by Scott Baker
‘I don’t know how you can watch it sideways,’ Shaun said to her.
‘My brain flips it up the right way for me,’ came her contented response. ‘Anyway, I only have one eye open. So my brain’s only got half the work to do.’
He growled in irritation as another cow walked across in front of the screen. There was some type of gladiator movie on, but the lead character was wearing a wristwatch. Didn’t he know watches were from the future? Mistakes like this really irritated Shaun. He wished filmmakers would do their research before bungling up movies like this.
Shaun gently stroked Lauren’s hair. It was so soft. Strawberry blonde and like the smoothest silk, every fibre of his being relaxed as he touched it. A rabbit jumped up on the sofa next to him.
‘What’s on?’ it asked.
‘Some crazy thing with men in leather skirts,’ he responded.
‘Look, baby, robots!’ he then said, seeing a line of silvery metallic men marching a little beyond the television.
‘It’s okay, they’re from the future, they aren’t allowed to do anything bad. If they change anything they might never get built,’ Lauren said.
‘Really? You sure?’
‘Sure she’s sure,’ said the rabbit. ‘Can’t kill your own grandfather then expect to be born in order to go back and kill him. Just can’t happen.’ With that, the rabbit wriggled its bottom and hopped forward, leaving balls of soft, rounded turd on the sofa.
‘Anyway, looks like I’d better go. A lot of fibre in this new diet they’ve got me on at The Facility.’
‘Wait! Where is that again?’ Shaun asked after the white creature as it hopped away, but he got no response.
‘Look in the TV guide,’ Lauren said. ‘I think it’s on Channel Three.’ He hit the remote, which was sitting in his hand. Funny, he hadn’t noticed it before.
The screen crackled into white static for a fraction of a second before showing a very different picture. It was a cave full of massive structures of metal and lights all around. There were gangways of metal and men in grey uniforms walking the perimeters. In the middle of the whole complex was a platform, a large disc of metal that stood on a pedestal of rock was surrounded by arches of silver. There were lights all over the arches and masses of cables running above it.
‘Now, that looks cool!’ Shaun said, but Lauren was asleep.
Technology bored her, and she was so happy lying in the sun of the peaceful meadow. Another cow walked across the screen, and he waved his free hand to shoo it, but it walked right up to him. It was holding something in its mouth and looked as excited as a bovine can.
‘Holy shit, man, have you seen this?’ it said, the smell of bourbon on its breath.
Shaun tried to look around it, but the cow wouldn’t get out of the way.
‘No, really! Have you read this, man?’ David said, pointing excitedly to one of the pages in the diary.
Shaun opened one eye and looked sideways at him. The book was open on the tray table and the light illuminating it was the brightest thing in the first-class cabin. He reached down to wake Lauren, who would also probably want to see what they had found. But she didn’t want to wake up. She didn’t move. She wasn’t there. All at once, everything came back to him. She was dead. The moment condensed and had an instant and dramatic effect. He threw up.
‘Aw, shiiiit!’ David said wiping his arm. The call button lit up and a flight attendant came gliding over. She stared down at the vomit on Shaun’s legs.
‘Oh, I am so sorry! Let me help you there,’ the tall brunette said with a thick German accent. ‘We have started our descent, so you need to pop that away now,’ she said after she finished wiping down his legs and the back of the seat in front of him.
She walked back to the front of the cabin and strapped herself in for landing.
‘Are you drunk?’ Shaun asked, smelling his friend.
‘I maaaay have taken advantage of a certain unlimited consumption policy.’ David lifted his chin. ‘When you read what I’ve just read, you may want to have a drink too. I’m finished.’
‘What?’ Shaun protested. ‘You read past my page? We agreed—’
‘Ah, blah blah …’ David lifted up his hand. ‘You can read it at the airport. I think I’m going to have a lie down.’
Seething, Shaun took the diary and shoved it under his shirt.
CHAPTER 47
With a promise to return, I shook hands with the ship’s captain. Malbool, Hamza and Mishca followed as I walked away from the dock.
