Chapter 6

In spite of being the location of a secret meeting, Cleopas' shop was a rather noisy place. Christians chattered nervously about the crackdowns Nero had instituted. Some begged for information on friends and family that had been separated from them in the fire.

When Ben and Helena arrived, Thomas and Cleopas greeted them. "Ben, I've tried getting the congregation to quiet down," Cleopas said, "but they're too nervous."

Ben studied his surroundings. Zak was trying to calm a frantic mother with a screaming infant. She was babbling, saying something about her husband being taken by Nero's soldiers. Other church members seemed to be noisily plotting vengeance against the Romans.

Ben settled on a sure-fire way to catch everyone's attention. Putting two fingers to his lips, Ben blasted out a loud, shrill whistle. The house fell silent, and all eyes turned to the baker.

Ben cleared his throat. "Now that I have your attention, let me start out by saying that this is not the time to panic, nor is it our place to talk about revenge. I need everyone calm and quiet, or we'll be sure to attract the attention of Nero's soldiers."

Some people grumbled, but most remained silent, seeming to regain some of their confidence now that the leader of their church was there.

"We all knew the day would come when Rome would no longer tolerate the Followers of the Way," Ben continued. "We've known it since his last attack on the Jews here in Rome. Nero feels threatened by us because we worship a God higher than Caesar. This should come as no surprise. Jesus promised His disciples that anyone who followed Him would experience resistance from the world. If Jesus Himself was persecuted, then we, His servants, should expect to be persecuted as well. So we must be ready. Jesus instructed His disciples to be as crafty as serpents, but as innocent as doves. We must not compromise our integrity, but we must be clever about how we serve Christ.

"That's why I've called this meeting. We have to make the transition to a secret church. Many of us have families. Some of you have very young children who don't understand what's happening. It's even more important than ever that you teach them what it means to follow Jesus, even though it may cost everything. Some of you know that Paul instructs the church, particularly the church in Rome—us—to be as living sacrifices for Christ. One of the things we sacrifice now is our freedom to move around. We must also prepare ourselves for the day when we do have to stand before Caesar. We may be interrogated. We may be beaten. But for the sake of these children, we cannot give away any information about the church to our enemies. It could mean death for far more people than just ourselves.

"You may ask, 'How are we supposed to bring in more people who need to know the love of Jesus if we can't tell anyone about our church?' That's where listening to the Holy Spirit comes in. He will guide you to those whom He knows are ready to receive His gospel. A serpent can hear and feel the slightest vibrations in the ground, and thus knows where to find its prey, or when to hide and avoid enemies. That's why we must be crafty like serpents. If we learn to listen to the Spirit, we will learn to discern His slightest movements and nudgings.

"Some of you will be caught and called to stand before the court as a Christian. Don't fear that time when it comes. It will be the greatest opportunity you will have to proclaim the gospel loud and clear for all to hear. This is why we must be pure and innocent as doves. Doves, unlike common pigeons, are peace-loving birds who seek quiet, not the noise of the busy city streets. There can be no strife or disruptive noise beneath the roof where they choose to roost. The same must be true of your soul. You must maintain the peace of Christ within your life. Keep yourself pure, untainted by the world. You are on trial for your faith; let them see that you are not like the world. Let them see what Jesus Christ has done in your life. Let your actions and your attitude be the witnesses that convict you before Caesar, and Caesar before God. And don't simply abstain from the same lusts that the pagans run after, and think that's all you need to do to remain pure. Live in love and grace, and don't let yourself become cynical because of the world. They will continue to sin. They will continue to kill. And we will continue to love! Holding yourself aloof, holding the world in contempt, is pride, and God cannot maintain peace in a heart dominated by pride.

"Finally, keep alert, and pray. Our lives should be one continuous prayer to God. We must always be ready to act if the Spirit prompts us, and we must speak only what the Spirit gives us. I realize this is easier said than done, but the One who teaches grace has plenty of it to spare for us."

