Cato wished he could shake the image of the woman's eyes out of his mind. With his eyes still closed he heard a man's voice say, "Leasen her pain." Cato opened his eyes and looked around. No one was even standing near him. Who just spoke to him? He began to feel very uneasy as his stomach painfully tightened.
Cato beat his fist against his chest trying to shake himself back to reality. "What is wrong with me?" he questioned himself. "Great, now I'm hearing voices. I think I just need to get some rest. The sooner I get this job done, the sooner I can get home."
Cato decided he would help take down the body of Jesus from the cross. He tried not to look at the woman, but he couldn't stop himself. Her tear stained face was fixed on Jesus. A much younger man seemed to be holding her up as if her frail frame was too much weight for her to support herself.
Cato bit his bottom lip as he remembered the voice, "Lessen her pain". He tried as best he could to carefully remove the nails. (Usually he just ripped them out without any thought to the mangled flesh.) With the help of another soldier, he gently lowered Jesus body down. He saw the woman's outstretched arms, so together the soldiers placed the body into her arms. Cato could hear her sobbing uncontrollably as she wrapped her arms around him. Although Cato had done this countless times, somehow this time--this man, this sobbing woman was different. The scene was too emotional to watch. He had to get out of there. After all his job was done.
He climbed onto his horse slinging his bag with the seamless tunic behind him. He would give his report to Pilate. Jesus, the King of the Jews, was dead. It was all over now. Hopefully this would be the end of the riots. Everyone should be happy now. Cato rode away as quickly as possible.
(to be continued...)
-Susan
