5. Bethany, House of Dates
Part 1. Pearl 1. Fig. Martha. Summer, AD 12
fig
n. a soft, purple or green pear-shaped fruit with seeded sweet pink flesh; eaten whole, fresh or dried in recipes, pressed into cakes or made into syrup) medicinally to clear kidneys, intestines, chronic coughs or in a poultice
“By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles?”
“If you ask me,” Selah said, lining her figs up along the board, “that was a near thing with Miri.” She thrust her needle through the top of a fat fig and reached for the next. “Her spirit would have been crushed in the north.” She studied her work and kept her eyes on her hands. “As it is, you ought to stop driving the girl so hard.”
There was a hesitation before Selah finished. “Your sister isn’t meant for hard labor, and your own mother would have said so.”
It was the first time I’d heard Selah use Mama as a way to tell me what to do.