The Making of the Lamb (39 page)

“They pay the workmen more than I can, because their ore is richer. Without workers my business will die.”

“Find your own lode of new ore. It will be yours if you are the first to come to me with the discovery.”

“This is not just. Esmeralda says the younger one uses magic to reveal the lodes of silver ore. It is impious for you to give him what he finds through dark magic.”

“Many have seen them searching the streams for silver. From what I have heard, it seems like honest work.”

This is not getting me anywhere. I must take this up with the druidess.

Daniel and Jesus spent the next several days in Lake Village teaching more workers how to inlay the silver onto bronze. They joined Mary and Joseph on Ynys Witrin each evening. Joseph had a nearby hut where he spent his time experimenting with the silver ore to perfect the method for refining this particular variety. Mary told them how she spent her days out and about among the scattered native dwellings around the Levels and in Lake Village, calling on the sick and the hungry, bringing them comfort and aid. Although she knew only a few words and phrases, she managed to make herself understood well enough to offer food or a cold compress for the forehead of a child with a fever.

Late one afternoon as Jesus and Daniel paddled back to Ynys Witrin. A cold wind blew across the Levels. The smoke rising through the thatch of Mary’s house on shore promised a warm respite, and the cousins redoubled their pace, paddling up the Brue to warm themselves at the fire.

At the entrance of the brook, they beached their coracles and began walking quickly. Jesus called out, but there was no answer from Mary or Joseph.

“Papa said he might head over to Priddy today to gather up more ore,” said Daniel. “He said he might need to stay there overnight with our friends.”

“And you know how Mother is,” said Jesus. “She’s always dashing far and wide to help the natives. Bless her. She was late getting back the night before last. Soon she will be staying out overnight as well.”

“I am not sure Papa will approve of that. It would be scandalous in Judea for a woman to be away from home overnight without her husband.”

“I realize that, but I think it is good for women to be independent. Look at the natives. Most of the women lead domestic lives, but some become druids and even warriors. Grengan said that is common among some of the tribes. Tell me, Daniel. If men can be free to come and go, why not women, too? Why do we say women are supposed to be so virtuous, and then we do not trust them out of our sight?”

“Can you imagine a woman leading the Sanhedrin?” Daniel laughed.

Jesus smiled. “We will never live to see that, cousin. But, one day, who knows? Whoa! What is this?”

They had reached the doorway of the house. Before them was a scene of devastation; mattresses and garments were torn to shreds and furnishings broken. They stood there for a moment, stunned. There were often raids and wars between tribes and clans, but in all their years in Britain they had never heard of thievery among the inhabitants of any village. Only outsiders would do such a thing.

Only the fire had been left undisturbed, and it still burned brightly in the central hearth.

“It’s a wonder that they didn’t torch the place,” said Daniel.

“They were probably too clever to do that,” said Jesus. “People would have seen the flames and raised the alarm. Leaving the fire gave them more time to escape. I will check on the money. You look for the map.” Jesus dashed to the section of the floor where the money had been secreted and quickly discovered the awful truth. “All the Roman coin is gone!”

“At least the map is safe. I have it here.”

“Has it been disturbed?”

“I don’t think so.”

“Praise God for that,” said Jesus. “I will run up the Tor. Perhaps I can see them, and we will know if the brigands are escaping by land or by boat. Meanwhile, you raise the alarm. There will be some workmen in the farmhouses nearby. We will need all the help we can get, and horses, too! We have curraghs at the landing if we need them. Grab who and what you can and make it fast! Tell the men to come armed if they can.”

“On my way!” Daniel shouted as they ran off in different directions.

A veiled figure pressed against the wall in shadow. Once the boys had gone, the cloaked visitor slipped inside. The map lay on a table, abandoned in their haste to depart. Slender hands braced themselves on the table as the stranger leaned over, studying the map intensely. Leaving it as it had been found, the visitor scurried out into the waning winter sunlight.

It took Daniel some time to round up half a dozen men. He returned to Mary’s house just as Jesus emerged from the doorway, brandishing the sword he had used at Rumps.

