Author's note: I hope you don't find the time skip too jarring, but I felt I really wanted to progress to the night of the play. I hope you will enjoy being a "member of the audience" as the play begins.
Saturday, 14th September 2019
The big day had finally arrived. Sherlock couldn't believe how quickly the last four weeks had flown by. These past few days had been especially busy as they rehearsed in the theatre, putting everything together for the play.
Sherlock was amazed at how professional they had managed to make everything look. Using the lighting and staging crew of the theatre certainly helped, and Sherlock knew there was no way they could have afforded this kind of professional standard without Mycroft footing the bill. He was well aware the cost of hiring the theatre and crew for the week would have cost thousands of pounds.
The theatre was almost filled to capacity. Molly had posted flyers at the hospital for it, and Greg had posted one at NSY. Church members had taken flyers to various workplaces.
Sherlock had insisted he not have his name prominently placed on the flyer as playing the "starring" role. This was not about him and his fame, it was a chance to share the story of Jesus with others, and he was just part of that.
Instead, the flyer talked about "The Life of Jesus," a play by Molly Holmes, being a fundraiser for cancer research. Sherlock's name was on the flyer in smaller print as one of the performers, along with John's, and Mark Holmes listed as the narrator.
The bottom of the flyer read, "No admission fee, but please give generously to support cancer research by donating cash or making your cheque payable to Cancer Research UK".
Sherlock knew there were a good number of people in the audience he knew, such as his parents, Martha Hudson and her sister, Edith, as well as Molly's mother, who had reserved seating. Lori Lestrade and a heavily pregnant Abigail had volunteered to look after Victoria, Rosamund and Adam during the performance, as well as Abigail's own daughter, Grace. Caleb was to take Grace out partway through to participate in the play. The two women had watched the final dress rehearsal from the audience two nights earlier.
Sherlock was standing in the wings with Molly, who would be going out on stage first to welcome everyone and introduce the play. He was already fully dressed in his costume, wearing a fake beard. This was something Sherlock had no problem in applying. He'd had to disguise himself on several occasions in the past with a false beard.
Molly was looking beautiful, he thought, dressed in the red, off-the-shoulder maternity gown he had bought for her to wear on Valentine's Day last year. She had plenty of time to get into her costume as Mary of Bethany, and Sherlock was glad she could at least dress up to introduce the play.
Her hand slipped into his, and he noticed how cold it was. "Nervous?" he asked.
"A little. What if people don't like it? What if something gets all messed up?"
He frowned down at her. "Molly, do you really think so little of yourself that you are concerned that this play will not be an unequivocal success? Have faith, my love. Everything is going to go perfectly."
She bit her lip. "I was a bit worried when a couple of the props were put back in the wrong place on Wednesday night and we had to look high and low for them. And then on Thursday, Greg fell when he hoisted himself out of the boat for the walking on water scene. Not to mention Brad almost dropped you that night when he lifted you down from the cross."
"Isn't there a saying in the theatre industry that a bad dress rehearsal makes for a good performance?" He caressed her cheek. "It will be fine, love. You'll see."
He saw the lights in the theatre auditorium dimming as the murmur of voices lessened, and he gave Molly's hand a quick squeeze before releasing it. "It's time, love."
She licked her lips nervously, and he watched from the wings as she stepped out in front of the curtain to the podium at the side, where Mark would shortly take his place as the narrator.
An expectant hush fell over the audience. Someone coughed, then Molly began to speak.
"Ladies and gentleman, my name is Molly Holmes, and I want to thank you for coming this evening to support this fundraiser for cancer research." Sherlock noted she did not use her title. He still loved hearing her first name combined with his surname; Molly Hooper had been lovely, Molly Holmes was outstanding.
She went on to thank Mycroft Holmes for his generous donation in securing the venue and the theatre crew; the church and its members for their part in providing the rehearsal space, sets and costumes, and the performers themselves.
"And now, please enjoy our performance of The Life of Jesus," Molly said, and the audience clapped as she made her way back to the wings, while Mark passed her to take his place as narrator.
Sherlock kissed Molly's cheek quickly before heading off to his place behind the second curtain, ready for his first scene. John was already waiting, dressed as John the Baptist, wearing a long beard. He would have a quick change after the scene to become John the disciple while Sherlock did the temptations in the wilderness scene. In lieu of changing the beard, which would be difficult in a short period of time, one of the stagehands was ready in the wings to trim the false beard to give John a different look.
