CHAPTER FOURTEEN
There was damage on the Fabien, and Lane found out that here was the reason she had taken so long to make port in Tunis.
The storm that had carried the Princess through the night and brought her straight to where they had wanted to go had torn the sails on the Fabien.
The damage wasn’t total, but it had been just enough to cause the crew extra work and time.
Tiger walked alongside Lane, as they headed away from the harbor. It was the last of many trips.
“I didn’t get a look at him, but I’ve got to believe Nathan is still alive.” Lane picked up this conversation. It’s one they’d had over and over again during the last week.
Tiger was feeling the work they had been doing. But, he remembered to be kind. “Yeah, I can’t see any reason to believe otherwise. He’s young.”
Lane shot Tiger a questioning glance.
“I mean, he is younger than I am. That means they can still make a profit off selling him.” Tiger said it.
Lane was in an argumentative mood, so that’s where his next words came from. “You mean to tell me you can think of Nathan as merchandise?”
Tiger had had just about enough of Lane’s temper, so he got real about the thing. “Lane. We’re not enemies. Those men on the Fabien look at Nathan as their means to gold. I’m not saying it’s right. But, it’s a good thing?”
“What do you mean a good thing?” Lane was close to yelling.
Tiger smiled. “Think about it!!!! They tossed Stephan into the sea. Killing people doesn’t bother these guys. So, if they think they can a profit off Nathan, or those other people, he will remain alive. Their desire for gold is his ticket to live.”
Lane couldn’t argue with this logic. And, he admitted so much. “Guess you’re right. But, I never thought I could see the benefits in slave traffic.”
Tiger changed the subject just a little. “The Fabien’s crew says she will put out to sea in two days.”
“Two days?” The news was actually news to Lane.
“That’s cutting things close, because the Princess is due back in the morning.” Tiger continued.
Lane was thinking out loud now, but his thoughts were not well designed. “Will the Fabien’s crew see the Princess come in?”
“It doesn’t really matter.” Tiger commented.
Now, Lane to turned to face the other man. “What do you, what are you trying to say?”
Another smile came to Tiger’s face, but this time he knew his words would also cause Lane to smile. “We’re ready for the Fabien.”
“How’s that?” Lane wanted to hear it.
Tiger helped him out. “The Princess will come in, and we’ll get onboard. We’re going to leave before the Fabien has a chance to make anything of it.”
Lane thought of Benny. The warehouse was pretty much repaired, and the man could certainly get along without him or Tiger. But, Lane liked the guy.
It was also true that Lane still had Benny’s book. Those letters from the Apostle John were wonderful. And, Lane have to return them to Benny.
To that point, he had already begun to copy the text into his own hand. There was still work to do.
Suddenly, Lane noticed Tiger’s hand waving before his eyes. The other man startled him.
Tiger teased, “Where did you go?”
Defending himself, Lane reacted. “I’ve been walking with you. What do you mean where am I?”
“You were gone, Ha-ha!!!!” Tiger said, laughing.
Lane needed more information, as the phrase was a new one to him.
He was interested. “Me, gone?”
Now, Tiger explained himself. “You were gone in your thoughts. What’s got your mind?”
Lane confirmed it with a nod. “I see what you mean. I was thinking about Benny’s book. I just about got it copied, but I don’t want to give it back.”
They were getting close to the warehouse now. So, Tiger offered a deal. “I tell you what. Let me talk to Benny. You just find yourself a good spot to sit. Get the job done, the copying I mean.”
Lane was smiling now and a bit excited. “Are you sure?” He was also looking for a place to sit.
Tiger made it certain, and then he left on his way to find Benny.
Lane sat down on a stool inside the warehouse, and he lost himself in the task of copying.
It was some time later that he finished, and he began thinking about Nathan and the people forced into slavery, not just on the Fabien, but those all around the world.
“Lord, I need to talk to you.” Lane began to pray. “I’m reading this letter from your friend, John. And, I got to believe he was your friend. It says here that you prayed for people who’d hear your words by the Apostles.”
He looked around the room, but there was nobody else in the building.
“You prayed that we could be one.”
Next, he closed his eyes and tried to focus his inner eye upon the Lord’s face. “Lord, I try to do what I think would please you, but I’m lost sometimes.”
