The Making of the Lamb (31 page)

“What were you thinking?” Papa shouted. It was the first time Daniel had seen him direct such anger at Jesus. “Your friend is dead, but I hear you are quite the hero, Jesus. I hope you’re proud of yourself.”

“And you!” Papa pointed at Daniel. “You took part in the fighting, too. You must have known that Jesus was training as a warrior. You hid that from me!”

“Don’t blame Daniel. I entreated him not to say anything,” said Jesus.

“That would have been great comfort to your mother, I’m sure. Just imagine if you had been killed alongside your friend. I can still remember what I told her. Don’t worry about Jesus, I said. Daniel will look after him.” He paused, searching Jesus’s face for signs of remorse. “You are only a few years older than when I brought you here as a boy of thirteen,” he shouted. “And now I hear that you have killed many men and condemned Pirro to slavery?”

“Pirro betrayed us all, Papa. Jesus did what he thought was just.”

“I suppose you think that makes everything just fine,” Papa stormed. “I can hear what they will say about me now. Do business with Joseph, and he will sell you to the barbarians when it suits his purposes. If word of this gets out, I am ruined. For generations my family has built this business with the trust of our customers and suppliers. We are peaceful traders—not warriors. We keep the trust of our partners. That generally means having them sold into slavery is something we try to avoid!” He grabbed a plate and smashed it against the wall.

“But you know, Jesus. I do not care if you ruin me—not even if it ruins Daniel, too. I know what is going on here. You think you are the Messiah, and that one day you will lead our people to freedom, but you cannot win against the Romans. You will die an awful and shameful death. And I love you too much to bear that.” Papa laid his head down on the table and collapsed in sobs.

Jesus said, “Anything is possible with—”

“Papa is not ready to hear that now.” Daniel pulled Jesus to the doorway. “I will stay and look after him. You’d better go and leave him be for a while.”

“I’m sorry, Daniel. I have brought great sorrow to your father. We lost Fedwig—”

Daniel took a step closer, his voice low and trembling. “We have been through a war, Jesus. There is always a cost to that. Our cause was just, and we were victorious, but there is always a cost. Go and stay with Bannoch and Tilda. I know how much Papa loves you, and I am sure he will be himself in a day or two. I will come and get you when Papa is ready to talk this out.”

Three days passed before Daniel could summon Jesus back to Papa, who greeted him with open arms. The two of them embraced.

“I’m so sorry I hurt you, Uncle—”

“Jesus, I said many foolish things in anger. I forgot how much you have grown in the last few years. You are no longer a boy, and you will determine your own destiny. I must accept that now.”

“I cannot stay here in Carn Roz, Uncle. Bannoch and Tilda talk about their joy and pride in Fedwig, but I still sense their loss. I keep asking myself if I could have prayed any harder for him. I wonder why my Father did not answer my prayers. There is too much sadness for me now.”

“You have finished your work here, Jesus. You and Daniel have done well, but you have already mapped enough ore deposits to last for several years. You have revived for the Dumnonii their lost art of smelting and refining. The time has come for the two of you to move on to another venture; come with me to Ynys Witrin. There is lead and silver to be found in the surrounding hills.”

With the decision made, Papa quickly reorganized the enterprise at Carn Roz, putting the native workers in charge of the mining and refining. While Papa met with them, Daniel stopped in the storehouse to take an inventory of Pirro’s goods. They weren’t worth putting on the ship, but took up valuable space. He had to get rid of them.

Maybe one of the local merchants would take them off their hands. He turned to go and found Golia in the doorway. He grinned. “I thought you were avoiding me.”

She folded her arms. “Me? You’re the one who’s leaving.”

“Papa insists.” In truth, Daniel was as eager as Jesus to get away from the scene of their grief and explore someplace new. But he couldn’t tell her that.

“You won’t argue with him, will you?”

“What is there to argue about?”

“Nothing, I suppose.” She sighed and dropped her arms. She crossed the room and placed one hand lightly on his chest.

He tried to pull her closer, but she pushed away firmly. “You’ve been very sweet, Daniel, and I’ll miss you.” She walked out, hesitating at the doorway. “Good-bye.”

Well. That was easier than I expected.

Some of the Celts had located lodes of ore on their own, but Joseph retained the maps that showed the as-yet-untouched lodes discovered by Jesus. These secrets would be useful in later dealings with the natives, and they would give Joseph an advantage over any future competitors. The tin part of the venture would now resemble what he and Pirro had envisioned back in Lugdunum: He would come once or twice a year to Ictis or Carn Roz and buy finished ingots from the native Britons.

Kendrick took charge of loading his ship with sheep and stores of wine to take to Ynys Witrin. Jesus and Daniel worked with him as stevedores.

On the final night there was feasting and drinking in the dining hall. Bannoch brought in a bard for their entertainment. Jesus was touched to hear so many of his deeds recounted in the songs and poems. He wept when the bard sang of his friendship with Fedwig. Joseph looked up and caught sight of Tilda brushing away a tear.