Ben paused to study the group. All had fallen silent, except for a few mumbled amens here and there. Some people in the congregation nodded their agreement. The message seemed to penetrate. Ben took a breath and continued.

"Now, before we start discussing plans for taking the church 'underground,' as it were, let us pray together, as a church body. There are a lot of prayer requests tonight, and I want to make certain that everyone's needs are heard."

The congregation gathered around, taking turns in requesting and offering prayer for a variety of needs, the vast majority of which had to do with the fire. And though Ben was more than content to lead the prayer, he wasn't thrilled about being singled out when Helena brought up Keren. He had hoped that one of the members would simply offer to pray for Keren specifically, but Thomas had other plans. He offered to close out the prayer time, which lasted for nearly an hour. When his turn came to pray, Thomas instructed the congregation to gather around Ben and Helena and lay hands on them in order to pray for Keren's safety and that of the church. So while Ben blushed profusely and Helena wept, the church prayed, a cacophony of voices in three different languages, with Thomas leading in Greek and Aramaic.

When Thomas fell silent, the others followed suit. Finally Zak broke the silence with a resolute amen, and the congregation released Ben and Helena to retreat to a corner of the room—at least for a while.

Several hours later, Ben and a few designated church leaders had devised a series of codes and signals the church could use to communicate, and had taught them to the other members of the congregation. It was agreed that the more prominent members of the church—Ben included—were to avoid using their homes or businesses as meeting places as much as possible for the next several months, as the Romans would be carefully watching certain people, especially among the Jews. Cleopas was still relatively inconspicuous, and his shop was big enough to house a meeting, and close enough to several streets and alleyways that Ben had designated as key escape routes. All the prearranged meeting places the church settled on that evening were within sprinting distance of some entrance to the catacombs. The underground passageways of tombs would also serve as emergency meeting areas, and the main escape route if the church ever needed to evacuate Rome completely. Ben and Thomas also set up a system for escaping in the event that Nero should ever try to use fire again to flush Christians out of other parts of the city.

Helena and some of the other leading women in the church offered various ideas for secret ministry. The children thought these new "secret missions" would be fun, but some of the men complained that most of the tasks Helena suggested were "women's work."

"Alright, then, you can sit at home, bored, while we bring in the harvest for the kingdom," Helena challenged. Ben chuckled as the naysayers clammed up and glowered at Helena.

Zak was put in charge of organizing a resistance in the event that the lives of the children were threatened. Ben had agreed to allow Zak to prepare weapons and a small defense force on the condition that it was to be used as a last resort. Only if a child was being attacked could anyone in the church respond with violence, solely for the purpose of providing that child with an escape. The slightest amount of bloodshed would get the whole church pegged as a group of thieves and murderers, and that could be devastating to their witness. One man with military training offered to teach all the young men, and any of the ladies who wished to learn, how to temporarily disable an enemy without causing any actual harm. Ben heartily agreed to the self-defense course, and the military man had no trouble finding volunteers among the women.

As the meeting drew to a close, Ben tested the code they had set up. He approached a girl of about nine and asked, "You're going to a meeting to listen to a storykeeper read a scroll containing a story of Jesus, and you're stopped on the street by a soldier. What do you tell him when he asks you where you're going?"

"I tell him that my oldest Brother has died, and the family is gathering to read His testament," the girl responded with a smile.

"Very good," Ben praised her. He then turned to a young boy. "And what would you say if a soldier stopped you on your way to attend a baptism?"

"That I'm going to celebrate a brother or sister's birthday," the boy said proudly.

"Wonderful," Ben said, pleased that the code had been so easily memorized by the children. "Now, is what you're telling the soldier a lie?"

The children shook their heads. "Nope," said the girl. "It's the truth. Jesus is our oldest Brother, and He did die, but He came back to life. And He left a testament for us to hear and read."

"And when someone's getting baptized," the boy added, "it's like they're being born again to be a Christian instead of a pagan, so it's their birthday in heaven."

Ben smiled warmly. "A smarter group of children I've never met."

