SOLOMON'S SEARCH

Suddenly a black cloud covered the sun, cooling the mid-afternoon heat.  The boy reached over, patting Pearl’s sleek, white withers.  Then he twisted back toward his father.  “Go,” he said, bouncing himself as much as he could despite the belt that fastened him to the King. 

Smiling, Solomon pressed the boy to him.  “You will make a fine horseman.”

The path curved, narrowing for many paces.  To the right was a nomadic family with two children playing hide-and-seek in the brush at the side.  No one else disturbed his privacy, except his guard who rode several paces behind. 

The King breathed the invigorating air.  Barely pressing the animal’s sides with his heels, he controlled Pearl in a slow trot. 

The child laughed happily.  “We go,” he exclaimed. 

The gypsy couple stepped out of the way before Pearl and her riders approached them.

However, at that moment the animal reached a spot where the track was narrowed by two bushes on each side. 

Suddenly one of the children ran across the path, directly in front of the mare. She reared, letting out a scared neigh. 

Solomon immediately clasped the mare with his knees.  He hugged his boy close to him.  Yet without warning, the other boy chased across the path. 

Pearl reared again, snorting wildly, pawing her hooves in the air. 

Grasping his son, the King lost his balance.  Both of them fell on the rocks, bordering the path.  The thrust of the fall broke the leather strap, unloosing the child. 

When Solomon scrambled to his feet, there was blood on the stone under the boy’s head.  His son’s open eyes appeared sightless.

Throwing his head back, Solomon howled, “Dear God, NO!”

When his breathless slave arrived, the King pointed in the direction where the children ran.  He screamed, “Kill them both!”

The parents of the children heard him.   They fell on their faces.  The father moaned, “They were only playing.”

Although the slave had already turned his horse, Solomon yelled, “Let them go.”

The King put his hand under his son’s nose.  He felt no

breath.  His heir’s precious life was over!

Drawing a dagger from the scabbard at his waist, Solomon thrust the blade deep into the heart of the mare.  Blood spurted out, covering the white horse’s chest with red.  Pearl’s large blue eyes riveted on her usually-gentle master before she crumbled to the ground. 

The gypsies ran, hiding in the underbrush.

The King directed, “Fetch Zabud and Zadok,”

As the slave raced away, Solomon sat on the ground.  He lifted his son in his arms. Tenderly he supported the boy’s head from falling back.  Looking upward, the King prayed in rage. 

“Oh God, I have followed Your commandments.  I have worshipped only You.  Why did You repay me thus?”