journey to the outer islands - VIII

‘Are you, Rogers?’ I smiled, breaking a tooth in the process. ‘Are you, really? And how is that at all possible, as you are back here with me?’

‘Well, Ma’am, it’s simple,’ he laughed. ‘Oi told them horses where to go, and set them to it, and off we went, and soon we’ll be there, all because of me and my very good sense of doing things. Oi asked meself, as you so often told me to, “what would Jesus do?” and answer came there to me, from me own ‘ead, “he would do whatever he felt like, as ‘e is Jesus, and has magic powers that meant nothing could go wrong and ‘e would not die, so at the end of the day it’s all good.’

‘Bravo, Rogers, bravo!’ I smiled, showing some of my better dentures. ‘You’ve come along marvellously.’

‘We really are speeding up,’ he said, worried at the same time he was pleased for being so correct. ‘I… Oi think we are on an incline heading towards the Lax Lodgings. We are sticking to… yes, we are sticking to the path, but we are building up speed at an alarmin’ rate, ma’am. Alarmin’. If Jesus weren’t protectin’ us.’