The children blushed at the compliment. Suddenly the boy yawned.

"Looks like it's time to be getting home to bed," Helena observed. It was past midnight, and the journey home would be dangerous enough with patrols outside, enforcing the curfew.

"You best leave in increments," Cleopas said. "All of us leaving at once would be like waving a red flag before a raging bull."

Ben nodded. "Right. Thomas, you and your family slip out first. Keep to the alleys."

"No problem there, Ben," Thomas said.

It took another hour before everyone had filtered out of the potter's den. Ben and his family made it home without incident. When they got back to the bakery, Helena ran inside to look for Keren. Ben and Zak were right behind her. A lighting of a candle later revealed no sign of Keren. The note lay undisturbed on the table. Helena glanced at Ben, worry etched all over her face.

"She's still out there, Ben. We have to find her."

Ben wrapped his arms around his wife and pulled her close. "Keren's smart, and I'm sure she's fine. We'd be better off waiting until the curfew is lifted. We'll start searching for her first thing in the morning."

"I can get around town without being seen," Zak said. "I'll find Keren and have her back by daybreak. You know I can do it."

"Yes, and nine times out of ten you'd make it, Zak. But there's always that one. I want to go find her, too, but if we did locate her, we'd be hard pressed to make it all the way back here. We could put Keren and whomever she may be working with in grave danger."

"But Ben, she's already in danger!" Zak protested.

"We need to remember that God is in control here. It's hard, I know. It's really hard. But...I think we're supposed to stay here. We're not supposed to take the chance. Not tonight. We have to leave Keren in God's hands."

Zak looked back and forth between Ben and Helena. Though Helena remained unusually silent on the issue, her expression matched that of her husband. Whatever they were hearing from God, they were in agreement on it. But the concern was still evident in their faces, and in Ben's voice.

"Fine," Zak muttered. "But at first light, I'm going out to look for her."

"We all will," Ben said. "In the meantime, we have to try to get some rest. We've been run ragged, and the fire is far from being contained."

Zak begrudgingly retreated to his room, while Ben and Helena settled into theirs.

"I don't think I'll be able to sleep tonight," Helena sighed as she tried to find a comfortable position on the couple's straw mattress.

"Me neither," said Ben, slipping underneath the covers to snuggle down beside Helena. "So we'll just pray instead. And hopefully God will grant us enough rest to renew our energy for tomorrow's search."

Helena agreed, and the couple cuddled together, keeping a prayer vigil until they both managed to drift off to sleep.

The next morning, Ben, Helena and Zak set out to begin their search, breakfast largely forgotten. No one had been hungry that morning. Zak picked up his sword, insisting on bringing it with him.

Helena led the trio to the place where they had last seen Keren. The smoldering ruins of the buildings and bodies around them gave off a putrid smell. Ben found it a challenge to keep down what little food he'd eaten that morning.

"A centurion took Keren and a few others down that way to work at a shelter," Helena said. "He's probably now leading a work force up near the head of the fire."

"Then that's where we'll start," Ben said. "Zak, you head down to the shelter and find out who might be there that has seen Keren recently, then meet us behind the fireline. And be careful!"

Zak nodded and took off in the direction of the shelter, while Ben and Helena made their way up to the fire.

When Ben and Helena arrived, they were greeted by swarms of people running to and from the blaze with buckets of water, axes, and anything else they found handy in trying to bring the blaze under control. No attempt was being made to extinguish fires in houses that had already been caught up in the flames; instead people drenched the houses and streets around the blaze and did their best to clear away any flammable rubble or brush. Spot fires were stamped out as quickly as possible. The death toll from the fire seemed to fall with each passing hour, as more and more people heeded the warnings to get out of their homes. Some in the fire's path had even managed to save a few possessions. Some barely escaped before their houses were suddenly set ablaze by the dry, hot winds, which had started early that day.

Helena had trouble picking out familiar faces among the soldiers. Everyone was covered in soot, and the centurions were too focused on barking orders to pay attention to the civilians. There was no sign of Tacticus, the bag-eyed young centurion who had assigned Keren to the shelter.

