Finally, after about an hour, Rachel’s mother returned with the sheep. She looked as if she had run the whole way! “Hurry!” exclaimed Leah, “ We’ve got to get things to Abigail and fast! Nathan ( another one of the servants and a close friend of theirs) told me that he was on his way to Abigail to tell her that David and 400 of his men are on their way to kill Nabal! We’ve got to hurry so Abigail can go and ask David to save Nabal’s life!” She and her mother hurriedly finished the grain and got the sheep ready to be taken to Abigail. As Rachel brought the grain out of the tent, she saw Nathan running towards her. “ Rachel,” said Nathan, “Tell your mother to hurry and bring the stuff to Abigail! She wants to leave right now!”

Just then, Lydia came from around the corner. Rachel knew she must’ve been listening to the conversation the whole time! “What’s the mat–?” Leah stopped as she saw Lydia.

“ Good evening Lydia,” said Leah, “We are quite busy right now, so do you mind coming later?” “ No, not at all,” replied Lydia with a grin as she walked away.

Then, just as she was out of sight, Nathan said, “That was a close one. Imagine what would have happened if she knew.”

“Well,” said Rachel’s mother, “She might or might not know about it, but it’s better to be safe than sorry. We best get started to load these things on the donkey.”

“OK, Mother,” said Rachel, “I’ll help.” They put the grain on the donkey’s back and then tied the sheep to the reins. When they were finished, they brought everything to Abigail. Just as they entered the tent, they watched as Abigail stood up in relief.

“Thank you,” she said, “Go and tell the other servants and be on your way. I will follow after.” The three servants walked over to where the other servants were.

“How come Abigail isn’t coming with us?” asked Rachel.

“I don’t know honey, but we have to obey,” replied Leah. When all the servants were ready, they started their long journey to David.

Rachel walked by her mother. “How long have we been walking?” thought Rachel, “Thirty minutes? 1 hour? 2 hours?” Just then she saw something. Something she wouldn’t have guessed would come. Or someone. Rachel went a little more forward so she could see clearer. It was Lydia. “Has she known about this the whole time?” thought Rachel. She looked again and saw Lydia leading two donkeys, each with a hundred loaves of bread on its back. She turned to tell her mother but was disturbed by the sound of hoofbeats. Rachel looked toward the sound and saw a large group of people riding horses. 

Then she noticed something. Men. Ten of them. Looking familiar. “Aren’t those the men who came to Nabal?” thought Rachel. She looked a little closer to assure herself. Indeed they were thesame ten men, coming towards them. Rachel looked as Nathan ran towards the person in the front of the group, whispering something in his ear.

“That’s David and his men.” confirmed her mother as if she were reading her thoughts. Just then, Rachel saw Abigail frantically running through the crowd of servants trying to make her way to David. Once she was in front of David, she bowed down to show respect. 

“O lord, please listen to me speak and hear what I have to say. Please spare the life of my husband, Nabal, for his name means what he is, a fool. But I did not see your men coming. Here, I have brought you food. So please spare my husband because of me.” Rachel looked at David. He looked stunned. He had never seen a woman with so much courage. And, it wasn’t very often that you could find a woman speaking to such an important man unless she had been told to. 

“Blessed is the Lord God of Israel, for He has sent you to stop me from committing a great crime,” said David. Rachel saw David reaching for Abigail’s hand and helping her up. Then Abigail hurried back to her servants. “ Unload everything and give it to David’s men,” said Abigail. Rachel started unloading the grain while Leah untied the sheep. Then Rachel gave the grain to one of the men while her mother did the same thing with the sheep. They went back to their donkeys. “Let’s go home,” announced Abigail with a smile. Rachel held onto her mother’s hand while her mother guided the donkeys. 

When they got home, Rachel slumped in her cot as her mother gave the donkeys back to Nathan. They slept peacefully that night, knowing that Abigail was happy and that nobody would be killed.