Gonkers 3
By Mary Pearson
copyright 2013 Mary Pearson
Babylon
Lily fingered the clover which she had laminated before placing it in the ark box. It had been her memento from the trip to see St. Patrick-- the largest and greenest clover she had ever seen.
“It should have foy leaves, though,” Molly was sitting beside her on the bed. “Then it would be lucky.”
“Three leaves stand for the Trinity,” Lily disagreed, “and in my opinion it couldn’t be any luckier.” She looked at Brody who, oblivious to the Gonker children, was playing with his cars. She could still picture him blue and lifeless, laid out on the ground with Aunt Gen giving him CPR. She had forgotten about the clover for a couple of weeks and was surprised to find it barely wilted, stuffed into the zipper pocket of her backpack. Maybe that was a bit of a miracle, too.
Lucien hauled the book out from the shelf in the rec yurt. “The boys are going on a solo trip because you guys got to go to St. Therese without us.”
Molly faced her brother, hands on hips. “Boys ayen’t allowed in convents.”
“Well, girls aren’t allowed in lions’ dens,” he snapped back.
Lily furrowed her brow. “That’s old testament, right? “
The boys nodded.
“So how are you gonna get back?”
“Find Jesus’ ancestors.” Logan’s response was almost too quick.
“Wouldn’t it make more sense to look them up first?” She had a point. So they hauled out the big Bible from the bookshelf and found the genealogy of Jesus at the front of Matthew’s Gospel. “So when was it?”
Logan’s lips moved as he read the introduction to the book of Daniel in the big Bible. Finally he found what he was looking for. “During the Babylonian exile.”
“Okay… says here in the genealogy that Jesus’ ancestor then was named Jechoniah.” She wrote it on a slip of paper and watched him put it in his pocket.
“But we’ll know anyway.” Lucien smiled confidently. “He’ll be the guy with green eyes, right?”
Lily paused before answering with less assurance. “I guess.”
“All the other ancestors had green eyes,” Logan reminded her.
Lily still couldn’t squelch her feeling of misgiving, but she nodded. “Take some food,” she suggested. “In case.”
***
Perhaps the Gonker boys should have done more research before they read their way into this adventure. Perhaps they should have brought more trail mix. The fact is they found themselves in a very huge, very exotic, and very pagan city. There were hundreds of thousands of people within its walls, many of them slaves. Most of the slaves had green eyes. The boys could not find a single person whose language they could understand. And no one seemed aware of them. They were like ghosts to everyone.
They spent the first day wandering the streets which were lined with golden statues of bulls and lions and dragons. At the center of the city there was a tower with seven square platforms. From the top of this building the Gonker boys could see that the huge city was a square surrounded by walls, each of which was at least ten miles long. It was overwhelming. Logan gave his brothers a handful of trail mix and they sat down to regroup.
“Where do you think Daniel is?” Lucien asked his older brother.
Logan shrugged. “Maybe at the palace.” He popped a peanut in his mouth. “I think he was condemned by the evil king or something.”
“Where’s that?” Lucien stood to get a better view.
Logan pointed. “There, I think. Do you want my raisins?”
Lucien shook his head.
“I’ll take them,” Finne gathered them from his brother’s palm. “I’m hungry.”
Logan smiled crookedly. “You’re always hungry.”
After sharing a bottled water they set off for the castle. Most of the people there were looking pretty somber. They wandered from room to room until they came upon an assembly in what appeared to be the throne room (At least there was a throne in it and a man clad in golden garments and decked out in jewels was sitting on the throne.) The Gonkers watched as one robe clad man after another was brought before the ruler, who seemed dissatisfied with every one of them. Then a green-eyed teen was brought in and this one said things which made the king seem happy. He clapped his hands and purple robes were brought in and draped over the shoulders of the young man. The teen gestured to three friends who had accompanied him, and they were also given robes. After this everyone filed out and the Gonker boys followed them to a great dining hall where a feast had been laid.
“I’m so hungry!” Finne whined.
