Recap: The enemy Arab king is angry, looking for Queen Annabelle and her family. Ava and Queen Annabelle with Mirhan are fleeing as fast as possible towards Yerushalayim. During the trip, Queen Annabelle falls ill with a fever.
Three days passed by. We stopped only once, and when Mirhan saw how gravely ill his mother was, he took me aside. “Ava, we must prepare for the worst. I don’t know if my mother will make it.”
“No, she will. Hashem is with us. Don’t say that.”
Another day that melted into night. I was constantly praying to Hashem, and then Aunt Annabelle sat up and said, “Ava, please bring me some bread.”
“Baruch Hashem!” I said.
I called to Mirhan. “Your mother’s awake. She wants to eat.”
Arash stopped the carriage so Mirhan could come inside and see his mother.
“Baruch Hashem!” he said. He gave her a piece of bread.
It was a miracle!
Mirhan called to us. “We must keep going.” Mirhan kissed his mother and headed back to his horse and the carriage rolled on.
Tears of gratitude spilled down my cheeks. “Thank you, Hashem. Thank you! A miracle. A miracle for us.”
I borrowed my aunt’s parchment and recited psalms of thanksgiving. I felt Hashem was really right with us.
The rest of the trip was a long blur of days and nights.
Finally, we were drawing close to Jerusalem. Aunt Annabelle insisted that when we reached the gates to Jerusalem, we would all get out and kiss the ground.
“I’m so thankful that you’re well again, dear Aunt.” I felt a catch in my throat when I thought of what might have been. “Thanks to Hashem.”
Suddenly, there was the pounding of hoofbeats. A man on a black stallion appeared. “Stop!” he yelled. “I come as a friend.”
Arash stopped the carriage. The man was out of breath. “Hurry. King Arnan is on your trail. He knows you’re near Jerusalem. Follow me. I’m taking you to a safe route – a hidden path.”
Mirhan pulled up beside us. He and Arash spoke together for a few minutes. Mirhan asked his mother’s opinion.
“This could be a trap,” Mirhan said.
“I will trust you, dear son. I’m still weak and unable to decide this.”
My heart was exploding. What if King Arnan gets here. We had to follow them. Mirhan gave the signal to follow the man on the stallion.
Our carriage turned and we headed away from Jerusalem. I stared out the window. Something felt wrong.
“Aunt Annabelle, this doesn’t look like a hidden path. Do you notice we’re on the main road? Why would he take us on the main road if we’re being chased?”
“Signal Arash.”
“Arash, Aunt Annabelle asks you to please stop.” He stopped the carriage. He signaled Mirhan. Aunt Annabelle’s voice was weak. “I don’t trust him. We should not be on the main road. Something is wrong. Please, how can we find a way to lose him.”
Mirhan’s forehead creased. I asked Hashem for help. An idea popped into my head. “Dear Aunt, tell the man our wheel needs adjusting. We will follow as soon as it’s fixed. Then, Arash and Mirhan must find a hidden trail back to Jerusalem.”
Aunt Annabelle smiled and patted my shoulder. “Brilliant! Arash, go tell him our wheel needs fixing. We will catch up to him. He must go forward.”
Arash ran over to the man. He had stopped ahead of us. Arash ran back.
“Go down and pretend you’re fixing the wheel,” Aunt Annabelle said.
Arash sat down on the ground and began fussing with the wheel. The man with the stallion rode on.
As soon as he was far down the road, Aunt Annabelle signaled Arash and Mirhan to turn around and head back to a hidden trail towards Jerusalem.
My heart beat with the rumble of carriage wheels. My neck muscles tightened. Would the man on the stallion see we were gone and follow us?
To be continued…
Susie Garber is the author of a newly released historical fiction novel, Captured (Menucha Publishers, 2025), as well as historical fiction novels Please Be Patient (Menucha, 2024), Flight of the Doves (Menucha, 2023), Please Be Polite (Menucha, 2022), A Bridge in Time (Menucha, 2021), Secrets in Disguise (Menucha, 2020), Denver Dreams, a novel (Jerusalem Publications, 2009), Memorable Characters…Magnificent Stories (Scholastic, 2002), Befriend (Menucha, 2013), The Road Less Traveled (Feldheim, 2015), fiction serials, and features in Binah Magazine and Binyan Magazine, and “Moon Song” in Binyan (2021–2022) and Alaskan Gold (2023–2024).