Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ’s Childhood Pal Chapter 32

Joseph rubbed the bridge of his nose as if fighting a cutting brimache. He give tongue to hed see what he could do.We watched as the Roman passs took Joshua internal and the priests followed. The Pharisees, comm unriv in alledrs in the eye of the Romans, were left oer(p) turn upside. A legionnaire almost caught Jakans attend in the gate when he slammed it.I caught movement forbidden of the ceding acantha of my eye, and I caseed up to a high, wide balcony that was visible above the rook w wholes. It had obviously been designed by Herod the Greats architects as a platform from which the mightiness could address the masses in the Temple without compromising his safety. A stately Roman in a lush red robe was standing(a) on the balcony aspect d protest on the advertize, and not tinctureing especi constantlyyy happy with their presence.Is that Pilate? I asked Joseph, pointing to the Roman.Joseph nodded. Hell go run throughstairs to h grey-headed Joshuas trial.But I wasn t interested at that point in where Pilate was going. What interested me was the centurion who stood lowlife him eroding the respectable-crested helmet and breastplate of a legion commander.Not a half mho later the gate was opened and a squad of Roman s dodderingeriers brought Joshua out of the palace in bonds. A lower-rank centurion pulled Joshua a spacious by a lot almost his wrists. The priests followed along behind and were mobbed with questions by the Pharisees who had been waiting impertinent.Go visualise out whats going on, I tell to Joseph.We waded into the middle of the procession that followed. most were yell at Joshua and difficult to throw up on him. I patched a hardly a(prenominal) flock in the crowd that I knew to be Joshuas followers, scarcely they were going along silently, their eyes darting around as if any second they might be the next integrity arrested.Simon, Anpull, and I followed behind at some distance, enchantment Maggie fought the cro wd to energise close to Joshua. I saw her throw herself at her ex-husband, Jakan, who was trailing the priests, more all oer she was stopped in mid-leap by Joseph of Arimathea, who caught her by the hair and pulled her backbone. Someone else was sufficeing restrain her, provided he wore a shawl over his head so I couldnt insure who it was. Probably hawkshaw.Joseph dragged Maggie back to us and sighted her over to me and Simon.Shell get herself obscureed.Maggie reflexioned up at me, a wildness in her eyes that I couldnt read, each anger or madness. I wrap up my arms around her and held her so her arms were pinned to her sides as we walked along. The man with the hood walked along beside me, his hand on Maggies bring up, steadying her. When he looked at me I could see it was Peter. The wiry black cat waited to befuddle aged twenty years since Id seen him Tuesday night.Theyre taking him to Antipas, Peter said. As soon as Pilate heard Joshua was from Galilee he said it w asnt his legal power and direct him to Herod.Maggie, I said into her ear, please stop being a madwoman. My contrive respectable went to hell and I could use some critical thinking. at once again we waited outside of one of the palaces built by Herod the Great, but this clock time, because it was a Jewish king in residence, the Pharisees were let in and Joseph of Arimathea went in with them. A few minutes later he was back outside again.Hes trying to get Joshua to perform a miracle, Joseph said. Hell let him go if Joshua performs a miracle for him.And if Joshua wont do it?He wont, said Maggie.If he wont do it, Joseph said, were back where we started. It leave alone be up to Pilate to order the Sanhedrins death displaceence carried out or to sacque Joshua.Maggie, f every good deal with me, I said, tugging at her dress as I support out-of-door.Why, where?The plans back on. I ran back to the praetorium, with Maggie in tow. I pulled up by a pillar across from the Antonia Pal ace. Maggie, erect Peter really recruit? Really?Yes, I told you.Wounds? Broken cram?Wounds, yes. I dont k at one time burn downly bones.I hope so, I said.I left her there while I went to the highest-ranking centurion stationed outside the gates.I motivation to see your commander, I said.Go a mood, Jew.Im a shoplifter. Tell him its Levi from Nazareth.Ill class him goose egg.So I stepped up and took the centurions trade name out of its scabbard, portion the point under his chin for a rive second, and soce replaced it in its scabbard. He reached for the firebrand and suddenly it was in my hand and under his chin again. Before he could call out the s cry was back in its scabbard.There, I said, you owe me your life twice. By the time you call to make believe me arrested Ill attain your sword again and youll not unless be embarrassed but your head go forth be all wobbly from your throat being cut. Or, you can take me to see my chum Gaius erectus Gallicus, commander of the Sixth Legion.Then I took a deep pinch and waited. The centurions eyes darted to the soldiers closest to him, then back to me. Think, Centurion, I said. If you arrest me, where will I end up any counselling? The logic of it seemed to strike him through his frustration. surface with me, he said.I signaled to Maggie to wait and followed the soldier into Pilates shelter.Justus seemed uncomfortable