Redemption at the Eleventh Hour

by Andrew Crown

  Bricius resisted his first impulse to rush over to her and collect the prize that was denied to him before. His anger towards the man who was with her that day superseded his lust. Perhaps she was still with him? He decided to follow her from a distance and see if he she would lead him to that man so he could put the cold steel of his sword through his throat. Then that would leave him all alone with this beautiful nymph. The prospect of both sex and violence excited Bricius more than anything else in the world.

  Leah, cradling a full jar of water in her arms, made her way back home, unaware of the Roman trailing her with his eyes. Bricius waited until she was almost to the houses before following her carefully, with thoughts of vengeance running through his head. With alcohol clouding his judgement, he doubted she would recognize him without his armor and outside the context of the castrum, but he kept his distance just in case. She unwittingly led him all the way back to her home and disappeared through the doorway.

  Bricius studied the little clay house for a moment. It looked like there was no one else at home. This being a fishing village, the men that lived there were most likely out on the water, Bricius surmised. He took a deep breath and looked around. The streets were eerily quiet, most people unwilling to risk an encounter with the Roman visitors. There were also no boats making their way to shore, they were still small shapes in the distance. He was truly alone. The Roman approached the house, drew his sword, and knocked softly at the door.

  A moment of silence passed before the door creaked open and Leah’s brown eyes peeked out. She looked Bricius over quickly before her face animated in terrible recognition. She knew him as the assailant from that terrible day and from her frequent nightmares.

  She tried to shut him out, but he threw his shoulder against the door and pushed his way inside. She let out a frightened scream before she found his sword at her throat.

  “Quiet, you filthy whore,” the Roman officer snarled as his rank, alcoholic breath filled her nostrils. She still let out small squeaks amid sobs and Bricius covered her mouth with one of his massive hands. “Where is your man…Dismas? The one that got me into trouble. Is he here?”

  He removed his hand from her face so she could answer. She truly was terrified, and her voice quivered uncontrollably. “At…at the…w-w-water. Fishing-g.” She started sobbing as the blade at her neck began to draw a little blood.

  “Anyone else at home?”

  Leah could really smell the alcohol on his reeking breath now. Who knew what he was capable of in this compromised state of mind? She tried to answer but could only manage a shake of her head.

  “Good.” Bricius paused. At this moment he realized that he should have let his fellow officers know where he’d gone, but he couldn’t go get them now. He had committed to this plan. They’ve probably gotten into the wine and are too drunk to care anyway, he reasoned.

  He returned his attention to Leah and said, “I will wait for him. Is he coming back alone?”

  Leah bit her lip and resolved to say nothing more but the expression on her face betrayed the truth.

  “No? Not alone, huh? Well who is he with?”

  Leah didn’t answer and looked back at Bricius defiantly.

  SMACK! The back of his hand connected with her cheek. SMACK! He slapped her again.

  Leah dropped to her knees, wailing loudly. “With my father!” she shrieked.

  Two men, Bricius thought. He would have to surprise them as soon as they walked into the house. He glanced down at the despondent woman. Blood coursed down her cheek where he’d hit her. His large golden ring, the mark of a Roman centurion, had ripped her flesh and drawn blood. He hadn’t intended for his smack to hurt that much, but what was done was done. He knew that it hurt less than the lashings he received back at the fort.

  Bricius grabbed Leah by the arm and yanked her to her feet. “I want food and wine. Do you have some?” Leah whimpered that she did. “Get it,” he commanded, half releasing her and half throwing her.

  She shuffled off to gather some wine and bread while Bricius rested his gleaming sword on the wooden table and settled onto one of the pillows. He glanced out the window and saw it was about midafternoon. He would not have to wait too long for the men of the house to return.

  Leah put the food and wine in front of him before retreating to the other side of the room as the Roman ate ravenously. Despite the distraction of the food and beverage, he made sure of two things: that his sword was within arm’s reach and that Leah remained in his sight. She made a motion to slip quietly out of the room during his meal, but Bricius called her back in.

