Chapter Twenty-Three

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Animals Keep Coming. And Coming 

© Jeannie St. John Taylor 

“The term species may be defined as a group of individuals . . .

which breed together freely and produce fertile offspring.” Alfred M. Rehwinkel

  At the sight and sound of the tiger, Shem yanked open the door and shot into the circular hallway by the big livestock area with his brothers close on his heels. The three men paced, breathing hard. Shem’s pulse thrashed about in his throat as though trying to find a way out.

“Well, I’m not tired any more.” Japheth pressed on his chest. “My heart’s chugging away like a waterwheel.”

“I’ve got more energy than a puppy.” Shem laughed. “That tiger worked magic.”

Ham’s voice rose in distress. “It’s never going to be safe in here if more and more animals keep coming aboard. Any time we think everything’s under control nothing will be under control.”

Shem immediately sobered, feeling empathy for Ham.

“Lost our sense of humor?” Japheth cast a sidelong look at Ham. Japheth’s uncharitable attitude toward Ham surprised Shem. But before he could open his mouth to defend Ham, Japheth spoke again. “The best thing you can do for Eudocea is help us get this mess organized.” Japheth gripped Ham’s shoulder. “Try stop worrying. You’re going to be able to take care of her. Shem will come up with a solution for managing the animals and God will protect all of us.” He lifted his eyebrows at Shem. “You do have a plan, don’t you?”

Shem nodded, observing Ham’s change of expression and noting that he wasn’t complaining about Japheth’s preaching. As he watched Ham visibly relax, Shem smiled to himself. He had underestimated his brother Japheth.

**********

“We’ll lock up the animals already in here before we go home tonight.” Shem explained his plan as the brothers zigzagged through the large central room shoulder to shoulder. A human wall. “Then we’ll leave all the doors leading into this space open.”

“That’s smart since all the animals seem to wander down here on their own.” Ham was finally himself again.

“What about all the nasty surprises – like the tiger?” Japheth asked.

“We’ll stay on the alert and worry about newcomers as they arrive,” Shem said.

The brothers lit torches as they progressed. Soon one end of the space glowed with light. Much better.

Shem squinted to bring the far end of the room into focus. He couldn’t. Too dark. But the space appeared empty. Hopefully, that was good news. Maybe the bears and lions had wandered off to settle in and the brothers would be able to locate them and lock them up effortlessly.

A pinpoint of green down by the waterwheel flickered and went black. Shem held his breath. Almost immediately, another flashed momentarily a cubit from the first one. “Psst.” Shem pointed. Another faint pinprick of green. On and off. Then another. And another. Animal eyes? “Down by the waterwheel.”

The brothers stopped, straining to see through the darkness. Another green flick, and Japheth snickered, “Fireflies.”

Before Shem could feel relieved, the click of small hooves on planks caused him to jump. The lamb had followed them in. Now what?

“Let him stay,” Ham advised. “God gave him free will.”

“What!?” Japheth exclaimed.

Shem opened his mouth to protest Ham’s theology -- free will for animals!, but thought better of it. He had more pressing things on his agenda at the moment than shepherding lambs. If the animal got killed, God could replace him with one of the several hundred more in the pastures by the house.

“The grizzles may still be down by the waterwheel,” Shem whispered.

“What do we do if we find them?” Ham asked.

“Make yourself big.” Shem demonstrated by raising his torch and whip as wide and high as possible. “Shout, stomp, crack your whip, wave your torch, pound on the wall. Anything you can think of to make noise.”

“Will running for my life make enough noise?” Ham asked.

“Ham’s back.” Japheth grinned and Shem thought he detected a bit of smugness uncharacteristic of his brother.

Shem smiled despite the fact that Ham’s words rang unfortunately true. They may have to run for their lives. The three men worked as builders and farmers. Controlling wild animals reached well beyond their expertise.

Shem squared his shoulders and spoke to Japheth. “Check to see if the crocodiles are still down in the pool.”

Japheth carefully approached the pool and held his torch over the edge, peering intently into the sunken space. With a sudden exclamation of surprise, he stumbled backward several steps. Shem caught him.

“Crocs present and accounted for,” Ham quipped.

