Disclaimer: I am a practicing Catholic Christian. What I know about Judaism, I've learned from public school and private research. Feel free to correct me if I have misrepresented any points of theology or culture.
"The Easter Hope"
Justin didn't know what was happening in the carriage behind him; he was focusing on the road ahead, and couldn't hear his friends' voices over the sound of wheels on the uneven road. He had seen Nihilus fighting with Capella, and he had appeared to be gravely injured when they picked him up. Now Justin's heart felt heavy with fear for the man who had saved them.
He could remember his first encounter with Capella, the day he, Ben and Zak smuggled Miriam's parents into the bakery. Tacticus had later deduced that Capella must have replaced him as a centurion.
The first words Marcus had said to him were, "You're bad!" But he was ultimately proven wrong about this.
The first words Justin had said to him were, "What do you know about Jesus?" But what mattered was not what he knew, but what he learned.
After driving at top speed for nearly fifteen minutes, Justin signaled Zak, who was riding on another stolen horse, to stop. He went to the back of the wagon on the pretense of asking where they were going and which way he should drive; but really he wanted to know how Capella was.
Zak swung the metal door open. "Is everyone all right?" But when they saw the others, they already knew.
Capella was lying on the floor of the wagon. Ben was kneeling down at the centurion's head. Marcus was crying. Justin knelt down and pulled him into a hug, just as he had done after the Great Fire.
Anna looked a little shaken. She hadn't known the man herself; she only saw him briefly when they broke into the stockade, and subsequently witnessed his rescue and death. She could tell that Ben, Justin and Marcus had a story to tell about him, but she didn't ask about it now; she would let them tell it when they were ready. In the meantime, she tried to help Justin comfort Marcus, who had never witnessed death so closely before.
"It's all right, Marcus," Anna said. "He's with God now. And you heard what he said – he got to hear the stories of Jesus before he died. He was happy, and he still is."
Ben spoke up. "You know, the amazing thing about Jesus' death – other than the fact that He was resurrected – is that when He died, the souls of all the people who had died before Him were able to go to Heaven. And now, because Jesus died to save us, when we die, we too can be with Him in Heaven."
"That's why Jesus had to suffer so much?" Marcus asked. Ben nodded.
"All we can do now is pray for him," Helena said gently. They all stood or kneeled in a circle around Capella's body.
Marcus looked confused. "How can you pray for a dead person?" he said, wiping his tears away.
"Like this," Helena answered, and began. "Dear Lord, please welcome Capella into Heaven; let Your Light shine on him, and let him be at peace. Forgive him whatever sins he committed, and remember the good things he did. Let him know how grateful we are to him for helping us. Bless us who mourn him, and help us to always remember him."
Ben gently laid Capella's head on the floor of the wagon. He heaved himself up, and stood with his his hands clasped in prayer. He recalled words that he had memorized in the months following his own parents' deaths years ago. "Glorified and sanctified be God's great name throughout the Universe created from His Eternal Will. May the Kingdom be established in your lifetime and during your days, and within the lifetime of the entire House of Israel, speedily and soon, and let us say: Amen."
"Amen," they all echoed.
Half an hour later, the fugitives arrived at the port and found Senator Patronius waiting where Saleem's ship was docked.
"You kids get on board," Helena said. "Cyrus should already be there. We just have to talk to Patronius."
Anna, Justin and Marcus walked up the gangplank. Saleem and Cyrus greeted them cheerfully, and introduced the brothers to Cyrus' parents, Sabin and Risa.
"What took you so long?" Cyrus asked his friends jokingly. The other three exchanged glances, and he could tell something was wrong.
Justin began. "Cyrus, do you remember Capella? He was one of the centurions guarding us in the bakery."
"Yeah, I remember," Cyrus answered.
"Well, he also guarded us in the stockade. And again, he kept trying to get us to reveal where the rest of you could be hiding. Then, he told us something you won't believe: he was one of the Roman soldiers who brought Jesus to be executed, about thirty years ago."
Cyrus and Anna looked at him with wide, incredulous eyes.
"Capella and Ben each told their own version of how Jesus died at Golgotha, but Ben hadn't finished his side of the story when you came to rescue us. That's why he freed Capella and stayed behind while the rest of us escaped – he wanted to make sure Capella heard the rest of the story, about Jesus' Resurrection."
Anna suddenly understood. "That's why he turned on Nihilus and Nero, when they told him to nail Ben to a cross. He believed."
Justin nodded solemnly. Cyrus looked surprised and impressed. "Really? He betrayed them?"
"Yeah. But – Nihilus wounded him," Anna said softly. "He died on our way here. His body's in the wagon."
There was a moment of solemn silence as the news sank in.
"What will they do with Capella's body?" Cyrus whispered. "Who will bury him? And where?"
Justin looked troubled at this thought. "I don't think we can use the catacombs for burial anymore, after – well, since the Romans know the place." He didn't mention that Capella had been part of the raid on the catacombs, barely a week before, though it seemed like much longer.
Zak was just boarding the ship, and answered the question. "I have relatively good news," he offered. "Senator Patronius is going to bury Capella in his family's sepulcher – that's where we hid after you, Ben and Marcus were captured," he informed Justin.
"That's perfect," Anna said, sounding satisfied and reassured.
"You know, every now and then, I'm actually glad to be proven wrong about a person," Zak said. It had happened with Cyrus, Tacticus, Cassius, and Milo. "This is one of those times."
"I'm glad you're humble enough to admit it," Cyrus said with a smile.
Anna spoke up. "Marcus, tell Justin and Cyrus what you did when Nihilus tried to stop us."
Marcus smiled proudly. "He jumped onto the back of the wagon and tried to come in, but I had the hammer that Capella had been about to use before, and I hit him on the head with it. He fell off the wagon and landed on the road."
Cyrus laughed. "Good for you, Marcus!"
Justin and Anna moved a little further down the railing. "Thank you for taking care of him while I was driving," Justin murmured. He knew Marcus looked to Anna like a big sister, as she seemed to understand him best.
"You're welcome," Anna returned.
Justin looked out at the skyline of Rome, the city where he had grown up, the place they were about to leave forever. "Do you really think we'll never have to rescue anybody again?" he asked, remembering what she had said on the way to the Circus Maximus.
"I hope so," Anna answered frankly.
"I kind of think that there'll always be people to rescue. Even if we can't save them, God will. I mean, Jesus already saved us all, when He died for us. He overcame Death, so we'll live even after we die."
Anna looked at him, impressed. "You should be a minister when you grow up."
"Well, I've actually thought about being a baker – it's the only trade I know well. But I think I'll be a storyteller too. Ben says we're all story keepers, and we have to pass them on."
"That's why I'm excited for Shem Hadar," Anna said. "We can take the stories to so many new audiences. Imagine how many people can be saved through Jesus – like Tacticus and Capella. You know, one of the last things Capella said was that he wants us to keep telling the stories of Jesus."
Justin blinked. "Really? He said that?" Anna nodded. "Well, they say you're supposed to honor the dead's wishes. So I guess we'll have to."
The stories had saved them in the stockade. The stories helped them survive, and now they would do whatever they could to ensure that the stories survived.