The Bronze Bow

After Daniel returns from Nathan’s wedding celebrations, Leah innocently asks him what a wedding is. Daniel has begun talking to Leah as he would with Samson to sort his thoughts. Though Leah listens in silence, Daniel is shocked at her memory. She often asks odd, childish questions revealing her ignorance of the world. He tries his best to answer, understanding his words are a window to the outside world. Daniel explains what a wedding is, wishing he had Joel’s gift for words. Leah asks what will happen to her when Daniel brings home a wife. Daniel snaps that he will not marry—he won’t have time for foolishness until the last Roman is gone. Leah asks if the Romans are their masters and if the soldier that comes to the shop is Roman. She tells Daniel that he is only a homesick boy. Finally, Leah asks Daniel why he is so angry at the Romans. Enraged, Daniel thinks of the things the Romans have done to their family and to Leah. He wonders how Leah knows the soldier is homesick and where she learned the word.

Unable to focus on his work, Daniel goes to the mountain. His welcome is just as he pictured it. After Rosh’s sharp demand for news, no one else has much to say. One man, Joktan, asks about the village and if Daniel brought anything to eat. Daniel learns that they have had trouble getting meat, as some sheepherders ambushed them. Daniel is suddenly uncomfortable, as the sheepherders are not wealthy and he knows them by name. Samson arrives with the carcass of a large sheep. Daniel grasps his arms as they grin at each other wordlessly. Rosh asks about Joel, informing Daniel that he will need him soon. Joktan tells Daniel that Samson knew he was coming and brought the meal for him. Samson knows and hears things—it isn’t a coincidence that he brought home their first good meal in a week. From afar, Rosh stares at Samson with dislike.

That night, Daniel is unable to sleep. His body has forgotten the feel of pebbles, and his mind shifts uncomfortably to Leah, Joel, Malthace, and Simon. Simon chose a different leader, one who takes less than he needed to ensure others are fed. Closeness draws Jesus and his followers together, unlike in Rosh’s band, where no one cares that he is back. Thinking of Leah’s little goat, Daniel wonders if a child in the village has gone hungry because of their feast. At first light, Samson wakes up the instant Daniel does. Daniel places his hand on Samson’s shoulders and shakes his head. He wishes he could take Samson home but knows the villagers would be alarmed and Leah would be terrified into the corner forever. He understands that Samson belongs to the free life of the mountain and wonders where he himself belongs. Back home, Leah hasn’t combed her hair or had breakfast and is sitting with lifelessness in her eyes. 

On Joel’s insistence, Daniel starts to visit Capernaum and listen to Jesus’s preaching every morning. Simon is glad to see him, Joel talks with him freely, and he receives the reward of Malthace’s smile. Sometimes, Daniel is drawn to Bethsaida at night to listen to Jesus. He doesn’t always understand the words and is uncertain what Jesus intends to do, but the hope and promise in Jesus’s words always draw him back. At mealtimes, he shares Jesus’s words with Leah. She wants only to listen to his stories about Jesus and the busy life of the city. Daniel can’t find words to make her see the beauty of nature and the diversity of men and women. Daniel enjoys going in the morning because the bustle of work beginning makes him feel nothing is impossible. In the evening, it seems as though sadness hangs over the world. At night, weary workers crowd into Simon’s home. Though even Jesus seems weary, he never refuses to speak to them. Jesus’s words touch their minds and hearts like a healing ointment.

Leah loves to hear Daniel repeat one story about a sick young girl. One day, Daniel and Jesus’s followers were waiting at the beach for Jesus to return from visiting villages across the lake. When Jesus arrived, the people screamed and cheered as if he were a prince. Suddenly, the crowd made way for Jairus, one of the rulers of the synagogue. Contrary to everyone’s expectations, Jairus fell in front of Jesus like a beggar. His only child, a daughter, was dying. Instead of bargaining, Jesus followed Jairus to his home, where women were wailing and howling. Jesus turned to the people and told them that she was not dead but sleeping. Without hesitation, Jesus took her hand and told her to get up. When she immediately got up and walked, Jesus told her parents to give her something to eat and left the house. However, the whole incident is kept quiet by Jesus’s order, and Simon now never leaves Jesus’s side.

Leah asks if Jesus will come to their village with a great crowd. Daniel says that Jesus doesn’t let anyone send children away and insists on talking and listening to them. When Daniel carefully asks if Leah will see Jesus if he comes to their village, she hides her face behind her veil. Leah has changed since Malthace started visiting. There is often a dreamy look in Leah’s eyes that stirs an odd uneasiness in Daniel. Daniel has grown confident in his skill, taking pleasure in making not only strong and well-balanced things, but also things that are pleasing to look at. One afternoon, he starts to experiment with a bit of bronze, bending it into a small bow and arrow. Half ashamed and half proud of his experiment, he decides to keep it to remind him of his purpose. Daniel is certain that Jesus has the strength of God in him, as did David of old. If Jesus wills, he can bend the bow of bronze. Daniel wonders if Jesus is training his hands for war.