Ephron Son of Zohar Page 8

  Chapter Eight Quarrels and Conflicts

  James 4:1

  “What happened to you?” asked Shelometh.

  Elon just shrugged. Her brother's leather uniform was covered with black smudges from opening the firebox.

  “Tawananna's quite a taskmaster,” said Elon.

  “I'll say,” said Shelometh, looking over the very impressive production of bricks for the day.

  “And we need to keep up this kind of output,” said Tawananna. “Do you know who's taking over tonight? I want to be certain they know what they're doing before I go to bed.”

  “So how many bricks do we need?” asked Elon. “What do you estimate is the total number of bricks to get through the winter?”

  “Those are not my decisions,” said Ephron. “The number of bricks we need depends on what the bricks will be used for. I gave my opinion, but that does not seem to be ... Oh never mind. It doesn't matter anyway. And I have no idea how many or who will be here tonight.”

  Since there was no need to wait until the demand for the ovens to slack, Ephron and Shelometh were able to look at the progress of the day crew before changing into their leather uniforms. After Ephron showed Shelometh what made the bricks acceptable quality, they each left to change into their uniforms. By the time they were changed and ready for work just after dark, a growing audience gathered to gaze at what was going to make their lives easier.

  “Are we getting some more ovens tonight?” asked a woman.

  “Not tonight,” said Ephron.

  “Why not?” asked a child.

  Ephron smiled and turned to the child. “Well,” said Ephron, “Ovens need iron doors, and first we have to make the iron.”

  “So you're making the iron tonight?” continued the child.

  “Sorry,” said Ephron, “but tonight we build a smelter to turn the iron ore into sponge iron. If we get the smelter working tonight, then we build the forge tomorrow night to make the doors. With those doors, you can start building more ovens the day after that.”

  “But I want our own food,” said the child.

  “I think it might be wiser to build a larger kiln first,” said Yovov, “and put off the building of the ovens for a few more days.”

  “Why do you need that many bricks?” asked Ephron. “Everything built with bricks is temporary. We will replace every one of these fireboxes with stone.”

  “We need someplace to sleep,” said Anah. “You told us yourself that there would not be enough stones cut for years.”

  “There are several advantages to making all of the temporary structures out of wood,” said Ephron. “Next spring we have to cultivate and that means clearing the land. As a wooden structure, including the wall, is replaced with stone, the wood can be put to other uses; support beams, furniture, weapons, or firewood. After putting massive energy into making bricks, what are we going to do with used bricks?”

  “That's fine for you. You already have a nice warm room to sleep in,” said Yovov. “You know that the wooden rooms cannot be as warm as stone or brick.

  “Dad!” said Shelometh. “That was out of line! Apologize right now!”

  Ephron held up his hand, palm out. “It does not matter what material the walls of a dwelling are made of. What matters is how well they keep the heat in and the cold out. Stone is actually rather poor at keeping a room warm. Our rooms are covered with skins to help insulate.”

  “I'm not so certain this plan is the best use of our labor right now anyway,” said Taku, who joined the conversation. “I agree with Ephron that we do not have much use for used bricks once they are replaced with stone. But right now we need more people working in the caves preparing the meat and harvesting grain, not making bricks.”

  “Does that mean more delays on the ovens?” asked Hepa's husband AriTesup.

  “What about the walls?” asked Anah. “We only have two saws. We cannot make walls of anything without the proper tools. How long until we have more saws?”

  Shelometh stepped forward. “Where are you are going to build these ovens? What about chimneys? Are the outer walls and rooms even laid out yet? Where will you put each clan? What about the animals? If they are going to stay inside the walls, have you any idea where the stables will be and how they will be kept clean? And the firewood? Where will it go? Since you wanted to do the planning, it seems to me that you haven't done your job very well.”

  “I want an oven!” cried a child.