Logan passed him the pouch of trail mix, but it wasn’t the same. The feast food looked like Thanksgiving times ten. Sadly all they could do was watch. The strange thing was that the four green eyed teens ate very little-- mostly vegetables, from what Logan could see. When the feast was over the purple robed teen went into a room in the castle and closed his door. The Gonker boys followed his friends rather than sit on the teen’s doorstep, looking pathetic. The three other boys walked a mile or so and then entered the three story building where they were living. Before going to sleep, their arms raised, the three young men prayed. Then they lay down on soft mats and fell asleep. Huddled together the Gonkers slept on the floor by them. They woke to the sound of a loud gong.
***
The boys filed outside with everyone else where a proclamation was being read. And then, in the center of the walled city, a great golden statue was erected. The statue was a likeness of the king. When the soldiers pointed at the people standing around the square they dropped to their knees in front of the statue-- everyone but the three teens, who remained standing, refusing to bow to the golden image of the king.
“Uh oh!” Lucien said, as the teens were hauled off in chains. What could the Gonkers do but follow?
They were led to an enormous furnace-- so big that three horses could have walked inside standing up. The soldiers dragged the three to the furnace and when the Gonkers realized they were going to throw the teens into the flames they began to scream. For all the good it did! No one could hear them. But the teens were brave. They didn’t fight. Holding their heads high they walked right in, and when they were inside they continued to walk around among the flames. The Gonker boys stopped screaming and watched with fascination through the open door of the furnace as the three boys walked around and they were singing. Then there were not three but four figures in the fire and the fourth person was someone the Gonkers knew very well.
“Jesus!” Lucien started to run toward the furnace but when even his ghostly self felt the heat of the flames he stopped. “Jesus, come out here! We’re stuck.” Jesus smiled and beckoned.
***
“I can’t,” Lucien stammered and stumbled back a few steps.
At this point the three teens stepped back out of the furnace and it was clear to the astonished crowd that they were not the least bit burnt. Jesus was still in the furnace. He beckoned again.
Logan took Lucien and Finne by the hand. “It’s our only way back,” he said. Then he took a deep breath and dragged his brothers into the flames. Jesus opened His arms and they started to spin. The next thing they knew they were back in the rec yurt.
***
“Good.” Lily was standing over them when they stopped spinning. “I was beginning to worry.” Finne threw himself into her arms and just clung.
“With good reason.” Lucien dropped a bit of charred wood into his sister’s hand. It was still smoking from the fiery furnace. “I’m done with adventures for awhile.”
Lily arranged Finne more comfortably on her lap. “You guys smell like smoke
.” She giggled but none of the boys cracked a smile. “I was reading up on Babylon while I was waiting for you to get back. Did you know it’s built over the place where the Tower of Babel was?”
“What’s that?” Logan was brushing soot from his jeans.
“Seriously…?” Lily couldn’t believe her brother didn’t remember that story. “It was in that baby Bible stories book Mom used to read to us. Where the people all used to speak the same language but then they tried to build a tower to Heaven and God stopped them by making them all speak different languages.”
“Figures.” Lucien wiped the sweaty soot from his brow. “No one was speaking a language we could understand there.”
“But there was a tower,” Logan said, “sort of.”
“Ziggurat.” Lily pointed to a picture from an archeology web-site. “That’s what they called that seven story building. Remember Noah’s brown skinned son-- the one named Ham?”
The boys nodded.
“Ham’s grandson built the ziggurat for an escape if there were ever another flood. It’s right over the place where the Tower of Babel used to be. But that was before the flood.” Lily closed the book. “Did you see the lions?”
“Aww--!” Lucien threw himself on the floor with frustration. They had forgotten all about Daniel and the lion’s den.
“We never even figured out who Daniel was,” Logan told her.
Lily shrugged. “You could always go back.”
But all three boys shook their heads. “Never,” Logan said. And he meant it.
***
“Auntie Gen, the sqwaps are pwegnant again.” Molly had been examining her pet and she said this with the air of an expert, having been through this with their first sqwap.
