‘Our Jewish king, dressed like a peasant and covered in ash!’ He laughed grimly. Behind them Mora hid in the doorway out of sight, looking round desperately for a weapon. She glanced at the wood pile, then at the woodcutter behind the fire. He was sitting up, watching her. In the light of the flames she saw his face. He was clear-eyed and he gestured towards his pack which was lying in the darkness beyond the reach of the flames. She crept back towards him and taking hold of it pulled it towards the light. He leaned across and opened it. Inside there was a sharp bronze knife. He pulled it out and handed it to her. With a quick gesture he ran his finger across his own throat and then pointed to the doorway. Gripping the handle tightly she ran back and looked out again. Yeshua hadn’t moved. Flavius was standing about six paces from him, the short Roman sword held out in front of him. He was enjoying the moment. She could see it in his eyes. A cat with a mouse.
‘The time hasn’t come, my friend,’ Yeshua said quietly. His attention was fixed on Flavius. ‘My end has been foreseen by the prophets, and it is not now. Not here.’ His anger had gone to be replaced by calm confidence.
Flavius smiled. ‘Prophets can be wrong.’ He transferred the sword lightly from his right hand to his left and then back again. ‘Have you done your work with the sick man?’
Yeshua nodded. ‘He is healed.’
‘Pity. Then I will have to kill him as well. We want no witnesses here. It suits my purposes that you quietly disappear in the wilds of Britannia. History and your prophets will have to acknowledge that this time they got it wrong. There will be no word that you ever came to this country.’ His glance shifted past Yeshua for a moment, towards the hut. ‘Is Mora there too? It is sad but she also will have to die -’
‘No!’ There was an explosion of movement behind Flavius as Romanus hurled himself out of the bushes. ‘You can’t kill Mora. I won’t let you.’
Mora stepped outside, the knife in her hand. ‘And nor will I, Romanus!’ That one moment of distraction was all it needed.
Yeshua stepped forward, his club upraised and struck the sword from Flavius’s hand. ‘Enough!’ he shouted. ‘You are not going to interfere with my destiny or with the destiny of these innocent people.’ His face was white with anger again, his careful calm gone. ‘You are an evil man with no conscience and no shame! I will not let you hurt anyone here.’ His eyes narrowed with the fury that had gripped him.
Flavius staggered back, cradling his broken hand against his stomach. It was Romanus who picked up his sword. The boy’s face was white. ‘You were going to kill Mora.’ It seemed to be the only thing that had registered.
Flavius looked down at him with an expression of complete contempt. He snatched his sword from the boy’s hand, then he turned and began to walk away. Several paces on he paused and looked back. ‘I will do my duty to my Emperor,’ he called. ‘This may not after all be the time or place, but do not think you will escape me.’
Seconds later they heard the thud of hoofbeats on the ground, rapidly receding into the distance. They looked at each other.
‘Why?’ Mora gasped. ‘Why did he try to kill you? I don’t understand!’ She was trembling violently. The knife had fallen from her hand.
‘I didn’t realise what he was going to do,’ Romanus said miserably. ‘At least, he told me, but I didn’t believe it.’ The boy’s eyes filled with tears. ‘He said you were a traitor. Then he said you were a king.’ He brushed the tears away with the back of his hand. He was looking at Yeshua with curiosity and something like awe.
‘A king? I thought you told me your father was a carpenter and a mason and an architect!’ Mora put in. Her face was white. She turned to Romanus, Yeshua’s antecedents forgotten in the wave of indignation that swept over her. ‘You told him we would be here and you brought him here. You betrayed us. Why?’
Romanus looked devastated. ‘He made me come. He makes it hard to refuse. My head was in a muddle.’
Yeshua stepped forward and put his hand on the frightened boy’s shoulder. ‘I have a feeling it would be hard for anyone to refuse Flavius. Don’t blame him, Mora. You did the right thing in the end, Romanus, when you shouted. You saved our lives.’
Mora shook her head. ‘I still don’t understand. Why would he want to kill you? He’s a stranger. I thought he was Gaius Primus’s brother.’