The curtain rose to reveal a few feet of darkened stage in front of a second curtain as Mark began to tell the story of Jesus's birth. Slowly, the stage lightened as spotlights were trained on Mary, Joseph and the baby Jesus. Mary sat on a chair with the swaddled baby doll to represent Jesus, with Joseph standing beside her, motionless.
When Mark finished the narration, Sherlock saw the stage darken again temporarily and knew it was so Mary could get up and go off stage with Joseph carrying the chair.
The second curtain opened to reveal Sherlock and John as Jesus and John the Baptist standing before a projection of the River Jordan. Blue fabric stretching from the wings was waved in front of them as it would be in the later scene with Peter walking on water.
The scene went off as rehearsed. After the baptism sequence, the projection on the screen behind changed to include the image of a dove.
From an unseen microphone, the stentorian sound of Mycroft's voice as God said, "This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased."
When Mycroft had first appeared to do his part for the first rehearsal in the theatre, everyone had been quite impressed with the way he had modulated his voice in deepening it to say the line of God authoritatively, and this was no exception. Sherlock was glad Mycroft had agreed to do it, rather than have Mark read the line, it added an other-worldliness to the scene.
John hurried offstage for his quick change while the stage was darkened once again temporarily and the lights came up again to reveal Sherlock standing before the first projection being used for the temptation in the wilderness.
Mark began his next narration.
"Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. The tempter came to him and said, 'If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.'"
Sherlock marvelled again at how well Mark put the snake-like insidiousness into the voice of Satan.
He responded clearly, looking at the projection of stones, then out at the audience, "It is written: 'Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.'"
The projection image changed to an above view of Jerusalem as Mark said, "Then the devil took him to the holy city and had him stand on the highest point of the temple."
His voice changed to the same insidious one. "If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down. For it is written: 'He will command his angels concerning you, and they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.'"
Again, Sherlock looked at the image on the screen, then faced forward.
"It is also written: 'Do not put the Lord your God to the test.'"
Mark continued as the view screen projected an image from a mountain top with various settlements displayed below. "Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor."
Once more, his voice changed. "All this I will give you, if you will bow down and worship me."
Sherlock used his most commanding voice to say as Jesus, "Away from me, Satan! For it is written: 'Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.'"
He walked offstage as Mark concluded the scene with, "Then the devil left him, and angels came and attended him."
Mark continued the narrative of Jesus moving from Nazareth to live in Capernaum by the sea of Galilee, as the curtain came down briefly and the performers hurried into their positions for the next scene, holding fishing nets and ropes. The boat built for the play was wheeled into position. Greg, as Simon Peter and Matthias, as Andrew, climbed onto the boat with a large fishing net which they held aloft, ready to throw to the rear side of the boat when the lights came up.
When the curtain rose again, it had a projected image behind them of the Lake of Galilee with boats on it.
Sherlock walked onto the stage again, and the scene of calling followers was successfully completed. Sherlock noted that John's beard was slightly askew from when he had changed costume and had the beard trimmed to become John the disciple, but he was sure nobody in the audience would have noticed.
The play continued as Mark talked about the various acts of healing done by Jesus, and the performers acted them out.
After the scene where Jesus called Matthew to follow him, came the scene of the bleeding woman as Molly had scripted.
Noreen, Bob's wife, who was playing the woman in question, touched the cloak of Jesus.
Sherlock remembered that Noreen had been so enthusiastic about taking part in the play, that Molly had especially altered the script, using some of the narrative from the book of Luke and included a line for Noreen to say. Greg, as Peter, also got an additional line as a result.
Jesus turned his head to look at the people clustered around him. "Who touched me?"
People shook their heads.
Peter said, "Master, the people are crowding and pressing against you."
Jesus looked at Peter. "Someone touched me; I know that power has gone out from me."
Noreen stepped forward and fell at his feet. Her voice trembled convincingly as she said, "I thought that if I could only touch your cloak, I would be healed. And when I did so, the bleeding I have suffered for twelve years stopped."
Jesus bent down and gently touched her head. "Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace."
The performance progressed, and Sherlock recited the parable of the sower. As the longest monologue, he was always glad when this one was finished, and he was pleased that his memory did not suddenly fail him. More parables followed.
During the feeding of the five thousand, when Archie spoke his line clearly and confidently, Sherlock could imagine Allison smiling with pride in the audience. Archie really was a polite, well-adjusted young lad, not at all like the rather contrary little boy he had been as a reluctant page boy for John and Mary's wedding a few years earlier.
They reached the scene where Jesus walked on water.
Mark began the scene narration, and Sherlock waited until he heard the words, "Shortly before dawn, Jesus went out to them, walking on the lake."
