Sacred Scrolls; Chapter 18

 

Sacred Scrolls; Chapter 18

© 2021 by Amber Wright

CAPTIVE ON A MISSION

Marcus surged forward as a splash followed Andronika’s flying motion into the Cayster River. He threw off his hood and raced in the direction where she had jumped. Once he was nearly there, he threw off his outer robe, still clothed in his simple white tunic.

Marcus dove into the water and desperately searched for Andronika below surface. Clothed in a heavy robe as she was, the girl had little chance for survival. His thoughts thrashed with his arms, feeling through the dark water for any sign of the girl. Her heavy clothes could be sinking her lower than I am. He felt his body slide downward yet more. Why did she jump? Could it have been an accident by chance? He could not tell in that darkness.

After what seemed like hours, Marcus finally touched a girl’s braid. Instantly, he pulled the braid closer to him until the head and then the body came. He swam back to shore swiftly, the limp body of Andronika now tightly under his left arm. Upon reaching the shore, he hoisted the lifeless girl to solid ground before climbing out of the river himself.

Marcus felt for a pulse; there was a weak one. Then, he turned her onto her stomach and began beating her back to pump the water from her lungs. After a few minutes, her weak pulse strengthened and she seemed to respond to life though her eyes remained closed. Her breathing grew raspy and she looked so ill.

Marcus turned to leave; his mission was still waiting for him. He took a glance back. Andronika looked ready to die. He could not leave her there, helpless, almost dead. So he shrugged back into his brown outer robe, picked up the girl and began his way towards the horse he had left hidden in the cove of a small mulberry thicket. His mission would have to be canceled. Demetrius would understand.

~

Junia had drawn her water for the evening and had said her goodbyes to Judith. Starting down the street from Judith’s house, she watched as a little poor boy ran up to her. He stopped and stood there, taking deep breaths, fumbling with a flashing coin in his dirty hands. His eyes looked scared as he kept gulping.

“Hello.” Junia tried to calm him by speaking sweetly to him. “What is it?”

“Lady,” he rushed out, “will you please come with me? It‘s important!”

“Why? What’s the matter?” Junia felt alarm slice through her and hoped she could do her best to help the situation. The little boy’s clothes were ragged and her heart went out to him. Perhaps his family needed her right now. “Is there something that I can do for you?”

The little boy bobbed his dark head, a yellowed white rag tied around it. “Will you follow me? Please come…not hurt you.”

“Of course.” Junia gave him a bright smile.

Without thought for herself, she mentally made a list of tragedies that may have happened as she rushed along behind the poor boy. What horrible thing could have happened? After all, you can only hope for the best but prepare for the worst in any situation. Please let there be no any infected wounds. I can’t stomach it. God, help! She made her silent plea with a glance upward. She only hoped this was not the time when God would teach her how to overcome this weakness.

She suddenly found herself surrounded by silence. The poor boy was gone. The busy streets has disappeared. She was in the old, deserted part of the city—where she dared not go alone. But there she stood, in the middle of toppling buildings and an empty stretch of sandy landscape. No flowers. No humans. No noise.

“If it was such an emergency, why did that boy lose me?” Junia pierced her surroundings with a frown. It made no sense.

Just as she was turning, a hand grabbed her arm. Before she could scream for help, a rough hand clamped over her mouth. She found her feet tripping over stones and entering one of the deserted buildings, dust rising at their entrance. Within a blink, her eyes were staring at the outline of three large captors filling the darkish, musty space of that tiny room. She tried to wriggle her way past the man guarding the door but he roughly pushed her back. She glanced wildly around her, heart beating with fear, with terror. Was there no escape? Why did the hooded men capture her? And why had she followed that boy? The three thoughts rolled through her mind, making her dizzy with worry.

After her eyes adjusted to the dimness of the room, Junia noticed the men’s robes were the color of brown and that they wore masks. Robbers! Are they part of the band from the mountains? Will they make me a slave or an accomplice…or will they kill me? Her breath caught and she grew terrified. Besides the guard at the door, the men paced the dirt-mounded floor. One stopped before her.

“Do not worry. We will not harm you.”

“Who are you?” Junia plucked up her courage to speak. No answer. Then she gave him a withering look, despite her lingering fear.