“Seriously?!” Mrs. Bootzer chewed her lower lip. It had been half a year since the first batch had arrived. At this rate it would only be a couple of years before their little patch of land would be overrun. Well, that gave them a few weeks to prepare. They would need to purchase yet another yurt, one in which the sqwaps could be housed and cared for. The question was how to come up with the funds.
Visit the Apostles
“I miss Jesus.” Lily was holding a not-very accurate picture of Jesus with a glowing heart. “I wish we still lived in town.” She sighed. “Not that it isn’t fun visiting saints. They’re awesome. They’re just…”
“Not Jesus.” Lucien finished for her. “I know what you mean. Once you’ve met Him, nobody else can make you feel the same.”
“I’ve got an assignment for CCD,” Logan said after a pause. “I’m supposed to write a paper on the ‘I am’s’.”
Molly tilted her head. “What are “I ams?”
“Sayings of Jesus. Like ‘I am the Bread of Life, I am the Good Shepherd, I am the Way, the Truth and the Life…” Logan chewed his lip. I was thinking we could visit the Apostles-- they each have a little window at Cathedral. We can go see them during the three years when they were hanging out with Jesus.”
Lily’s face brightened. “Then we could see Jesus!”
“I don’t want to go anywhere in the Old Testament anyway.” Lucien shuddered.
“Thew wey twelve apostles, wight?” Molly was just learning about them in her church school class.
“One was bad, though.” Logan frowned. “Judas betrayed Jesus. He doesn’t have a window.
“Eleven then. We can take eleven trips to see the Apostles.” Now Lily was feeling much more positive.
“Ten,” Logan corrected downward. “I already went to see Jude.”
“Ten, then.” Lily pursed her lips. “But let’s start at the beginning. Who comes first?”
“Peter.” Lucien and Logan said it at the same time. Then Logan shrugged and said, “We’re Catholic.”
Lily pointed to the place in his story. With all of the Gonkers and Brody holding hands she read… and they began to spin.
They found themselves standing by a large body of water. There were lots of clunky rocks to climb on and blue green water to wade in, so their shoes came off immediately. Of course they couldn’t really feel the water very much and it didn’t get them wet, just slightly damp. This was both good and bad. Half of the fun, but also half of the trouble of water is how wet you get. Logan was sure his mother would like this wet-less water better than the usual variety, but it was disappointing to splash your sister if she didn’t even care. Brody was not willing to set foot in the water. He just played with his sqwap on the rocks by the shore. It was a blue-sky calm breeze sort of day and there were men walking and standing and working on boats. In the boat nearest the children two men were casting their net. Then the children saw Jesus and the little ones needed to be held back from rushing toward Him. Jesus waved at the Gonkers before approaching the boat with the two men. “Come with Me,” he said.
The dark bearded one looked up curiously.
“Come with Me,” Jesus said again. “I will make you fishers of men.” There was something almost irresistible in His words.
The two men exchanged glances. Then the bearded one shrugged and set down the net and both got out and followed.
“Your children?” The bearded man, (it had to be Peter because they could understand him when he spoke), gestured to the troop of Gonkers. Jesus glanced at them and nodded, so the children trailed behind.
A bit farther along they saw an older man with his two sons mending torn nets in their boat. “Come with us,” Jesus called and the younger men also got up and followed. Their father watched, unsurprised, as his sons walked away. Then he went back to mending.
Jesus, accompanied by the four fishermen and the troop of Gonkers (and Brody with his sqwap-- they were inseparable) climbed the rocks and went into the town. They found the synagogue and entered, and Jesus began to teach. Everyone in the building was mesmerized by His words. Hours seemed like minutes and mysteries unraveled before their eyes. After many hours Peter begged Jesus to come to his home.
Jesus nodded.
“We will bring out the finest wine and choice meats,” Peter was muttering to himself, “You’ll like my mother-in-law-- she is a very good cook.” Peter paused to stroke his beard. As the Gonkers got up to follow behind Jesus, Peter remembered. “Oh, the children!” He busily tapped his chin with his fingers. Then he shrugged and muttered to himself. “Mother will not mind. She likes children.”
