The Nephilim

Ginny looked at her friend Karin. "My God, I can hear his thoughts!"

Gershom continued. I worked for the honored grandfather, Noah. I stoked the fires for the boiling of bitumen in the final construction of the Ark. A flood came to the land and I drowned. At least I thought I drowned . . . , in a cave above my home. But days ago I awakened in the cave over there . . . , again in a flood. I do not know what has happened or what it means. I was lost in the wilderness until the woman-child found me. I slaughtered your sheep for food and clothing. I was hungry and so very cold. I will work for you and repay you and am honored that you would consider me. I am twenty years of age.

Ginny placed her hands to her head. "My lord, how can I hear his thoughts? What is happening? He is calling me honored Mother and says he is twenty years old. This is all so strange."

Gershom bowed low. I do not know how I understand your strange words, beautiful Mother. I just do. Perhaps if I might meet Noah again he could explain this strangeness. He is very knowledgeable and is a special friend of God. He would know.

Ginny looked to Karin for support. "He says if he could talk to Noah about all of this, Noah could explain what has happened. Poor thing. He does not know what has taken place. How do I tell him?"

Karin Ridgeback patted her friend’s hand. "You should try to explain it to him, Ginny. He’s going to be devastated. Maybe you should tell him that he can stay in the tack room and can work here. Tell him that we will all be his family. Basically, he is just a young man who needs support and understanding. He is a lost soul who needs help."

Ginny held her eyes on Karin for a moment. "But, how am I going to explain the sudden appearance of an eight-foot tall man. A man who does not speak our language or know our ways and customs? He will need clothes."

Karin’s face had the beginnings of an all-knowing smile. "We both sew and have sewing machines. I’ll buy all of the materials. The General Store has bolts and bolts of good, tough materials, corduroy, sail cloth, broad cloth, quilted materials for linings. Shoot, this boy will be in Gentlemen’s Quarterly before we are through."

Katy yelled with delight. "Come, Gershom. I will show you to you new room. You are going to like it here."

The young giant smiled and bowed to the women before him. "Shalom," his baritone voice spoke.

Pépe and Katy placed a hassock of the right height at the end of the sturdy single bunk then put a mattress on top, reinforced by folded blankets which accommodated Gershom’s eight-foot length. Pépe brought an overly sturdy chair from the storage shed and explained the function of the commode, shower and basin. Katy contributed a new toothbrush and paste which the dentist in Staunton had recently given her plus put towels, washcloths and a small rug near the shower door. Gershom was all set but could not grasp how the space heater functioned though he had examined it thoroughly for the source of the heat. The corner room had two windows, one overlooking the barnyard and the Flores’ mobile home; the other overlooking the main house and the drive from Route 220 to the house.

It seemed that whomever the Nephilim was directing his thoughts to would receive and understand them. On certain occasions he could address several people at one time but it was rare. Pépe introduced him to Hortensia whose only utterance was "mucho gusto. Oh. Chihuahua!" After a few days, her husband advised her not to wear out her prayer beads and not to worry about Gershom for he was all right. He was hard working and paid attention to detail. The only problem with the Nephilim, if you call it a problem, was that he could eat! Boy, could he eat! Hortensia soon learned not to be alarmed if the young man consumed a half dozen eggs for breakfast or a whole chicken, ten biscuits and a half dozen potatoes for lunch. Pépe’s only defense for the young man’s appetite was "that everyone should remember that Gershom had eaten seven sheep in one week!"

Within a few days, Ginny and Karin had fashioned three sets of pants and shirts and a half dozen sets of undergarments and socks for the oversized young man. A sheepskin coat with wool collar was being made by a tailor in Staunton and two pairs of footwear, high top and low top shoes, size 19, were being made in Churchville by a relative of Karin’s boss. Ginny had also located a large navy blue stocking cap at H & H Cash Store in Monterey. Gershom eventually was "duded" out and a more impressive sight had not been seen in Highland County in many a year. Pépe now had a first class farmhand and he and Hortensia grew fond of the giant young man. Ginny and Karin too felt like Gershom was just another member of the family.

Thursday, February 8, was a cold but sunny day with sharp wind gusts stirring the long dead leaves around the farm. Pépe and Gershom drove about the forage areas, taking a mental count of the previous fall’s lambing numbers which would go to market in late February and early March. Fall lambing, though fairly difficult due to the seasonality of breeding found in most breeds, still resulted from at least a 75% pregnancy rate which was considered acceptable.

In spite of the winter flood and some natural animal losses, Pépe felt they would have a good market.

It was late morning as Sheriff Hunter X. Craig’s brown Ford Cruiser came down the drive and stopped in the circular drive. The cold, gray eyes of Becky Wolf observed the old sheriff as he exited his car, picking up the man scent as a friend. X. Craig saw the animal and spoke quietly. "Hey, there, Girl. Come here to see ol’ Hunter. We’re buddies, right?" Becky wagged her tail but kept her distance. It had only been a little over 100,000 years since man had tamed the wolf by throwing it scraps of meat from the campfires. She would just need a little more time.

As was his habit, the old sheriff walked around back and through the white plank fence gate. There he saw Ginny Killain carrying a baby lamb into the barn. "Mornin’, Ginny."

Turning at the sound of a voice, the tall, willowy woman smiled broadly and waved. "Hi, X, what brings you out this way?"

"Oh, just coming back from Sloban McCowski’s place. Someone hit his mailbox with a baseball bat. Some young fellow frustrated at one of those good-looking daughters of his, probably. I told him I would look into it. What you doing with the lambkin?"

Ginny rubbed the ball of wool and shook her head in dismay. "She’s just five days old but her mother ignores her and won’t let her nurse. I’m going to put her in the pen with Katy’s pet Pam Lamb and bottle-feed her until spring. That mother is skating on thin ice. I may send her away to market."

Hunter smiled. "Well, I didn’t want anything in particular. Just thought I might stop and see how you and Katy were getting along."