“Put this on,” he growled, hurling a thicker tunic at her feet.

Anna scrambled to dress quickly. The new tunic was made of a coarser material than her own. And shorter. Yoseph looped a leather sash around her waist and tied it tight. She felt an uncomfortable pressure on her ribs. She had never worn a sash before. It was then that she realized her father had dressed her in a boy’s tunic. She smelled sweat and the scent of Daniel in the fabric. It had been his tunic.

Before she could protest, Yoseph pushed her down to her knees. He grabbed a fistful of her black curls and wound it between his crooked knuckles. Anna felt her scalp pop as strands of hair were uprooted. She bit down on her tongue. She dared not scream.

Yoseph slipped his carving knife from its sheath and brought it alongside her ear. “Hold still,” he hissed.

Anna’s head bobbed as Yoseph sawed through her hair. Wheezing from the effort, he threw black tails onto the ground in a semicircle around her knees. When he was done, he yanked her up. He slipped two worn leather sandals onto her feet. One had a broken strap. He stood and looked straight at her, but to Anna, it felt as though his gaze passed through her. “Follow me,” he hissed.

Anna walked behind her father, dragging the unfamiliar sandals that chafed her feet. She did not know where he was taking her until she smelled the faint odor of goats. The scent grew sharper until it stung her eyes. They were approaching the shepherds.

But why?

Soon she could see the outline of men, standing in a circle, murmuring around the smoky remains of a fire.

“Stay here,” her father commanded.

Anna watched as he walked toward the men. She saw him greet one, only to be directed to another. The second shepherd he approached was leaning, half seated, on the back of a sheep.

“Blessings on you,” Yoseph said, bowing before the red-bearded shepherd.

While her father spoke, he gestured back toward Anna. The shepherd looked over Yoseph’s shoulder to where she stood. Anna expected her father to yell at her for having her face exposed, especially before a man. But, strangely, Yoseph was not angered.

The shepherd returned his eyes to Yoseph and shook his head. Yoseph spread his arms wide in supplication. The shepherd shook his head again. Yoseph fell to his knees. He peppered the shepherd’s feet with kisses. Throwing a second look at Anna, the shepherd stood and lifted her father to his feet. He reached into a leather pouch at his waist and dropped a few coins into Yoseph’s hands. Behind, the other shepherds rolled their eyes. Yoseph bowed before the man. Then, without looking back, he fled.

Anna stared after him in disbelief. Too frightened to cry out. To call him back.