Eran awoke at his guard post having nodded off. He felt groggy and could not believe he had dozed off. The night was calm and everything looked secure, though with no moonlight, it was hard to see. The campfire had burned to embers. At first glance, all seemed well.

Then, as he scanned the area through the darkness, Eran noticed a cloaked figure carrying a small light and moving quickly toward the hills. His heart skipped a beat. Afraid that they had been robbed or were under attack, he sprang from his perch, ready to act if needed.

Looking around the camp, Eran noticed that Zack and Mary were gone. "What is this? Where could they be?" he muttered to himself. A sudden panic gripped in his chest. By the gods! Had they been kidnapped? What was going on?

Eran grabbed his sword in hand and sprinted stealthily toward the unknown intruder. In the darkness he could not see very well. He stumbled frequently on his way toward the caves. As he came closer, he recognized the intruder. It was Zack, carrying Mary in his arms! They were about to enter the secret cave he and Zack had spoken about, earlier that day. Suprised and confused, Eran halted in his tracks.

Why would the Rabbi be taking Mary to the caves in the middle of the night? Was Zack about to do something sinister that he'd waited for nighttime to hide? Was he going to conduct some kind of dark ritual on the girl? He hesitated for a moment, not sure what to do. The encounter, though intriguing, could be dangerous for Eran. Being no more than a slave among these people, his future welfare depended entirely on their good graces. Before he took any action, he needed to think carefully about the consequences.

Eran's circumstances were already precarious, being his masters male lover, even if the master was as rich as Josh. Sex between men, was explicitly forbidden by Hebrew law, unlike in his Egyptian homeland. Even though nothing had been said, he was pretty sure it was Zack who had seen him fucking Josh in the garden hut. Josh had not noticed it. He was still drunk from the previous night, and so lost in his private ecstasy. If he had seen Zack, he would have invited him in to have a go! He probably didn't remember anything anyway.

Eran knew that Josh was not as careful as he should be. He was confident he could buy his way out of any threatening or intimidating situation. He had already paid off a few suspicious people to keep them quiet. But Eran was a servant with no money, no position and no rights. He would face certain death if he and Josh were discovered.

Eran stood in the entrance to the cave for some time, considering what he should do. He decided to venture quietly inside, to see exactly what was going on. Surely Zack would have an explanation. Maybe the girl was ill and needed the caves healing benefits. Rabbis were a mysterious bunch, Eran thought, like the priests he had studied under back home who had taught him skills that made him so endeared to his master. Their ways were unfathomable. He crept into the darkness, feeling his way across the moist stone passage.

Eran came to a sharp corner that opened on the left into the main cavern. There was a faint flickering light, coming from the other side of the room that made it possible to see just a little. Partially blocking the light he could see Zack's silhouette from behind, standing at the edge of the rock pile 'bed'. He was naked and he was holding onto Mary by her legs. Mary lay motionless on the stone bed. Zack thrust his hips back and forth, breathing rapidly, unaware of Eran. At first, Eran flashed back to his own times, standing in the very same place, screwing Josh.

When he realized the Rabbi was having sex with his niece, however, he gasped. "By the gods!" Eran thought to himself. "What kind of men are these Rabbis? What gods do they worship that condone this? What a violation of a poor, innocent girl," he thought. He had to bite his lip to keep from calling out.

Eran fell back to the dark passage and for a moment tried to make sense of this shocking discovery. In the darkness his mind raced as he tried to absorb what he had seen. Thoughts raced in his head as he pictured the rest of the household, and how they would be mortified by this heinous act. There was a jumble of emotions exploding in his head as he realized how he had been fooled by Zack, who had always been so kind to him.

Eran thought about the Rabbi's strange wife. He recalled her drunken advance upon him at the feast, and his own reckless behavior. What if he had impregnated her? This is so bizarre, he thought. He backed slowly down the passageway and slipped from the cave, into the night air.

Outside, he took a few deep breaths and stumbled back toward the camp. He was afraid to be discovered near the scene, or even to be seen awake. This is so sad, he thought as he made his way through the darkness.

Back in his bed, Eran closed his eyes hoping to find that this was just a terrible dream. His master's family was becoming stranger every day, he thought to himself. But what could he do or say without putting himself in harm's way? Who could he tell? Surely not Josh. That would have grave repercussions. Josh might even blame him for not protecting his precious Mary. His failure to stop Zack, or to intervene in any way had already cost him a way out. There was no going back, no changing what had happened.

And why would anyone believe his word over the Rabbi? He was a slave -- treated to more freedoms than most -- but still a slave. An Egyptian slave. If he spoke up, a lot of things would quickly change, including the safety and security that he enjoyed from his special, though clandestine relationship with his master.

(End of Chapter 15)