“We cannot say,” the guard answered.

“What do you want of me?” Junia’s courage rose with her frustration as an uncontrollable sneeze escaped her. The room seemed to be filled with dust for it had a scratchy dry smell to it. “I have no money. And even if I did, you’d take no penny from me!”

She gave them each a withering look and crossed her arms, sniffling from her unsettled sinuses. If she could count the dust, it would equal half the entire room. Dust particles floated everywhere. She could smell them.

“Our Captain has a mission for you to do,” the guard at the door spoke again. “Come peacefully and we will not harm you.”

“Who is your Captain?” Junia bit onto her thumbnail, wondering what could be the mission the captain had in mind for her. Who are they—and what is this all about?

“We cannot say,” the guard at the door repeated.

“Do not worry,” the first man spoke again. “You will not be harmed.”

The third man wiped off an old crate, nodding towards it. “Sit. You need rest.”

Confused at the man’s concern, Junia sat down on the crate in the middle of the room and sneezed two more times. “Thank you.”

Why is he so polite…yet brutal enough to capture me? And what sort of mission does their captain want of me? Surely not to pry my way into the houses of people that I know. The idea made her tongue go dry. She peeked up at the three hooded men through her eyelashes. They ignored her as they murmured among themselves. She sat there, alone. Occasionally, an occupant of the old deserted building—a mouse or two—would scramble across the floor to greet her with a squeak. She would answer them by politely pulling up her feet, trusting they would not brush their slimy little tails against her as they passed.

The men’s murmurs rose a little and she perked up her ears. “When do we leave?”

“As soon as darkness falls. Then, it will be safe.”

“Will the girl come peacefully, do you think?”

“We will see. Marcus says she is doing bad and we need this girl badly.”

“Shh, no names were to be given said the captain. The girl must be kept completely in the dark until we get there.”

A pause followed.

“Now falls the dark. We must act quickly. Get the robe for the girl!”

One of the men disappeared into the back of the room and came back with a mound of dark cloth. The robe to disguise her. She swallowed. Who was Marcus and what did a dark robe have to do with her mission? The whole capture made no sense to her.

“Put this robe over your clothes.” The man shoved it into her hands.

Junia nodded and took the robe, obeying her captor’s order. What is my mission—and who is that girl who needs me? More complexities. One more unsolved mystery. “I’m ready.”

“Not quite.”

~

Garbed in the oversized dark robe and lectured to keep quiet or suffer the consequences, Junia found herself leaving the city between the three hooded men. They passed through the less traveled north gate, the guards paying little attention to them as they strolled rather than walked. A little ways from the city, they stopped.

“Wait.”

Junia held her breath as two of the men disappeared into a thicket. They came back with four horses…and she knew there was no escape now. She must do what she was destined to do. Her mission.

“Mount.” The order brooked no argument.

Junia climbed onto the horse, feeling a tremble wave through her over the whole affair. Her fingers gripped the horse’s mane for the reins were held by one of her captors. The horses broke into a trot and time seemed to stretch on forever as her horse jolted rhythmically under her, causing her to nod with sleep despite her terror.

Finally, it was time to dismount. As her feet flattened onto the ground, hooded figures swarmed around them and took their horses. She followed them in silence. The trail took them even deeper into the dark forest. Soon torches lit up the night and Junia blinked, wide awake now. She had arrived. She did a swallow. Her mission awaited her at the end of the trail. She opened her eyes wider. They were entering a large cavern filled with bright light from a huge campfire and long torches stuck into the ground. Smoke curled from pits, the smell of meat lingering in the air.

A girl’s cries made her heart stop. What was happening to the girl? Would she be next? She felt a flutter of fear pierce her beating heart. Will I ever make it back home again? Nice and peaceful home… Her thoughts clanged to a stop when she saw a man approach her. One of her captors addressed him as captain…and she struggled for breath. Her heart and thoughts raced along. Here was the man who had ordered her capture.

To her, the days gone by had been filled with troubles and tears. But now it was terror. She stood there, paralyzed with fear and a thousand frozen nightmares.

The captain spoke. “Junia, you came.”

A Few Greek Words:

Fil'os: friend

Meh'tehr: mother

Pah'tehr: father

Adher'fi: sister

Adher'fos: brother