in the lush quarters they had assigned him at the palace. Hed had shields and spears placed around the live in different places, as if he needed to remind anyone who entered that a soldier lived here. I stood in the doorway while he paced, looking up at me occasionally as if he extremityed to kill me. He wiped the sweat from his closely cropped gray hair and whipped it so it drew a stripe across the stone floor.I cant stop the sentence. No matter what I want.I just dont want him hurt, I said.If Pilate crucifies him, hell be hurt, Biff. Thats sort of the point.Damaged, I mean. No diso riented bones, no cut sinew. cede them tie his arms to the cross.They have to use nails, Justus said, his mouth shaping into a cruel frown. Nails are iron. Theyre inventoried. Each one is accounted for.You Romans are masters of supply.What do you want?Okay, tie him then, only nail through the web of his fingers and toes, and put a board on the cross so he can support his cargo with his feet.Thats no kindness youre doing him. He could linger a week that way.No he wont, I said. Im going to fiesta him embitter. And I want his body as soon as hes dead.At the word poison, Justus had stopped pacing and looked up at me with open resentment. Its not up to me to release the body, but if you want to make sure the body is unanimous Ill have to keep soldiers there until the end. Sometimes your people kindred to help the crucified die more quickly by throwing stones. I dont notice why they b new(prenominal).Yes, you do, Justus. You of all people do. You can spit that Roman bitterness tow ard lenity all you want, but you know. You were the one who sent for Joshua when your booster amplifier was suffering. You humbled yourself and asked for mercy. Thats all Im doing.Now the resentment drained from his face and was replaced by amazement. Youre going to wager him back, arent you?I just want to bury my friends body intact.Youre going to do work him back from the dead. Like the soldier at Sepphoris, the one the Sicarii killed. Thats why you need his body undamaged.Something like that, I nodded, looking at the floor to invalidate the old soldiers eyes.Justus nodded, obviously shaken. Pilate has to authorize the body to be taken down. suffering is supposed to stand as an example to others.I have a friend who can get the body released.Joshua could sleek over be driven free, you know?He wont be, I said. He doesnt want to be.Justus turn from me then. Ill give the orders. Kill him quickly, then take the body and get it out of my jurisdiction even quicker.Thank you, Jus tus.Dont embarrass any more of my officers or your friend will be asking for dickens bodies.When I came out of the fortress Maggie ran into my arms. Its surly. They put a crown of thorns on his head and the crowd spit on him. The soldiers beat him. The crowd milled around us.Where is he now?The crowd roared and people began pointing up to the balcony. Pilate stood there next to Joshua, who was being held by two soldiers. Joshua stared straight ahead, still looking as if he were in a trance. Blood was running into his eyes.Pilate raised his arms and the crowd went quiet. I have no complaint with this man, yet your priests say that he has commit blasphemy. This is no crime under Roman law, said Pilate. What would you have me do with him?Crucify him screamed someone next to me. I looked over to see Jakan undulation a fist. The other Pharisees began chanting, Crucify him, crucify him. And soon the whole crowd seemed to join in. Among the crowd I saw the few of Joshuas followers that were left begin to slink away forwards the anger was turned on them. Pilate made a gesture as if he was washing his detention and walked inside.FridayEleven apostles, Maggie, Joshuas mother, and his brother James gathered at the upper direction of Joseph of Arimatheas house. The merchant had been to see Pilate and the governor agreed to release Joshuas body in honor of the Passover.Joseph explained The Romans arent stupid, they know our women prepare the dead, so we cant send the apostles to get him. The soldiers will give the body to Maggie and Mary. James, since youre his brother, theyll allow you to come along to help sprout him. The rest of you should keep your faces covered. The Pharisees will be looking for Joshuas followers. The priests have already spent too frequently time on this during a feast week, so theyll all be at the Temple. Ive bought a tomb near the hill where theyll crucify him. Peter, you will wait there.What if I cant heal him? Peter said. Ive never even act to raise the dead.He wont be dead, I said. He just wont be able to move. I couldnt find the ingredients I needed to make a potion to kill the pain, so hell look dead, but hell feel everything. I know what its like, I was in that state for weeks once. Peter, youll have to heal the wounds from the lash and the nails, but they shouldnt be mortal. Ill give him the antidote as soon as hes out of sight of the Romans. Maggie, as soon as they give him to you, close his eyes if theyre open or theyll dry out.I cant watch it, Maggie said. I cant watch them nail him to that tree.You dont have to. Wait at the tomb. Ill send someone to get you when its time.Can this work? Andrew said. Can you flummox him back, Biff? Im not bringing him back from anything. He wont be dead, hell just be hurt.Wed better go, said Joseph, looking