The Eagle In the Sand

He was interrupted by the sound of footsteps and hurriedly stood as Miriam and Yusef turned the corner and saw him squatting down by their belongings. Miriam's eyes went immediately to the casket as she strode across towards the centurion.

'I'll thank you to leave my property – what remains of it – alone. My son made that for me. That, and the contents, are all I have to remember him by.'

'I'm sorry. I… ' Cato stared at her helplessly, then hung his head in shame. 'I'm sorry.'

'My grandson says you wish to speak to me?'

'Yes. If you will permit me.'

'I'm not sure that I want to speak to you. Not after… ' Miriam swallowed as she gestured towards the scorched remains of her house.

'I can understand that,' Cato replied gently. 'The prefect was wrong to do it. I tried to stop him.'

Miriam nodded. 'I know, but it made no difference.'

'What happens to you now? Where will you go?'

Miriam blinked back the tears that glistened at the corners of her dark eyes and nodded vaguely towards the street she had emerged from. 'One of my people has provided a room for me and the boy. The villagers will build us a new home.'

'That's good.' Cato tilted his head slightly to one side. 'You said your people. Are you their leader?'

Miriam pursed her lips. 'In a ma

Cato smiled back at her. 'Whatever the reason, you clearly hold some power over them, as well as Symeon and Ba

Miriam's smile froze, and she looked at Cato suspiciously. 'What do you want of me, Centurion?'

'To talk. To understand what is going on. I need to know more about your people, and about Ba

'You want to understand my people?' Miriam replied bitterly.'Then you'd be one of the few Romans who ever did try to understand us.'

'I know that. I ca

'Very honest of you, Centurion.'

'We could start improving relations if you would call me Cato.'

She stared at him for a moment and then smiled.'Very well, then, Cato.We'll talk.' She bent down to pick up the casket and tucked it securely under her arm before she rose up and nodded to him. 'Come with me. You too, Yusef.'

She led Cato through the quiet streets and a short distance out of the village to a small reservoir that collected the rain that ran off the slopes of the wadi during the winter and spring. Now it was nearly dry and a few goats chewed at the tufts of grass growing in the cracked earth at the water's edge. Miriam and Cato sat in the shade of a handful of palm trees while Yusef ambled off to find some pebbles for his sling and began to practise against a distant rock.

'He's got a good eye for that,' Cato commented. 'He'd make a fine auxiliary when he grows up.'

'Yusef will not be a soldier,' Miriam replied firmly. 'He's one of us.'

Cato glanced at her. 'One of what, exactly? I am told that you, and these people, are Essenes.Yet you don't seem to wholly embrace their way of life.'

'Essenes!' Mirian laughed. 'No, we are not like them. The pleasures of life are to be enjoyed, not denied. Some of my people were once Essenes, but they didn't want to spend the rest of their days dead to the joys of the world.'

'Pardon me, but Heshaba is hardly my idea of paradise.'

'Perhaps not,' Miriam conceded. 'But it is our home, and we are free to make it as we will.That was always my dream. After my son was executed I turned away from Judaea. I'd had enough of their petty factions, playing one sect off against another. The high priests in Jerusalem were the worst of the lot. Endlessly splitting hairs over interpretations of the scriptures, while their families grew wealthier and wealthier. That's why my boy, Jehoshua, became involved in the political struggle. Not just against Rome, but against those who exploited the poor. He was quite a speaker, and at the end huge crowds used to come and listen to him. That was when the priests decided that Jehoshua had to be silenced. Before he persuaded the people to turn on them. So they had him arrested and saw that he was executed.'

'I thought you said he was crucified?'

'He was.'

'But only the procurator could authorise that.'

'The procurator at the time was a weak man. The priests threatened to stir up trouble against the authority of Rome unless my son was executed. They made a deal and my boy was killed. His closest followers were hunted down and the movement was broken up. Some of the leaders wanted to avenge Jehoshua. They took to the hills and have been raiding the estates of the rich and attacking Roman patrols ever since. In Jehoshua's name. Ba

'That's how you know him, then.'

Miriam nodded. 'He was a fiery young man, even in those days. Very idealistic. Jehoshua used to joke that Ba

'True enough.' Cato nodded. 'But as long as they hide out in the hills we can contain the problem.The thing is, I overheard that comment he made about having some outside help.'

'What comment? When was this?'

'That day when Symeon and I hid beneath your house. I overheard you speaking with Ba

'I remember now. He seemed quite excited by the idea. I wondered who he was talking about.'

Cato stared at the ground between his boots for a moment before he responded. 'The people who would have most to gain by arming Ba

'Parthians?' Miriam stared at him. 'Why would Ba

'I think you're right,' Cato replied. 'But it seems that Ba