“Women are serpents!” Peter roared. “Who slither on their bellies and trick you into hideous acts! But what would you know about such things?” he spat. Having said this, he leapt to his feet and dashed off.

Jesus made to follow, then thought better of it. Having witnessed his friend’s tempers, and knowing them to be short-lived, he felt certain it would not be long before Peter returned, acting as if nothing had happened.

Hidden in a copse of trees, Peter felt his breath tighten as he constricted around his darkest secret. Up until now, it had remained safely buried. But something about the men and their talk had loosened its grave. And he could feel the awful rot seeping out.

He wanted to tell Jesus. Wanted to reveal what had happened when the woman his father had laid with in a dark and sour-smelling place had come to find him. And the unspeakable things she had done with him. Even at six years of age, he had known what they did was evil. But he could not stop her. And when he tried to tell his mother, she did not believe him.

Soon after, his father had stopped speaking to him. Then, without any explanation, his father had sent him away with the shepherds, telling him never to return.

When Peter had recovered his breath, he peered through the branches and saw Jesus whittling an olive switch. He thought once more of confessing. Of sharing his secret. Then he imagined the look of disgust that would flood his friend’s face.

How could he have been so weak as to let a woman overpower him? Jesus would demand to know.

And, to his profound shame, Peter had no answer.

The walls of Jerusalem rose before them like fallen giants regaining their feet. Jesus had never seen such massive structures.

Solomon leaned on the back of a sheep to deliver the day’s schedule. “No sheep is to be sold within the gates, lest we owe tax to the Romans,” he said.

The men nodded. Jesus scanned their faces and noticed one missing. Judas was nowhere to be found.

“Once the animals are sold, we will be free to enter the city,” Solomon continued. “I will take charge of whatever flock remains.”

“How long do we stay?” Mathias asked.

“We will gather before sunrise tomorrow,” Solomon answered. “Those who are not with us will be left behind.”

Jesus turned to Peter and whispered, “We have only one day?”

His friend shrugged. “Better make the most of it then!” he said with a wink.

When the last sheep was sold, Solomon divided the coins among the shepherds. Jesus and Peter stretched out their hands and had their palms filled with copper. “Exchange these inside the city,” he told them. The boys jumped in excitement and bounded down the path leading to the great bronze gates. Anna nickered and followed at their heels.