Anna frowned and set down her shears. “That is not a fair bargain.”

Ruth nodded. “True. But it is the best I can offer.”

Anna released the animal beneath her and billowed out its shorn fleece. She tossed the coat onto her growing pile. Scowling, she said, “Then I shall only tell you about the second most beautiful city.”

Ruth burst out laughing at the defiant retort, her mirth nearly toppling her backward.

Anna laughed, too. “You were not expecting me to say that, were you?”

Ruth grabbed at her sides. “No!” she admitted. And realized that, for the first time since her arrival, Anna had caught her off guard.

Clearly the young shepherd possessed a fiber that ran deeper than she had estimated.

Pleased with herself, Anna took up her shears and called the next animal. As she snipped its coat, she began to tell Ruth about Dara, the city of orange spires and lyre makers.

Ruth’s eyes lit up at her vivid descriptions. “And did you have dates stuffed with honey and almonds?” she asked. “Those were my favorite.”

Anna nodded, recalling the fruit’s sweet, buzzy flavor.

When she had finished with her tale, Anna grew quiet. She signaled to the next sheep. It was her namesake. Anna’s woolly black body bobbed forward. The shepherd drew her palm along the sheep’s back. Then, without seeming to have intended to, she said, “Aside from being beautiful, Dara was also where I discovered my name.”

Ruth’s eyebrows drew close. “The name you took as a shepherd?” she asked.

Anna nodded. The black sheep knelt and rolled onto her back.

Ruth held still, gauging the moment. She did not wish to press the shepherd until she was prepared to reveal more of her past. Still, if she were to approach Mother Susana about Anna’s future among them, as she and Shereen had planned for her to do, Ruth needed a clearer understanding of the young woman’s early character. Proceeding with care, she asked, “And how did you come to choose the name Jesus?”

Anna leveled the shears along the sheep’s hock. “It was to have been my brother’s name,” she said. “But he … did not survive.”

Ruth watched Anna’s demeanor change. Saw how a cloud seeded with sorrow drifted before her eyes. Although she did not know the particular circumstances under which Anna had joined the shepherds, she had divined some idea by stitching together her unusual appearance and the little Solomon had told Sister Joan—that Anna’s mother had died tragically, and that her father had disguised and sold her. Knowing now that Anna’s only brother had perished helped expand Ruth’s understanding.

Seeing that Anna had reached the end of her tale, Ruth cleared her throat and said, “Now it is your turn. What question do you wish to ask of me?”