“At least the brigands did not get this,” said Jesus.

“What do you plan to use that for?” Daniel asked.
He cannot be going to fight again. It is the pathway to pain and death for him. He must find another way. If only I could tell him why.

“I saw the thieves from the summit. There were three of them, on horseback. They are halfway to Pilton. How many good men are coming with us?”

“Four are getting their weapons, and two are right behind me.”

“How many horses?”

“The other men are bringing three.”
What am I doing? This is so wrong!

“With the one we have here and four in that field, we have a mount for each of us.” Jesus mounted the horse that had been grazing nearby.

“Leave this to the Celts. We are guests in this prefect, outlanders under their laws. It is forbidden for us to wield any weapon here. That is their law, and we must obey it.”

“They have robbed our home, Daniel, and left us destitute. Are we supposed to just hand over everything we have worked for?”

“I will not go with you, Jesus. This is the druids’ sacred place, and they allow no one to draw weapons here. We all promised to live by that. They will hold us to that, no matter what. You know this.”

“And when the time comes to free our people, will you tell me I break the laws of Rome? Someday that will be the whole point. It’s a good thing you weren’t around for the Maccabees to count on.” By now all the Celtic men had gathered and were mounted. Jesus was about to turn his horse to lead the chase.

“Damn it, Jesus! That is the way of death for you!”

Jesus wheeled his horse around to face Daniel. “So, you are back onto this secret you cannot share?”

Daniel nodded.

“Fine! I told you once and I tell you again. Keep your secret and follow your own conscience. But I must follow the will of my Father as I discern it. I am sorry I questioned your loyalty, cousin. It was wrong of me. But there is no time to talk now. We’re off!”

Returning to Ynys Witrin, Joseph found Mary consoling Daniel inside the house. They told him about the robbery and how Jesus had armed himself and gone off in pursuit.

Must I be the instrument of this? Jesus is learning the art of war here in Britain. Sooner or later, he will return to Israel and make war on Rome, and that is his pathway to death. The prophecy cannot be clearer.

“Daniel feels so sorry,” said Mary. “He feels he has betrayed Jesus.”

Joseph turned to his son. “No, my son, you did what was right.”

“But how will we go on, Papa? Now we cannot pay the workmen. We have nothing but a few sheep and some wine to give them.”

“These people are not like the Dumnonii, son. They want their wages in coin.”

“Should I have gone with Jesus?” asked Daniel. “He may be rash to pursue the robbers, but he is still my cousin.”

“We are guests and traders,” said Joseph. “Breaking the taboo against visitors taking up arms will only bring trouble.”

“These people are kind,” said Mary. “Surely they know that Jesus is only trying to defend our home against robbers. He hasn’t threatened the peace between any tribes.”

“The druids hold their superstitions even to the point of death,” said Daniel. “When we fought at Rumps, the druids made all our fighters expose themselves to great danger because they held it was impious to approach our sanctuary from the wrong direction.”

“I am sorry for all this,” said Joseph. “Jesus has done well for us here, but I did not bring him to the Mendips just to make money.”
I still cannot tell her about the prophecy. She is not ready.
“I was worried about him when I saw he was learning the art of war among the Dumnonii. I thought the druidic prohibition would keep him from taking up weapons if he stayed here. But Jesus defies the laws. Jesus will choose his own path, but I cannot stay part of this. I will send money and one more shipload of supplies from Armorica in the spring, but I will not return to Britain until Jesus turns his life towards peace. The two of you will be on your own with Jesus if you choose to stay with him.”

“But Papa, how will we make it through the winter? Who will take our silver back to sell to the Romans?”

“God will provide, Son. He always does.”

“If only Jesus had given God the chance,” said Mary.

Grengan walked in. “I heard about the robbery, Joseph. Jesus is brave, but it is going to be a bad business when the druidess hears of him taking up arms in pursuit. Did they get everything?”

“All the Roman coin,” said Daniel.

“That is nothing,” said Joseph. “It will be hard getting through the winter, but we would have recovered the loss over time.”

