Jesus swallowed his fear. “My name is Jesus,” he began. “I am a poor shepherd traveling with my sisters to the village of our birth. I saw that your son was ill and thought I could help.”

The father raised the pot higher. “Help how?” he asked with suspicion.

“I am familiar with his illness and carry a remedy for it.”

The husband turned to his wife. She gazed down at her son. The boy shook with pain. Jesus knew if the child did not get help soon, whatever he had eaten would begin to poison him. The mother turned her eyes up to Jesus, imploring.

The father swiped his arm across a tear. “This is my only son,” he said. “He is all we have left in this world. I beg of you. In the name of God, please help us.”

Jesus nodded. “Let me fetch my sisters.”

Ruth’s anger at Jesus for having put them at risk vanished when she saw the boy curled on the floor. She knelt and smelled his breath. Jesus’s suspicion was correct. “Do you have the seeds?” she whispered.

Jesus reached into his pouch and brought out a single green pod. Ruth nodded and watched as he placed the pod in the boy’s mouth. She then gathered a bowl and a cloth.

Within moments, the boy began to convulse and groan with pain.

“What is it?” the father shouted. “What have you done to him?”

The mother reached for her son and sobbed.

Jesus held the woman back. “Wait,” he told her. “He must expel the poison.”

The mother shook her head from side to side. “No! My child! What have you done to my child?” she screamed.

The father rushed upon them when suddenly the walls reverberated with the boy’s forceful retching. Tabitha dutifully held the bowl before him until he had nearly filled it. When he was done, he fell back onto his mat, exhausted. Ruth wiped his mouth clean and Tabitha disappeared outside to empty the bowl. The smell of rotting meat hung in the air.

The mother and father gathered close to the boy. “Nathaniel?” his mother whispered. “Nathaniel, my son, what do you feel?”

The boy opened his eyes and looked up at his mother.

Jesus turned to Ruth. She nodded toward the door, indicating that they should depart.

“We will leave your family in peace,” Jesus said.

Overjoyed at their son’s recovery, the mother and father paid little attention to the departing visitors.

Jesus accompanied his sisters to the shed, his steps lifting with confidence.