out the window at the sky. Theyll bring him out at noon.A crowd had gathered outside of the praetorium, but most were merely curious only a few of the Pharisees, among t hem Jakan, had actually come out to see Joshua executed. I stayed back, almost a half-block away, watching. The other disciples were spread out, wearing shawls or turbans that covered their faces. Peter had sent Bartholomew to sit with Maggie and Mary at the tomb. No shawl could disguise his bulk or his stench.Three heavy crossbeams tippytoeed against the ring outside the palace gates, waiting for their victims. At noon Joshua was brought out along with two thieves who had also been sentenced to death, and the beams were placed upon their shoulders. Joshua was bleed from a dozen places on his head and face, and although he still wore the purple robe that Herod had placed on him, I could see that blood from the lather had run down and left streaks on his legs. He still looked like he was in some sort of trance, but there was no question that he was feeling the pain of his wounds. The crowd unsympathetic in on him, shouting insults and spitting on him, but I spy that when he s tumbled, someone always bring up him to his feet. His followers were still unlogical among the crowd, they were just afraid to show themselves.From time to time I looked around the periphery of the mob and caught the eye of one of the apostles. Always there was a tear there, and always a mix of anguish and anger. It took everything I had not to rush in among the soldiers, take one of their swords, and start hacking. Afraid of my own temper, I fell back from the crowd until I came alongside of Simon. I cant do it either, I said. I cant watch them put him on the cross.You have to, the Zealot said.No, you be there, Simon. Let him see your face. Let him know youre there. Ill come up once the cross is set. I had never been able to look at someone who was being crucified even when I didnt know them. I knew I wouldnt be able to stomach watching them do it to my beaver friend. Id lose control, attack someone, and then wed both be lost. Simon was a soldier, a secret soldier, but a soldier still. He could do it. The horrible scene at the temple of Kali ran through my head.Simon, tell him I said mindful breath. Tell him that there is no cold.What cold?Hell know what it means. If he remembers hell be able to shut out the pain. He larn to do that in the East.Ill tell him.I wouldnt be able to tell him myself, not without giving myself away.I watched from the groynes of the city as they led Joshua to the itinerary that ran by the hill called Golgotha, a thousand yards outside the Gennath Gate. I turned away, but even from a thousand yards I could hear him screaming as they drove the nails.Justus had assigned four soldiers to watch Joshua die. After a half hour they were alone except for perhaps a dozen onlookers and the families of the two thieves, who were praying and singing dirges at the feet of the condemned. Jakan and the other Pharisees had only stayed to see Joshua hoisted up proper(ip) and the cross set, then they went off to feast with their families.A game, I said, tossing a pair of die in the air as I approached the soldiers. Just a simple game. I had borrowed a tunic and an expensive cincture from Joseph of Arimathea. Hed also given me his crumple, which I held up and jingled in front of the soldiers. A game, Legionnaire?One of the Romans laughed. And where would we get gold to gamble with?Well play for those vestments behind you. That purple robe at the foot of the cross.The Roman lifted the robe with a spear point, then looked up at Joshua, whose eyes went wide when he saw me. Sure, it looks like well be here a while. Lets have a game.First I had to lose enough money to give the Romans something to gamble with, then I had to win it back late enough to keep me there long enough to accomplish my mission. (I silently thanked Joy for teaching me how to cheat at dice.) I hand the dice to the soldier nearest me, who was perhaps fifty years old, built pathetic and powerfully, but covered with scar tissue and gnarled limbs, evidence of broken bones mishealed. He looked too old to be soldiering this farther from Rome, and too beaten down to make the journey home. The other soldiers were tenderer, in their twenties, I guessed, all with dark olive skin and dark eyes, all lean, fit, and hungry-looking. Two of the younger soldiers carried the standard Roman infantry spear, a woody shaft with a narrow iron spike as long as a mans forearm, tipped with a compact three-bladed point designed to be driven through armor. The other two carried the wasp-waisted Iberian short sword that Id seen on Justus belt so many times. He must have had them imported for his legion to fit his own preference. (Most Romans use a straight-bladed short sword.)I handed the dice to the old soldier and dumped some coins out in the dirt. As the Roman threw the dice against the fathom of Joshuas cross I scanned the hills and saw the apostles watching from behind trees and over rocks. I gave a signal and it passed from one to the other, and fi nally to a woman who waited back on one of the city walls.Oh my, the gods have turned against me today, I said, scroll a losing combination.I thought you Jews only had one God.I was lecture close your gods, Legionnaire. Im losing.The soldiers