Free The Thief by Stephanie Landsem Page B

and a dirty tunic held his arm and pulled him forward.
    “You there! Girl!” Longinus nudged Ferox up a step. Yes, it was the one from the lower city, the little wildcat he’d almost killed and her blind brother. He’d seen plenty of Jewish women bathing in the pools around the city. Why was this one always so filthy? “What’s happening here?”
    Her face went white under the dirt, and her mouth dropped open. “We were”—she grabbed her brother’s arm—“leaving.”
    An old woman hobbled close to him and pointed at the brother. “Look. He put clay on this man’s eyes and told him to wash in the Pool of Siloam.”
    So that was what was on the blind man’s face. “Who did?”
    “The teacher, Jesus.”
    Jesus. He’d been warned about a man of that name. A man causing trouble with the leaders of these bothersome people.
    The old woman hurried off, following the girl as she pulled her brother toward the Huldah Gates. A crowd followed in their wake.
    Rumors of the man called Jesus claimed he cured the lame and diseased—even lepers—but Longinus had heard that kind of talk before. He’d even witnessed so-called miracle workers. Longinus had yet to see a miracle that couldn’t be explained by deceit, trickery, or plain good luck. Still, this Jesus stirred up the crowds. Longinus spurred Ferox toward the gates. He barkedcommands to his men. “Twenty legionaries with me. The rest of you stay here.”
    When he’d managed Ferox down the stone steps, a throng of at least a hundred people had gathered behind the blind man and his sister, like guests at a wedding feast. As they trooped down the Stepped Street, women and children came to their doors. Some threw mantles over their heads, grabbed their children’s hands, and joined in the procession.
    By the time they reached the lower city, the crowd had doubled. Longinus prodded Ferox and cut his way toward the front of the column. Dust dried his throat as he coughed out orders to his men. “Stay here. Be ready if there’s trouble.”
    He’d seen a so-called healer stoned in Caesarea when the man he’d healed had turned out to have never been lame. This man—the brother of the little porcupine—was truly blind. He’d seen that himself. What would happen when he washed that ridiculous mud from his eyes and exposed the hoax? Disappointment could turn into anger, and a crowd could turn into a mob.
    Just ahead, broad stairs—at least twenty of them—ascended to a wide stone platform the size of a modest palace. He threw his leg over the front of his saddle and jumped to the ground. Pushing the spectators aside with his vitis, he followed the blind man and his sister up the stairs.
    The girl—Nissa, they’d called her that night in the street—threw a frightened look over her shoulder, then urged her brother up the last few steps with a hand under his elbow.
    Longinus followed, catching his breath as he reached the top. He’d seen Siloam rising above the lower city, but had never climbed the stairs that led to the water. An immense rectangular pool stretched thirty paces long and almost as wide, with stone-paved borders on each side. Marble steps led down into water so clear and sparkling his eyes pricked with tears. He blinked and shaded his eyes.
    People eddied around him and clustered at the wide ledges around the pool, pushing and bickering.
    “Let me see!”
    “I was here first.”
    The blind man and his sister were pushed backward, toward the low wall that ran around the platform.
    “Make way. Move!” Longinus shouldered his way through the crowd. Let’s get this over with so I can get back to my post. He opened a path with his stick and a gruff shout. “Get out of his way.” He jerked a hand to the sister. “Bring him through.”
    Nissa didn’t look hopeful; she looked terrified. The girl was as prickly as a thorn bush, but she protected her brother like a mother lion. And from the look on her face, she knew that her brother was in for a