Sherlock stepped onto the stage, behind waving fabric representing waves, moving towards the boat that was closer to the other side of the stage. As he did so, he reflected on the true miraculous nature of what had occurred. The miracles Jesus had performed could not be re-created except by artificial means. No modern science could explain these things. How could anyone doubt that Jesus was truly the Son of God if they had been witness to such things?
He walked slowly as the disciples in the boat expressed their fear, saying things like, "It's a ghost!"
He called out, "Take courage! It is I. Don't be afraid."
Peter stood and said, his voice trembling slightly, "Lord, if it's you, tell me to come to you on the water."
Sherlock could tell Greg was nervous by his voice, probably because he had not climbed out of the boar successfully during the dress rehearsal and had felt embarrassed when he ended up sprawled on the stage. It was fortunate he had not been hurt.
He raised his hand and gestured towards the disciple. "Come."
Thankfully, on this occasion, the exit from the boat to the stage was successful and Peter walked towards him.
When only a couple of steps separated the two men, Greg bent his legs to show he was sinking, and said, "Lord, save me!"
Jesus took another step and grasped his friend's hand firmly. "You of little faith. Why did you doubt?"
The two men then walked to the boat as Matthias exclaimed to the other disciples in the boat, in his role as Andrew, "Truly he is the Son of God."
The curtain closed to the sound of clapping as the music for Oceans began. The boat was wheeled offstage, and the men got out of the boat.
As they prepared for the next scene, Sherlock listened to Kathy doing a beautiful rendition of the worship song. It was such a fitting one to follow the scene, and it worked well to give them time to assemble the cast for the next scene, which was to be where the little children came to Jesus. Archie, as the oldest child amongst the six children onstage, was to take little Grace Hunter from Caleb's arms and walk with her towards Jesus. Over the last month of rehearsals, Grace had become used to Archie. Sherlock thought it quite extraordinary how well she behaved in the scene during rehearsals, except for the one occasion on which she had been sleepy and refused to relinquish her hold on her father. There was no telling what would happen with an almost two-year-old.
Sherlock heard the sound of applause as Kathy finished her song and the curtain rose once again to reveal him sitting on a set piece painted to look like a clump of boulders.
Mark narrated that people were bringing little children to Jesus for him to place his hands on them, but the disciples rebuked them.
On the stage, brothers Jacob and Joshua, as well as Philip Anderson, as Judas, held out restraining hands towards the children.
Jesus said in a tone of rebuke, "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these." He reached out his arms in Grace's direction. "Truly I tell you, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it."
On cue, Caleb relinquished Grace to Archie, who led her to Jesus.
He reached down for her and almost chuckled when she, knowing what was coming said, quite clearly, to the amusement of the audience, "Up."
As Sherlock lifted her into his arms and hugged her, he thought of Victoria. He would have loved for her to be in the play, but she would probably have said "Dada" at the wrong moment. He did not want people to see Sherlock, but Jesus.
He held Grace on his lap and said, "See that you do not despise one of these little ones. For I tell you that their angels in heaven always see the face of my Father in heaven."
He continued, "What do you think? If a man owns a hundred sheep, and one of them wanders away, will he not leave the ninety-nine on the hills and go to look for the one that wandered off? And if he finds it, truly I tell you, he is happier about that one sheep than about the ninety-nine that did not wander off." He stroked Grace's short hair softly, thinking of how months earlier she had been completely bald after her chemotherapy for the retinoblastoma eye cancer that had attacked her as a baby. He was so glad for Caleb and Abigail that she was now cancer free and that the prognosis for her future health was excellent, with no sign of returning cancer. It seemed rather fitting that the little girl who had inspired Molly to write the play and hold a fundraiser for cancer research, should be participating in the play.
Sherlock suddenly realised he had allowed his mind to wander for a few seconds and people were looking at him expectantly to finish his lines. He thought quickly and recalled what he still had to say. "In the same way your Father in heaven is not willing that any of these little ones should perish."
Sherlock and Molly had talked about that in the past, and this was something that they agreed seemed to point out that little children who died before the age of accountability, including those who were lost through miscarriage and abortion, were saved and taken to heaven.
Sherlock released Grace to Archie's care, and the lad returned her to her father's arms.
The scene continued with more parables and explanations.
At last, they came to the final scene before the interval.
Two men sat cross-legged on the stage with alms plates in front of them as if they were beggars. Bob and George, because they were not in the first half of the play with their respective roles as Caiaphas and Pontius Pilate, had volunteered to play the blind men.
