“Isn’t Papa big?”

“Papa’s definitely big.”

“Then he must think it’s right to burn my letters.”

“I don’t know,” said Rebekah. “But you stay here with Deborah. I have to go back.”

“Did I get you in trouble too?” asked Jacob.

“No, silly.”

“Grandfather sounded like he was mad at you.”

“Well, if he is, it’s not for anything you did. And he won’t be very mad at me, I promise. You be good for Aunt Deborah, won’t you?”

Deborah laughed. “He’s always an angel, Rebekah, you silly.” To Jacob she said, “You tell me all the animals you can think of.”

The list was well under way when Rebekah reluctantly left the tent and returned to Abraham’s. They were no longer in front of the tent, and the fire had been put out. She was relieved, upon entering, to see that Esau was no longer a witness. Presumably he also had been given over to someone to watch. Apparently they did not think it important to tell her.

She should not have spoken first, but she could not contain herself. “You didn’t need to humiliate Jacob in front of his brother.”

“Watch your rebellious tone, girl,” said Abraham. “The lesson needed to be learned by both boys.”

“But it was Jacob’s writing that was burned, and Esau reveled in it.”

“It’s hardly my fault that Esau did not commit the offense,” said Abraham.

“No,” said Rebekah. “Besides, Esau couldn’t write his own name. Didn’t either of you even notice how well Jacob is writing? Why wasn’t that part of the lesson? Look, Esau—learn how to write, and you too can have your writings burned by the men you love most in all the world. I’ll be surprised if he ever learns another letter. Then what will become of your birthright?”

Abraham rose to his feet, trembling with anger; Isaac had to help him, he was so feeble and so furious.

Rebekah at once repented of her sharp words. What she had said had truth enough in it, but it did not help Jacob or Esau or anybody that she spoke so disrespectfully. “I’m sorry,” she said, sinking to her knees. “I spoke in anger, and I was wrong to do it.”

“Are you trying to curse the last days of my life?” said Abraham. “Are you trying to show me a family riven in half because my son’s wife plays favorites with her children?”

“Plays favorites!” The charge was so ludicrous that she could hardly believe it. “I teach them both the same rules of behavior, I watch over them both—and if you two weren’t always encouraging Esau’s defiance, maybe he would have learned some obedience by now!”

“So much for your sorrow about speaking in anger,” said Abraham.

“How can I hold my tongue when you’re so unjust?” said Rebekah.

“What injustice have I committed, girl?” said Abraham. “What lesson is it that you have to teach me?”

“You’re right,” said Rebekah. “You stopped learning years ago.”