Read Online Jerusalem's Hope by Brock Thoene - Free Book Online Page B

nodded.
    â€œMay I see it?”
    Felix fished in a leather pouch hanging from his belt. He retrieved a circular, stamped bit of bronze, no bigger than his thumbnail. On the far horizon the sun, which had plunged into a thin layer of cloud, emerged just above the sea. A beam of light reflected off the shiny copper surface of the penny as Felix handed it over.
    Marcus studied one face of the coin and then the other. “Three years,” he said. “Three years as governor, and he’s learned nothing.”
    â€œWhat do you mean?”
    Tracing the engraving with his finger, Marcus described what he found there. “A sheaf of barley. Around the rim the words Tiberius Caesar. ”
    â€œWhat’s wrong with—”
    Waving his friend to silence, Marcus reversed the image and continued. “And on the other side . . . a simpulum beneath a lituus. A cup for pouring wine onto an altar and the spiral-topped rod of a diviner when he reads the entrails of a goat!”
    â€œSo? They aren’t images of men or beasts. Just things!”
    Marcus shrugged. “Then you don’t understand either. Since before the time of Alexander the Great, through all the wars with Antiochus and the Maccabees, the quickest way to rouse a Jewish mob was to threaten their beliefs. Pious, peace-loving Jews will regard these coins as rude, an affront to their faith. The more rebellious will use them as one more proof that Rome wants to destroy their faith altogether.”
    â€œAll that from a penny?” Felix said incredulously. “It takes two of them just to buy a man entry to a public bath. Why would anyone take offense at something so minor?” The sun slipped beneath the sea, announcing its departure with a final greenish flash. “Anyway, it doesn’t matter. Pilate is ready for trouble, be it aqueduct or coin. He’s given Vara the special assignment of riot control. The governor is determined not to lose either control or dignity ever again.”
    â€œA bloodbath in the making?”
    â€œVara has strict orders about how much force . . .” Felix’s words trailed away. Both men knew Vara was a raging wild animal. Certainly not noble, like a lion. More like a hyena, pulling down the weakest prey, and insatiable. “You stay away from him,” he said in warning. “He’s planning to destroy you.”
    â€œJust as well that I’ll be heading off to the wilds of Beth-lehem then,” Marcus joked. “Or would be if that barber ever showed up!”
    â€œAh,” Felix said with a guilty start. “I forgot. I sent him away. I want you to keep the beard so you can go back into disguise if needed.”

    The caravansary outside the town of Salim had sleeping accommodations and prepared food for those who could pay, as well as heaps of straw and access to common cook fires for those who could not. The inn was really only an open courtyard surrounded by a porticoed terrace. Families who arrived early in the day sheltered in the alcoves in a semblance of privacy; latecomers shared the central square with hundreds of strangers, donkeys, and oxen.
    There had been no more alarms or close calls during the rest of the day’s journey. Avel hadn’t seen Kittim or Asher, or any other rebels, but that fact had not allowed him to relax. Being taken so completely off-guard earlier made him anxious. Avel was afraid to enter into any more conversations for fear of being distracted. Only by keeping his nerves balanced on a knife’s edge could he stay alive. He had spent the entire afternoon glancing behind him and ducking around rocks to see if anyone was following or even staring at him.
    Given the oddity of his behavior, it wasn’t surprising that everyone did seem to be staring.
    Avel was doubly desirous of nightfall, and unhappy that Ha-or Tov and Emet turned into the caravansary’s entrance. He would have preferred finding a secluded spot away from the