The Dog Who Was There by Ron Marasco

Author:Ron Marasco
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Thomas Nelson
Published: 2017-01-10T16:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 9

Wine,” muttered Samid. “I must find wine. Where is Hog when I need him?”

Samid looked around as if in a daze, then looked down at Barley. Barley’s eyes had followed Prisca until she disappeared into the crowd, and now he looked up at his master quizzically, his head cocked to one side as though he simply couldn’t fathom why Samid wasn’t following her.

Samid’s gaze wandered toward the far end of the plaza known as the stables, a place where lowly workers and merry drunks hung about amid a stink of animals and rubbish so rank that even the soldiers stayed away. He started to walk in that direction, but the crowd in the plaza had suddenly swelled to such density that his view was quickly obscured. The emotion of the citizens seemed so heightened that Samid knew something unusual was taking place. And he and his small dog were now in the middle of it. Samid reached down and hoisted Barley up, resting his dog’s belly on one of his strong forearms.

It was a perch Barley found to be both a comfy seat and a fine vantage point from which to take in the excitement of the swarm of people around him. A rather odd-looking fellow stood next to Samid and Barley. He had long, thin cheeks, an even longer and thinner nose, and jutting front teeth that made his whole face look like it was in a perpetual half smile. When the man noticed Barley, the half smile became a full smile. He kept looking down at Barley and then back up at Samid in the way that some strangers do when they want to initiate a conversation.

But Samid was the wrong target for a friendly chat, especially right now. Upon noticing the man’s obvious interest in Barley, Samid returned his solicitous smiles with a scowl. But the man was not deterred in the least by Samid’s disinterest. Glancing down at Barley again and then back up to Samid, he said with a toothy grin, “Is this your dog?”

“No, it’s my camel,” Samid muttered.

The intrepid man put his face close to Samid’s, looked at his forehead, and said, “You have a wound. Were you in a fight?”

Samid replied curtly, “That’s none of your concern, now, is it?”

The man merely smiled amiably and said, “The Teacher from Galilee has told us, ‘If anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to them the other cheek also.’”

“Well, that doesn’t sound like very wise advice,” Samid replied, and walked deeper into the crowd.

The mass of people was now surging forward toward the thoroughfare connecting the plaza to the city’s main entry gate. Some people were pushing merely to get a good view of whatever was about to happen, but others looked as though they knew what they were going to see and moved toward the road with a sense of intense expectation.

Barley’s senses were highly alert as he gazed at the scene in front of him.

The crowd pushed from behind until Samid and Barley were now near the edge of the thoroughfare.

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