  “Stay where I can see you.”

  She put her back against the far wall and slid down so she was seated on the ground. Her only hope was to keep as much distance as she could between herself and the brutal centurion.

  Bricius made Leah refill his cup with more wine and studied her as she poured.

  “You and I are going to have all kinds of fun after I take care of the men in this house.”

  Leah said nothing, having cried out all of her tears. She wiped away the blood from her cheek. It still hurt but the bleeding was starting to slow.

  “What is your father’s name?”

  Leah said nothing.

  “NAME!!!” His shout rattled the walls. Leah still remained silent. Like a springing deer, Bricius was up and in Leah’s face, and hitting her with the back of his ring hand again. “I want his name!”

  “Asher,” she said as she covered the wound on her cheek. This was like a bad dream and she was waiting for it all to end. She wrapped her arms around her knees and silently rocked back and forth.

  “Here’s some advice, woman: Never make a Roman officer ask for something twice. If you obey that rule, you’ll live a longer and happier life.” Bricius belched before returning to his meal. “Dismas and Asher,” he repeated to himself.

  As soon as Bricius drained his second cup of wine, he heard footsteps and men’s voices outside. He turned towards Leah who watched anxiously from the corner, and with an evil grin and a wink, he motioned for her to be quiet. He crouched and moved towards the door where he dropped to one knee with his shoulder against the wall, his sword drawn.

  One man commented on the haul of fish and the other talked about how he wouldn’t have been able to carry the heavy net by himself. If they are carrying a heavy fishing net, Bricius thought to himself, I’ll wait until the second man clears the doorway before I attack. He was hoping that the first man wouldn’t see him crouched in the shadows.

  The door creaked open and a figure gripping the net walked backwards into the room.

  “FATHER, LOOK OUT!”

  Leah’s loud warning startled all three men. In a flash, Bricius was on his feet and the hilt of his sword came crashing down with a thud on the first man’s head. With a groan, he tumbled to the floor along with the net full of fish and lay motionless.

  Bricius could see he was an older man with a long gray beard. He turned his attention to the second man and recognized him instantly. There stood Dismas, with an expression of surprise that quickly morphed into anger. Bricius brandished his sword with its point towards Dismas. Unarmed and with limited options, Dismas raised his arms in surrender.

  Victory at hand, Bricius smiled. “Step into the house,” he commanded.

  Although his eyes burned with defiance, Dismas obeyed, and the Roman shut the door behind him.

  The Roman officer then shoved Dismas up against the wall and placed his sword at his throat. “You remember me, eh? I certainly remember you. My back bears the scars you gave me that remind me every day. It’s so fortunate that I happened to stumble upon your pretty girl here.”

  Leah let out an anguished cry, prompting Bricius turn slightly towards her. The alcohol made him sloppy and careless.

  Heedless of the blade at his neck, Dismas suddenly shifted to the side and rushed towards the Roman. He raised his knee as fast and as hard as he could. It violently connected with Bricius’ unprotected gro
in. The sword clattered to the floor as Bricius screamed loudly, covering his loins before dropping to his knees. Dismas followed up his knee with a forceful, downward elbow directed at the reeling man’s face. POP! The sound indicated smashed cartilage as the centurion’s nose began to gush blood onto the mud-brick floor.

  Meanwhile, Leah had run to her father’s side. He was not dead, but badly stunned. After a moment, Asher groggily rubbed his head as Leah helped him sit up. She then glanced over at Dismas, finally becoming aware of what he was doing, and shouted in horror. “Dismas! No!”

  Dismas didn’t hear or care as he stood over the stunned centurion who was writhing on the ground, covering his smashed nose. In Dismas’ hands was one of the large ceramic pots, normally used for storing fish, which he dropped unceremoniously on top of Bricius’ head. The pot shattered and Bricius lay still, completely unconscious with a pool of blood forming underneath his head from a deep laceration.

