01 Taxilas Children

TAXILA'S CHILDREN
know existed. People streamed in from all directions. It was going to be quite a party. He
tried to spot Hara but she had vanished. He was worried sick and tried to keep his smile from
slipping into something fixed and glassy eyed.
The noon heat started to warm up the proceedings. He hoped that he wasn't required to sit
perched on top of the creaking float for the rest of the day. Jabez appeared, taking up his
rightful place at the head of the procession. They stopped suddenly, the first of many such
stops. The crowd who had been following were permitted to catch up and gather in a great
cluster around the floral throne. Jabez turned and called loudly:
"Great Lord Steve-Holt, we plead with you to bless our fields."
Steve cursed the inadequacy of his tuition at the Academy. He had not been a good scholar
but he was quite sure that no one had ever envisaged one of their number sitting best part
naked on a floral float, on a strange planet and being called upon to pronounce a blessing of
any description. He stared at Jabez and saw the glint of triumph in his eye. Steve stared back
impassively, waiting the moment for the trap to be sprung. It was getting beyond the moment
where the silence could be construed as a dramatic pause. Steve was noted for his versatility.
He said in his best Solari and in sonorous cadences:
"Mary had a little lamb, it's fleece was as white as snow and everywhere that Mary went,
that lamb was sure to go."
It was amazing what one could get out of stuff like that when the occasion demands.
Luckily, he was a ham actor at heart.
Jabez knew, of course, he could read the thoughts that formed the words. Steve hoped that
there would be few others who could. He hoped they would have as much sense as Jabez and
keep their mouths shut. Steve waited for the reaction in a state of calm fatalism.
"We thank you for your blessing, Lord."
Steve thought 'You bloody old fraud'. There was no doubt that Jabez read that as well.
The crowd got up from their faces in the dirt and they continued the tour of the fields.
From time to time they stopped and Steve was called upon to repeat the nonsense. Each time,
he was thanked by Jabez. He began to enjoy the situation and smiled indulgently upon all and
sundry. He even varied the doggerel and gave a spirited rendition of 'The Whorehouse on
Mars'. This went on for twenty five stanzas and he had to be pissed to remember it all. It
didn't matter, he was again thanked by Jabez. The old man's education had been
supplemented and he looked a trifle thoughtful after the first rendition.
Steve had no idea how the whole crazy business was going to end. He had a notorious
habit of sticking out his neck and especially so, when he had no idea of how it was going to
be chopped off. By the end of the afternoon, the crowd had swollen to about three hundred.
The attraction of having a real live god for the occasion, had proved to be quite a crowdpuller.
The Lynxe-star dropped lower and the whole nature of the gathering changed. The hard
work was at an end and now they were going to play hard. He had a sudden guilty thought
about Hara, he hadn't seen her for hours. His throne bearers set him down once again. He
waited for Jabez to call for another blessing but this time the invitation wasn't forthcoming.
His bearers thankfully moved away, bowing low as they did so and he was left in lonely
estate upon his magnificent seat of majesty. His personal seat of majesty wasn't feeling so
good, a persistent twig had been paying him unwanted attentions for the better part of the
afternoon.
Jabez courteously invited him to descend to ground level. He concurred thankfully,
carefully adjusting his blossoms. They had come to rest in the corner of a great field, which
had been completely cleared of oil-plant. It was on the top of a hill. On three sides, woods
reached down the slopes to the lower plain, while on the other, was a sharp drop. The light
was going and the air starting to cool. He had no fears of catching a chill, no matter how
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