"Ben! Helena!"

The couple turned to respond to whoever had called their name. It was Senator Patronius.

"Patronius! What are you doing up here?" Ben said as he greeted his old friend.

"Caesar is using my villa for a temporary residence until his palace is rebuilt enough for him to move back in. I've been helping with the relief effort for the last few days. What are you doing up here? Nero's restricted everyone not in the path of the fire to their district of residence. And where are the kids?"

"We're looking for Keren," Helena answered. "She was separated from us the first night of the fire, while we were helping victims of the fire. She was sent to a shelter to help care for the wounded and homeless, and we haven't seen or heard from her since."

"Well, she's not safe there," Patronius said. "Nero's paranoid. He's been arresting even those who have been helping nonstop to fight the fire, accusing them of setting it. He's using the fire as an excuse to arrest and kill Christians."

"We know," Ben responded. "That's why it's imperative that we find her. Zak's checking the shelters in the direction Keren was last seen heading. He'll meet us here as soon as he finds something."

"You haven't heard anything?" Helena asked Patronius.

"I had heard about a group of people who were arrested about a day or so after the fire began. Some of them were volunteers, but that didn't stop Nero from locking them up. They're in the stockade now, awaiting execution."

Helena gasped and put a hand to her mouth, silently praying that Keren wasn't among those now in prison.

"We had heard that Nero moved Paul from his house to the stockade," Ben said.

Patronius nodded. "It's true, I'm afraid. His physician, Luke, is on his way back to Rome to check up on him. I've sent messengers out to intercept him. If Luke sets foot in the city right now, he risks losing his life."

Suddenly the palace slave Casius had pointed out to Ben the day before ran up. "Senator Patronius, I have an update on the prisoners in the stockade."

"What have you heard, Darius?"

"Nero has plans to throw them to the lions at the next imperial games, which he plans to hold in three days, regardless of whether the fire is out by that time or not. And Paul has been sentenced to death by beheading."

"Oh no!" Ben cried. "We've got to find a way to get them out of there!"

"I'm afraid there's not much we can do from this end," Patronius said. "But we can certainly try. When is Paul's trial?"

"He already had it," Darius answered.

"What?!"

"I was there. It was amazing. There wasn't the slightest hint of fear in Paul's voice, and he spoke so eloquently. Everyone there was impacted by what he had to say. Even Nero was stunned into silence for a while. But in the end, Nero sentenced him to death. Paul is in a special prison cell right now. He's being allowed these next three days to write one last letter to a friend in Ephesus, as per his final request to Caesar."

"That would be Timothy," Ben said.

"They're going to be devastated," Helena said. "The Ephesians admire Paul; Lois, Eunice and Timothy in particular."

"Not if we find a way to get Paul out of prison," Ben said.

"We'll talk about it later," said Patronius. "Nihilus is bringing in a fresh crew of workers and guards, and he's sure to get suspicious if he sees us standing around talking. Darius, hurry back to my place and keep your ears and eyes open for a young woman named Keren. Ben, Helena, if anyone asks, you're working for me. Come, let's get busy, or we'll arouse suspicion."

Ben and Helena joined a couple of Patronius' servants in distributing clothing and food to workers and refugees, all the while keeping an eye out for Zak.

AN: The code Ben uses in this chapter is based on a real-life code used by Christians in the former Soviet Union. To avoid being taken in for questioning by Communist soldiers, Christians would often tell an officer who stopped them that they were going to celebrate a birthday with a picnic in the woods, when in actuality, they were gathering to hold secret church meetings or baptisms. One child really did tell an officer that the reason his family was gathering in a local home was because his oldest Brother had died, and they were about to read His testament. It's a clever answer, but not an incriminating lie. This is what Jesus meant when He told us to be shrewd as serpents, yet innocent as doves.

One more chapter, and I'll have completed a multi-chapter fic for the first time. Hopefully this will become a habit. ;)