Shem smiled despite himself.

“Those things are huge!” Japheth said. “My heart’s pounding like a buffalo stampede.”

At the mention of a buffalo stampede the thought struck Shem that Father would welcome seven of those enormous animals aboard since God classified them as clean and suitable for human consumption. This room may host a stampede at some future date. Scary thought.

“Why are they down there in a dry pool?” Japheth wondered.

“Probably searching for water,” Ham said.

 “Shhh.” Shem pressed a finger over his lips and pointed to one of the massive trees that had taken them weeks to chop down and maneuver into the ark. The female lion sprawled beside the trunk. Sleeping? The male lay on his stomach near her with his back to them. There was something between his paws. With the thick tree partially blocking their view, and the smell of burning torches covering their scent, the lions may not have spotted the brothers yet.

Shem wound the length of his whip into a circle and mouthed, “That way.” He gestured toward one of the two corridors that exited from the far end of the room. Though it was still shrouded in darkness, which prevented him from seeing it clearly, they needed to somehow convince the lions to move that direction and down that corridor. Once there, they’d direct them into a cage or one of the stalls reserved for big game.

At Shem’s nod, the brothers stole toward the lions, whips and torches at the ready.

Moments later, a shocking sight unfolded before them. The lamb they had seen earlier lay between the male’s forepaws. At first Shem thought he was dead, but then his ear twitched. The lamb was sleeping peacefully while the lion nuzzled it affectionately.

“What the . . . ?!” Ham exclaimed. 

The lion swung his head around to look at them, stared for a few moments, then rested his chin on the lamb again. The female rolled onto her side and yawned.

Shem remembered the bears outside the hay storage room walking away without incident. They had seemed more curious than anything.

Taking a deep breath, Shem moved toward the lions at a leisurely pace, clapping his hands to motivate the big cats. The male lion casually rose to his feet and the female did the same. They sauntered toward the end of the room. As though driving cattle, Shem walked behind them clapping lightly. Working in sync with his brothers, they planned to funnel the animals toward the corridor.

Things moved along smoothly until, without warning, the lions unexpectedly bolted. The brothers gave chase, making themselves big, shouting and snapping whips. Their torches illuminated the way in front of them.

“That way!” Shem shouted. The brothers cut cattycorner across the room and positioned themselves in the lions’ path, hoping to encourage the beasts to turn. “When they get close, yell as loud as you can, crack your whips and go at them aggressively.” Shem prayed the technique would work as effectively with cats as it did with cattle. The brothers stood with their backs to the waterwheel, gasping for breath.

A low growl rumbled by Shem’s ear so close he could almost feel hot breath on the back of his neck. The growl swelled into the bellow of a grizzley. Out of the corner of his eye, Shem saw a bear rise upright from the darkness around the waterwheel.

Fear coiled around him, squeezing like a cobra.

The lions kept coming. Shem had misjudged the situation. Worse, concentrating on the lions, he’d forgotten the grizzlies. The brothers were trapped, lions in front and bears behind.

“Run!” he yelled.

The next few moments passed in a blur of terror. He and his brothers were running. The lions were running. The bears were running. Other animals he hadn’t noticed earlier and couldn’t identify scurried around the room in confusion. Japheth dangled by his arms from the limb of a tree. Shem couldn’t locate Ham.

At some point in the midst of the swirling disarray, the cats paused for a moment and then sauntered over to the corridor intended for them all along. They disappeared into the interior with the bears following close behind. Shem flew over and slammed the heavy door behind them. Ham materialized from nowhere to help bar the lock.

A long silence followed.

Japheth hopped down from the lower branch of a tree. “I guess I was wrong about the ‘tame’ thing. Those are definitely not domesticated animals.”

Shem massaged his forehead. The evening’s failures belonged to him. He didn’t know if they’d find a dead bear or a dead lion when they opened that door, but he knew something would be deceased. The two species confined down that small hallway together could not coexist peacefully. Was this why God hadn’t chosen to bless Shem with a wife? Because of his incompetence? He couldn’t keep even four animals alive and God expected him to protect thousands once the Flood began. What a fungus he was!

He kicked the door, in disgust stubbing his big toe.