His mind raced. In his distress he had failed to notice that the jinn had been reading his thoughts.

The spirit lifted an object from its cloak. Jesus froze. He recognized it immediately. It was Zahra’s medallion. He pressed his fingers to his chest. He had not even realized it was gone.

The spirit rose and lit another torch. Jesus squinted against the brightness. When his eyes adjusted, he could see the jinn more clearly. The spirit was smaller than Jesus had originally perceived. And its cloak was not black, but the color of ripened plum. The light cast a long shadow into the hole where its face would be. Jesus watched in horror as the spirit lifted its hands to remove its hood.

“No!” Jesus shouted. But it was too late. The hood came down. Jesus stared, petrified by the sight. To his shock, there was a face.

It was Zahra!

The old woman’s gray eyes bore straight into him. Jesus could not breathe. It felt as though a snake were constricting around his throat.

Zahra lifted her medallion and dangled it in front of him. In that instant everything became clear. The past and the future circled to meet before him.

Solomon had known all along who murdered his mother! And, wanting to deliver Jesus to his mother’s spirit for retribution, the elder shepherd had sent him through The Narrows knowing Zahra would find him and take her revenge.

Jesus thought back to that horrible night. The violent memories broke loose and ran rampant through his mind: Zahra’s warning. Her slap. His hiding place behind the bushes. The mob of angry men. The false charges. The crack of rock on bone. Zahra’s blood and her slow fall.

Jesus shook his head, trying to stop the memories. When they would not relent, something inside him broke, and he began to sob.

The old woman watched and waited. Jesus fell forward, folding onto his knees. “I am not the ghost you fear,” she said. “I am Mother Susana.”

Jesus heard her, but could not respond. He lay motionless on the floor. The pain in his leg and the reliving of that violent night having wrung the last strength from his bones.

In the silence, Mother Susana wrapped her hand tenderly around the copper piece. At first she could only suspect the circumstances under which the strange shepherd had come to possess Zahra’s medallion. But, from what Sister Joan had managed to discover, Mother Susana was beginning to understand.

Though Sister Joan had been able to speak only briefly with Solomon, the shepherd had managed to convey that Zahra had, in no uncertain terms, instructed him to deliver the child to the Sisters. He had just begun to explain why his mother had made this request when the other shepherds had drawn near, forcing Sister Joan to flee back into The Narrows.