Rachel and her mother reached their tent. “Abigail wants to hold a feast for Nabal,” said Leah, “ She wants us to help. I’m serving with Brianna, but I still have to get the food ready. Would you please help me?”

“Yes mother,” responded Rachel, “ I will. I will always help you.”

“I knew that I could count on you,” responded Leah. 

Rachel and Leah started making all sorts of dishes. From delicious flatbread to soft and sweet cakes. Finally, it was time for the feast to begin. 

“Everybody ready?” asked Abigail “Yes Ma’am” came the reply from all of the servants. “Let’s go.” 

“Rachel. Rachel!” Rachel was startled by the hearing of her name. “Rachel!” Then Rachel recognized the voice as Hannah.

“Yes Hannah?” asked Rachel.

“Come on Rachel,” whispered Hannah. “I’ve been waiting for you but you never came. We were going to watch the party. Don’t you remember?”

“Yes, I remember. I was just doing the same thing. Looking for you I mean.” answered Rachel. “ Well come on. If we wait too long we won’t be able to see anything.” Rachel and Hannah crept softly to a small opening in the curtain that separated the feast room from the kitchen and peeked through it. Rachel could see that Nabal was drinking more than he usually did. She also looked at Abigail, who looked distressed. 

“Rachel! Hannah! What are you doing!” Rachel and Hannah sprang up, then looked behind themselves and saw Lydia. “What are you two doing? You know that there is a party going on. If one of them saw you, you could get in trouble. Especially by Nabal. He is as drunk as any man could be. Poor Abigail, she’ll have to wait to tell him what she did.” With that, Lydia turned away to finish what she was doing. 

“Rachel and Hannah. You arrived just at the right time,” said Brianna, “ We could use extra help with these dishes. I can tell you, tonight was a night. 

Rachel and Hannah helped Leah and Brianna finish the dishes. All Rachel could think about was what Lydia had said. “ Poor Abigail.” 

The next day was one not expected by anyone. 

Rachel was awakened by the sound of crying. Her mother and father were already up and working, so Rachel quickly put her clothes on and went to find out what had happened. Finally, Rachel found her mother making breakfast. “Good morning Mother,” said Rachel.

“Good morning Rachel,” came the reply.

“Do you know who is crying?” asked Rachel. She could see that by the look on her mother’s face that something had happened.

“Abigail is crying. When I heard her crying I ran because I thought something had happened to her. Something happened, but not to her. To Nabal. She told me that in the morning she told Nabal what she had done. Nabal was so shocked that he had a heart attack. He didn’t die, but he was in great pain and was very, very weak. She doesn’t know if he will live.” 

“Is there anything we can do to help?” asked Rachel, feeling horrible.

“Yes Rachel,” replied her mother, “We can do extra work so Abigail doesn’t have to and so that she can spend more time with Nabal. That’s about it.”

Rachel worked hard the next few days. She worked harder than ever. She scrubbed the dishes, washed the floor, cooked the meals, and did lots more. Until ten days later…………..