Baara went to her room in the wee hours of the morning weary to the bone and ready for sleep, but Mara would not let her rest.

"I know you are tired, as we all are," Mara said to Baara. "But before you sleep, will you please just listen for a minute?" she begged. "I saw something when I went to try to rescue Zipporah, something strange, yet wonderful. Just as the flaming beam fell cutting off access to Zipporah, I saw a shining being dressed in white stoop down and pick her up. Just as the white apparition bent to lift Zipporah, the downpour began. I was overcome by the smoke and water and fell to my knees. Naaman picked me up and carried me out. He said I fainted from exposure to the fire, but I was sure that as he lifted me, I saw the shining being look upward toward a finger-shaped light in the sky. As we turned, I glimpsed two lights merging and then there was nothing but darkness. An unbelievable peace and an overwhelming love enveloped me. I heard a deep, compassionate voice say, 'Welcome home, child. Good job, Michael.' That voice was almost immediately replaced by another voice saying, 'Wake up, Mara, wake up.' I found myself looking into the anxious face of Timna."

Mara paused and looked into Baara's eyes. "I know others will tell me that I was hallucinating, but, Baara, do you think I could have seen a messenger sent from your god, Yahweh? Could he have taken Zipporah to the place of light she spoke about? Even though Naaman said I was out cold when he lifted me, what I saw was so real. And the feeling that overwhelmed me, it's indescribable. I can't believe that was a figment of my imagination. You're a worshipper of Yahweh. What is your interpretation? Are you familiar with the name Michael?"

Baara saw in Mara's eyes that she wanted reassurance, but she wasn't sure if she could honestly tell her what she longed to hear. Choosing her words carefully, Baara said. "You realize, Mara, that I am young and unschooled in my religion. I know only the oral traditions and Psalms I learned at my mother's knee. I am familiar with the name Michael. It's a well-known one among my people. I have ancestors with the name, but I'm not aware of their being any religious significance to the name. God's messengers sometimes come and bring messages to men, but I don't remember any of them having names. Their mission was what was important, not who they were," she noted. Staring into the distance while she concentrated on remembering, she continued, "I can't remember but one story of anyone being taken by Yahweh while they were still alive. The Prophet Elisha saw his mentor, Elijah, taken up into the heavens in a chariot of fire. The story didn't say what the driver of the chariot looked like. I don't know if an angel took Elijah or not, but there aren't any stories of ordinary people being taken to Yahweh's kingdom by a messenger. That doesn't mean it doesn't happen, though," she concluded.

Shaking her head and looking hopeful, she continued, "As for the place of light, I don't know what Yahweh's abode looks like, but in the Psalms, God is spoken of as a being of light with a face shining with light. Peace is also one of Yahweh's characteristics. Although he's known for his wrath with sinful man, his abode would be filled with peace because only those who follow Yahweh would abide there. I'm well acquainted with the peace Yahweh brings to a distraught life. It's the peace He brought me that helped me to accept my lot here. So, I suppose what you saw could have been either real, or at the very least, a vision sent from Yahweh. It made you think that Zipporah found the tunnel of light she spoke about to us. Whether you actually saw a being of light take Zipporah or you were given a vision of reassurance is unimportant, I think. What's important is that you recognize that you were not meant to rescue Zipporah. You can rest knowing that she's in God's hands in a better place."

During the interchange, Cozbi had sat silently, but now she cut in, saying, "I wonder if Naaman saw anything? Perhaps you could ask some discrete questions of Maacah. If Naaman saw the shining being, then it would not have been a vision, right? I mean, two people don't usually behold the same vision, do they?"

"I suppose if Naaman saw the being, it would indicate Mara was not experiencing a vision," Baara responded. "But I'm sure not going to ask Naaman if he saw someone pick Zipporah up from the flames and take her into the heavens. I'll keep my ears open, though. If Maacah mentions anything unusual, I'll try to get her to reveal more. Can I tell her what you saw, Mara?" Baara asked. "If it'll encourage her to share more, that is."

"I don't know, Baara," Mara said hesitantly. "I don't want the mistress to think I'm crazy or anything. I suppose you could tell her if she indicated Naaman may have seen something unusual, but only if she says something that makes you think Naaman saw what I did."

"Okay," Baara said, yawning. "We'd better get some sleep while we can. I imagine the cock will be crowing shortly after our eyes close."

