Jenny: Heart-song of Victory

The flickering candlelight left blurred impressions on the curves of Caleb's harp. Each string shone out bright for a trembling moment as he plucked it, stilled it, let it thrum. As he played alone in the stillness of the empty atrium, a song began to form in his head quite unexpectedly, but pleasantly.

"Hallel! hallel! they ate and sang the Hallel
With Him, so solemn in their midst.
Disbelieving, misunderstanding, they ate and sang the Hallel.
They went out to the garden amidst unheard wings,
They went out on the notes of the Hallel.
The Hallel.
The Hallel the angel-wings still sing.

They went out to the garden, all solemn and confused
With Him, grieving in their midst.
Weary, soul-weary, they lay and fell asleep.
They slept through His weeping, unheard angel-wings,
Never heard the notes of the Hallel.
The Hallel.
The Hallel He sang in their midst.

Hallel! hallel! rang the tongues of prophets,
With Him their blood was justified.
Broken and bewildered, they watched the Hallel-singer
Crushed upon a praising cross of shame,
Never understanding the Hallel.
The Hallel.
The Hallel that they would learn to sing.

Hallel! hallel! they ate and sang the Hallel.
In Him who is the Hallel for evermore.
Quickened and enlivened, they partake in the Hallel,
The heart-song of their victory,
The Hallel they came to understand.
The Hallel.
The Hallel they had learned to sing."

As he played out the last movement, idly toying with the flow of the notes, he became aware of a newcomer in the room: it was the girl that had come with the Guttersnipe, watching eagerly from a dark corner as he played. He smiled and nodded at her.