He waved the frightened girls in, then closed the door behind them. Rahab could hear the sound of his feet as he walked away. The room itself contained a stone basin set on the floor, a table with a large jug of steaming water, and a pile of linen towels. The two women looked stonefaced at Rahab and bowed slightly. “Is that the bath?” Atene muttered, her eyes on the stone basin. One of the women took Rahab by the hand and led her to the basin, motioning for her to step in. When they began to take off her robe, she pulled away and ran back to Atene’s side. “What are you going to do?” she demanded. The older handmaid, a heavy-set woman with a hooked nose, said, “We are going to bathe you, my lady. Then we will dress you in clean robes so you will be fit to meet the king.” Rahab and Atene exchanged alarmed glances. The only bathing they had ever done was in a stream during the summer and out of a small hand basin during the winter. Atene said, “We bathed before we came to Jericho and I washed her hair myself.