“The words of the prophets are so much clearer.” Lane’s eyes went back to looking around the room. And, he thought about the next couple days.
“We’re going back to the Princess tomorrow, Lord. I ask you to help us in the planning of this rescue, but we’re going to need your help in the actual work, too. How are we going to do this, or exactly when?”
He could hear Tiger’s voice outside, and it sounded like Benny. They were talking about food. And, that reminded Lane that he had not eaten since very early in the morning.
“Lord. I’m asking you to give us your blessings on this mission. Please place us where we need to be and understand that I’m willing to go where you’re intending to send me. You are my king. And I thank you.”
Lane picked up his supplies, or those things he had stored in the warehouse. He got them together and then went outside to see what the plan was for dinner.
Benny greeted Lane, just as soon as he saw him. “Good. You’re here.
We brought something to eat.”
Lane didn’t need anybody to tell him, because it wasn’t the first time Benny brought food to the warehouse. The food would be spicy, but it would also be interesting.
And, there was one other thing. Benny would expect Lane to drop whatever he was doing and attend to the food, while it was hot. This last part suited him. “May the Lord bless you, Benny. You can’t guess that it’s been too long from the last time I’ve ate.”
Benny was smiling, and he didn’t even have to speak to Tiger. The other man went to find some chairs.
“I’ll get the chairs.” Tiger said.
Lane gave Benny a hand with the things he was carrying, and then they set up a makeshift table.
“What are we eating, Benny?” Lane was really just making friendly conversation.
The smile on Benny’s face was real enough but, for a second or so, he looked like a man about to cry. “I’m going to miss you boys.” He was referring to both Lane and Tiger.
Lane fielded this statement. “You’ve heard that we’re leaving tomorrow?”
“Yeah. Tiger told me about it.” Benny looked past what they were doing at their little table to see Tiger was coming back with the chairs.
“Told you about what?” Tiger brought the question, but he was not really joining in on the conversation.
Benny turned to face Tiger. “You told me you’d be shipping out tomorrow.”
Tiger nodded and sat at their little table. “It’s not certain we’ll be leaving port tomorrow, but the Princess is due back.”
Lane didn’t quite understand Tiger’s conversation right now, because he had also thought they would be leaving port. “You think Captain Matthew would want to stay here at Tunis?”
“That’s not what I’m saying.” Tiger informed them both. “I’m saying that it’s in the Lord’s hands, that is what’s going to happen.” He’s the king, He will decide.”
Neither Lane nor Benny could argue that last statement. So they said it in unison. “You got that right.”
Benny followed up with this. “I’m going to miss you guys.”
And, Lane changed the subject. “I’m going to give you the book back, Benny. I’ve finished my copy.”
“You copied it out?” Benny questioned.
Lane confirmed it. “Got it done just a few minutes before you two got back.”
Benny was dishing out their food, which turned out to be soup and a wonderful smelling bread.
Tiger thanked Benny for his food. He also gave some attention to the conversation going on between Benny and Lane. “I really like your book, Benny.”
That caught they eyes of both the other men. They stopped chewing long enough to react. Benny was the first to speak. “What did you like the most?”
“I like what he said about Jesus.” Tiger commented.
Lane asked the question next. “Which part?”
Tiger took a bite out of his bread before continuing. “It goes beyond what he said.” There was a pause to chew, but he continued. “It also has to do with how things are stated.”
Benny invited more. “Can you be a little more to the point, Tiger?”
And, Tiger did just that. “He said that Jesus is the word of God. He said that this is the word of God made flesh, and he said that he’s a witness to what happened during the Lord’s life.”
Lane spoke up now. “I caught that, too. It makes me think about Moses and the commandments given by God on the mountain.”
Benny was a little behind at this point. “I’m sorry. I haven’t really read your Torah, at least not the whole thing.”
Tiger picked it up there. “God told the people that he had certain requirements for the people, things they were to do, if they were to live under his blessings.”
“So, what does that mean for us?” Benny asked.
Lane stepped in. “I think it means at least TWO things.”
“Two things?” Tiger invited more details.
“Yeah, it means that Jesus was able to do these things. He followed the law even though he lived in the flesh.” Lane commented.
Now, it was Benny’s turn to ask for more. “You said you had two thoughts, and that first one needs a little more explaining.”
