Chapter 13

Jennifer didn’t tell Margaret and Elizabeth she was going to Jericho with me until the bus to Masada was ready to leave. “Paul thinks the answer he’s looking for may be in Jericho.”
    Margaret said, “Let Paul go wherever he wants, Jen. You’re coming with us.”
    The bus driver said, “I am leaving, girls. You catch next bus in afternoon.”
    Elizabeth said, “I told you from the start what he was after, Jennifer. You knew his reputation.”
    Jennifer said, “It’s not what you think. I had to beg him to let me go with him.”
    There was a hissing sound as the driver released the brake. “Bye, bye, girls.”
    Margaret and Elizabeth got on the bus. Margaret stood at the doorway and said, “Hello. This a no-brainer, Jen. You’ve got a crush on him and he’s taking advantage.”
    Jennifer said, “Nothing’s changed. We’ll rendezvous at the Christian hospice in Jerusalem this evening, and go from there to Ben Gurion Airport.”
    Elizabeth said, “No, I’m not leaving the West Bank without you. We’ll meet you in Jericho. Where can we find you, Paul?”
    The driver said, “Stand back, please. I close door.”
    Margaret said, “You’re not shutting this door until we know where to meet our friend.”
    I said, “Meet us at the Hisham’s Palace Hotel.”
    Elizabeth said, “Oh, great. I told you he just wants to get you in bed, Jen, now get on this bus.”
    Jennifer didn’t move. The door whooshed shut, and the bus’s tires skidded on the gravel driveway as the driver gunned the engine.

In Jericho, Jennifer and I stored our luggage at the hotel. “Wait here for me. I won’t be long.”
    “No. I’m going with you.”
    “Jennifer, you promised to stay here.”
    “I don’t want you sitting up there in the sun all day by yourself.”
    “I have to do this alone.”
    “Paul, I’m going with you and that’s final.”
    “All right, but only to the monastery that guards passage to the summit.”
    We took a taxi from the town square to the base of the Mount of Temptation, then we climbed the trail leading to the monastery. Jennifer allowed me to go to the summit alone.
    The summit provided a panoramic view of the Judean Wilderness all the way to the Dead Sea. Sitting near the edge of the cliff, I saw a man and woman talking.
    The man was Jesus. He greeted me and introduced the woman as Mary Magdalene. He said to her, “This is Paul, the man I told you spoke in my defense at Qumran.”
    She said, “This is a devil. Only a devil would dress so strangely.” I had on a white polo shirt, khaki trousers, and a green visor I bought at a golf tournament.
    I said, “Jesus, I must speak to you alone.”
    He said, “Mary has saved me from my messianic delusions. I trust her completely.”
    “Do not let him speak, Jesus. He is a devil.”
    I removed the visor and placed it beside me as I sat down.
    “Paul, I am grateful for your kindness to me at Qumran, but it would be best if you did not stay.”
    I said, “I know why the Guardian rejected you.”
    Mary said, “Jesus is going to be my husband and the father of many children, and the best carpenter in all Judea. He is going to live a normal life. He does not need to hear the lies of a devil.”
    “I can tell you what the Guardian would not.”
    Mary shooed me. “Go away, devil. Jesus is all through with that nonsense. He knows now he is no savior of the world.”
    I said, “That’s correct. What you are, Jesus, is the remnant.”
    Jesus said, “You mean one of the remnant, don’t you?”
    I stooped and drew two triangles in the dust with my finger. “The Guardian was right. There are two worlds. While the Children of God gather into the Kingdom of God, the Children of Adam scatter to fill the kingdoms of the earth. Scattering starts as one—Adam—and gathering ends as one—you, Jesus.”
    “All the monks at Qumran are of the gathering,” he said.
    “No one at Qumran gathers. When you naïvely told the Guardian you answered the call, he knew you were the last of God’s children. That’s why he told me you were different. That’s why he rejected you. He thought I was stupid for not seeing the obvious.”
    Jesus looked perplexed. “I want to gather everyone into the Kingdom of God.”
    Mary said, “Listen to yourself, Jesus. You are talking like a messiah again. This devil has tricked you. Go back to your hell and leave us alone, devil.”
    “Your purpose is to judge the living and the dead by standing at the center of existence and inviting everyone to join you.”
    Mary said, “Come on, Jesus. If this devil won’t leave, we will.”
    Jesus said, “Paul, if what you said is true, I would issue a call no one would answer. That’s monstrous, and I will have nothing to do with it. I am going with Mary to live a normal life.”
    He and Mary disappeared down the trail. I had failed to make him understand. I bounded after him but ran into Jennifer and the abbot coming up the trail.
    Jennifer said, “Who were you talking to?”
    “To Jesus. He was with Mary Magdalene. They went down the trail.”
    “That’s impossible, Paul. The abbot and I just came up by that path. No one could have gone down without passing us.”
    The abbot said, “Too much sun for one not used to this climate.”
    Jennifer said, “Sit down, take a drink of water, and I will shield you from the sun.”
    I drank the water but did not sit.

Margaret and Elizabeth were waiting for us at the hotel. I knew explaining that Jennifer insisted on coming with me to the Mount of Temptation would not get me off the hook with them.
    Elizabeth said, “We were worried sick about you, Jen.”
    Margaret said, “What a scuzz hole this hotel is. There were sheep gazing on grass growing through cracks in what was the swimming pool, and the plumbing doesn’t work in the bathroom. Yuk!”
    I said, “This area was hit hard during the Six Day War. They’ll get it fixed up now that Jericho is a center of government for Palestine.”
    Elizabeth said, “Let’s go, Jen.”
    Jennifer said, “Paul’s coming with us to Athens.”
    Margaret said, “You’re old enough to be her father, Paul. Don’t you have any sense of propriety?”
    “Don’t worry, I’m not coming with you, Margaret.”
    Jennifer said, “You shouldn’t stay here alone, Paul. You’re not well.”
    I said, “I’m okay. Let’s get your luggage.”
    “Paul, if you believe you can have a real conversation with someone from the past, you are definitely not okay.”
    Jennifer pleaded with me to come with them as we walked to the square. I kept my voice low so Margaret and Elizabeth could not hear. “You know I have to see this through, Jennifer. I have to find Jesus again and make him understand what he must do.”
    Jennifer whispered, “You already know what he does.”
    “But maybe he does it because of me.”
    Jennifer raised her voice. “Jesus was not on that trail, Paul. There was no one there but you, me, and the abbot.”
    “He is here now…somewhere. To see him I have to reenter God’s paradigm where past and future disappear.”
    “At least admit you understand that what you just said is nuts.”

Chapter 13 continued