This is what Duncan had been waiting for. He was excited. He recognised this scene. This is what he had seen himself doing in the mind-picture that The Great One had given when they had asked for help at Myrna’s house. He knew exactly what to do.
He ran out into the open right in front of the horses. He gave a growling bark, just sufficient to cause the horses to rear momentarily. Then, continuing to move back and forth across the road in front of them, he maintained a snarling growl, making it impossible for the vehicle to move forward. Most onlookers would have seen a dangerous dog attacking the horses. But anyone who knew Duncan well would have recognised the hidden smile beneath the snarl. He was enjoying this. This is what he had been made for. He was in control.
Duncan was well satisfied with himself. There was no way he could have done this when he was a puppy. He was now an experienced warrior dog, in control of himself as well as the horses. He had no doubt now that The Great One loved him, because only love could have given him this job. He was the happiest dog in the universe.
Seeing the Plaustrum stop and hearing the barking, Bailey and Ruth ran around the rocks. With a voice surprisingly full of authority, Bailey shouted, “Duncan, stop.” A quiet and submissive Duncan came and stood by her side. “Sit,” she said quietly.
The two soldiers had dismounted from the Plaustrum. What they saw in front of them was like a vision of the homes they had been away from for so long. It brought tears to their eyes. In front of them stood a beautiful young woman, a girl just approaching womanhood and a dog. Together they made the most peaceful family scene you could imagine. Ruth looked at the soldiers and knew that these two would not pose any threat. She was happy to talk with them for a while.
Then Peter, looking from the other side of the rock, noticed something. He remembered a ditty he had heard somewhere in his childhood. ‘One of these crates is not like the others; one of these crates is not quite the same.’ There was something very unusual about the crate at the back of the Plaustrum. It had two furry feet protruding from the top of it. He knew those feet.
He looked down the road and saw that the two soldiers were crouched, fondling Duncan, while talking to Bailey and Ruth. He was satisfied that their attention was firmly fixed the other way.
He went over to the crate, grabbed the two legs that were protruding from the top and pulled. Up came Bear, like a carrot being pulled out of the ground. In a low voice Peter said, “Quiet, there are people around. Come. You’ve got some explaining to do and it had better be good.”
When Bear was safely hidden between the rocks Peter wandered casually into the view of the soldiers. “Ruth,” he said, “there you are.” “I’m sorry,” Ruth said. “We had to go after Duncan. We found him barking at these poor horses. He could have got himself into real trouble.”
Peter stayed and talked with the soldiers for a while. Then, with the girls waving and the dog’s tail wagging, they made their way back to the rocks where Bear was still concealed. They stood and watched the two soldiers seat themselves and continue on their way, laughing and joking as they went.
So ended Bear’s big adventure. This is the story he would tell his grandchildren years later. If he had no children of his own, he would tell Bailey’s grandchildren.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN- PETER PREPARES FOR TROUBLE
Peter and Bailey were standing on the rooftop of Myrna’s house. Bailey could see that Peter was worried, while Peter, in turn was aware of her concern. He wanted to put her mind at rest but didn’t know if he could without unsettling her further. He had come to love her as if she was his own daughter. He decided to be honest with her. It would help her to make wise decisions in the coming days. He said, “Bailey, will you sit with me for a while. There are things I must tell you. We all need to be prepared. Trouble is coming.”
Bailey’s simple faith rebelled. “Surely no harm will come to us while we continue to follow the direction Saviour gives us. The Great One has given him authority to rule over everything and The Presence is always with us.”
“I believed that at first,” Peter replied, “but there are many things we do not understand. When The Presence came to us on the rooftop I was so excited. I thought that all the evil in the world would be driven back and everything would be perfect peace and freedom. I am still excited and have no doubt that his kingdom has been established, but it is not as simple as that. What is happening has threatened those who rule over our own regional area. We have enemies among the rulers and among the people. I wish I understood more - - -.”
Duncan’s voice was sharper than he intended. Unable to contain himself, he exclaimed, “Humans! Humans are so stupid. Think. Think. Understand. Explain. How does that help anything? Life doesn’t have to be that complicated. Bailey is my ruler. When she says sit; I sit, even if there is something else I would rather be doing. Yes, bad things happen sometimes. Then I do what I have to. After a while the bad stuff goes away. But I live in the good. Some dogs live in the bad. They are cranky, angry dogs. They end up in that place we call ‘The Pound.’ I trust Bailey. She loves me. I do what she says,” and then he mumbled something that sounded like “or get into trouble.”
Bailey and Peter looked at Duncan in amazement. Had he really said all that, or had the Spirit of Saviour been telling them something through him? They would never know, but they would remember and take note of what had been said.
Peter continued to explain. “When the charges against John and I were dropped, we held a meeting of the leaders of The Way to decide what our future action should be. Many ideas were put forward. It would probably have become a pretty heated discussion if something special had not happened.”
