calf to the ground with nothing but his hands. What would her stepsister make of him?
She’d just invited a shy smile from the youngest of the Israelite men – a handsome, curly-haired youth who had done little but stare at her since he arrived – when Ekron appeared, frowning, at her elbow. He’d been hanging around at the bottom of the stairs that morning when she had first come out of her room, and his eyes had been glued almost drunkenly to her as she walked slowly down to meet him. He half-smiled at her now, but he seemed distracted by the Israelites over her shoulder.
‘Ekron?’
‘Oh – what?’
‘Is the ceremony going to start soon?’
‘I think so. I came to tell you that Lord Phicol has finally arrived. I want to introduce you to him.’
Delilah followed his gaze to a group who hovered at the rear of the courtyard. Three were slender young men, each of them bare-chested but for the red military sashes that crossed to wide-pleated skirts and aprons. Behind them stood a short, solid man of about forty years, clothed in an embroidered tunic over his leather skirt. His flat face was sliced off at the brow by the base of a tall, elabor ate headdress that signified the Philistine aristocracy.
‘I suppose that’s him at the back,’ murmured Delilah.
His presence had drawn some excited whispering and covert stares from other guests – notables of Ashkelon and distant relations.
‘When I’ve completed my scribe’s training I’ll be given a tunic in that style to wear on formal occasions, so that I can accompany His Lordship. And a headdress too. It won’t be that grand, of course—’
‘And I hope you won’t look that silly either.’
Delilah was surprised to see how cross Ekron suddenly looked. Lately his sense of humour had all but vanished. ‘It’s a great honour to wear the robes, Delilah, just as it is to work for His Lordship. He is a very clever man, careful about the affairs of our people—’
The Israelites seemed to be making a show of ignoring Lord Phicol and his finery altogether. They talked loudly amongst themselves, as Ariadnh briskly crossed the courtyard to greet each of the guests. The ‘old’ wife, as Delilah always thought of her, gave Ekron a sharp nod. Then her eyes travelled up and down Delilah’s body. Her lips pressed together in a tight smile.
‘I have to go and collect Hemin now,’ said Ekron. ‘She is ready.’
‘At last,’ muttered Delilah.
‘Be kind to her today,’ he pleaded. ‘This is a big day for her, and for our family. It was significant enough that my father married your mother and accepted you both into our family, but for Hemin to marry Samson is a very important step in the relations between our two peoples.’
‘That sounds like a speech right out of Lord Phicol’s mouth.’
Ekron blushed a little. ‘Well, he is right.’
Delilah watched him leave, if only to avoid catching Ariadnh’s attention. Too late. She was bearing down like an angry whirlwind.
‘You were supposed to wear the orange dress, Delilah. You gave me your word yesterday.’
Delilah was about to answer when she noticed movement inside the house. Hemin was pacing awkwardly in the half-covered hallway. Ariadnh’s daughter looked pretty enough, and something clever had been done with her hair, which had softened her angry mouth. But even though the betrothal gown was elegant, a pleated shift of flax-coloured linen, Hemin looked uncomfortable in her own skin, as ill at ease as ever. And as their eyes met, Delilah was delighted to see that her stepsister was unable to conceal her raw fear at being upstaged.
Ariadnh leaned towards Delilah. ‘Go and change your dress immediately, before Hemin enters the courtyard,’ she hissed. ‘Another few minutes will not make any difference, and if you are too long we’ll simply start without you.’
‘Excuse me, madam—’
‘What is it?’ Ariadnh turned on the young man who had appeared at her elbow. ‘What do you want?’
‘The master wants to see Delilah in his study.’
‘What for?’
‘He didn’t say, madam.’
‘Then you can go to your room, Delilah, and change before you go to see him. Achish must not see you like that. He’ll be furious.’
I doubt that, thought Delilah, turning her back on Ariadnh, and following the servant past the Israelite men into the house. But by the door to Achish’s study, the young man gripped her arm. His fingers were warm and strong against her skin and she didn’t pull away, even though he was standing too close to her.
‘What are you doing?’
‘Don’t you recognise me?’
Delilah frowned and looked him over. Dark curls smoothed down, sharply angled jaw, large eyes black as the night—
‘Joshua? Is it really you? It’s been—’
‘Three summers,’ he grinned. ‘Achish – master – has had me working at the port.’
Had it been so long? Delilah remembered the days when Joshua, Ekron and she would play together among the vines.
‘I didn’t recognise you without straw in your hair and a barrow of horse muck at your feet.’
He wore a spotless white tunic and a wide leather belt as part of his house servant’s uniform. The last time she’d seen him was as a skinny youth, half-naked in the stables, clad only in the knee-length Egyptian shorts the stable boys found comfortable for their labours, the rest of him strung with whatever ropes and leathers were required to tack up the horses. Something of Ariadnh’s remarks to Hemin yesterday about the mysteries of a man’s body came flooding back to mind, and she instinctively took a step back.
‘I’m not the only one who cleans up well,’ he said.
She blushed, then remembered the summons. ‘I shouldn’t keep Achish waiting.’
‘He doesn’t want to see you.’
‘What?’
‘I made it up. I – well, I thought you needed rescuing.’
Delilah was touched to see his cheeks burn beneath those glorious dark lashes. ‘I’m a lady of the house now. I should have you flogged for such insolence.’
‘But you won’t, will you?’ said Joshua, widening his eyes in mock alarm. ‘I heard Ariadnh and Hemin moaning about you and it seemed so unfair to make you change your dress. It’s not your fault if you’re prettier than—’
Before she knew what she was doing, Delilah had stood on her tiptoes and kissed him, full and soft on the mouth. She lingered for a moment, close enough to feel his breath still on her lips, then rocked back, lowering her gaze. But he didn’t move and eventually she looked up to find him smiling back at her, lips slightly parted.
The smile fell away. She was aware of someone approaching.
‘Don’t you have serving duties?’ said Ekron to Joshua, slipping his hand onto Delilah’s arm. ‘Come along, they’re about to start, Delilah. What were you doing out here, anyway?’
Delilah steered him back towards the courtyard, and pulled his arm close into hers. ‘I was avoiding Ariadnh. She was very rude about my dress.’
‘Never mind. This is Hemin’s day, and she’ll be nervous about it.’
‘You really do sound like Lord Phicol, Ekron. You have to do something about that, or you’ll turn into a stuffy elder of the community before you’ve reached twenty.’
As they walked together, her mind returned to Joshua. Her mother definitely wouldn’t approve, but Delilah was already wondering how she might