‘He is his brother,’ Romanus said. ‘He’s my uncle. He came here all the way from a place called Sepphoris in Galilee, specially to find Yeshua.’
‘And kill him!’ Mora was distraught. ‘Why?’
Yeshua walked over and put his arm round her shoulders. ‘It’s complicated,’ he said. ‘I will explain when we get back. For now, we came here for a purpose. Come, let’s see how our patient does. We need to find his daughter to take care of him, then Romanus can come back with us. We have a long walk ahead of us.’
‘He was completely better,’ Romanus said as they walked down the track later. ‘His leg wasn’t broken any more.’ He was staring at Yeshua with something like hero worship.
‘No, it wasn’t. It was as if it had never been broken.’ Mora too kept glancing at him. ‘That was more than just a healer’s job. That was magic. The goddess Bride could not have done better.’
‘You are right, she couldn’t.’ Yeshua smiled. He rumpled Romanus’s hair. ‘It was God’s work. All I did was line up the bones, that was all.’
‘No, it was more than that.’ Mora was still looking at him, eyes narrowed. ‘I could not have done what you did today.’ They had left the man sitting up by the fire, drinking his daughter’s hot broth. She had returned at last just after Flavius left, explaining that a message purporting to come from Mora had sent her all the way back to the island, delaying her and keeping her away from her father. She was however carrying a bow and two skinned hares for the pot. She too had stared at her father’s leg in something like awe.
‘But it was broken in at least three places. The bone was protruding.’ She looked from Mora to Yeshua and back.
Yeshua shook his head. ‘Maybe it was not as bad as it looked.’ He hesitated. ‘As I said, it was God’s work. I prayed and He healed him. But your father will need nursing. The shock will return tomorrow so he should rest and drink more of your broth.’
It was growing late when they at last regained the lower ground, heading south towards home. At one point Mora stumbled on the track and dropped her bag. Yeshua lifted her to her feet. ‘Take care. You are tired.’
She shook her head. ‘I’m all right. We will be at Lydia’s soon.’
‘Will Flavius be there?’ Romanus looked up anxiously. Not for the first time he seemed uncertain.
Yeshua and Mora glanced at each other. ‘It’s possible,’ Mora said eventually.
‘Then you mustn’t come home with me.’ The boy straightened his shoulders, looking at Yeshua. ‘You must stay away from him.’ He looked at Mora pleadingly. ‘Mustn’t he?’
She nodded. ‘We have to avoid your house until we are sure that he has gone. I still can’t believe that happened today. The man is mad to think he can get away with such a wicked deed. He wouldn’t escape with his life if the people round here heard he had so flouted the laws of hospitality. Surely, he must realise,’ she added hopefully, ‘that he can never go back to his brother’s house. Mustn’t he?’ She glanced across at Yeshua.
‘I don’t think we can be sure about anything,’ Yeshua replied. ‘Supposing he has gone back. Would the boy be safe? He won’t exact revenge on him?’
Mora’s hands tightened on Romanus’s shoulders. ‘Perhaps you should come back to the island with us.’
Romanus shook his head. ‘My mother will be so worried if I don’t go home. I went without telling her this morning. Besides,’ he added bravely, ‘Uncle Flavius won’t hurt me.’
They both looked at him doubtfully. Mora shook her head. ‘That was wrong of you, to go without telling anyone. If something had happened to you, how would anyone have known where to look?’ she said gently.
He shrugged. ‘I was with Uncle Flavius.’
‘Exactly.’ She gave his shoulder a squeeze. She sighed. ‘Will you be all right if we leave you here? It is only a short step home for you and from here we can take the hidden trackway over the mere.’ She looked at him closely. ‘You haven’t told Flavius about the hidden ways through the marsh, have you?’
The boy shook his head vehemently.
‘When you brought him to see me before, you didn’t bring him that way?’
Romanus shook his head again. ‘I took him in the boat.’
She nodded in relief. ‘That was well done. We can take no chances.’ She glanced around in the dark. ‘I don’t feel him near -’
‘He isn’t,’ Yeshua said. ‘We are safe for now. May God’s blessing be on you, Romanus,’ he added quietly. He reached over and touched the boy’s head. ‘And may He keep you in His hand.’
