A Grave Situation (Part 2)

<p>"So, let me get this straight.” Petronius glared at the two Roman soldiers sitting across from him. “There was a bright light, and you were knocked to the ground, and when you got up, the seal was broken, the two-ton stone was rolled away, and the body was gone?”</p><p>.</p><p>“There was also a roaring sound,” Justin added. He glanced over at Lucius, who was staring at the table in silence, still in shock.</p><p>.</p><p>“A roaring sound,” their commanding officer repeated. “Like a lion?”</p><p>.</p><p>“No, like scraping—” Justin stopped to think. “But yes, also like a lion.”</p><p>.</p><p>Petronius threw his reed pen down in frustration. “A scraping sound that roared like a lion. Do you know how crazy that sounds? Honestly, if it weren’t for the other soldiers on guard last night with similar nonsensical stories, you two would be on your way to the execution block for sleeping on the job, because this all sounds like a crazy dream!”</p><p>.</p><p>Justin saw Lucius cringe. “I know how it sounds,” said Justin. “That’s also how it felt. Crazy. Impossible.”</p><p>.</p><p>Petronius dismissed them so he could converse with the other officers. “Don’t go far,” he warned them. “You’re being watched until we get this sorted out.”</p><p>.</p><p>Justin led Lucius to the courtyard. “I’ll get us something to eat,” he said as he sat his friend beneath an olive tree. Lucius nodded and slumped against the tree trunk.</p><p>.</p><p>Justin walked to a nearby booth selling pomegranates. As he handed his coins over, he wondered if this would be his last meal. What had the dead man—whose tomb they had been guarding—eaten for his last meal? Justin shuddered as he thought about the crucifixion he had witnessed just a few days before. He’d seen many executions, but this one was different. He’d gotten the distinct sense that this man in no way deserved the abuses heaped upon him as his death sentence wascarried out. Now, Justin wondered if he, too, might be executed.</p><p>.</p><p>As he walked back toward the courtyard, a shadow fell a