Bridge of Mystery
A challenge response story
Write a story with fewer than 2000 words. The theme is "building bridges," and the following five words have to be used: bantha, red, bite, bowl, speeder.Title: Bridge of Mystery
Author: Jane Jinn
Timeframe: between TPM and AOTC
Characters: Hachas Tlatilco, Master Anedjib, other OC's
Summary: A death, a funeral, and a missing crown.
Disclaimer: The Jedi and the Star Wars universe were created by George Lucas. I'm only borrowing them with no intent to profit.*****
Hachas Tlatilco stopped the speeder in front of the correct address. Almost instantly, the door of the house opened and a man came out into the street, smiling broadly with his arms extended. �Aned! It�s good of you to come.��How could I refuse the invitation of an old friend?� Anedjib asked, returning the man�s embrace, then stepping back. �Hachas, this is Ha�py. We were at the Temple together.�
�Until you became a padawan and I ended up out here in the Inner Rim learning how to be a solicitor, of all things.�
�And Ha�py, this is my padawan Hachas Tlatilco.�
�Hachas, welcome.� Ha�py gave Hachas a more polite hug than the one he�d given his master, then stepped back and asked, �Are you teaching Aned patience?�
�Not deliberately,� Hachas replied, and both older men laughed.
�Come in.,� Ha�py said. �We�re just about ready to sit down for lunch, and I�ll explain everything to everybody together.�
Seated at the table in the dining room were two very different women, whom Ha�py introduced as Imset and Amutef. Imset was middle-aged and very thin, with dark hair pulled back in a loose bun, and a naturally cheerful personality. By contrast, Amutef was young, about Hachas� age, and plump, with red hair caught back in a tight, severe-looking plait down her back, and very little to say for herself.
The table was already set, and Imset took the responsibility of being the hostess. As she passed the bowls of food around, Ha�py began to speak. �My client, Qebehsenuf, died recently. He was quite a renowned researcher here and spent most of his life trying to prove that the ancient Jedi spent several hundred years on this planet before moving Core-wards. In recent months, Qebehsenuf had become a little ... strange.�
�A little?� Imset snorted. �He walked around in nothing but a loincloth and a crown! Thought he was some kind of nobleman living thirty thousand years ago.�
�Er, yes,� Ha�py agreed. �Qebehsenuf began to wear replicas of ancient costumes and talk about long-dead people as though they were alive and actually present.�
�It was quite an experience coming to visit him, let me tell you!� Imset interjected, laughing at the memory.
�Fortunately,� Ha�py went on, �Qebehsenuf had given me detailed instructions for his funeral while he was still clear-minded � more or less. He wanted a ceremony that was as close to the ancient Jedi ceremony as we could make it.�
�But he wasn�t a Jedi, was he?� Hachas asked.
�No, he wasn�t a Jedi. He wasn�t even like me, having been raised in the Temple. But if his theories were true, then the Jedi, or at least one branch of them, started here as a truly religious order and were seen as such. The power of the Force made them priests, who officiated at coronations, weddings and funerals � ceremonies like that. This people believed in an afterlife where the spirit lived on, in the same world, but on a different plane. They believed that the dead people not only had to take a sacrifice with them, but they also needed a little help to get across a certain bridge to this different plane. The usual sacrifice was two coins. The nearest relative laid the coins on their eyes, then the priests lit the fire, and �- so they believed �- sent the spirit over the bridge with a little nudge of the Force.�
�Fascinating,� Anedjib said.
�Yes, isn�t it,� Ha�py said with a little smile. �Before the funeral, the possessions of the deceased were given away to family and friends. The closest relative had to use part of the new wealth to buy the two coins for the sacrifice �- apparently, the priests could set the price �- then had to decide who got what.�
�Could the closest relative decide to keep all the possessions?� Hachas inquired, thinking of more than one war that had broken out for just such a reason.
�It was considered extremely selfish to keep anything for yourself except a few sentimental tokens �- and why should you? Except for the few times when you were the nearest relative, you were practically assured of gifts throughout your life,� Ha�py replied. �The nearest relative got the ashes of the body and was expected to use them as fertilizer on a field or in a garden somewhere.�
Imset had been leaning forward, but now she sat back with an astonished �Oh.�
�Do the Jedi of to-day continue these same customs? The part about the coins and using the Force to send the souls over the bridge?� Amutef asked. She glanced from Anedjib to Hachas, met his eyes, and glanced away, blushing.
Anedjib shook his head. �If they truly were the forefathers of the Jedi, these practices have long since been lost. And Jedi are not encouraged to accumulate possessions, so there is scarcely anything to give away when one dies.�
�Not encouraged to accumulate possessions?� Imset snorted in amusement, then turned to Ha�py. �Didn�t you just tell us that these ancient Jedi could set the price of those two coins? Who�s to say that they didn�t set it high, hey?�
�Uncle Qe said they didn�t, actually,� Amutef interjected. �They usually only took foodstuffs, anyway. They had to live, but they didn�t want to exploit the people while doing it.�
�Foodstuffs?� Imset repeated, sounding incredulous. �Well. It�s obvious that the Jedi of those days didn�t have such things as taxes, mortgages, hologram transmission bills, and installments on new speeders. Or maybe that�s why they moved to Coruscant �- their creditors were after them!�
She laughed heartily.