Baara was asleep almost before she finished her sentence. Almost immediately after she fell asleep, she began to dream. In the dream, she and Maacah were in the market place shopping for items to replace those lost in the fire. They were standing before a stall selling pottery. Maacah was asking if the man had any pottery made by an Israelite.

"I bought a decorative, blue bowl from you once before," Maacah told the man. "I was most impressed by both the beauty and practicality of the piece. Perhaps you have more of his wares."

When Maacah mentioned the Israelite potter and a blue bowl, Baara suddenly felt chills on her spine and the hairs on her back seemed to stand on end. Remembering a pair of intense blue eyes, Baara turned and scanned the crowd expectantly, knowing the man with the mesmerizing eyes would be watching. But she saw nothing as she searched above the heads of the crowd. In disappointment, she turned back to where Maacah was completing her purchases, only to encounter the eyes she sought behind the merchant. A playful smile played around the man's full lips, and his blue eyes twinkled with mirth. Transfixed, Baara took a step toward him, tripping over a large bowl sitting on the ground. Grabbing Maacah to keep from falling, Baara dropped her eyes and began to stammer an apology. By the time she was able to look back towards the beguiling eyes, they were gone. Frantically she searched the crowd, but to no avail. The man was gone. No one stood head and shoulders above the crowd; no blue eyes beckoned.

The sound of a cock crowing interrupted Baara's dream. Opening her eyes and looking around the small barren room, Baara felt a strange sense of loss. Shaking her head to rid it of the blue-eyed vision, she got to her feet and dressed quickly, going to help her mistress dress and assess the damage caused by the fire. While Baara had no time to spend analyzing her dream, the pair of eyes stayed in her mind, haunting her with their familiarity. It wasn't until late in the day that she realized the haunting eyes were not the eyes of a person she had meet. Instead, they were eyes from a dream. On the heels of the dream in which Yahweh revealed that he had been the one to bring Naaman to her rescue, she had dreamed of seeing those same eyes in the marketplace. She puzzled over the significance of dreaming twice about a pair of blue eyes. Both dreams had come on the heels of apparent revelations about Yahweh. Perhaps Yahweh was trying to give her another message, she thought. No message seemed apparent, though, and the realities of life were more pressing than the elusive meaning of a dream. So, Baara relegated the dream eyes to her subconscious, focusing instead on the myriad tasks at hand.

For the next few months, Naaman's household remained in a sort of organized confusion. Temporary tents to house the slaves displaced by the fire were erected on the ells of the roof, while the looms remained in the large middle space where the front and back sections of the house met. Mara and Cozbi continued to share Baara's room, helping to lessen the crowding on the roof.

Stray animals that had escaped during the fire were rounded up and taken to Naaman's family home outside the city gates, while a new stable and slave quarters were constructed. Some of the pottery and ovens had been destroyed during the fire and deluge. They had to be replaced, as did the animals that had perished in the fire.

Before any of this could be accomplished, though, a massive cleanup had to be undertaken. Blackened, mud-brick walls were washed down. The remnants of the walls that had been destroyed by fire had to be hauled away by the wagonload. New beams for the stable and slave quarter roof had to be cut. Mud bricks had to be made and dried so the outer walls could be replaced.

Soot and water had damaged the packed clay floors. They were scraped clean and a new layer of clay spread. The stone roof roller was used to press the new floor into place. While this was happening, the cooking utensils were moved to one corner of the front courtyard. The grinding stone and ovens took up the far corner. The children's games were restricted and the family's privacy limited.

During the uproar, Naaman was dispatched to war. The night before he left, he told Maacah that he most probably faced a long campaign.

"I could be gone for months," Naaman told her, "perhaps even a year. I hate to leave with the house in such disarray, but I know the boys will take care of completing the project and seeing to your needs."

Taking her to the window, he pointed to the star atop the handle of the constellation that resembled a water dipper. "Remember how, when we were first married, we used to agree to look at that star every night when I was away in battle?" he asked. "I always felt close to you when I gazed at the star. I know it sounds fanciful, but I could feel your soul's presence, and I knew you were safe. Will you gaze on the star each night while I'm gone?" he asked. "Wherever I am, I'll look for the star. My soul will reach out to yours, and you will know I'm unharmed."

