The Bronze Bow

One August morning, Daniel receives a message from Simon that his grandmother is dying. After waiting half a day, he shows the message to Rosh and heads home. The door of the house is bolted, and no one responds to his knock. Two women hurry to him, scolding him that his grandmother and sister have been locked in there for 10 days. No one knows if they are alive or dead. Though the women tossed bread through the window, they didn’t break in because they believe Leah to be possessed. Climbing to a high window, Daniel asks Leah to let him in. Daniel longs to escape the horrors of the house. When he breaks down the door, Leah darts into the shadows and coils into a ball. To Daniel’s relief, his grandmother turns her head and whispers her last words: “Daniel—you’ve come” (114).

Daniel calls for a doctor and tries to coax his grandmother into sipping some broth. All the while, Leah doesn’t move other than to slightly turn her head and watch him from behind her tangled hair. Daniel wonders if the devils have taken possession of her altogether after she was shut in the dark. The neighbors help Daniel whenever they can, offering food and a lamp. Accepting the help with shame, Daniel realizes that all these years, “he had remembered the poverty, the dinginess, the quarreling and meanness and despair” but had forgotten that kindness existed, too (115).

Throughout the night, Daniel sits with his grandmother and speaks to her, not knowing if she can hear or understand. Sometimes she stirs and looks to him before closing her eyes again. He wonders how she was sure he would return, wishing he could tell her why he ran away. Daniel tells her that he hasn’t forgotten when he and Leah first came to live with her. His grandmother was the one to tell him the stories of the prophet he was named for, which gave him pride. As Daniel speaks, Leah stirs from the corner. He continues talking about the psalms they would read every night and begins reading one from memory. When Leah hesitantly approaches him, he holds out his hand and touches her fingers. Leah sinks beside him as the two silently listen to their grandmother’s breathing. Leah’s hand is like that of a “small child reaching out to him in trust and helplessness. It was a sign that even now the devils did not have complete dominion” (118). Sometime in the night, Daniel is aware that his grandmother’s breathing has ceased. 

Simon arrives after the meager funeral procession the next morning. He says that he came to ask Daniel to take up his shop while he is gone. Simon has decided to follow Jesus, but it weighs on his conscience that his tools lie idle when the villagers need a smith. Once Daniel gives in, Simon tells Daniel he can move into his home so he can keep an eye on Leah. Simon requests that Daniel also civilly serve Romans legionaries for the sake of the town: “An outlaw may think he is accountable to no one. But in a village every man holds his neighbor’s safety in his hands” (122). Daniel feels as though he has been shackled. Simon reassures Daniel that he doesn’t have to give up serving his country as a Zealot as long as no harm comes to the neighbors.

When Daniel returns to the mountain to explain his situation to Rosh, Rosh asks if his witless sister is more important than his country’s freedom. Rosh scornfully calls Daniel soft, and Daniel responds that he will prove him wrong. Daniel explains to Leah that they have to move to Simon’s much nicer home. Though she seems to understand, she shrinks from the sunlight when he tries to take her. He doesn’t want to forcefully carry her, nor will he ever tie her up as the neighbor’s suggest. After some time, an aged carpenter arrives with an extraordinary litter for Leah to ride in. He and his wife have sewn together their cloaks to make curtains, and men are waiting to carry it. Daniel is once again ashamed in the face of their kindness. He convinces Leah to sit in the litter, and she travels across the village like a queen.

Daniel becomes busy in the new house and stops thinking about the mountain. As soon as he opens shop, villagers appear with work. Daniel feels satisfaction working in Simon’s tidy, stocked shop. Word goes around that he is a good smith, and business increases. Once Leah settles in, she begins taking pleasure in the small things, like combing her hair and arranging jars. One morning, a servant of a wealthy widow arrives with cloth for Leah to weave. Daniel is astonished that the woman desires Leah’s work for its quality. When Daniel tries bread making and planting, Leah arrives to show him the correct way. However, Leah works slowly and is sometimes reduced to helplessness by the slightest sounds. Daniel gives up trying to understand her and accepts her as he did Samson.

One afternoon, a legionary arrives for work. Unlike most customers, he doesn’t sit at the bench. Daniel believes his reason to be pride, unwilling to admit it may be decency. When the soldier removes his helmet, Daniel is shocked to see that he is no older than Joel. He catches the soldier gazing at Leah as she enters the house from the garden. Before she can respond, Daniel angrily slams the door, feeling that the soldier defiled her. That night, Daniel begins thinking of the mountain. 

One afternoon, a boy named Nathan stops by the shop. As Daniel works on Nathan’s scythe, Nathan paces the room nervously. Although Daniel seldom speaks to his customers, he speaks to Nathan because he is young and looks like a fighter. Nathan shares that his friends jumped on him when he returned home because his father started working for the tax collector. Daniel understands, as being a tax collector is considered contemptible business. Nathan says that because of constant mishaps, his father was not able to meet the taxes and had no choice. Daniel asks Nathan if his friends will be waiting again and accompanies him home. When six or seven boys come out of the darkness, Daniel sends one sprawling and grabs two others before they run away. Daniel tells Nathan to tighten his guard and proceeds to ask him if he would like to use his fists for a good purpose. Thus, Daniel wins his first recruit in the village.

A few days later, Joel walks into the smithy with a slender, scholarly recruit named Kemuel. When Daniel asks Joel how he knew where to find him, Joel shares that he ran into Simon. Daniel doesn’t approve of Kemuel—he is disdainful and proud. Kemuel demands to know if they mean to fight the Romans and says he is with them only if they intend to fight. Daniel is reminded of a fiery panther and forgets his suspicion.

At their first meeting that night, the four agree to meet at the shop once a week. Nathan offers to recruit more members, claiming he can name 10 in the village who will willingly join. Daniel reminds them that they need to work slowly. When Kemuel demands to know how long it will take, Daniel says they must be strong enough to win, and that they need members who are willing to work without any reward. Joel reminds them to take oaths, while Nathan suggests they brand themselves. Kemuel icily rebukes Nathan and cites the Law in a tone that unmistakably calls Nathan a peasant. Joel says they don’t need a brand: “We will carry the sign of the bow in our minds” (138), using the bronze bow from the Song of David as their password.

Within three weeks, the group increases to 16 young men who use the password with pride and pleasure. Daniel dreams of showing Rosh his army. The young Roman soldier reappears, deliberately inspecting the shop and the alleyway on or around meeting days. Daniel suspects the house is being watched and decides to change the meeting place. A new recruit, the son of a farmer, offers an abandoned watchtower in the fields. It is an ideal meeting place—it can be approached from many sides and has space to store weapons. Even after the Roman stops his inspections, Daniel feels uneasy.