  Seeing the motionless centurion on the ground almost stopped Leah’s heart. She thought Dismas had killed him.

  Dismas let out a snort of rage. Only after a couple of minutes, did the ramifications of his actions begin to enter his mind. It was already terrible enough to fight with a Roman officer, but to kill him would undoubtedly carry the penalty of death for Dismas and possibly all three of them.

  He knelt and studied Bricius’ motionless form. The centurion’s midsection continued to rise and fall- he was still breathing. Both Leah and Dismas looked at each other with some relief. Dismas, however, knew that the magnitude of his actions still put him in incredible danger, particularly once Bricius regained consciousness. He moved quickly to gather his sandals, as well as food and a goatskin of water. He knew he had to leave immediately.

  “Leah, let’s go. We have to run far away from here before he stands up!”

  “And leave my father? No!”

  “He can come too. Let’s get him up.”

  “Dismas, he’s in no condition to move anywhere.” Leah said as she gathered bandages for Asher’s head while applying pressure to her own bleeding face.

  Dismas could see that Leah was right. The old man was bleeding profusely from his head and getting him to his feet would be a challenge, let alone out the door. He didn’t know what to do.

  “Bricius! Bricius! Where are you?” Dismas and Leah stopped cold and looked at each other with fear. The loud, drunken voice of Gallus echoed from the street outside. “Don’t tell me you found your own stash of wine!” The soldier was going from house to house shouting and banging on each door.

  “Dismas!” Leah urged. “You have to go. They’ll probably leave an injured woman and an old man alone. But not you.” Her lips began to quiver.

  Dismas didn’t want to leave them but he knew she was right. “Put all of the blame for this on me. All of it! Do you understand?”

  He glanced down at the broken nose and heaving chest of the Roman. The rational part of his brain thought, Thank goodness I did not kill him. The emotional part of his brain wished he had.

  He rummaged around on Bricius’ body until he found a money bag, which he pocketed. His eyes then fell on the beautiful gold ring, marked with the imperial golden eagle. A symbol of Roman power and authority. A symbol of terror and oppression. Dismas lifted the limp hand and slid the ring off the centurion’s finger. He glanced over at Leah who was even more scared by what he was doing.

  “For my trouble,” Dismas said simply. The thought of taking something that Bricius valued was too enticing.

  “No! They’ll punish you…I can’t bear it Dismas.”

  “They’ll punish me anyway if I’m caught, what difference does it make?” Seeing her hurt and frightened expression, he continued, “Leah, I love you so much. My life has been completely changed since I met you.”

  He walked over to her and kissed her deeply. She threw her arms around him and clung to him tightly.

  “Bricius! Come on now, where are you?” Gallus called again, closer to their house.

  Dismas pulled back from Leah. “I have to go now, Leah. I’ll go to Jerusalem; I can blend in there. Once this all settles down, I will come back and find you. I promise.”

  “Take care, Dismas,” Asher’s muffled voice said. He still sat on the ground, holding his hastily bandaged head in his hands.

  Dismas squatted down and took the older man’s hand. “Thank you for all that you have given me. I will return as soon as I can.” He gave Asher’s hand a quick squeeze, then turned and gave Leah a parting glance. His strength almost left him as he saw the sadness and longing in her face. He resisted every impulse he had to run back into her arms.

  A small groan from Bricius reminded him of the danger of his situation. Dismas grabbed the unconscious centurion and roughly sat him up. It took all of his strength that he developed from hauling heavy fishing nets to get the big Roman up and onto his shoulders. His legs wobbled slightly as he staggered under the weight, moving towards the door.

  Leah looked at him with a mix of terror and bewilderment. “What are you doing?”

  “I have a crazy idea, but it’s the best chance of protecting you both. Just grab the door for me. If any of these other Romans question you, say that I robbed you, that you don’t know me, whatever you need to come up with. Remember, blame me for everything if it comes to that. I’ll come find you soon.”

