take forever for the aircraft to rise from the desert floor and travel far enough to quit assaulting them with noise.

  Annie lowered her hands and searched for David. He emerged from behind a rock and brushed sand from his pants.

  The plane didn’t gain much altitude as it flew over the hills to the south, but it moved out of sight quickly and soon the roaring that had been a part of her life for so many hours faded.

  She rolled over to look at Moshe. “You okay?”

  He nodded and sat, pulling his knees up and resting his good arm over them. He dropped his head.

  She shakily made her way to the crates and surveyed the agitated heifers. There were a few scraped legs and a bloodied nose. They snorted around their crates, eyes white with panic, but none looked seriously injured.

  They were in a low desert valley. Hills jutted on all sides, making it feel as if they were at the bottom of a giant’s cereal bowl. In the late morning light, everything took on the yellow cast of the dust.

  David glanced toward the hills that ringed the valley. “The trucks were supposed to be waiting when the plane dropped us.”

  Annie looked all around them and saw nothing but empty desert. She could run. There must be a gas station or house or someone traveling the road. She could get help. But even as the possibility formed in her head she knew if she ran Hassan would die. She had to cooperate for a little while, anyway.

  A dribble of sweat slid down David’s face. “The government rescue vehicles will be arriving to help the plane soon. I don’t know what will happen if they find us here with the cattle.”

  Annie held her hand to shield the sun and looked around. “We can’t herd the heifers on foot. You saw how wild they can be.”

  A faint sound of an engine drifted to them. It came from the north. Annie felt like a lone calf with coyotes closing in. Would it be The Corporation with the truck or authorities who would toss them in jail without any questions? Or the Silim with big guns?

  Moshe pushed himself up and staggered to Annie. David joined them and together they stared down the road. David took hold of her hand.

  She had to close her eyes to keep from punching David, or at the very least, throwing up. When she opened them Moshe was staring at her. She looked in his eyes seeing Jacob and Hannah. She’d have more chance saving them and Hassan if she pretended she still trusted David.

  The engine noise grew louder.

  A truck jumped into view. It looked like a typical farm truck, a rusty relic that could carry produce, lumber, cows or people.

  David stood in front of Annie, as if to protect her. “They aren’t shooting at us, so it probably isn’t the military or the Silim.”

  Annie watched it close the half mile between them, only slightly relieved. Another truck appeared, following the first.

  Annie looked at the rickety trucks and the crates with the heifers. Just how the hell did they expect her to get the cows into the trucks before someone came along?

  The first vehicle raced to them and slammed on the brakes. Olive-green canvas arched above the truck beds, concealing the contents. The driver jumped from the cab.

  He spoke angry words in Hebrew.

  The other truck squealed to a stop behind the first.

  David replied, pointing at Moshe and Annie. The driver, seemingly very angry, snarled at David, pointed to the back of his truck and at the cows. David’s worried face reflected what Annie felt. He motioned at the driver. “He’s got a ramp he’ll set up. We have to get the heifers out of the crates and up the ramp. How about a rope and halter? You can lead them up.”

  Annie barely looked at him. “These aren’t pets. They aren’t broke for that.”

  The driver’s voice sounded irritated and impatient. David answered curtly and they both fell silent.

  Annie glanced skeptically at the truck with the tailgate four feet off the ground. She eyed the restless heifers. “And we have how long?”

  David looked at his watch. “I think about five minutes.”

  Antique equipment, no horse, no cowboys, no time. “Have him back up in the center of the crates about ten feet ahead. Get the drivers and whoever else is in the trucks. We’ll make a human corral in the shape of a funnel and push them into the truck.”

  David yelled instructions to the driver of the first truck who put it in gear and positioned the truck according to Annie’s wishes. He ran to the second truck and spoke to the driver.

  Three men climbed out of the cab of the second truck and five men jumped out of the bed. Two more men joined them from the first truck. All of them had guns either in shoulder holsters or stuffed into their belts. Annie directed them to form two lines from the outer edges of the crates to the ramp in an inverted V.

  She opened the gates one by one and the cattle stood in the crates, too frightened to leave their new homes. Annie climbed the outside panel and dropped into the back of the first crate. “Ya!” She slapped the rear of the heifer and it leapt out the gate into the corral of men and stopped.

  Annie slammed the gate to the crate so it couldn’t retreat. She climbed the rail and jumped into the second crate, slapping the heifer on the rump and sending it rushing past her to join the first. Now two heifers stood between the crates and the ramp.

  Annie had to roust each heifer from her crate and when they were all in the flimsy human pen, churning like stew on a slow boil, she got behind them. “Stt, stt. Ya, get up there. Git.” She waved her arms and the animals whipped around even more, not sure what to do but certain they didn’t want to go up the ramp.

  One heifer lowered her head and snorted, aiming at a space between two men. Annie shouted to alert the men but they had no idea what was coming. Legs pumping, Annie ran across the circle to prevent the rebel’s escape.