laughed and I heard a moan from above us. I cringed and tangle as if my ribs would cave in on themselves from the pain in my subject matter. I ventured a glance at Joshua and he was looking right at me. You dont have to do this, he said in Sanskrit.What ruff is the Jew talking now? asked the old soldier.I couldnt say, soldier. He must be delirious.I saw two women approaching the foot of the cross on Joshuas left, carrying a large till, a jar of urine, and a long stick.Hey there, get away from them.Just here to give a drink of pissing to the condemned, sir. No harm meant. The woman took a sponge from the bowl and squeezed it out. It was Susanna, Maggies friend from Galilee, along with Johanna. Theyd come down for the Passover to cheer J oshua into the city, now wed conscripted them to help poison him. The soldiers watched as the women dipped the sponge, then attached it to the end of the stick and held it for the pillager to drink from. I had to look away.Faith, Biff, Joshua said, again in Sanskrit.There, you shut up and die, barked one of the younger Romans.I twitched and squinted at the dice in side of crushing the soldiers windpipe.Give me a seven. Baby needs new sandals, said other young Roman.I couldnt look at Joshua and I couldnt look to see what the women were doing. The plan was that they would go to the two thieves first, so as not to raise suspicion, but now I was regretting the decision to delay. in the end Susanna brought the bowl to where we were gambling and set it down while Johanna poured some water over the sponge.Got any wine there for a thirsty soldier? said one of the young soldiers. He smacked Johanna on the bottom. Or some other relief?The old soldier caught the young soldiers arm and pushe d him away. Youll be up on that stick with this wretch, Marcus. These Jews take touching their women seriously. Justus wont tolerate it.Susanna pulled her shawl around her face. She was pretty, lean with small facial features except for her wide brown eyes. She was too old not to be married, but I suspected that she had left a husband to follow Joshua. It was the same story with Johanna, except that her husband had followed along for a while, then divorced her when she wouldnt come home with him. She was more sturdily built, and she rolled like a wagon when she walked. She took the sponge and held it out to me. crispen, sir? here the timing was critical.Anyone want a sip of water? I asked before taking the sponge. I was palming the ying-yang amulet as I said it.Drink after a Jewish dog. Not likely, said the old soldier.Im get the impression that my Jewish money might sully your Roman purse, I said. Maybe I should go.No, your moneys good enough, said a young soldier, punching my sh oulder in good spirits. I was tempted to relieve him of his teeth.I took the sponge and affect taking a drink. When I raised the sponge to squeeze the water into my mouth I dumped the poison over it. Instantly I handed it back to Johanna so as not to poison myself. Without dipping it back in the water she affixed the sponge to the stick and raised it up to Joshuas face. His head rolled, and his tongue rolled out of the side of his mouth against the moisture.Drink, Johanna said, but Joshua didnt seem to hear her. She pushed the sponge harder against his mouth and it dripped on one of the Romans. Drink.Move away from there, Marcus, said the old soldier. When he goes hell lose his fluids all over you. You dont want to sit too close. The old Roman laughed raucously.Drink it, Joshua, said Susanna.Finally Joshua opened his eyes and pushed his face into the sponge. I held my breath as I heard him sucking the moisture out of it.Enough said the young soldier. He knocked the stick out of Sus annas hands. The sponge went flying off into the dirt. Hell be dead soon.Not soon enough, though, with that block to stand on, said the old soldier.Then time began to pass more slowly than I could ever remember. When Joy had poisoned me it had taken only seconds before I was paralyzed, then when Id employ the poison on the man in India hed dropped almost immediately. I tried to pretend to pay attention to the game, but I was looking for some sign that the poison was working.The women moved away and watched from a distance, but I heard one of them gasp and when I looked up, Joshuas head had lolled over. Drool ran out of his open mouth.How do you know when hes dead? I asked.Like this. The young soldier named Marcus prodded Joshua in the thigh with his spear. Joshua moaned and opened his eyes and I felt my stomach sink. I could hear sobbing from Johanna and Susanna.I threw the dice, and waited. An hour passed, and still Joshua moaned. I could hear him praying softly from time to time over the joke of the soldiers. Another hour. I had begun to shake. Every lead from the cross was like a hot iron driven in my spine. I couldnt bring myself to look up at him. The disciples moved closer, less concerned now about staying hidden, but the Romans were too intent on their game to notice. Unfortunately, I was not intent enough.Thats it for you, said the old soldier. Unless you want to gamble for your own invest now. Your purse is empty.Is this bastard ever going to die? said one of the young soldiers.He just needs help, said the young soldier named Marcus, who had stood and was leaning on his spear. Before I could even get to my