�And we�ll be following this tradition to-day?� Amutef asked. �The closest relative will give away all the possessions and get only the ashes?�
�Yes, that�s all set down in Qebehsenuf�s will,� Ha�py replied.
�And which one of us is the closest relative?� Imset asked. �I think it must be Amutef there. She�s the great-niece on the paternal side. I�m a great-niece on the maternal side.�
�Ah, actually, it�s the other way around,� Ha�py said. �The society was matriarchal in those days. The line of succession went from woman to woman, and Qebehsenuf has named you as his closest relative.�
There was a slight pause, and then Imset laughed. �Good! I�m not a young woman anymore, If I had to clean this house even once, I�d be dead before I got from one end of it to the next. Some of these rooms are big enough to put a bantha in. Maybe that�s what you should do, Amutef, rent it out as a stable!�
*****
After the lunch, Ha�py took everybody for a tour of the house. It was full of various artifacts, all neatly catalogued and labeled. Hachas thought it could easily be turned into a museum simply by adding a few signs telling people not to touch. In the master bedroom, Ha�py pulled out two robes out from a wardrobe and laid them on the bed. �Qebehsenuf told me that the Jedi of those days wore purple and he requested you to wear these during the ceremony.�
Anedjib frowned, and Hachas wondered why. There wasn�t anything in the Jedi code about which colours they could and could not wear; he supposed it was just tradition that kept them clothed in various shades of beige, brown, and black. Eagerly, he reached for one and shook it out, then pulled it on.
�You look very handsome,� Imset declared, and Amutef nodded shyly.
�Well, there�s only the detail of the coins now, and the official giving away, then we can start with the funeral itself,� Ha�py said. �Qebehsenuf got special permission from the government to have the cremation in his own courtyard.�
�That�ll stink up the house,� Imset snorted. �Make sure you shut all the windows, Amutef.�
�They�re already closed,� Anedjib said, folding the remaining purple cloak over his arm. Hachas supposed he was waiting until the last moment to put it on.
They returned to the dining room, where the safe was located. Ha�py opened it and removed two square pieces of metal, each with a round hole in the middle, then placed them in Anedjib�s hands. �Here are the coins. Now, Madame Imset, you must offer the Jedi something for them.�
�Wait right there,� said Imset. �I�ll see what foodstuffs I can find in the kitchen.�
She whirled away, and returned a few minutes later with several packages of sweets, some open, some still sealed. �Uncle Qe�s secret supply. Whether he brought them out and offered you a bite or not depended on how well he liked you. Are these acceptable?�
�They are,� Anedjib replied, handing over the coins and receiving the snacks, which he immediately passed off to Hachas.
�What�s that in the back of the safe?� Amutef asked, craning her neck a little. When Ha�py brought forth a wispy-looking crown of filigree and jewels, she said, �Oh, that�s the crown Uncle Qe was always wearing these past few months. It�s a replica, isn�t it?�
�Actually, it�s not. It�s the original,� Ha�py replied.
�Well, it can go to the museum with all the other artifacts,� Imset declared as Ha�py put it back in the safe and shut the door. �Amutef, you can have the house and everything else. Am I doing this right, Ha�py?�
The solicitor smiled and nodded.
�Well, let�s get on with the rest of it, then.�
They walked out to the courtyard where there was a small pyre of wood with a nude body on top. Hachas judged by its corpulence that Qebehsenuf hadn�t often shared his �secret supply.� Perhaps Amutef was thinking the same thing, as she suddenly looked at his armful of sweets and said in a low voice, �Jedi Tlatilco, let me put those back in the kitchen for you.�
She relieved him of the load and walked back into the house. Anedjib used the opportunity to put on his purple cloak, and Imset whispered, �Ha�py, does Uncle Qe have to be stark naked? It�s obscene!�
�Well, the nearest relative usually divided up the clothes of the deceased,� Ha�py whispered back.
�Fine. I�ve just decided what I�m going to do with his loincloth. Excuse me for a moment.� Imset dashed into the house, narrowly missing Amutef coming back out, and returned a few moments later with a length of cloth in slapdash folds. She placed it on the dead man where it belonged, laid a coin on each eye, then stepped back and looked towards Anedjib.
Solemnly, Anedjib drew his lightsaber and ignited it, then thrust it deep into the pyre. The wood had obviously been treated, as it caught fire immediately and the body was soon invisible behind the black smoke. They stood at silent attention, watching respectfully, and Hachas even felt a little Force push from the direction of his master.
*****
When they came back into the house, the housekeeping droid had placed a selection of drinks on the dining room table. Sipping his water, Hachas glanced around the room. �Solicitor? Did you leave the door of the safe open?�
�No,� said Ha�py, coming over and opening it completely. �The crown! It�s gone!�
�Who -- ?� Amutef cried. She glanced over to Imset and said, �You came in to get that loincloth! You could have taken it.�
�And you came to bring in the snacks,� Imset countered. �You had plenty of time to open the safe and hide it somewhere so you can sneak it out later.�
�We�ll have to search the house,� Ha�py said.
�No need,� Anedjib spoke up. �I know where it is, and who took it.�
They all turned to look at him, and Anedjib explained, �Madame Imset flattened it, wrapped it in the loincloth, and put it on the funeral pyre.�
�But that would ruin it!� Amutef exclaimed.
�The metal would melt, yes,� Anedjib said. �But most jewels would survive the cremation process, and they could be sold later to cover the debts that Madame Imset spoke of earlier.�
The End
Written on 19 June 2004