“What happened, Uncle Peter?” Bailey asked.
“The Presence is what happened,” Peter said. “It was so powerful that the whole building shook. We would have believed it to be an earthquake if we had not felt the strength of The Presence within and around us. It was so powerful! It made us realise how powerful The Great One is. We knew that he could destroy the whole building in the blink of an eye if he chose.”
“We know. We saw that very thing happen to Lucifer in The Before,” Duncan said. Peter gave Bailey a puzzled look and she promised to explain later.
“The thing is,” Peter continued, “we knew then, without any doubt, that The Great One was in total control and that we must obey any direction he gives us without question, so we simply asked him what we should do.”
Bailey was puzzled. She wondered why this hadn’t been clear to them from the beginning. Peter seemed to know what she was thinking and continued, “Of course we knew that Saviour, son of The Great One, was to be obeyed without question. What we didn’t know was how to view the demands of the regional governing body.
They too have been put in place by The Great One and must be respected. The answer we received was to continue as we had started, telling people clearly about the establishment of the Kingdom and demonstrating its reality with signs that could only come from him. Tomorrow a group of us will go to the public area of the temple and begin teaching again.”
Peter explained to Bailey and Duncan that he believed there was great danger for all of them in the days ahead. He told them that he had made arrangements for Myrna to take them, along with Ruth, to stay with friends in Damascus if the situation became dangerous. He would follow later.
In Jerusalem, the ruling party was feeling threatened by the rising popularity of The Way which was beginning to be seen by many as the opposition party for leadership in the city. Because of this threat the ruling party had also called a meeting to decide how to handle the situation. They decided to apply the law forbidding unauthorised teaching. Trouble was inevitable.
Life continued and word got around Jerusalem next morning that Peter, John and the other leaders of The Way were holding a teaching seminar in the temple courts. This caused a great deal of excitement. When the time a
rrived it was hard to find space in the area surrounding the temple, so many had come to be a part of the occasion. Many had come to listen, while others had brought sick or injured friends and relatives to be healed.
While all this was happening, a contingent of armed police pushed their way through the crowd. They had come to arrest Peter and John.
The support of the crowd for Peter and John was so great that it would only have taken one word from either of them for the whole scene to explode into bloodshed but, well aware of how dangerous the situation was, they turned and allowed themselves to be led quietly away to await trial.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN- ANOTHER JOB FOR DUNCAN
That night was a night they would all remember. Strange things would happen. There would be a demonstration of the authority of Saviour, ruler of the kingdom of The Great One. Many would respond by becoming his followers. Others would blind themselves with anger and align themselves with the authorities to destroy The Way.
With Peter in prison it was not an easy night for Bailey. She was having trouble sleeping. Her concern for Peter and John was keeping her awake. There was nothing she could do for them. Not even Ruth, with her contacts among the religious and government leaders could be of any influence now.
Finally, she gave up, rolled off her mattress, walked across the rooftop room and leaned against the low mudbrick balustrade. Looking out over the city, everything was so peaceful that she found it hard to believe there was trouble anywhere. For a moment she allowed the peace to penetrate her mind and body. Enclosed in her little bubble of quietness, she was not surprised to find somebody standing beside her. It was with joy, rather than surprise that she turned toward him and said, “Peter.” Then the shock of reality hit her; it wasn’t Peter. Of course it wasn’t. Peter was in prison. There would be no mercy for him this time. She may never see him again. The penalty for his offence was death.
She was worried and confused. How many times could her emotions bounce from one extreme to another in such a brief space of time?
Then she recognised who was standing beside her. It was Alias, her friend from previous encounters. She knew that he was totally trustworthy. His very presence brought her peace; the kind of peace that could only come from The Great One himself.
His presence reminded her of the time of The Speaking, when The Great One first brought order and life to the world he had created. She now believed that The Great One was again bringing order out of chaos. She could not yet see what he was doing but she was determined to be part of it. Alias was the messenger of The Great One. She would do whatever he asked her. She looked at him expectantly.
Alias said, “Bailey, Saviour needs you and Duncan. Come.”
She did not hesitate but calling quietly to Duncan, followed Alias down the stairs and onto the street. In the darkness of the night, they walked along the deserted road until they arrived close to the entrance of the prison. Alias signalled for Duncan and her to stop, while he continued toward the Prison.
There were two guards at the prison gate. How were they going to get past them? Then she remembered that Alias was not from this world. He had come directly from the throne-room of Saviour.
She watched as he continued past the guards without them being aware that he had gone by. To her amazement he disappeared into the prison, straight through the door, as if it did not exist. She wondered why her presence was needed when he could do such extraordinary things without her.