Lane furnished what was missing. “As to the first part, it’s beyond what others have shown themselves able, or willing to do. There isn’t anybody else who’s lived their life without stepping across the line to sin.”
Tiger joined back into the conversation, his hope being to clear things up for Benny. “The rest of us are born into sin and are taught to serve it. Another way to put it is that we are slaves to sin.”
“We’re going to get back to this slave thing, but what’s your other thought, Lane?” Benny spoke.
“It’s kind of hard to explain it.” Lane began.
“My father used to talk about the prophets. Two of his favorites were Isaiah, and Jeremiah. They spoke for the Lord during the time, and just before the time of the exile into Babylonia.”
Benny asked it. “And, where does that get us now?”
Lane continued to explain it. “By the prophets, the Lord spoke and showed just how often Israel did just the reverse of what he had told them to do. If they were told not to make and worship golden or silver idols, that’s exactly what they did. When he said they weren’t to steal, that’s exactly what happened. Our people were stealing from themselves.”
Tiger wasn’t following now. “I don’t get what you’re saying.”
“What I’m trying to say is that men and women, and not just those representing Israel, have a very difficult, if not an impossible time staying away from sin.” Lane wasn’t finished. “It’s like any other slave with a ring in their nose; people are led by sin to do the wrong thing.”
Benny was fascinated by what he was hearing. “You’re saying that Jesus wasn’t like the rest of man?”
Tiger stopped eating to listen to Lane.
Lane went on talking. “My father told me that isn’t in our blood, and it’s got to do with Adam.”
Benny wasn’t happy with that answer. How does that make Jesus different? You lost me.”
And, Lane repeated what his father had taught him. “There’s something in our blood that represents sin and the nature of sin. It’s transferred to a child from the father’s blood. Adam is the father of us all, in the flesh that is. So, every child’s blood is then full of this element that joins with sin.”
Tiger’s following now, and he tries to sum it all up for Lane. “You’re saying that Jesus didn’t have this element to sin.”
Nodding, Lane continues. “Yes. Jesus was born because the spirit of God made it happen. His mother was flesh and blood, the daughter of Adam, but Jesus looked to heaven for his sire. There was nothing in his blood to drive him to sin. He was never a slave to sin, not even for a moment.”
Benny smiled. He really liked spending time with Tiger and Lane. “I get you now. The Lord was flesh and blood by an act of God, and he was never the son of Adam. So, and I’ve asked this before, where does that leave us?”
Tiger had also followed what Lane said. “We must be born again.”
“That’s right.” Lane had been eating the last few minutes, the time when Benny had spoken. But, he went back to explaining it. “Your book gives the answer, Benny. This guy John heard the Lord say it. We must be enabled to come to him by God, or we’re not going to hear his word or understand.”
Benny’s still new to the language of Christianity, and he wants to understand. He wants to make certain he has understood. “You’re saying that there’s an act of God in every man, like there was an act of God in Mary. We need this to understand Jesus.”
Lane straightened him out. “I am and I’m not Benny. That’s true for those who hears the Lord’s voice, but there are people on the planet that will not listen.”
Benny’s got more questions. “Why won’t they listen?” Tiger’s got the right answer. “It’s because they can’t.”
Lane confirmed it. “They can’t hear the Lord, nor can they obey him, because they were not enabled by God. They’re still slaves to sin.”
Benny said what they were all thinking. “This is hard to understand.”
Lane went back to something he had been thinking about earlier. “That’s the thing I was saying about the prophets of old, guys like Isaiah and Jeremiah. The Lord spoke through them and said that his words are like the rain. Rain falls and it changes things, like when flowers grow or crops.”
Benny was still wanting more information. He didn’t want this to end. “How is his word like rain?”
Tiger knew the answer. “It won’t return to God empty, but it will accomplish what he sends out to do.”
“That’s right.” Lane nodded and he stood up from the chair. “When God’s words lands in a heart, and that person is willing to obey God’s command or his stated will, the word will produce what God sent it to produce.”
Tiger got to his feet, too. “Benny, it’s been really nice to work for you. I’ll look you up the next time I’m in Tunis.”
Benny got tears in his eyes, but he stands to shake the other men’s hands. “God bless you both.”
Lane returns Benny’s book. “May the Lord also bless you Benny. You’ve been kind to us. May the Lord continue to show you his way and keep you studying his word.”