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Chapter 25
Chapter 25
Philip, as called the new guy, asked that we go to Cana by way of Bethany, as he had a friend there that he wanted to recruit to follow along with us "I tried to get him to join with John the Baptist," Philip said, "but he wouldn't stand for the eating-locusts, living-in-pits thing Anyway, he's from Cana, I'm sure he'd love to have a visit home"
As we came into the square of Bethany, Philip called out to a blond kid as sitting under a fig tree He was the same yellow-haired kid that Joshua and I had seen e first passed through Bethany over a year ago
"Hey, Nathaniel," Philip called "Come join me and my friends on the way to Cana They're froht be the Messiah"
"Might be?" I said
Nathaniel walked out into the street to look at us, shading his eyes against the sun He couldn't have been more than sixteen or seventeen He barely had the fuzz of a beard on his chin "Can anything good come out of Nazareth?" he said
"Joshua, Biff, Bartholomew," Philip said, "this is my friend Nathaniel"
"I know you," Joshua said "I saw you e last passed through here"
Then, inexplicably, Nathaniel fell to his knees in front of Joshua's camel and said, "You are truly the Messiah and the Son of God"
Joshua looked athimself on camel's feet "Because I've seen you before you believe that I'ood could come out of Nazareth?"
"Sure, why not?" said Nathaniel
And Josh looked at ain, as if I could explain it Meanwhile Bartholoie followers (whoun to refer to as his "disciples"), went over to Nathaniel and helped the boy to his feet "Stand up, if you're co with us"
Nathaniel prostrated himself before Bartholome "You are truly the Messiah and the Son of God"
"No, I' the kid to his feet "He is" Bart pointed to Joshua Nathaniel looked to me, for some reason, for confirmation
"You are truly a babe in the woods," I said to Nathaniel "You don't gamble, do you?"
"Biff!" Joshua said He shook his head and I shrugged To Nathaniel he said, "You're welcome to join us We share the camels, our food, and what little money we have" Here Joshua nodded toward Philip, who had been noood at math
"Thanks," said Nathaniel, and he fell in behind us
And thus we became five
"Josh," I said in a harsh whisper, "that kid is as dumb as a stick"
"He's not dumb, Biff, he just has a talent for belief"
"Fine," I said, turning to Philip "Don't let the kid anywhere near the money"
As we headed out of the square toward the Mount of Olives, Abel and Crustus, the two old blind guys who'd helped utter (I'd learned their naender mistake)
"Oh son of David, have mercy on us!"
Joshua pulled up on the reins of his camel "What makes you call me that?"
"You are Joshua of Nazareth, the young preacher as studying under John?"
"Yes, I am Joshua"
"We heard the Lord say that you were his son hom he ell pleased"
"You heard that?"
"Yes About five or six weeks ago Right out of the sky"
"Dammit, did everyone hear but me?"
"Have uy
"Yeah, mercy," said the other
Then Joshua climbed down from his camel, laid his hands upon the old men's eyes, and said, "You have faith in the Lord, and you have heard, as evidently everyone in Judea has, that I am his son hom he is well pleased" Then he pulled his hands from their faces and the old men looked around
"Tell me what you see," Joshua said
The old guys sort of looked around, saying nothing
"So, tell me what you see"
The blind men looked at each other
"So?" Joshua asked "You can see, can't you?"
"Well, yeah," said Abel, "but I thought there'd be more color"
"Yeah," said Crustus, "it's kind of dull"
I stepped up "You're on the edge of the Judean desert, one of the most lifeless, desolate, hostile places on earth, what did you expect?"
"I don't know" Crustus shrugged "More"
"Yeah, more," said Abel "What color is that?"
"That's brown"
"How about that one?"
"That would be brown as well"
"That color over there? Right there?"
"Brown"
"You're sure that's not mauve"
"Nope, brown"
"And - "
"Brown," I said
The two for to each other
"Excellent healing," said Nathaniel
"I for one have never seen a better healing," said Philip, "but then, I'm new"
Joshua rode off shaking his head
When we cary and more than ready for a feast, at least most of us were Joshua didn't know about the feast The wedding was being held in the courtyard of a very large house We could hear the dru as we approached the gates It was a large wedding and a couple of kids aiting outside to tend to our cauys about ten years old; they ree
"Sounds like a wedding going on," Joshua said
"Park your ca kid
"It is a wedding," said Bart "I thought ere here to help Maggie"
"Park your ca on the reins of my camel
Joshua looked at ie? You said she was sick?"
"She's in the wedding," I said, pulling the reins back from the kid
"You said she was dying"
"Well, we all are, aren't we? I rinned
"You can't park that camel here, sir"
"Look, kid, I don't have anykids It unnerves ain, or it's going to co or an eye poked out
"So Maggie isn't really dying?"
"Hey, guys," Maggie said, stepping out of the gate
"Maggie," Joshua said, throwing his ar at her that he forgot to grab on again, and off the caround facedoith a thus barked, Maggie ran to Josh, rolled hiet his breath back Philip and Nathaniel waved to people froate to see what all the commotion was about Before I had a chance to turn, the two kids had leapt up onto our ca around the corner off to Nod, or South Dakota, or some other place I didn't know the location of
"Maggie," Joshua said "You're not sick"
"That depends," she said, "if there's any chance of a laying on of hands"
Joshua smiled and blushed "I missed you"
"Me too," Maggie said She kissed Joshua on the lips and held him there until I started to squirm and the other disciples started to clear their throats and bark "get a room" under their breaths
Maggie stood up and helped Joshua to his feet "Cos," she said to Bart, and the hulking Cynic shrugged and sat down in the street amid his canine disciples
I was craning my neck to see if I could see where our ca to run those caround, and I know they won't feed or water them"
"Who?" asked Maggie
"Those ca boys"