11
Joseph slowly calmed as he adjusted to the dark, cramped surroundings of the pit. He strained to listen, but his brothers’ laughter had faded, and their voices were too dim to hear. Rumbling in the distance shook the ground, and the faint sound of bells wafted down to him. Was someone coming? Should he call out to them for help?
He waited, for his voice was hoarse from yelling for his brothers. The bells and the tramping of animal hooves grew more distinct. A caravan? He closed his eyes, trying to remember the roads that passed this way. He was not far from a main thoroughfare that led southwest toward Egypt. Traders from across the east even as far as Mesopotamia traveled this way. His father had purchased rare items at one of their stops closer to Hebron. Perhaps if he caught their attention, they would rescue him and return him to Hebron on their way back or even let him go. He could find his own way if he could avoid contact with his brothers.
Then he would tell his father all that had happened. No more would he protect these sons of Leah, Bilhah, and Zilpah from their father’s wrath. Let them taste the bitter cup they’d dealt him. He could not imagine what his father would do to the sons who would treat his favorite son so cruelly.
The bells’ jingling grew louder, and now the sound of a caravan was clearly evident. He drew in a breath and lifted his voice. “Help me! Help me! Help me!” He stopped. Listened hard.
At last footsteps drew closer. Someone had heard his cries! Someone was coming to his aid.
He lifted his gaze to thank Adonai as a rope was lowered down to him. He grabbed the rope and used his legs to push against the sides of the cistern to help his rescuer pull him out. But when he reached the top and the sun illuminated the faces before him, it was Judah, Simeon, and Levi who glared into his eyes.
“He doesn’t seem too banged up.” Simeon looked him over while Judah inspected the gash on his head.
“Put your turban back on to cover that wound.” Judah examined the rips in Joseph’s finely woven tunic. “We won’t get as much for him with these welts, but it will be enough to be rid of him.”
Judah’s words rocked him, and he not only felt his brother’s hatred but saw it in his eyes.
“Be rid of me?” Joseph glanced beyond them to the caravan of men. They had stopped moving as if they were waiting for something.
Simeon and Levi grabbed Joseph’s arms, and Judah tied them behind his back.
“What are you doing?” Joseph’s voice rose, emotion coming to the surface. “Let me go! I won’t even tell Father what you have done. Just release me and let me return to him.”
“Do you actually think we would trust anything you say?” Simeon’s strong grip grew painful. “We want to be rid of you, dreamer! You’re going on a little trip to Egypt!”
Judah led the way while Simeon and Levi pulled Joseph along toward the waiting caravan. Joseph dug his feet into the dirt, trying to stop them.
“Don’t make me carry you,” Simeon hissed in his ear. “Walk politely or it will go worse for you.”
Joseph still tried to wrestle himself free of their grasp, but their hold only grew more painful until he could no longer resist them. They stood before the caravan master now. Bile rose in Joseph’s throat, and he barely choked it down.
“Here is the young man I spoke about,” Judah said, handing the end of the rope to the man.
The man looked Joseph over as though he were a product to purchase. “Open your mouth,” the man commanded.
Joseph obeyed, only to have the man stick his finger along his gums as if to check his teeth. Was he a camel that he should be treated this way? He longed to bite down on the man’s finger but restrained himself. Making things worse would not be wise.
“Twenty pieces of silver.” The man pulled a pouch from his belt and counted out the coins, placing them in Judah’s palm.
“Done,” Judah said, smiling.
The caravan master took the rope and tugged Joseph closer, then handed him off to another man, who forced him to sit. The man put shackles on his ankles and an iron collar around his neck, then removed the ropes from his hands. He took the end of the long chain connected to the collar and attached it to a waiting camel’s saddle.
Joseph fought the urge to resist the taller, stronger man, all the while fighting a greater urge to cry out. Sweat beaded his face and trickled down his back. His heart pounded as if he’d run the distance from Hebron, and his whole body began to shake again. He needed to tell these men that he was a prince and his brothers had kidnapped him. Thoughts of what his father would eagerly pay flitted through his mind. Surely someone would listen to him! His teeth knocked together, his panic rising. The collar tightened with every swallow, and he fought for breath.
“Move out!” the man shouted in the direction of the caravan master, startling Joseph. The animals began to move, and Joseph’s feet were forced forward. He nearly fell to the earth, but by some unseen mercy, he managed to remain upright as he shuffle-ran behind the smelly beast.
He could not turn his head to glance back at his brothers, for the collar nearly choked him. But he could fairly see their faces and their utter lack of compassion. It was the last expression he would ever remember of them, unless by some miracle God set him free.
Sweat poured down Reuben’s back, and he cursed under his breath as he attempted to free the second lamb from the brambles that had her stuck fast. He needed to get Joseph out of that pit before he died of thirst. What if he’d broken a bone on the way down? He must return Joseph to their father personally.
But what if Joseph told Jacob what they had done to him? The thought added to his utter frustration with the wayward lambs, and he tugged harder, catching his tunic on the barbs and hearing it rip as he freed the second lamb.
He released a pent-up breath. Finally! He lifted each one and moved toward the path he had taken to find them. He couldn’t carry them both, so he released them and used his staff to prod them along.
At last he saw the large flocks appear in the distance, and he stepped in front of the lambs and called their names to hurry them faster. His heart pounded as he pondered what he could possibly say to their father about why they had put Joseph in the pit. Their father would never forgive them.
But he must return the boy. If Joseph died, Jacob would never recover from his loss. And Reuben would bear the blame as firstborn for the rest of his life. Jacob might even cast him out.
Fear coiled in his middle, and he quickened his pace, still urging the lambs to follow. At last they entered the larger flock, and Reuben caught sight of a handful of his brothers. They no longer sat about eating and seemed to have returned to their work. Good. He could retrieve Joseph and perhaps even take the boy home, or send him home before his brothers knew what had happened.
He undid the length of rope he carried to lower it to Joseph and lift him from the cistern. Glancing about, he saw no sign of Judah, Simeon, or Levi. They must have taken the goats someplace apart from the others, for he saw only the sheep not far from the pit.
He would deal with them later. He half ran the rest of the way to the cistern. Looking down, he opened his mouth to call to Joseph to catch the rope, but the light shining from the angled sun showed the cistern to be empty.
He straightened. Did he have the right cistern? Of course he did. There was no other this close to where they kept their flocks.