Luke's Story (4 page)
Authors: Tim Lahaye 7 Jerry B. Jenkins
PART TWO
THE STUDENT
NINE
For such a bright and successft size="3">EXCITED AS HE WAS and eager to get under way, Loukon had everything packed and stacked and ready to go when he retired that night. Sleep was nearly impossible. He was exhausted and yet longed for dawn when he would ride—with the master himself—all the way to the harbor.
Slumber finally overtook him, and he was stunned awake at a rooster’s crow. Loukon ran to bathe in a shallow pool, then dressed in one of his new sets of clothes and sandals, grabbed one of his boxes, and met the master at his covered carriage.
“Set that crate down,” Theophilus said. “No manual labor for you today. Diabolos, please load Loukon’s things.”
Diabolos gave Loukon a look and bowed to the master. “With pleasure, sir.”
When the driver had loaded everything, Diabolos leaped aboard and reached to help Theophilus up. As the master settled in back, Loukon boarded, but when he reached for Diabolos’s helping hand, the slave pulled it away.
As Loukon pulled back the curtain and found his place beside Theophilus, Diabolos grandly bowed low in an exaggerated manner that was not lost on the lad.
“Proceed,” Theophilus said, as Diabolos closed them in. The master whispered, “You can see how happy he is for you, treating you like a freeman.”
“Indeed,” Loukon said.
As the carriage jostled to the harbor, Loukon found himself strangely melancholy. His eager anticipation was quickly becoming dread of the unknown and longing for the comforts of his own home and daily routine. And there would be no turning back. He could not show these emotions before the very man who had bestowed all this upon him. Yet at the same time he knew this was a boundless opportunity, the first step on his journey to an entirely new life.
But a lump rose in his throat, and it was all he could do to dam his tears. As Theophilus spoke of opportunity and possibilities, Loukon pressed his lips together and nodded, grateful he was not required to speak.
At the harbor he and the master stood chatting as Diabolos loaded his stuff onto the ship. When Theophilus thanked Diabolos, he again bowed deeply and smiled—deviously, Loukon was sure—acting as if this chance to serve the master’s pet was his highest privilege.
Finally Loukon and Theophilus embraced. “I know you will apply yourself with all diligence,” the master said. “Safe travels.”
“I cannot thank you enough,” Loukon said, the tears finally coming. He was embarrassed until he saw Theophilus also weeping. How had he earned this man’s love?
“Thank me by doing me a favor,” the man said, his voice thick.
“Anything.”
“Drop your formal Greek name, at least among your new mates. Introduce yourself as Luke.”
“You don’t think they will take me less seriously?”
“Your scholarship will was notght="6">
“My people have much to teach.”
“Oh, I agree, despite that we oppose much Hellenistic thought. But I oppose nothing that might be of use in serving the God of Israel.”
“You speak of Him as you would speak of an actual person.”
Saul grinned. “Is it any wonder my elders are so wary of you Greeks? Of course He is an actual person. He is not like you and me, needless to say, thus we do not even spell out His name when we write about Him. And in speech we refer to Him as Yahweh.”
“And how do you serve Him, as you say?”
“By knowing His history, loving His laws, following His statutes.”
“I have heard of the laws. Just out of curiosity, do they leave any time for other things?”
“Such as?”
“Recreation.”
“Do you mean to ask if I have any fun?”
Luke laughed. “That’s what I’m asking, yes.”
“Stick with me, Luke, and you’ll have as much fun as you want. I know every street and alleyway in Tarsus. And I fancy myself an athlete. One of the first things we are to study in history here is the Battle of Marathon five centuries ago and the man who ran all that way to tell of the victory and then died of exhaustion. I am organizing a run just like it, not to or from Marathon, of course, but I have devised a path that is about the same length.”
“And who is to run this?”
“I will, and many of my new friends. Join us! It will be, as you say, fun.”
“It doesn’t sound like fun to me. Isn’t that more than twenty-five miles?”
“It is. But what better way to learn? We’re doing it tomorrow, after morning classes.”
“Won’t it take hours?”
“It will for me,” Saul said, “but you plainly have longer legs and look more fit. You’ll probably be waiting for the rest of us when we arrive back here.”
Luke had never run a mile, let alone more than twenty-five. But what better way to start getting to know other students? As he was considering it, Saul excused himself and ran to help another new student carrying his belongings into the dormitory.
As he prepared for the orientation meeting, Luke could not get Saul, or his running challenge, off his mind. He was going to do it, he had decided. But what was with the intensity of that young man? He was articulate and direct, and his eyes had seemed to bore into Luke’s.
But was Saul of Tarsus a potential friend? His very energy and ideas might exhaust Luke. On the other hand, wasn’t that what university life was all about—expanding his wo/div>
No way could Luke live a life satisfying to a devout Jew, but Saul seemed an open-minded sort. Perhaps his education abroad and his receptiveness to gleaning what he could even from philosophies opposed to his own would make him a valuable acquaintance.
TEN
As Luke was leaving the orientation meeting that evening, struck by the mass of students overrunning the campus, Saul approached from a distance. The dark, wiry man was waving, and when he came fully into view, it was clear he had been injured.
“What happened to your eye, Saul?”
“Oh, this? It’s nothing. I challenged an older student to a fistfight, and he took me seriously. I mean, I wanted the challenge, but he thought we had to be angry with each other and not just sporting. Before I realized I had to really fight back, he had landed a good blow.”
“What were you fighting about?”
“Nothing! I just like to box. And he was much bigger, so I wanted to give it a go. People seem to misunderstand me, though I try to be clear. Do you find me hard to understand?”