‘You’re sure you know your way around?’ I asked as Hamza came up alongside me.
‘I’ve spent many years selling my wares here, Graeme, so I know every street of Jerusalem. The only thing is, I’m not sure where we are now. I think we’re about ten miles south of the city, and I’m guessing it’s about four hours till dawn. That doesn’t leave us much time to track down your friend and save his life so … uh … he can be killed … um … properly.’
If Delissio had indeed sent men ahead, they may have struck already.
‘Okay, there are three men that we know of who could be a risk,’ I told the others. ‘Barishnikov is about my height but stockier. He’s got a big dimple in his chin, kind of like Kirk Douglas,’ I said, winking at Hamza.
‘And the others?’ Malbool asked.
‘The others I don’t know. I can only assume they are Romans, part of the troupe Delissio trained. I don’t know any more than that.’ I shook my head. ‘Hamza, you’re sure we have somewhere Mishca can stay?’
‘My business partner lives in the outskirts of the city. I would trust him with my life, although maybe not my wife,’ he added in a mutter. ‘The boy will be safe there, and should anything happen to us, he will see that the child gets back to Chorazin.’
I nodded.
After half an hour of brisk walking we came to the crest of a hill. Then: the lights of a city. It could have been a modern town, and it took my breath away.
‘Ah, and what a night for you to lay eyes on this city for the first time,’ Hamza said.
‘Do you think it’s real? Do you think it really happens?’ I turned to Hamza, doubt creeping over me as I faced my final destination.
‘That, I don’t know,’ he replied solemnly. ‘What I can tell you is that the Nazarene is real. He’s been causing quite a stir, especially this last year. I haven’t seen him, as you know, because my mission was to help you and I was instructed to stay away from him. But I’ve heard about him. “Miracle man” they call him – but then again, this lot call just about anything a miracle and think any illness is a demonic possession. Sometimes I want to introduce the concept of germs, or accidentally leave a drawing of an aerodynamically correct wing somewhere, just to see how they would respond.’
‘Fifteen hundred years before da Vinci’s drawing of a plane? Imagine that.’
‘The Rule of Knowledge. Who’s to say we can really change anything anyway?’
‘Care to take the risk?’ I asked with a smile, knowing the answer. ‘Okay, first things first: let’s get Mishca safe.’
Jerusalem. The holiest of cities. It would be fought over, owned, won, lost and shared by three of the world’s major faiths … only one of which existed in this time. There were not yet any Christians or Muslims.
The streets in the outer city were lit with dimly burning oil lamps. The ambience was like a mist, laughter and revelry coming from nowhere in particular but filling the night.
The dirt and gravel crunched under our feet, and my body was electric with anticipation. I thought that we must be in the very early hours of Thursday and that tomorrow morning, Jerusalem would play the most crucial role in modern history. This time tomorrow, Jesus would march to his death. Before that happened, I had to find him and get my interview. He needed to survive the trial and be nailed to a cross on Friday.
Following a gravel path into the city, dotted with stone houses, we came to a small wooden door nestled into a humble sandstone wall. Hamza paused a moment.
> ‘Ah, Jacob is rarely alone. He likes the company of women, several at a time to be precise.’
I rolled my eyes. ‘You want to leave Mishca with this man?’ I asked, but he held up his hand.
‘Just let me go in first. The boy could be in no safer hands.’ Taking a breath, he knocked loudly on the door. Nothing. Hamza knocked again and called, seemingly unconcerned about the neighbours.
‘Jacob! Levinson, you devil, get up, it’s me Zachariah!’
There was again a moment’s silence, and then a groan. From deep inside the house, clanking and shuffling could be heard. Some voices followed.
Eventually, the lock on the door was lifted and the face of a sleep-dishevelled man emerged, peering suspiciously outside.
‘Zachariah! What do you want? Don’t you know I have company? It must be hours before sun-up!’
‘Get rid of the women, I have urgent need of your help,’ Hamza said in Hebrew.
‘Ha, you and I both know what you have urgent need of. Perhaps you should come in and join us?’ Then, for the first time, the leathery-skinned Jew noticed the rest of us standing outside. ‘Who are they?’ he asked, eyeing Hamza with renewed suspicion.