  Seeing the centurion’s blade on the ground, Dismas strained through clenched teeth, “Leah, hand me his sword.”

  Still unsure of his plan, Leah scooped up the sword and tucked it in Dismas’ belt before she pushed open the door. “Please be careful, Dismas!”

  “I will. Now close it behind me and keep absolutely quiet.”

  Dismas squatted down to get both himself and the Roman on his shoulders through the frame. The squatting motion made his muscles ache, but he pushed through. Then he walked quickly to put as much distance as he could between him and Asher’s house. Bricius let out another groan as he began to regain consciousness.

  A voice trailed after him. “Hey! Stop! Tycho, I found him! He’s over here!” Gallus slurred his words slightly at the sight of Dismas and Bricius. Dismas continued to move as quickly as he could, but the unencumbered officer gained on him despite his intoxication. Dismas waited until the drunken Roman got close and then let Bricius tumble off his shoulder with a thud. Gallus, who had gotten into the villages stores of wine, was more drunk than Bricius had been and reacted even slower in drawing his sword.

  Dismas’ fist connected with the bottom of Gallus’ chin. The uppercut snapped his head back before the Roman collapsed on the ground. Dismas took Bricius’ sword from his belt and tossed it onto the ground between the two stunned officers. Then he ran, never daring stop to turn back.

  “You there!” Tycho shouted as he saw Dismas running away. He made efforts to give chase but came upon his two injured companions. Not prepared for the physical exertion needed to catch Dismas, Tycho decided to see to his friends. Once they recovered, Tycho was dismayed to find that neither man could recall exactly which house Bricius had been in; they all looked the same to the Romans.

  “Let’s torch this flea-infested village!” Bricius groaned.

  Tycho was exasperated. “No, we’re not doing that. Come on, let’s get you both back to the castrum and get you cleaned up.” The three drunken soldiers made their way back to fort in considerably lower spirits than they had been when they arrived in the village.

  Meanwhile, Dismas pumped his legs as fast as they could carry him. He was lucky that the Romans didn’t have horses, but that didn’t stop him from looking over his shoulder every few minutes as he fled from the village.

  Love your enemies. The words Jesus used on the hilltop came back to Dismas and he felt a tinge of regret about taking Bricius’ ring. How quickly he had dismissed those words. He moved down the road past a rocky outcropping as he unsuccessfully tried to put those thoughts out of his head. With brisk steps and a troubled conscience, he continued southward carried
almost by instinct to the place that he had been trying to get to many months earlier: the great city of Jerusalem.

  Chapter XVI

  The sun was fading quickly in the sky, but Dismas knew that he had to keep moving throughout the night and probably most of the next day to put as much distance between himself and what he believed to be an inevitable Roman pursuit. He could hardly believe that he had assaulted a couple of Roman officers. As justified as he felt in his actions, he knew that he would likely face death should they catch him.

  He exhaled in short bursts as fatigue set in with each hurried step, occasionally glancing over his shoulder. In his panic, he thought he saw dust kick up on the horizon, signaling the charging of Roman cavalry. But upon blinking away the dirt and the sweat, he saw that there was nothing there, only the tall cypress trees on the side of the road swaying in the wind. Despite his exhaustion, rage and adrenaline kept Dismas moving. He was furious at Bricius. He had threatened Leah once before and had the audacity to track her down to do so again.

  I should have killed him, Dismas definitively reasoned as he pushed Jesus’ message out of his mind. The Romans would probably not make a distinction between killing a military officer versus assaulting and robbing one. If caught, he was a dead man regardless.

  Given this certainty, he considered returning to the village to meet the Romans head-on. The thought of finally being done with running and instead dying under their swords like a brave warrior was briefly appealing. He knew death was inevitable, but he might be able to bring that monster Bricius down with him. But Dismas had no weapon, and he realized that throwing his life away in anger accomplished nothing. Plus, the prospect of never seeing Leah again chilled his blood. This was perhaps the most troubling part of his current predicament.