Jesus, followed by his disciples, walked towards them, and Bob called, "Lord, Son of David, have mercy on us!"
Jesus stopped beside them. "What do you want me to do for you?"
"Lord," George answered, "we want our sight."
Jesus bent down and placed his fingers gently against Bob's eyes, then George's.
The men stood, embraced, and joined the disciples, as Mark said the final lines while the curtain dropped. "And Jesus continued to preach and do many miracles during the three years of his ministry."
Sherlock took a deep breath and let it out slowly as the sound of applause could be heard from the other side of the curtain.
John came up to Sherlock and gave him a pat on the back. "Well done, mate, although I had a few anxious moments when you paused in the middle of that scene while you were holding Grace. Did your fabulous mind palace fail you?"
Sherlock gave him a rueful smile. "Not exactly. I was just stroking Grace's hair, and that brought to my mind how she was the reason Molly came up with the idea of the play in the first place. God works in mysterious ways, and I'm glad we could include her."
John smiled. "That's true. You did well at getting back into it. It was only a few seconds really, and the audience might have just thought you were pausing for effect. I only noticed because I know you usually say that line immediately after the one before it."
"Well, I'm glad I didn't make a mess of things."
"Of course not," John assured him.
"By the way," Sherlock pointed at the part of John's beard that needed adjusting, "You might want to get one of the stage hands to help you get your beard positioned correctly."
John put his hand up self-consciously to feel his beard. "Oops, you're right. I'll do that before we go back onstage."
Sherlock looked over at Greg. "Well done in getting down from the boat successfully this time," he said, and Greg grinned.
"Believe me, I kept a tight hold on the boat until my feet hit terra firma, or the water, as it were." He paused for a moment, then said, in a tone of wonder, "Jesus really did that, didn't he?"
"Walked on water?" asked Sherlock, continuing at Greg's nod. "It's what we believe as Christians, that everything we are doing here is based on fact. Three of the four gospels were written by eyewitnesses to Jesus' ministry. You either accept it all, or nothing. There's really no in-between."
He was surprised to see Greg's eyes fill with tears. It seemed to Sherlock as if all the bustling activity and words of congratulations around them ceased as he focussed on his friend. John, obviously noting the seriousness of the conversation and the need for private conversation, walked away, presumably to get his beard issue taken care of. Sherlock knew Greg was struggling to speak, and he waited patiently.
A tear slid down Greg's cheek as he said, "All these weeks we've been rehearsing, Sherlock, and I've been feeling as if there's a voice inside me, challenging me to take this seriously." He drew in his breath. "Tonight, when I got out of that boat, and we were doing the walking on water scene, and you held out your hand to me, I suddenly saw you as Jesus, lifting me up out of the water. I just made the connection. This is all fact, Sherlock. I believe, truly I do. Everything you and Molly and Lori and John and Kayla have spoken of for years suddenly makes sense. It's-" he paused, and a brilliant smile flashed over his face even as another tear slid down his cheek, "a miracle."
Sherlock rested his hand lightly on Greg's shoulder. "My friend, we have been praying for you for so long. It is the Holy Spirit who has been working upon your heart, softening it and opening your heart to understand the truth. I'm so glad for you." He paused, a smile of his own lighting his features. "You should go back to the room where Lori is babysitting and let her know. You have a few minutes before we have to be ready for the triumphal scene."
Greg nodded. "Going there right now."
Sherlock smiled as his friend departed. The side of the stage had cleared except for Molly, who he suddenly noticed had been quietly observing from a little distance away.
She walked to him. "I was going to come and say what a wonderful job you're doing," she told him, then turned her head briefly in the direction Greg had gone. "Did I hear right? Did Greg just make a profession of faith?"
Exuberance spread through Sherlock, and he wrapped his arms around Molly. "Indeed he did. I believe our prayers for him have been answered."
He rested his head on top of Molly's, and she said, "Lori's going to be so thrilled! Just last week, I was speaking to her, and she was saying her one greatest desire and prayer is that Greg would become a Christian before their baby is born." She raised her head to look into Sherlock's eyes. "This is turning out to be such an amazing evening already, and we're only halfway through!"
Sherlock couldn't resist the temptation. Her eyes were shining, and, even dressed in her simple costume now as Mary of Bethany, she looked so beautiful. He lowered his lips to hers.
She responded for a few seconds, then pulled back. "That fake beard is really scratchy." She rubbed at her face.