“You have spent some years here, Jesus,” said Joseph over a mug of fresh mead. “How do you feel about leaving?”

“I can think of only a few instances that have made my life really happy. Looking back, I would say that the first thing I remember is waking up early to spend time with my mother and help her make bread. Then there were the times that my heavenly Father drew close and spoke with me. Another thing has been my life with these people. They lead such simple and happy lives. The earth is good here and yields abundant crops. Even as they follow their misguided religion, they are free of oppression and taxes.”

“The village has you to thank for its prosperity, Jesus,” said Joseph.

“This place has brought me joy, Uncle, but I am constantly reminded of the loss of Fedwig. I feel the Spirit guiding me to move on.”

They said their good-byes in the morning and Joseph saw the rainbow that only he and Jesus could see. Jesus and Daniel promised to visit often. Tilda embraced them both, as if they were her sons. She stayed on the shore waving for a long time as Kendrick’s ship slipped away from its mooring in the tidal pool and sailed down the Bay.

With fair tide and wind from the north, they made their way around the southernmost headland at Lysarth by noon and then crossed the wide bay past Ictis to the westernmost headland, which they rounded early in the afternoon. The wind took a westerly turn, allowing them to point the vessel along the northern coast of Belerium without tacking away from the land. The winds held until almost nightfall as they passed the mouth of the Camel and then Rumps Castle. Jesus and Daniel gazed silently toward the shore as the ship slipped past these landmarks.

With sundown came the Sabbath, so Jesus, Daniel, and Joseph devoted themselves to their prayers throughout the following day.

They awoke on the morning of the next day to find themselves anchored on the southeast side of a bay that stretched some ten miles across. This arm of the sea gradually narrowed to the mouth of the Sabrina, which flowed from the northeast. A thick fog lay over the nearby shore.

“We must await the tide,” said Kendrick. “Ynys Witrin lies twelve miles inland, but we can bring the ship right to it. We may need to row if the wind changes, but it looks good for now. You will be able to see it as soon as the fog lifts.”

“It sounds like you have been here many times before,” remarked Jesus.

“Yes. The natives mine for silver. My family has come this way for generations to trade for it. I have been asking Joseph to bring you here to locate the mother lodes ever since you showed us your knack for finding tin. Where you find silver, you also find lead.”

“What kind of people live here?” asked Daniel.

“This is a kind of no-man’s land. It’s a swampy area that makes it hard to define borders. And it lies between several tribes, so no one tribe can really claim it for themselves without angering the others. The lands of the Dumnonii lie to the west and southwest. The Durotriges and Belgae inhabit the lands to the south and east. The Silures come from the north across this bay. The Dobunni come from their lands on the south side of the Sabrina to the east. Many of the local people live in Lake Village. We will pass it on the way.”

“Aren’t the Durotriges warlike? I thought they raided the Dumnonii,” Jesus asked.

“Ynys Witrin is a sacred spot for the druids. They come from all over on their principal feast days, and they keep the peace,” Kendrick answered. “They have laid down powerful prohibitions against bringing weapons there. Not even the Durotriges dare to incur their wrath. Over the generations, the tribes have also found it mutually advantageous to leave the place as a neutral ground where they can trade freely no matter how they have fought each other elsewhere. Look. The fog is lifting and the tide comes in.” Kendrick commanded his crew to make sail.

The fog was still lifting as they crossed the low-flooded shoreline on the tide. Despite a fair wind there was hardly any wave action. “This area is called ‘The Levels’ because it lies so low and flat,” said Kendrick. “We are sailing near the saltwater marshes that lead to Ynys Witrin. They give the place its name. ‘Isle of Glass’ is what the name means, and it is a good one. The plants and reeds on the bottom absorb the waves before they form.”

The waters of the River Brue leading to Ynys Witrin were so unnaturally still, it seemed the ship was sailing on glass. They continued for another hour, making their way in the eerie fog as it continued to lift ahead of them.

“There it is, only a few miles ahead now. The fog has cleared from all but the very top of the Tor.”

Jesus made out the strange shape of a hill that had emerged from the receding fog. It appeared to pop out of the Levels as if from nowhere. The solitary, massive hill seemed out of place on such a flatland, and its shape seemed to vary as they adjusted course to approach from a different angle. At times, it appeared relatively higher, at other times wider, but always, from any angle, as a perfect cone.

Closing his eyes, Jesus remembered his homeland. He thought of Mount Tabor and recalled feeling some of the same energy from that place. Like the Tor, Mount Tabor seemed to pop off the floor of the flat Jezreel Valley, but Tabor lacked the surrounding mist and glassy waters. Aside from a sprinkling of trees, Mount Tabor was little more than a desolate rock. But in this new place Jesus felt the abundance of living creatures all around him. The brackish saltwater marshes gave shelter and provided feeding grounds to countless kingfishers, egrets, snipes, and ospreys. Turtles made their nests in the mud. On the firmer ground were stately oaks, elms, and beeches. There would be foxes and otters in those woods. Jesus imagined that such abundance as this would be as endless as the circle of life itself.