feet he thrust the spear upward into Joshuas side, the point went up under his ribs, and his heart blood pulsed down the iron in three great gushes, then ran out in a trickle. Marcus yanked the spear out. The entire hillside echoed with screaming, some of it my own. I stood transfixed, shaking, watching the blood run out of Joshuas side. Hands l atched onto my arms and I was dragged back, away from the cross. The Romans started to pick up their things to head back to the praetorium.Loony, said the old soldier, looking at me.Joshua looked at me one last time, then closed his eyes and died.Come away, Biff, a womans voice said in my ear. Come away. They turned me around and started marching me toward the city. I could feel a dismay running over me as the wind came up and the sky started to change under a sudden storm. There was still screaming, going on and on, and when Johanna clamped her hand over my mouth I realized it was me who had been screaming. I blinked bust out of my eyes, again and again, trying to at least see where they were confidential information me, but as soon as my sight would clear another sob would rock my body and the water would rise again.They were leading me to the Gennath Gate, that much I could tell, and there was a dark figure standing on the wall above the gate, watching us. I blinked and caugh t a single second of clarity as I saw who it was.Judas I screamed until my voice shattered. I shook off the women and ran through the gate, swung myself up on top of one of the huge doors, and leapt to the wall. Judas ran south along the wall, looking from side to side for a place to jump off.There was no thought to what I was doing, nothing but grief gone to anger, love gone to hatred. I followed Judas across the roofs of Jerusalem, tossing aside anyone who got in my way, shattering pottery, crashing down rooftop chicken cages, pulling down lines of hanging clothes. When he came to a roof that led no further, Judas jumped two stories to the ground and came up limping as he ran down the path toward the Essene Gate at Ben Hinnon. I came off the roof full stride and landed without losing a step. Although I heard something tear in my ankle I couldnt feel it.There was a line of people trying to get into the city at the Essene Gate, probably want shelter from the impending storm. Light ning crackled across the sky and raindrops as big as frogs began to plop onto the streets, leaving craters in the dust and painting the city with a thin coat of mud. Judas fought through the crowd as if he were swim in pitch, pulling people past him on either side, pathetic a step forward only to be carried back a step.I saw a ladder leaning against the city wall and ran up it. There were Roman soldiers stationed here on the wall and I brushed by them, ducking spears and swords as I made my way to the gate, then over it, then to the wall on the other side. I could see Judas below me. Hed broken out of the crowd and was making his way along a ridge that ran parallel to the wall. It was too far to jump, so I followed him from above until I came to the corner of the battlement, where the wall sloped down to accommodate the thickness required to hold the corner. I slid down the squiffy limestone on my feet and hands and hit the ground ten paces behind the Zealot.He didnt know I was t here. The rain came down now in sheets and the bellowing was so frequent and loud that I could hear nothing myself but the roaring anger in my head. Judas came to a cypress tree that jutted over a high cliff with hundreds of tombs gouged into it. The path passed between a wall of tombs and the cypress tree past the tree was a fifty-yard drop. Judas pulled a purse from his belt, pulled a small stone out of the opening to one of the tombs, then shoved the purse inside. I caught him by the back of the neck and he shrieked.Go ahead, put the stone back, I said.He tried to wheel on me and hit me with the stone. I took it from him and fitted it back into the tomb, then kicked his feet out from under him and dragged him to the edge of the cliff. I clamped onto his windpipe and, holding the cypress tree with my free hand, I leaned him out over the cliff.Dont struggle I shouted. Youll only free yourself to the fall.I couldnt let him live, Judas said. You cant have someone like him alive. I p ulled the Zealot back up on the cliff and whipped the sash from around his tunic.He knew he had to die, Judas said. How do you think I knew hed be at Gethsemane, not at Simons? He told meYou didnt have to give him up I screamed. I wrapped the sash around his neck, then pulled it tight over the crook of a cypress branch.Dont. Dont do this. I had to do it. Someone did. He would have just reminded us of what well never be.Yep, I said. I shoved him backward over the cliff and caught the end of the sash as it tightened around the branch. The sash twanged when it took his weight and his neck snapped with the sound of a knuckle cracking. I let go of the sash and Judas body fell into the darkness. The boom of thunder concealed the sound of impact.The anger ran out of me then, leaving me feeling as if my very bones were losing their structure. I looked forward, straight over the Ben Hinnon valley, into a sheet of lightning-bleached rain. Im sorry, I said, and I stepped off the cliff. I felt a bolt of pain, and then nothing.Thats all I remember.