Sherlock gave her a sheepish smile. "Sorry, love. I couldn't help myself. I was telling John that I had a moment earlier where I thought about how Grace Hunter is the reason we are here today, and how appropriate it is that she is in the play." His hands moved to touch Molly's abdomen gently. Her pregnancy was quite obvious now. Lynn had done a good job in creating a costume with a rope belt she could fasten above her waistline to accommodate her expanding girth. "How are you feeling? Ready for our scene in a little bit?"
Molly smiled. "I'm ready to kneel down and pretend to dry your feet with my hair. Just give me a hand up afterwards." She made a sudden exclamation. "Did you feel that? Christina's awake."
They had finally decided on the name Christina two weeks earlier. He recalled the conversation now.
They were discussing baby names on the sofa after putting Victoria to bed. "You're sure you don't want to use either of your names?" he asked, rubbing Molly's belly.
"Definitely not. We need to find a first name that will go with the middle name of Joy. I think it would be rather nice, because of the single syllable middle name, to go with a three syllable first name, as we did with Victoria."
With Molly's due date being close to Christmas, and Victoria's middle name being Faith, they had settled on Joy as the baby's middle name.
"If we were having a boy, I'd suggest the name Christian," he commented.
Molly looked up at him and said slowly, "Well, how about we flip around the last two letters and name our daughter Christina?"
"Christina Joy," said Sherlock, testing it out, and he felt the baby move beneath his fingers. He smiled. "I like it, Molly, and so, apparently, does our daughter. I just felt her move as I said her name."
'Molly's hands covered his over her abdomen. "Christina Joy it is."
Now, Sherlock caressed Molly's belly again. "Of course I felt her. I love feeling our baby move inside you, Molly. The next three months can't pass quickly enough for me."
Molly grinned. "Well, after tonight, we can just relax and wait for the baby to come. I must admit, it will be nice to be finished with the play at last, after all this work, although I know it will be bittersweet as well that it is over." She paused. "By the way, you're doing an amazing job tonight; everyone is. I hope people give generously. It's always a gamble not to set a price for a show."
"I'm sure we will collect more than if we'd set an admission fee," said Sherlock confidently.
"Well, I need to go to the loo before the second half begins," said Molly. Sherlock had noticed her more frequent bladder urges lately. He remembered that had happened at about the same point when she had been pregnant with Victoria. Fortunately, no sign of swollen feet as yet, although that could change.
"I might head to the loo myself," he said. He hadn't thought to use the toilet before the show began and was suddenly aware of his own need to relieve his bladder. He had planned to pop into the dressing room where Victoria was, but it was too late now, and besides, he didn't want to interrupt Greg and Lori if they were talking.
They headed for the men's and ladies' dressing rooms which each had adjoining toilets that could be accessed from the passage.
Sherlock was finished first, as was usually the case, and he waited for Molly.
When she reappeared, he said, "I'm going to go to our dressing room and make sure my beard isn't coming loose."
"Alright. I expect the stage manager will be calling us for places soon, so I'm going to head back to the stage." She gave Sherlock a peck on the cheek and headed in the direction of the stage.
Sherlock went to his dressing room, a small one reserved for principals, that he had asked Molly to share with him, rather than using it alone. He checked in his dressing room mirror and made sure his beard was still correctly attached.
The stage manager announced over the small loudspeaker, one of which was in every dressing room, "Places please for the beginning of Act Two", and Sherlock returned to the side of the stage for the triumphal entry into Jerusalem. Most of the cast members, including Molly, were involved in the scene to recreate the crowd of people waving palm branches.
A real donkey, hired especially for the occasion, was at the side of the stage with a handler, awaiting Sherlock. It was fortunate the theatre had given permission for this, as Sherlock felt it would have been rather ridiculous for him to be sitting on a fake donkey on wheels or one created by costumed men. Unsurprisingly, it had been Mycroft to the rescue for this.
The stage dimmed to show it was time for the show to resume, and the noise from the audience ceased. Sherlock seated himself on the placid donkey.
Mark spoke the narrative that explained Jesus's request for a donkey, and the curtain rose on Act 2.
Author's note: I felt this would be a good place to end the chapter because it was already getting quite long. What did you think of how things have been progressing so far? Were you happy to see Greg finally turn his heart to Jesus? It has been something I've planned for a very long time that this would be the catalyst for his own change of heart.
Grace's struggle with retinoblastoma is part of my continuing storyline. If you have read my stories chronologically, you would be familiar with it. I encourage you to find out more about this rare disease that threatens the eyesight and lives of babies and young children.
I hope you also enjoyed the little flashback where I had the chance to show how Sherlock and Molly came up with the name for their second daughter.
If you have been touched by this story, please share your thoughts with me instead of keeping them to yourself.