Leaning against Naaman as she stood in front of him by the window, Maacah tilted her head back and looked into his eyes. "I always look at the star when you're gone, Naaman. Even in the years when we had grown older and no longer relied on the idealistic notions of a soulmate, I was pulled to the window each night to gaze on our star. Like you, I could feel your presence and sense your wellbeing. I'll be at the window each night while you are away. If it's cloudy, I'll still look. I know where the star sits in the night sky. Every night I'll send my good wishes your way," she ended with a smile.

Bending down and kissing his small wife, Naaman murmured against her lips, "I never stopped looking either, Maacah. My love for you compelled me to look." Then lifting her, he took her to his sleeping couch where they could comfort one another before he reported for duty.

That night Naaman dreamed of the angel Michael. He saw again the piercing eyes and the shining raiment. In this dream, though, Michael was not rescuing Zipporah. He was standing before a throne of light. He was speaking to someone that Naaman couldn't see.

"I know You intended for him to be cured," Michael said. "But he wouldn't cooperate. He refused to do what You asked."

"Give him another chance," a deep voice said. "Speak to him."

"I can't," the angel answered. "He refuses to acknowledge my presence. He won't listen to me."

"Then try speaking to someone else, someone close to him," the voice responded.

"Very well," Michael answered. "But I do not know why you're so patient with this one. Why don't you leave him to the ravages of the disease?"

"Would you have me show less patience than my human servants?" the voice questioned.

Quickly the scene changed. Michael strode down the banks of a strange, dirty river towards a group retreating in the distance. Naaman strained to see what party Michael was accosting, but the man's shining aura nearly blinded him. As he rubbed his eyes to clear them, the cock crew, awaking Naaman from the dream.

As he dressed, Naaman told Maacah that he had dreamed again of the angel who had seemingly rescued Zipporah's soul from the fire.

"Remember how I told you that a voice in my dream said, 'He's my messenger. His name is Michael.'" Naaman reminded. "Well this time Michael was talking to the owner of the voice, but I couldn't see him. All I could see was a bright throne with a voice emanating from the brilliance. He was talking to Michael about delivering a message to someone with a disease. Whomever the angel was supposed to speak with wouldn't listen to him. He was somewhere foreign by a river flowing with muddy water. I woke up before I could see who Michael was supposed to warn."

"Perhaps this dream had something to do with your skin disease," Maacah said. "Perhaps you were the one Michael was trying to warn. With the fire, you didn't ever approach the King's physician. Maybe the dream is a warning that the disease is serious, and you need to have it checked."

"No, my love," Naaman said. "Whomever the dream was about doesn't live in Damascus. I didn't recognize the location. Perhaps while I'm gone, I'll come across such a place, and I'll know to tell whoever lives there to watch for a messenger and heed his warning. Don't fret about my disease. It hasn't spread, and no one has noticed the spot on my wrist. I'll consult the healer when I return."

Shortly after reassuring Maacah, Naaman prepared to leave. He instructed his sons to take care of their mother. He told Maacah to purchase whatever she felt was necessary to replace the items lost in the fire. Then mounting his trusted horse, he rode into Damascus to join the amassed soldiers to lead them into battle.

Over the next few days, Maacah busied herself with the renovations. But each night as she gazed at the special star and felt Naaman's presence, she remembered his dream and wondered about its meaning.

Finally one morning she said to Baara, "In the story you told about your ancestor Joseph, you said he interpreted dreams. Do you believe the gods use dreams to contact people and warn them of things?"

"Yahweh certainly used dreams in Joseph's life," Baara responded. "Dreams when he was a boy foretold of his elevation to power over his family. But no one fully understood the dreams then. They only understood their meaning later, after Joseph was put in a position of power by Pharaoh and had to dispense grain to his brothers. Joseph did tell Pharaoh the meaning of his dreams about the skinny and fat cows, but Yahweh revealed the meaning of the dreams to Joseph. He didn't understand them on his own. So, I guess my answer would be that God sometimes sends dreams as a warning, but I'm not sure that men generally understand their dreams or heed them. Why do you ask? Have you been having strange dreams?" Baara asked.

"No," Maacah answered. "I haven't had any dreams. But Naaman had a couple of unusual dreams. One came right after the fire. When Naaman went to help Mara, he saw a shining apparition lifting Zipporah. Then that night he dreamed about the being. In his dream, a shining finger protruded from the dark heavens beckoning the being. Naaman called out for the shining figure to identify himself. He heard a deep voice say, 'He is my messenger.' The same voice called the being Michael. Then the night before he left for battle, Naaman dreamed of this heavenly messenger again. Michael was having a discussion with someone who sat on a throne so bright he could not look on it. The being on the throne had the same voice as the person who said Michael was his messenger. The voice was instructing Michael to try getting a message to someone. Naaman didn't know who. Whomever Michael was to contact was ignoring the angel and refusing to do whatever the being had instructed. Michael wanted to leave the stubborn person to be ravaged by disease, but the voice told him to try again. Then Naaman saw Michael approaching a party near the banks of a muddy river. That's when he awoke."