‘You know the package I have spoken of often since we met?’
Jacob nodded, not taking his eyes from the rest of us.
‘Well, they are the package. I need for you to take care of the boy for a day or two.’
Jacob looked up and down each of us, his eyes narrowing particularly when he saw the muscled figure of Malbool. After another moment, Jacob spoke again. ‘Okay. Give me a minute or two.’ The door closed, and we stood in the street looking expectantly at Hamza. A cat meowed in the silence as our weary group stood in the dark.
‘He’s okay, I promise,’ assured Zachariah, sensing our anxiety. Just then, the door opened once more and three pretty young girls came out with embarrassed faces and their robes wrapped loosely about them. They didn’t look at us as they passed, but continued up the road, sounds of their giggles floating back to us as they moved into the distance. A good night’s work, no doubt.
‘Be quiet when you come in,’ Jacob said as he reappeared and opened the door wider. ‘I don’t want you to wake Alisha.’
‘You have your daughter staying with you?’ Hamza said a little too loudly.
‘Shh! It’s only for the week. She is visiting from Capernaum.’
‘And still you have your whores? Seriously, I have told my friends that they can trust you!’ he whispered harshly.
‘Ah, we were quiet. Alisha understands how hard it is to grow old alone … and since the death of her poor mother—’
‘Don’t give me that. Her mother’s been dead twenty years and it’s never been about that. Now, go and put a pot on the fire.’
With that we all filed into the house. Half an hour later, we were seated in the living area of the trader’s home.
‘… and so the boy must stay with you while we carry out our search for the Romans,’ Hamza finished. He was selective in his storytelling, but it was obvious that he trusted his friend, telling him that we knew of a planned assassination attempt on Jesus.
‘I see. Yes, this man, the “miracle man” as you call him, arrived in the city last Sunday, and what a reception! You would think Caesar himself had arrived. I was selling in the lower city, when a mass of people went rushing to the gates. The Romans didn’t know what to do, and they thought we were being attacked by a zealot army, but there came a man riding on a donkey. A donkey! Can you believe it? Needless to say, everyone was in a good mood and business has been booming all week, which is something I wanted to talk to you about. I don’t see a lot of silk in your possession.’
‘It was burned. I, ah, forgot to mention that we were attacked by raiders in the gulf.’
‘What?’ Jacob cried in dismay. ‘No, you certainly didn’t mention that! My silk!?’ Then he added, ‘How did you survive?’
‘My friends here are rather handy with a sword,’ Hamza said, motioning to me and then to Malbool, who was sitting with his broad limbs arranged comfortably, not understanding a word of the Hebrew conversation.
‘Papa, what’s all this yelling—’ The girl’s voice paused mid-sentence. We turned to see a sleepy girl rubbing her eyes, standing in the light of the flames. With long, flowing brown curls and almond eyes, she took my breath away. It was then that I first met Alisha.
‘Ah, Alisha, my child, come and join us. We have guests.’
She looked around the room and blushed. She was dressed only in a sleeping robe that hung loosely about her shoulders, exposing her elegant, pale neck. Instinctively she pulled it tighter around her and came forward. Jacob jumped to his feet and guided his daughter into the circle.
‘Gentlemen, this is my lovely daughter, Alisha, the most spirited and independent child a father could ever hope to have. Refuses to marry or go into my trade. She’s twenty-one already and I tell her no one will want her before too long!’ The girl flashed him an angry glance, then turned to us and nodded to each of us in turn as we were introduced, before sitting next to her father.
‘Alisha, Mishca is going to stay with us for a few days while my friends are in town.’
‘Sorry, Jacob, but can you tell me more about the Nazarene? What has he been up to? Do you know where he stays?’
‘Ah, where he stays, no, although I think he and his followers have been mostly over on the city’s north near the mountain of olives. What has he been doing? Well, that’s a different story. He has been in the temple every day, teaching and preaching. People come away changed; some are calling him the Messiah. Naturally I was curious, so I went to the temple one morning to hear him for myself.’
