Rebecca screamed for help and tried to pull the girl with her, but Anna would not move. She felt as if the ground beneath her were unfastening, yawning wide to swallow her whole. Her heart began to leak and she sank to her knees. Through tears, she begged with all her might for someone to restore her mother’s life.

The entire village stood beneath the setting sun, watching the tragedy unfold. Off to one side huddled the women from the well, their morning activity interrupted. From this group rose an occasional wail, spawning one echo after another, as if the women were milking grief from their souls.

Rebecca held Anna tight against her and would not let her back inside the house. Anna shivered in her neighbor’s embrace, her teeth chattering despite the heat.

Daniel and the other boys sat in an oxcart, spitting seeds at one another. But even they grew silent when Yoseph stumbled out of his house. His face was pale and empty of expression. His gaze focused on something in the distance. Ishmael stepped forward to embrace him. He then ushered Yoseph through the crowd and took him to his father’s house.

Later, Rebecca brought Anna home and bedded her next to Daniel. Despite the circumstance, her son did not miss the opportunity to torment the family’s guest. From his mat, he stuck out his tongue and hurled lewd gestures. But Anna did not notice. She kept listening for her mother’s voice.

When Daniel finally fell asleep, Anna wandered alone into the night. The air chilled the glaze of tears on her face. The bright smear of a falling star stretched across the dark, vanishing as quickly as it came. She wished she were that sudden disappearance.

On the western horizon, she could make out the great sycamore’s silhouette, silvered in the light of a half moon. She headed for its shelter.

In the early dawn, Anna was jolted awake by a sudden tug on her shawl. With her face exposed to the chilly morning air, she flailed against her unseen attacker. “No!” she shouted.

“Be silent!” a voice warned. A voice she recognized. Her father.

He yanked her to her feet. Confused and still half asleep, Anna thought he was angry at her for leaving her face uncovered. When he grabbed at her, she braced, expecting him to coil the shawl tightly about her face.

Instead, he tore off her robe.

Stunned, Anna stood shivering in her thin tunic.

Yoseph then gripped the fabric at her shoulders in both hands and split the tunic down her back. Terrified, Anna fought to get away, but he held her fast. In her nakedness, she felt Zahra’s medallion on her chest. She clasped her hands around the copper disk, afraid of what her father would do if he saw it. But Yoseph kept his eyes turned from the shame of his daughter’s naked body and did not see it.