The Bronze Bow - Elizabeth George Speare [70]
For the results were never far behind. Rosh had acquired at last the link with the city for which he had waited. The boys had given him a weapon he needed, and he struck far and wide, with suddenness and cunning. Joel learned of a Galilean merchant who was expected to deliver seven cruses of oil to the centurion's household on the morrow. Though the merchant set out from his vineyard before dawn, neither he nor his oil was ever seen again. A bridegroom, son of the wealthiest elder in the synagogue, left the city with a gala party of his friends, laden with gifts, to claim his bride in Sepphoris. The bride waited in vain. Next day the whole party returned to their homes, clad only in their tunics, bereft of their handsome cloaks, their gifts, almost of their senses. A holiday party, returning late by torchlight from the games in the theater at Tiberias, was routed, stripped, and badly beaten.
For none of these victims did the boys feel the slightest pity. Any traitor who sold his goods to the Romans did so at his own risk. Those who flaunted their wealth or patronized a Roman theater were fair prey. And every cruse of oil, every silver talent swelled the fund that would soon maintain the army of Israel.
As Rosh grew bolder, caravans and travelers increased their protection. The mountain outlaws also suffered losses. Two more men fell into Roman hands, three were secretly buried after night attacks, and four more nursed wounds in the cave. Rosh needed more recruits. Thus it came about that the boys were admitted at last into Rosh's active service, and came to see the action they had craved. Not the trained army that Daniel had dreamed of marching to confront Rosh. Only a guerrilla force of nineteen eager boys. They met at the watchtower, coming one by one, crawling on hands and knees through the tangled vines, to wait, on fire with impatience, for a summons from Rosh. Throughout the village there was a sudden rash of bandages. Boys limped with a swagger, leered smugly through purpled eyelids and grinned through swollen lips.
To harrass the Romans was their real delight. A pilfered bit of Roman equipment, a spur, a leather gauntlet, was a prize worth risking one's neck for. One city boy, who had made off with a helmet even while a legionary who had laid it aside stooped to take a drink at the well, was almost as great a hero as Joel himself.
Much of all this Daniel watched with dismay. It was not for this sort of skirmishing that he had dreamed of raising a band. To him many of the exploits they boasted seemed childish. It had been his plan to wait, to train, to grow strong, and then to strike. This activity was like a fire lighted too soon. Would it burn itself out before the day had come?
But even he was proud of the catapult. Two boys brought word of it one evening, rushing into the shop out of breath.
"Right on the road they've left it!" one of them panted. "Only two guards. It's one of the big engines they used in the siege of Sepphoris. A wheel crumpled and they've had to leave it there till morning."
"I'll tell Rosh," said Daniel, laying down his hammer.
"Wait! Let's take care of this one ourselves," the other boy suggested. "What could Rosh do with a catapult? Come on, Daniel. We discovered this. Why can't we have some of the fun for ourselves?"
"We can stuff it with oiled rags and set fire to it! What a bonfire that would make!"
"Enough to be seen for miles," Daniel reminded him. "No use to burn good wood. We're in need of supplies, not bonfires."
"We'll take it apart, then," they decided. Before he could make up his mind, they had taken the lead out of his hands. The word went out. Hurriedly they scrambled together weapons, files from the shop, chisels, and mallets. One at a time, by various routes, they made their way to a point overlooking the Via Maris and looked down at the monster that crouched there like an unearthly beast in the