As it turned out they found Peter’s mother-in-law in bed, delirious with fever. There had been no dinner preparations. Jesus touched the elderly woman’s forehead and she was completely cured. Then she prepared a meal and everyone reclined and listened again to Jesus as he spoke paradise into the little stone house. Mags and Finne had climbed onto His lap and they both fell asleep in His arms as He talked into the night. The other children curled up by Jesus, who gathered the whole bunch of them close.
“I have to go with him,” Lily could hear Peter speaking to his mother-in-law after everyone was supposed to be asleep.
She murmured something which sounded like a question.
“Of course we will stay here when we are in Bethsaida.”
Sometime in the night Jesus willed the group of Gonkers home. When they awoke they were lying in a circle in the rec yurt. Their parents were staring at them.
Lily rubbed her eyes. “We were playing a napping game?” she suggested, at their curious look.
“Very convincing,” her mother said. “Some of you were snoring.” She put her hand on Lily’s forehead.
“I’m not sick,” Lily pushed her hand away. She couldn’t help wondering what Peter would think when he woke up to find the children no longer there. Then his mother-in-law would have said, “What children?” Lily giggled. That must have been weird for Peter.
Andrew
“I asked Father Andrew what we should know about his name saint before we go to see him.” Logan popped a bite of sausage into his mouth and chewed.
Lily waited for her brother to swallow
. “So what did he say?”
Logan shrugged. “Remember the loaves and fishes? He said Andrew was the guy who always knew where to find the food.”
Lucien snickered. “I thought that was Finne. Remember when Jesus multiplied the loaves and fish that Dad caught and Auntie Gen baked?”
“Darn it!” Lily chewed pensively. “You know there were two places where Jesus multiplied bread and fish.” She let the information sink in. “We could aim for the other one and let Andrew find our fish.”
“In the Bible he found the first one,” Lucien pointed out.
“Can’t change what we already changed,” Lily said.
“Maybe we shouldn’t be changing anything,” Logan said.
“It would be safer to just to stay home.” Lily’s face was morose.
Molly’s lip quivered. “I want to see Jesus.”
So did they all. So it was decided that they would aim for the part of St. Andrew’s life during the second multiplication of loaves and fishes. Permission for another picnic was granted and provisions gathered. Then they stood in a circle while Lucien read their way into the story. They had little trouble picking Andrew out in what was a formidable crowd. They had just seen him with Peter in the last trip, and he was talking to Peter. Lucien hauled Finne by the hand and dragged him over to the two fishermen. Finne tugged on Andrew’s robe and when Andrew finally looked down to see who was yanking on him his eyes flew open wide.
“What?” Peter had no idea why his brother was gaping at the ground.
“Remember those strange children you were telling me about and I thought you were going meshuga?” Andrew grinned at his big brother. “Now I’m the meshuga.”
“We’re not strange!” Finne protested.
“Actually we are,” Lucien said apologetically. Then he grinned and held out his hand. “We’re the Gonkers. I’m Lucien. This is Finne. We just wanted to let you know we’ve got what you need.” Lucien opened the freezer bag and showed Andrew the bread and fish inside.
“Yeah,” Finne said with pride, “Our family does hospitality.”
Andrew looked puzzled. “Well, thank you. I’ll keep it in mind.” Then he melted into the crowd and the Gonkers found a comfortable seat.
***
It was a healing day and the long lines had formed, as before. The children settled themselves down to watch. It wasn’t that different from a magic show, except that the participants were miserable and the miracles were life changing. No one clapped when there was a healing. More often there was crying and hugging and humble gratitude. Most of the time Jesus would simply put His hands on the head of the afflicted person and the limb would be restored, the blindness gone, the withered legs restored to walking condition. One time Jesus spit on His finger and touched the tongue of a deaf man, saying , “Be opened!” And He was.