Peter leaned against his staff and stared northward. He was excited by the prospect of the city. He told Jesus what he remembered: the chaos, the streets littered with smells, carts spilling with teas and herbs and unusual sweets, musicians on every corner, and the Temple’s looming columns. He could not wait to share the adventure with his friend.

Later in the day, the shepherds gathered at the edge of the sea. It was the largest body of water Jesus had ever seen. It was clear in the shallows but toward the middle its color darkened to silver blue. Every so often, the splash of an overzealous fish rippled the jewel-like surface. In the surrounding hills, men tended terraced olive groves and barley fields with hoes and sickles. Oxen stumbled through rich, brown soil. Women, veiled in long, black shawls, balanced jars of water on their heads. Children scampered after butterflies. Birds darted between trees. Flowers carpeted the hillsides. The rich smells of earth and salt and fish rode across the water in every direction.

Hot from their travels, the shepherds stripped off their tunics and dove into the sea to cool and wash their bodies. Jesus remained on the shore, gathering wood for a fire. The men taunted him, trying to get him into the water. Mathias and Peter leapt onto Rahim’s shoulders, pretending to drown him. “Jesus!” they shouted. “Come save Rahim!”

But Jesus waved off the challenge. “Rahim can save himself,” he said.

Peter snickered at his friend from the water. “Let us grab him,” he whispered to the others.

Judas, who was standing nearby, let go a loud whistle. Upon hearing the signal, Solomon shouted, “Jesus! Go to the fishermen and get our evening meal.”

Relieved at his narrow escape, Jesus bolted down to the shore, where he found two fishermen standing by their wooden boat. A haul of small, shiny mousht snapped inside their nets. Jesus returned to camp carrying a full sack. The shepherds gathered around the flames and sharpened sticks. They ran the pointed ends through the fishes’ mouths and lay them across the flames. As the flesh sizzled, the men’s banter turned lascivious.

“I must find a woman to lie with,” Rahim told the group.

“I must find two!” Mathias boasted. “It has been a long time.”

“Perhaps not long enough for some women!” Akbar shouted.

The men howled.

Jesus and Peter sat next to each other, listening to the men’s lurid talk.

Lowering his voice so that the others would not hear, Peter said, “Why would anyone want to lie with a woman? They are nothing but clots of filth and treachery.”

Jesus gaped at his friend. “Brother? Why such anger? They speak of women, not serpents!” he joked, hoping to lighten Peter’s mood.