“Jesus should be here any moment. I saw him with the men on their way back in the distance. It didn’t seem like they were bringing back any captives.”

“At least he is alive,” said Mary. “Does anyone look hurt?”

“Bandits would be fast making their getaway. I doubt if Jesus and his men had much of a chance to catch up to them.”

They heard Jesus approach and dismount outside. As he came into Mary’s house, a shake of his head and the look of disappointment on his face were enough to convey that the chase had been futile.

Joseph frowned. “It was so foolish—”

“There is no time for that now,” Grengan interrupted. “Esmeralda will be here soon.” He turned to Jesus. “You took up the sword in pursuit of the brigands. Tell her you didn’t have time to think when you went after them.”

“I think we see who the brigand is.” Esmeralda appeared in the doorway with two armed men behind her. “Seize him and the sword he still carries.” She pointed at Jesus.

“He was only protecting his home,” said Grengan. “He stole nothing, and he spilled no blood.”

“Under our law, any outlander who takes up arms is a brigand, so that is exactly what he is.” Her men seized and bound Jesus. She silently followed her men as they took Jesus away, to the sound of Mary’s anguished pleas.

At noon the next day, Esmeralda looked over the crowd assembled before her at the summit of the Tor.
Many braved the wind and cold to come. Jesus has the people on his side, not just his family.
Her men had bound Jesus to an upright stake. She drew her cloak tighter around herself to cut off the biting cold and wind.
Let’s finish this before I am chilled to death.

“The Tor on which we stand is sacred to all druids far and wide,” Esmeralda began. “It is the entrance to the Otherworld. Every year at Samhain, druids come here to commune with the spirits of the dead and the living. Since time immemorial the area around the Tor and Ynys Witrin has been a sacred ground, neutral in any war between the tribes. It has always been the law that any outlander who takes up arms within this precinct commits brigandry. We have kept the peace only because no outlander has ever dared to defy our gods and break this prohibition. Until yesterday.” Esmeralda turned to face Jesus. “Does the prisoner deny that he is an outlander and that he took up arms within the precinct of the Tor and Ynys Witrin? How say you, Jesus bar Joseph of Galilee? Do you deny it, yes or no?”

All eyes turned to Jesus, in hushed silence.

“I do not deny it.”

Esmeralda faced the crowd. They must have known that Jesus could not deny the charge, and they all knew the law. Yet they seemed shocked.
They only just now fully realize the import of this offense.
“Who wishes to speak for the prisoner before I pronounce judgment?”

Grengan came forward. “You make it sound as if Jesus was the first to break this law, but that is not the case. True violence was committed against the home and kin of Jesus by the robbers who invaded our homeland. Those are the true brigands. Theft is unknown within this sacred precinct, but are we to imagine that the robbers entered his mother’s home without arms? Are we to imagine they were anything but outlanders themselves?”

A murmur of approval arose from the crowd, but it ended quickly as Esmeralda raised her arm for silence. She grudgingly allowed Grengan to continue.

“All men of honor should defend their hearth and kin,” he said. “Jesus is no brigand; he is only young and impetuous. When he saw how his mother’s home had been robbed, there was little time for him to think. To have any hope of catching the robbers, he had to pursue them at once or not at all.”

Esmeralda looked at Grengan askance.
Damn him to the dogs. He is beginning to make out a defense.

Grengan had more to say. “Jesus broke the law, but he did nothing to threaten the peace. He has helped to bring prosperity to the people. He has defended us from the Scotti, who would have enslaved our women and children. He didn’t spill any blood in pursuit of the robbers, and even if the pursuit had been successful, the only violence would have been directed against robbers who truly deserved to die.”

The crowd cheered. “Silence!” cried Esmeralda. She turned on Grengan in anger. “Your words sound sweet, but they are impious! It is not for the outlander to decide whether to take up arms because he thinks his cause is just. If we allow that, then any tribe fearing invasion would seize this land as a buffer and let the blood be spilt here to spare their own people. Many are the kings in the lands around us who have subjected their own people to the horrors of war while keeping the peace around the Tor. What say we now to them?”