  “Exactly what I said,” came the quiet voice of Zohar when the talking paused for a second. “Why don't we just invite the Assyrians in right now? The things you are fighting about are temporary. Fighting over just a few days! You will all get at least a temporary version of everything you want in a few weeks. What will happen when the caravans come with treasures you have never seen before and only some people can have them? Will you kill your sister just because you want something she has but you do not? Adonai is kind and merciful even though He is holy and just.”

  “Adonai never talked to me,” said someone.

  With that anonymous comment, because no one admitted saying it, everyone dispersed. The disagreements sapped more strength than the hard physical labor of the previous night.

  The night was half spent when Ephron was satisfied with the smelter and built a fire in the firebox. Four young boys from Anah's tribe worked the kiln. Though they worked hard, they produced noticeably fewer bricks than Tawananna, Elon, and their helpers.

  “Lunch,” called Hepa from across the courtyard.

  “We'll be there as soon as we fill the firebox, so it can burn down to a hot fire while we're eating,” called Shelometh.

  Ephron motioned to the four boys to go to lunch, then checked to make certain that the three doors to the kiln were shut tight, with no air leaks. Shelometh checked that the firebox to the smelter was closed and they walked across to the tables.

  “You boys are certainly quiet,” said Ephron. None of them answered.

  “What are your names?” asked Hepa.

  The youngest boy, who seemed to be about the same age as Tichu, answered for the four.

  “My name is Benazimi. That is my older brother Zidaa, and we are sons of UrhiTesup. That is Zataatna. He's about my age. His older brother Sutarna is about Zidaa's age. Their father is Tyrgnns.”

  “What's wrong?” asked Shelometh. “I've never heard you four so quiet.”

  They still didn't say anything, so Hepa moved to their table. “You've only been here a little over two days. Things can't be that bad yet.”

  “You sound like you like working with fire,” said Zataatna. “Is that why you are here?”

  “So you don't like working the kiln?” asked Ephron.

  “Like it?” said Sutarna. “We're being punished.”

  “Punished?” asked Shelometh. “Why? For what? Who's punishing you? And how is this punishment?”

  “You won’t be doing this very long,” said Ephron, “the brick kiln only operates for a few weeks every year.”

  “You heard what Yovov said,” said Sutarna. “He wants everything made out of bricks. We'll be stuck here our entire lives.”

  “Why do you think this is punishment?” asked Ephron. “Working with the forge and stone are high honors.”

  “We worked all day gathering grain,” said Zidaa. “Then this lady, one of your sisters, looked at it and said it was no good. That it was just weeds. She showed us something that looked just like what we picked and we told her we could not tell the difference. So they took all the grain we gathered all day and threw it in the fire. The next day, we were sent here.”

  “Well, all of these jobs are temporary until winter sets in,” said Ephron. “Next spring we will have to cultivate the ground and plant our own grain. I don't think you are being punished. It is a privilege to work with you. And if you don't tell anyone, I'm not so sure I would know the difference in the good grain and the weeds either.”

  “We thank you for being willing to work with us,” said
Shelometh. “And Hepa and Tichu and Uzuel, thank you for cooking for us. And who is the new cook?”

  “Why thank you so much. It has been many decades since anyone called me a new anything. My name is Basemath, a Shemite married to Xenna, son of Zohar. Are you Shelometh?”

  “Why does everyone know my name?” asked Shelometh.

  “What are you going to say when Heth gets here?” asked Basemath.

  “I did not say anything to anyone,” said Ephron to Shelometh. “But I do believe that Heth will change things. We might not be so important when he gets here. And I add my thanks to Shelometh's words. Thank you; all of you.”

  “If Ephron is correct,” added Shelometh, “By the end of next week we will be working in stone.”

  “If Ephron is correct,” said Ephron, “then we need to get back to work and make it so.”

  Instead of going directly back to the smelter, Ephron dragged a large device from a corner over to the smelter. There was another one next to it, which he ignored.

  “What is that?” asked Shelometh.

  “It is an air pump, also called a bellows,” said Ephron.

  “It looks like a huge square butter churn. Why are there two of them?” asked Shelometh. “And who came up this idea?”

