We looked at each other for some time. I was the first to turn away.
My eyes had dried. I felt a stirring of hope within me as well as a deep fatigue. I had not spoken of Sophia for years, and the sudden onrush of memories overwhelmed me.
“Perhaps,” I said. I rose. “But let us not argue the matter further. A good night’s sleep will prepare you for your journey home.”
“I bid you a good night also,” Joseph replied.
We went to our separate beds in silence. As I extinguished the oil lamp on my bedside table, I spoke words into the darkness that I had not used since that last night before her birth pains began.
“Good night, my darling. Rest well.”
For the first time in many months, my sleep was dreamless.
After a simple breakfast in the morning, I invited Joseph to walk with me to the tallest cypress in my land of trees. It is where Sophia’s face was bright with joy as she told me she was with child. She and our son are buried there.
We stood there silently for a time, Joseph and I. My anger and resentment of the night before had softened. I asked him to say a few words from his own tradition. He offered a brief prayer of thanksgiving for Sophia’s life.
“Eternal Lord, we thank you for the life of Sophia. When sadness threatens to overcome Alexios, remind him that she and the child are held close in your everlasting care, free from pain in glorious light along with others we have loved. To you we ascribe all honor and glory forever. So be it.”
Our arms around each other’s shoulders, I walked with him to his horse and loaded cart. Simple words of farewell and he was on his way back to Nazareth.
As my hand lowered from a final wave of parting, I realized that Joseph accepted me and came to me not only as a buyer of wood but also as a true friend.
4
The summer that followed was exceptionally busy and I had few further thoughts of Joseph until the winter lull set in. It was a time when I made visits to every section of my woodland to make notes of the new plantings my laborers would make in the spring.
I also noted the trees that were ready for harvesting. One in particular was a great oak that an ancestor long generations ago had planted. It was a magnificent tree, towering above those around it. But it also blocked sunlight from younger trees, and I had decided that it was time to bring the great oak down.
In the early years the oak had been tended well. The resulting trunk was thick and even up to a considerable height, and as I surveyed it, the thought of Joseph and the construction of large wheels for huge carts sprang to my mind. I smiled at the thought and it remained with me through the winter months. How pleased he would be when he heard my proposal!
The days turned warmer at last. A message came with a traveler going north. Joseph expected to be with me in three days time.
The weather continued warm and the blooms of spring were all around. I asked my housekeeper to prepare midday meal packets for Joseph and me on the day he was to arrive.
He came. We made our usual visit to the storehouse and soon his order list was fulfilled. It was barely midday as he turned to me.
“Quick work on a lovely day.” He smiled. “I may as well make for home.”
“Indeed it is a lovely day. I have a diversion for us to enjoy this afternoon.”
“Oh?”
“Yes. We have packets from my housekeeper with delights for our midday meal. I have two secrets of the land to show you. We can see the first and then enjoy our meal in the pleasant surroundings of the second.”
“Intriguing,” smiled Joseph. “I will stay.”
Within a short time I had hoisted a backpack over my shoulders that contained our food as well as a flask of wine. I pointed to a trail we had not traveled previously.
“That way.”
As we walked along the pathway deeper into the woods, I chatted with Joseph about the types of carts he constructed and the wheels they required. What would he do with a larger cart than one known in Galilee? A cart on which a houseful of new furniture might be carried. Our conversation continued until we were about to reach the great oak, its trunk hidden behind smaller oaks.
I paused and he stopped beside me.
“I am going to show you something very special. But I want it to be a surprise. So, give me your hand and close your eyes and I will lead you to it.”
Joseph gave me a quizzical glance but followed my instructions. I led him off the pathway to a clearing from which the great oak was clearly visible.
“Now,” I prompted, “open your eyes.”
His eyes opened and opened further. The majesty of the great oak was amazing.
“I have never seen such a tree,” he breathed.
We walked closer.
“How many centuries?” he asked.
“Nearly four, according to the records I have.”
He walked ahead and began to circle the tree.
“And the careful pruning,” he remarked, “scarcely noticeable.”
“Yes, pruned from an early age so that the trunk is clear and straight quite a ways up.”
He reached my side again. “An amazing specimen.”
I nodded. “I have decided to cut it down soon, and I was wondering . . .”
“Seems a shame.”
“It is a unique oak. The breadth of the trunk may be well suited to special applications in carpentry.”
“Oh?” Joseph’s eyes were focused on the trunk.
“I was wondering if you think it possible to have fully formed wheels from one cutting of the trunk.”
He pursed his lips. “It is possible. They would be huge.” He laughed. “The topic of our conversation.” He turned to me. “Each one all of a single piece?”
“Yes. Can you think of ways such wheels might be used?”
“Such a cart surely would be larger than anything I have seen. And it would require at least two horses.”
“To be used by a quarry, perhaps?”
“Yes. In the proposed building of the new Temple in Jerusalem. Or in further construction in Herod’s new seaport, Caesarea Maritima.”
“Exactly.”
Joseph turned to me. “You can cut such wheels?”
“I think so. It will require precision once the tree is hewn. Of course, the upper limbs would be cut before the tree is brought down.”
Joseph frowned and I could see him calculating.
“Have you any idea of the price of such a wheel?”
I named a price. He sucked a breath in as he turned to survey the trunk again.
“You would do the cutting?” he asked.
“Yes. The smoothing is for you to do. And mounting the metal rims.”
He nodded and murmured, “I would need at least two sets of four similar wheels.” He turned to me again. “For two carts. But I cannot pay you until I have sold the completed carts. If I can find buyers.”
“I understand. If you give me a tenth of the payment beforehand, I will accept the balance later.”
“I need to think about who may need such vehicles. Someone near good Roman roads.”
“Of