‘You heard him speak?’ I asked, my heart suddenly racing.
‘No. I was too late, the temple was full. I couldn’t get in, but from the gates I did catch a glimpse of him. And the strangest thing happened. Even though he was hundreds of feet away in the middle of a crowd, I swear he looked right at me and smiled. It was the most curious thing.’
‘You saw him?’
‘I just told you I saw him.’
‘What did he look like?’ I pressed.
‘What do you mean? He looked like a man.’
‘Yes, but, what did he look like? You have to understand that these people are going to try and kill him, so we need a clear description of him.’
‘Well,’ Jacob thought for a second. ‘He’s a Jew. He looks like a Jew. Very good looking, like all Jewish men.’ He winked at Hamza. ‘Long brown hair, short beard, light brown eyes.’
‘You saw his eyes?’ I asked. ‘I thought you were far away?’
Jacob paused for a second. ‘Hm, yes, I was a long way off. But …’ he looked up and squinted as if looking reflectively into the past, ‘he … well, I think he had light brown eyes. I guess I could have imagined it. But he looked right at me. I can see that smile still. Funny, he was a long way, but … I’m certain of it …’ he trailed off.
A moment later his attention snapped towards me. ‘Now, how are your bandages?’ he asked, referring to the wrapped hand I nursed. He had given me fresh bandages for the injury, but the pain was constant although the bleeding had stopped.
‘They’re fine,’ I said.
Just then we all heard shouts from outside. Then, at the sound of screams and the clashing clang of weapons, we jumped up as one.
‘Alisha, go to your room!’ Jacob commanded, but the girl ignored her father and ran to the front window with the rest of us. He swung the wooden panel open to reveal a street – empty and lifeless an hour ago – now packed with men fighting.
‘Zealots!’ Hamza said as we watched a crowd of men on foot and on horseback being met by Roman centuries. Hopelessly outnumbered by the surprise attack, the Romans’ leather armour prevented not one of them dying.
‘What is going on?’ Malbool asked me, speaking for the first time in an hour.
‘I don’t know,’ I told him. ‘Zealots, religious f
anatics, seem to be attacking the city.’
‘Why would they do that?’ the African asked in his Roman tongue.
‘Rome. The Romans occupy Jerusalem, and the zealots don’t like it. There looks to be at least fifty of them. This is no scuffle, this is a coordinated attack.’
Looking out the window, glancing beyond the melee immediately in front of me, I saw lights come to life as the commotion woke the city.
Built into the hills and rock of the mountains, Jerusalem was a maze of bridges and walkways. The streets were hilly and sloped, the entire town built on levels.
‘Something big is happening,’ I said to Hamza. ‘We have to find him now, we have to go.’
He didn’t argue.
‘You want to go out there?’ Jacob asked, perplexed.
‘I have to find him now; this could all be part of the assassination attempt. This goes further than I can explain.’ I turned and made for the door, but stopped when I felt arms around my waist. I looked down into Mishca’s pleading eyes.
‘Don’t go. Don’t go, Saul,’ he pleaded.
I knelt before the boy. ‘You have to stay here. Jacob and Alisha will take care of you until we return.’ I gently pushed the boy away and looked up at Jacob, fixing him with an earnest glance.
‘As Jacob, son of Levin, you have my word the boy will be safe.’
‘I thank you. And … I will be back for him.’ Without further thought I also turned to look at the man’s daughter and smiled. She had no look of fear in her eyes.
‘We will take care of him,’ she said to me, coming over to rest her hand gently on Mishca’s shoulder.
I nodded, and then with Malbool and Hamza at my side, I left the house.
CHAPTER 48
David groaned and rolled a little. The puddle of drool that had formed under his cheek stuck his face to the leather couch. Sitting next to him, Shaun could smell the alcohol seeping through his skin. Glancing at his watch, he sighed; David would hardly be fit to travel in an hour when the next flight to Pakistan was due to leave.
There were now only a few pages left until the end of the diary. With a deep breath, he journeyed back into Jerusalem for the last time.