A few minutes passed in silence, when suddenly Bailey’s whole world was turned upside down. Duncan had run in a circle around her and launched a surprise attack from the rear striking her forcibly in the back. “Duncan, no!” she screamed with terror rising in her voice. Her own dog was attacking her! He had never done anything like this before. In panic, she ran and felt his teeth graze her ankle. What kind of a fool was she? Surely she knew she could not outrun Duncan. She stumbled and fell. Everything was chaos. Duncan was snarling. She was on the ground screaming and the guards were yelling but they did not dare leave their post, even to help someone who was so obviously in distress. To leave their post could cost them their jobs and even their lives.
Then, as if a switch had been flipped, everything went quiet. Duncan was licking her face and apologising, “I’m sorry. I couldn’t warn you. I had to do it. I was acting under orders from Alias. Can we please go home now? I don’t like it here anymore.” Bailey got to her feet saying, “Yes. I need time to recover too. Did you have to be so convincing?”
When they got back to the roof-top room she crawled under the blanket, patting the mattress to indicate that, for just this once, Duncan could come in beside her.
As they drifted off to sleep they both wondered the same thing. They knew that they had done what was required of them but could not work out what had been achieved. Only later would they understand.
TIME TO PAUSE
Ask The Presence to be with you.
If you are in a group and the arrangement permits join hands as the Bailey Bunch did when they yelled 'the bunch' together. I'm not asking you to do 'the bunch' but, of course you can if you wish. You can do what you like. You don't have to follow my directions. They are just suggestions. Think back to a time when you were nine or ten years old (any time.) Then do what our group did when they had a problem. Remaining quiet, invite The Presence which is always in the room with you to give you something to share with the rest of the group, (Or if you are alone to write in your diary) Do not add to it, censor it or try to interpret it; just share it.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN- FREE AGAIN
Today was the day when judgement would be passed on the leaders of The Way for unauthorised teaching. The judging panel was in place, supported by the governing body and religious leaders. The court was in readiness. The guards were ordered to bring the prisoners in.
The court waited, and waited. There seemed to be an undue delay. Finally, one of the guards returned and spoke quietly to the presiding judge. The guard appeared agitated as he told the judge that there was a problem. They had gone to the prison, he explained, where everything appeared to be in order. The prison guards were exactly where they were supposed to be. The gates were locked but the prisoners were not to be found. Nobody knew what had happened.
Before the judge had time to take this in, another messenger approached and said, “Did you know that those people you arrested yesterday are back in the temple courtyard teaching and the whole of Jerusalem has come to hear them.”
When he heard this the presiding judge was clearly agitated and spoke in private to the Chief of Police, who responded by taking a small number of officers out into the temple courtyard. Their task was to bring the offenders back for sentencing. They knew that, with the mood of the crowd this would need careful handling if a riot was to be avoided.
It was with some difficulty that this small party of officials pushed their way through the crowd to the place where Peter and John were speaking. To avoid upsetting the crowd more than necessary, the officer in charge left his attendants at the edge of the crowd surrounding Peter and John and quietly approached them alone. He was very gentle in his approach and the prisoners agreed to come before the court. Neither party wished to provoke a riot.
As they entered the courtroom there was obvious consternation among the judging panel. They were afraid that any mention of how the prisoners had been released from the prison would lead to more claims of divine intervention. This would be taken as a demonstration of the approval of The Great One for what the prisoners were involved in. Some things, they thought, were better left alone. No new charges were made.
When asked to defend the charges that had already been laid against them, the reply of the prisoners was the same as when they first come before the court. Peter again said that they had seen Saviour alive after his execution. If the claim that this had happened was not convincing enough they only had to look at the miracles that were
happening all around them. If they did not believe the testimony of men surely they could not ignore the testimony of the presence of The Great One who was doing these things right in front of them.
The court was having difficulty knowing how to resolve the case. It was only a matter of a couple of months since the execution of Saviour. At that time, they had seen his teaching as a threat to their control of government and so to national security. On the other hand, the followers of this Saviour had believed him to be the promised king whose coming had been prophesied in The Ancient Book of Writings in times long past.
The members of the judging panel also believed in these prophesies and had long taught about the coming of the promised king, but this Saviour in no way lived up to their expectations, or the teachings of the theologians in any of their recognised colleges.
The panel still believed that they had done the right thing in having him condemned to death. They had eliminated a threat to national security but now the whole episode was coming back to haunt them.
They believed that these claims about Saviour coming back from the dead were being supported by all kinds of lies. If they were sure of anything, it was that people do not come back from the dead. These claims would not matter if it had not been for the hysterical response of the people. Against all reason, thousands were joining Saviour’s followers.
What was even more difficult to understand was what kind of sorcery was being used to back the movement up. However, the movement was gaining ground so quickly that there was no time to investigate any further. It must be crushed immediately. The death of the leaders of The Way was the only course open to them.