  “There are actually three of them,” said Ephron. “We can modify the same smelter to work with either iron or bronze. But we need a separate bellows for each forge. And you are right. It is kind of a large square butter churn. All it does is go up and down. The long handle is a lever to make it easier to use. It has a pin in the middle of the handle which slides and is fastened to a wooden panel. That handle, which only slides up and down, would be the handle of a butter churn. The long vertical lever also has a pin at the other end which just swivels. It does not move in any other direction. Unlike a butter churn, there are pieces of leather inside on the sides of the wooden panel to make a complete seal. And there are two holes on opposite sides near the bottom covered with pieces of leather to allow air to come in on one side when the plunger goes up and out the other side when the plunger goes down. There is this iron tube around the hole where the air goes into the firebox to keep the wood of the bellows and the leather valve from catching on fire.”

  He muscled the huge, heavy, square wooden bellows into position and connected it to the firebox.

  “Tubal-cain,” said Ephron, returning to Shelometh's question. “Tubal-cain came up with this entire system.”

  “The Tubal-cain? Noah's grandfather Methuselah; that Tubal-cain?”

  “I believe he was the same generation as Methuselah's father Enoch. He was in the line of Cain and probably died in the flood.”

  “How did you learn this?” asked Shelometh. “Tubal-cain did not survive the flood.”

  “My grandfather taught me,” said Ephron.

  “Canaan? You learned the ways of Tubal-cain from Canaan?” shrieked Shelometh.

  “Why do you think Zohar our father,” said Ephron, “wants nothing to do with Canaan?”

  “There’s nothing wrong with learning to be a metal-worker,” said Shelometh. “What else did you learn from Canaan? What made your father swear to have nothing to do with him?”

  Ephron said nothing.

  “He did teach you other things,” asked Shelometh. “Didn't he?”

  Ephron still said nothing.

  “Teach you, or did something to you,” continued Shelometh. “Something that has nothing to do with metal working?”

  The smelter worked, but Ephron had to have the two younger boys, Zataatna and Benazimi, operate the bellows to get the fire hot enough. With only two to operate the brick kiln, brick production slowed to a crawl for the rest of the night. They never did replace the bricks used to make the smelter. By the time dawn began to show her rosy fingers in the east, there were less than half as many bricks as when the shift started.

  The bricks were replaced by piles of slag, sponge iron, and the powder of various impurities. The smelter did not get hot enough to melt the iron, but it melted most of the impurities and made the iron soft enough to beat with a hammer on an anvil into an irregular flat ingot somewhat less than a quarter of the size of the original piece of ore. Hammering the soft iron ore into the rough shape of an ingot knocked many other impurities out and left a piece of raw iron ready to be finished in a forge. As Taku emerged from his quarters, Ephron waved him over to the metal working area.

  “Whatever you, Anah, and Yovov want to do with the bricks and brick production,” said Ephron, “if you can produce as many bricks as you did yesterday, we can have a working forge by tomorrow morning. That requires many new people over here training for the smelter and the forge. Then you can start making tools and, if you want, tear down the kiln and make a bigger one tomorrow. So we will need at least a half-dozen more people working here tonight. The number of workers depends on what you choose to do the next few days. Once everything is working and we are making ovens as well as tools, then Shelometh and I can turn this over to others as we begin to cut stone.”

  “Stone by the end of next week?” asked Taku.

  “It can be done,” said Ephron. “But what actually happens depends on what you decide to do with the resources available.”

  “Tell me,” asked Taku stepping closer and lowering his voice. “Could you actually live with her? As a wife, I mean. That is, if father pushes this thing? Could you do it?”

  “She is nice,” said Ephron, without lowering his voice, allowing others to hear him. “She is pleasant to work with and be around. I am not going to allow anyone to push anything on her. I believe that the arrival of Grandfather Heth will change the entire situation considerably. I do not know how, but I believe that our entire situation will change. For now, good night, or should I say, good day.”