  The heifer pawed the ground once and ran. Men who would no doubt run full force into a gun battle, jumped out of the way of the charging heifer. Annie launched herself in front of the freight train of a heifer in a futile effort to stop her.

  She succeeded in throwing her arms around the heifer’s neck and dragging for several feet before being bucked to the rocky ground. She watched as the panicked animal raced toward the hills.

  Another chance lost. One step closer to failure. She stomped back to the human corral.

  The driver of the first truck looked at his watch and spoke to David. David needlessly interpreted for Annie. “We’re running out of time. They still have to load those crates and get out of here.”

  Stupid plan, stupid cows, stupid Corporation playing by rules that were even more stupid. “Well, hell.”

  Annie stepped up to the rear end of the heifer closest to her and grabbed her tail at the base. The heifer kicked, a rapid punch that could break a leg. But Annie anticipated it and moved before it made contact.

  She bent the tail over the heifer’
s back and threw all her weight against the rear of the heifer, forcing the animal forward. It moved a few paces. Then the inevitable happened and dark green, warm semi-fluid squirted from the back of the heifer all over Annie’s arms, shirt, jeans, and boots.

  “Shit.” And she meant it. She put more pressure on the tail and heaved against the rear of the heifer, trying to ignore the smell and stickiness. “Damn Corporation got me into the asinine mix of James Bond and Hoppalong Cassidy.”

  The heifer struggled one step at a time and finally put her hooves on the ramp. In a moment, she panicked and ran up the ramp into the truck.

  Annie yelled at David. “You guys make a lot of noise and close in on those other critters. If you scare them enough, they’ll follow this one up here. I’ve gotta stay here to make sure she doesn’t run out.”

  Annie got as far to the left of the ramp as she could so she wouldn’t scare the other three. She took a moment to look down at her manure-slathered body. Damn Corporation.

  David spoke to the men and they started waving their arms, slapping their thighs, and yelling in imitation of Annie. The three heifers circled and spun, hating the noise, but scared to go up the ramp. The heifer in the truck poked her head from the canvas and started down the ramp.

  Annie jumped in front of her and shouted. She got the first one to back up into the truck, but made the others more reluctant to climb the ramp.

  Finally, one heifer placed her front hooves on the ramp. As soon as she made that move, the others crowded behind her and all three moved in an awkward bunch to run up. It wasn’t wide enough to accommodate them at the same time, but they wrangled until one broke loose and ran up and into the truck.

  Annie turned and scanned the other two animals fighting to get on the ramp. She caught a look in one heifer’s eyes. Damn. She needed a view of the heifer’s rear end, but the heifer faced the ramp.

  Annie jumped off the side of the ramp and came around the back of the men urging the cattle into the truck. She weaseled between two men who smelled even worse than she did. The heifer’s rear end came into view.

  “Balls.”

  Another heifer scooted up the ramp into the truck. David must have seen a worried expression on Annie’s face. “What?”

  She shook her head and moved in closer. “It’s her water bag. She’s calving. Now.”

  TWENTY-FIVE

  The two trucks crossed the desert and wound far into desolate hills and ragged ravines before coming to stop at the familiar compound. She’d read about the wilderness that the Jews wandered in and where Jesus prayed for forty days, and this must be the place. Bleak and isolated, nothing but rocks and scant vegetation.

  The compound looked just as it had when they’d left it a few days ago. The padlock on her shed was open and she saw with relief the one on Hassan’s shed was locked. There was an addition of a cattle pen protected from the brutal sun and air surveillance by a rough wood-plank awning.

  Annie hadn’t been blindfolded on the long trip through the desert; she didn’t need to be. They’d left the road and made so many twists and turns it was very possible they drove in circles. She’d tried to keep track of landmarks, but the hills held nothing of note, save a few strangled trees that all looked similar. The sun was directly overhead, so she couldn’t even determine the direction they traveled. How would she ever find her way out? Annie didn’t know which direction the last settlement lay or how far away it was.

  Adi stood in the middle of the compound waiting for them. He spoke to Moshe and sent him to one of the tents. Annie intercepted a nod between him and David and looked away quickly before they noticed her watching.

  With Annie directing, the men from the two trucks unloaded the cattle into the small pen. One heifer’s water bag hung from her rear, which Annie expected.

  Annie had no watch, but she suspected it had been at least two hours since they’d disembarked from the plane. Two hours since the heifer started labor meant trouble for the calf, even in a normal birth on a stress-free ranch.

  Adi walked by and Annie caught him by the sleeve. “I’ve got to pull this calf. Right now.”

  Adi’s eyes darkened in concern. She pointed out the calving heifer. “Bring her into the lab. David can help you. I’ll get set up.”

  Alanberg appeared from the mess tent. He waddled over to them, his eyes wide and nervous. “What’s happening? Is there a problem?”

