Just outside the gates, Solomon gathered the shepherds. They were to watch the flock while he negotiated with the townsmen. He returned later with good news. They had sold a band of sheep and half as many goats. He held a pouch full of coins. “Cull the herd and you will be paid,” he told them.

The shepherds worked quickly to separate the purchased animals. Akbar mixed a bowl of yellowish dye while the others led the sheep, single file, into a sheepfold. As the animals paraded by, Rahim dipped the end of his staff into the dye and tapped the back of every tenth sheep, thus ensuring an accurate count. When they were done, Anna helped to usher the animals through the gates.

The shepherds then gathered to receive their due from Solomon’s pouch. When he came to Anna, Solomon said, “Open your hand.” She did. And into her palm he placed three gold coins. When he moved on, she lifted the money to her eyes.

Was it truly hers?

It was unimaginable.

“Are you going to spend that or eat it?” Peter mocked. “Come on, I want to show you something!”

Anna locked her fingers tight around the coins and followed. As they prepared to enter the gates, an old woman accosted them. “Alms for the poor! Alms for a leper!” she wheezed. Anna leapt back at the sight of her. Her skin was mottled with pus-filled sores that emitted a foul odor. A young man, similarly afflicted, lingered behind her. Saddened by the woman’s misfortune, Anna opened the hand that held her coins. But before she could offer them, Peter grabbed her arm and pulled her through the gates. “Save your coins,” he whispered. “God has cursed her kind.”

Anna had turned to rebuke him when the city’s frenzy struck her senses. Her eyes widened at the festival of sights and sounds. In one corner, a group of men dressed in long blue djellabahs stood arguing among themselves. In another, a woman and her daughter spun wool onto a twirling wooden ball. In every open space, vendors under thatched roofs sold vegetables, fruits, grains, and charms. Beyond these, fortune-tellers and thieves loitered in shady alleyways.

Anna felt the coins growing hot in her palm. Before she had time to choose a direction, Peter gave one of his coins to a vendor selling sugary dates stuffed with sweet cheese. He took a handful and offered one to Anna. Her teeth bit into the treat and hummed at its sweetness.

The sound of a lyre, plucked and melodic, floated through the air. Anna turned to search out the sound’s source and spotted a craftsman demonstrating the instrument. She soon found herself at the man’s feet, listening.

The lyre maker looked down. “See?” he said to his customer. “Even this boy knows expert work when he sees it!”