"Did Naaman have any idea who Michael was trying to warn?" Baara asked. "Does he know anyone who has a disease that only God can cure?"

"No-o-o," Maacah said, drawing out the word slowly. "He said the place was foreign to him and suggested he might encounter someone in his travels in need of the warning from the dream."

"But you don't believe this is the correct interpretation?" Baara queried.

"Not really," Maacah said. "I think the dream probably has significance for Naaman, but he refused to consider the possibility."

"What kind of significance?" Baara questioned. "Is Naaman sick?"

"Sort of," Maacah answered. "But you mustn't tell anyone. If Naaman knew I had told you, he would be angry. But I'm worried about him and I thought maybe your religion would have answers mine doesn't," Maacah admitted. "He has white splotches on his skin. They started appearing a year ago, he says. He has them on his feet, his knee, his arm, and in his hair. He hid them with his clothing. I only discovered them when he came home exhausted from battle, and I removed his shoes while he slept. I begged him to go to a physician. He said he would go see the King's doctor. He doesn't trust Jobab to be discreet. Then the fire came, and he didn't go. Now he's gone off to battle. I told him the dream might have been a warning that he needs to see a physician, but he told me I was being a worrywart. Now he's far away, and I can't remind him of his promise to see a doctor. If your God sent this messenger in a dream once, will he send him again?"

"I don't know," Baara admitted. "But if the being told Michael to try again, then I'm sure he will send him again," she said. "I mean, in the dream the voice of God instructed Michael to try again. And Naaman has only had the one dream about warning someone with a disease, so this wasn't Michael's second attempt. I suppose that means Michael has to try again. The angels don't tell Yahweh no. One angel tried that, and he was thrown out of Yahweh's kingdom. All I can tell you is that I'll pray for Naaman. I'll ask Yahweh not to give up if he tried to reach Naaman with a dream."

"I guess I'll have to be content with that," Maacah said with a sigh. "But if Yahweh gives you another interpretation of the dream, tell me. I don't know what good it'll do, though. Naaman's gone and won't be back for months."

"I doubt Yahweh will give me an interpretation," Baara said with a smile. "After all, I'm only a young woman. Yahweh has used women in our history, but they were few. If it's any consolation, though, I think the dream must have been from Yahweh. Mara saw the apparition lift Zipporah, just as Naaman did. Mara said that she saw a finger of light in the sky beckoning him, too. When the light of the angel merged with the light from the finger and they blinked out, Mara heard a voice say, 'Welcome home, child. Good job, Michael.' She didn't tell anyone else what she saw for fear they would think she was crazy. She wanted me to ask if Naaman had seen anything, but I was reluctant. Do you mind if I share with her that Naaman did see the being lift Zipporah?" Baara asked.

"You say Mara saw the same being as Naaman, and a voice identified him as Michael?" Maacah said incredulously. "Then I suppose you can share that Naaman too saw the being and believed his name was Michael. Don't divulge anything else. Don't even tell her the name came to him in a dream. I know Naaman would disapprove of his slaves discussing his dreams. You also must elicit a promise from her that she'll share this knowledge with no one else. I wouldn't want my husband to think I gossip about him and his affairs."

Then looking troubled, Maacah changed her mind. "No, Baara," she said. "Don't tell Mara anything. I must protect Naaman's reputation. If I hadn't been so troubled by the second dream, I wouldn't have divulged the first to you. This information must stay between the two of us. I'm sorry, but I can't risk Mara repeating the story. The more people who know a secret, the more likely it is to find its way into the rumor mill. Naaman fears his disease can't be hidden much longer. If stories of him seeing visions of heavenly beings are circulated and then the disease appears, his men might think the disease has affected his mind. His reputation would be irreparably damaged, and all because I'm a worrywart. Forget I mentioned the dreams," Maacah said. "I'm sure they're nothing. If a god sent a messenger to Naaman, it would be Rimmon, not your Yahweh. I'm allowing my imagination too much free reign."