  Annie gave him a disgusted look and walked toward the lab. Let David explain the situation and give orders. She’d had enough of all of them. Before she opened the lab door she pointed to Alanberg and shouted at Adi. “Keep him out of here.”

  It didn’t take long to get the heifer into the headgate. Her order must have done some good because Alanberg didn’t come into the lab. Adi stood by the door with his ever-present gun. David helped her with the heifer.

  Annie slid on an obstetrical glove and inserted her hand into the vagina. She felt a calf, full term, seemingly in one piece. But she felt no signs of life. Still, she couldn’t be sure.

  With David’s help, she pulled the calf. His nose crested, dry. His eyes were already filmy. The lifeless body came from the heifer’s womb one small tug at a time until it fell to the floor.

  Nothing was more bleak than a stillbirth; it always caused some form of grief for Annie. But this death mixed fear and failure. What would The Corporation do if they didn’t get their Red Heifer?

  David unhooked the chains. “What caused the death?”

  Annie reached down to grab the spindly red leg. “It could be the trauma of the flight. It could be the vaccine was too strong and caused the miscarriage. I don’t know.”

  David helped her and they pulled the calf to the back of the lab. “At least it was a bull calf.”

  Annie stared at him a moment, fighting to keep from cursing.

  Defeat and exhaustion made Annie fight tears. She had three more chances. In the meantime she had to figure out how to escape, rescue a bunch of little boys and their mothers and keep Hassan alive.

  Without stopping to rest or eat, Annie drew blood from the other heifers. She analyzed and figured and ran numbers until her brain wouldn’t work. Sometime during the next hours David brought her tasteless food she shoveled in between reading results.

  The guard changed but Annie didn’t know when. She looked up once to see Adi and his gun were replaced by Moshe and his gun. Moshe’s arm was wrapped and bandaged but he didn’t wear a sling. The clock showed well past midnight.

  She only slept a couple of hours and then went back to the lab.

  Annie’s order wasn’t enough to banish Alanberg permanently. He hovered over Annie’s shoulder the next morning. He read her printouts though Annie doubted he had any idea what they meant or how well her research progressed.

  Annie originally thought the heifer miscarried because of trauma during the relocation. But the more she studied the more she leaned toward the notion the vaccine hadn’t been strong enough. She had to come up with a booster and hoped the others wouldn’t start calving before she figured it out. She wanted the vaccine to give immunity to the heifers and transfer to the calves.

  Annie stared in the microscope at the blood sample she’d drawn earlier. What she saw didn’t please her and she sat back in a rickety office chair. If the vaccine was too strong, it would cause abortions; too weak and immunity might not pass to the calves and they’d die at birth, weaker still, and the virus would cause the heifers to abort.

  Alanberg stood over her. “You look disturbed. What’s the matter?”

  David sat at the other end of the counter making up slides from blood samples. He stopped and looked at her.

  She rubbed her eyes and swiveled her chair toward the door. “The periplasmic protein antigens reorganized by the immune system during infection are showing signs that the initial vaccination may not have been effective for the fetuses.”

  Confusion spread across Alanberg’s face. “Specifically, what does that mean?”

&n
bsp; She should have guessed he couldn’t follow basic lab talk. Annie pictured the problem in mathematical formulas and spoke absently to Alanberg. “It means I don’t think the others are going to give us live calves.”

  “We’ve already lost too many. We can’t lose any more.”

  Her brain sifted through protein levels and the shape of LPS epitomes. “I can try to give them a booster.”

  Alanberg wiped sweat from above his lips. “I thought you said your vaccine could cure BA 23.”

  She wanted to holler at him to leave her alone to work. Instead, she pulled out a printout from yesterday’s results. “What I said was that I was very close to a cure.”

  Alanberg paced. “We only have three more chances. One of those has to be female and it has to have no more than two hairs of any other color.”

  “I could work a lot better if you weren’t breathing down my neck.”

  Whining desperation tinged his voice. “One of them has to be the Red Heifer.”

  She narrowed her eyes and allowed her voice to harden. “There’s a lot more at stake in finding the cure than providing another object of worship. The gender and color doesn’t matter to me or to the people that might die if we don’t cure this disease.”

  He found new strength. His eyes blazed. “It matters to Jews. We’re not here to bring economic stabilization to the agricultural sector. This is about redeeming Israel for the Lord.”

  “Maybe you can’t see past your Torah, but finding the cure to BA 23 has bigger implications than fulfilling a cult’s religious fortune telling.”

  He sounded like a ten-year old. “You said you had the cure.”

  “I can’t do anything to improve your chances for that perfect calf. You’ve got the best breeding stock there is, but genetics isn’t a one hundred percent game.”

  Alanberg clenched his fists. “We need that heifer.”

  “Yeah? Well, wish in one hand, shit in the other and see which fills first.”

  In an instant he slammed an open palm beside her on the desk, making her jump. “Why do you insist on making fun of this? The Lord is bringing about the Temple and it’s our duty to sacrifice all to follow his directives.”