Broken Vessels (volume 2 of Jars of Clay) Read Online Free

I’m new to town.” Lucius rubbed his stomach for effect. “It’s been
a while since my last meal.”
     Gaia’s wide smile fell into a small o.
    “Well, you could come home with me and work for my father,” she
told him. “He owns a brick yard. He’s always looking for workers. She glanced
around from side to side, and then moved closer to Lucius, whispering, “I’m
about to pack up.” She slipped him a couple eggs from under her sinus. “Help me
and I’ll introduce you to my father.”
    “It would be my pleasure,” Lucius said with a satisfied smile.
    After loading up the table and Gaia’s stool, and securing the
chickens and the eggs, Lucius climbed into the cart beside her, keeping an
appropriate distance between them.
    Gaia turned out to be very adept at persuading a donkey to do
her bidding. She also turned out to be quite the tour guide, pointing out the Theater
of Pompey, the Bats of Nero, and the extravagant Temple of the Divine Hadrian.
The Forum of Trojan boasted every type of merchant and wares a person could
imagine, but the heart and royal jewel of the city was, of course, the Circus
Maximus. The Coliseum. The way the sun glistened off the marble, the massive
building radiated white as if it was its own light source. Rome’s own personal
sun.
    “Where are you from?” Gaia said through her incessant grin.
     “I’ve come from Carthage.”
    “Carthage!” she said. “In Africa?”
    “The same.”
    “That’s so exciting for you.”
    Lucius noted that they were leaving the city and wondered how
far out they were headed. “I suppose.”
    “I’ve never been out of Rome myself.”
    “Maybe someday.”
    Gaia’s grin flattened out. “No, I doubt the gods would allow
that.”
    Thankfully, Gaia turned off the main road toward a small farm
where her father ran the brickyard. At least it was walking distance to the
city and if he were lucky enough to get work and lodging, he wouldn’t be
trapped there.
    Gaia pointed. “There’s my father.”
    Lucius squinted into the sunshine making out a husky man with
grey, curly hair and arms like timbers.
    Gaia flapped her hand toward him.
    “Father!” she said. “I’ve brought a worker!”
    Was there really a shortage of laborers in Rome? Lucius
wondered.
    The man approached as Lucius and Gaia dismounted the cart.
Lucius reached out his hand. “Hello, sir.”
    The man’s eyes scanned him from his head to toe, considering,
and Lucius feared for a moment the man would toss him off his property for
accompanying his daughter unchaperoned.
    But Gaia’s father shook Lucius’s hand. “Hermus is my name.”
    “Pleased to meet you,” Lucius said.
    A gaggle of domestic geese squawked in failed attempts at
flying as another figure approached. It was a woman, who from a distance looked
just like Gaia. Her dark, curly hair was streaked with grey, and as she grew
closer, Lucius could see that her hips were much broader.
    One thing was for certain, Hermus fed his family well. At that
thought his stomach growled.
    “Gaia?” the woman spoke loudly. “Who is this?”
    Lucius couldn’t tell by her voice if she was angry or not. Her
dark eyes studied him and then, thankfully, a wide grin took over her face.
    “A young man?” She glanced at Gaia with raised eyebrows as if
this was the most surprising thing Gaia had ever done. “And a handsome one,
too.”
    Gaia giggled again and Lucius stiffened. He suddenly understood
what was going on. Gaia’s mother was scouting for a husband for her daughter.
    Fortunately, Hermus spoke up. “Gaia speaks the truth? You are
willing to work hard?”
    “Yes sir.”
    Hermus turned to his wife. “Marca, give him something to eat.”
    To Lucius he said. “Gaia will bring you to me later this
afternoon. You will sleep in the barn.”
    Lucius bowed slightly. Gaia and her mother each took one of his
arms and led him toward the house, both giggling like school girls.
    But Lucius couldn’t be bothered by how uncomfortable