Luke laughed. “I don’t understand why you’d want to take on an older, bigger student just for sport, or run more than twenty-five miles, but I don’t have any trouble comprehending what you’re saying.”
“Well, that’s a relief. And you are running with us tomorrow, right?”
“I’ll give it a try.”
“Oh, but you must finish. You don’t have to win, but finishing is everything.”
“Fair enough. I promise to finish. Probably at the back of the pack, but I will finish.”
“That’s the spirit, Luke.”
“Now, what have you done for that eye? It’s nearly swollen shut.”
“I applied a poultice of heated mud and leaves.”
“No wonder it’s swollen! Are you not familiar with the new approach to such injuries? Cold is the way to go, not hot. Heat causes more fluid to come into the affected area. Come with me.”
Luke led him to a small stream, where he formed a mudpack and cooled it in the water, then pressed it gently over the eye. Saul winced but then admitted that it felt better already. “Will this keep it from turning purple?”
“Probably not,” Luke said, “and it may ache if you still try to run tomorrow.”
“Nothing will stop me from that. He didn’t injure my legs. By the way, he got the worst of our fight.”
“He did?”
“Oh, yes. I may have broken his noing for others who enjoy talking, especially late at night. There is nothing I enjoy more.”
“Well, I need more sleep than that, but I may seek you out when my mind does not allow me to slumber. A good discussion may be just what I need.”
“Discussion? Arguments are better! You take one side, I another, and we plead our cases until morning.”
“And then sleep through our lectures,” Luke said. He enjoyed making Saul laugh.
Saul gathered the other men around. “My only counsel is to not start too fast,” he said. “I have never done this either, but I have watched athletes race in the coliseum, and often the ones who start out too quickly soon tire and finish last. Pace yourselves and enjoy the view.”
He explained the simple twenty-five-plus-mile loop that would take them “through all the different parts of one of the world’s greatest cities. Stay on my course and you will not get lost. And though you may tire, don’t miss all the sights. No matter where you’re from, it’s unlikely you’ve ever seen a larger trade center on the Mediterranean coast. I’m proud to say our merchants are known throughout the empire, and they have poured much of their profits back into the city. It has good roads and much ornate beauty. Don’t miss it. Don’t run with your eyes cast down, no matter how tired you become.”
Saul began running in place. “Get the body loosened up, and we will soon be off.”
To Luke’s great amusement, Saul was the first to violate his own advice. As soon as he had called out, “Ready? Let’s go!” the young Pharisee lit out at nearly top speed, teasing the others to try to keep up. Many tried, including Luke, but after a mere quarter of a mile, they slowed.
Luke was winded and attempted to settle into a steady gait, trying to ignore that the speedy Saul was fast moving out of sight. As they left the campus and began a gradual slope down into the city, Luke tried to take in the surroundings, but his lack of physical activity for so long quickly caught up with him, and after he had slowed to a jog and covered little more than a mile, he was ready to quit.
He stopped and rested his hands on his hips, bending at the waist and gasping. “Done already?” some said as they passed him, and he didn’t even have the energy to respond. Two stragglers sidled up next to him and said, “This is ridiculous. We’re heading back too.”
“I’m not heading back,” Luke said. “I said I would finish, and I will.”
“You’ve barely begun, man! Give it up.”
They turned and began trudging back up to the university, but as soon as Luke caught his breath, he broke into a trot again, only to find that the strap on his right sandal was already digging into his flesh and raising a red spot. Dare he run barefoot? Surely not for the whole race. He soldiered on, soon trailing the rest by half a mile.
It wasn’t long before Luke had to find a place to sit and study the blister forming on his right foot. Checking his left, he found an irritaoon have to slow to a walk, and his goal to be back to the campus before sunset would be hopeless.
As the day wore on, Luke began to wonder how far behind he was, only to surprisingly overtake a few of his schoolmates sitting and enjoying refreshments with town folk.
“Still at it?” they called out. “We’re done! Let Saul run himself into the ground. We had no idea . . .”
Luke just waved and kept walking. Occasionally he would jog a few steps, but he soon realized that even walking the whole way was going to tax him to his limits. Along the route he continued to come upon others sitting off to the side, not one with any intention of continuing.
By very late in the afternoon he reached the halfway point and believed he had caught and passed everyone but Saul.
Famished, thirsty, aching, blistered, and sore, Luke stopped after sundown and begged fruit off a street vendor, vowing to pay the next day. The sustenance awakened him a bit but did nothing to heal his broken-down body, and now he lumbered on, only because there was nowhere else to go.
To his astonishment, as Luke finally began the incline that would take him back to the campus more than eight hours after he had begun, he saw a small figure in the distance, laboring to lean into and go up the hill. Saul.
The little man was limping badly, and Luke quickened his pace, just enough to know that he would be able to reach Saul before they finished. They would be the only two to complete the course. What a foolish idea this had been, and yet Luke anticipated a sense of accomplishment to go along with his ailments and the likelihood that he would not come close to finishing his reading that night.
When he drew close enough, Luke hollered out for Saul, who slowly turned and smiled wearily, extending his arms. “Luke! Is it you alone?”
“It is!”
Saul beckoned for him, but Luke had no more in him. He just shuffled along. Saul would have to wait.
When Luke finally reached him, Saul embraced him and they continued. “I’m proud of you,” Saul said. “I confess that after halfway I knew I had offended all these by goading them to run, and had I not been the one who instigated this, I myself would have quit long ago. But frankly, if anyone else were to finish, I did not expect it to be you.”
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