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because God must have a reason for it. He must!”
    Jude reached for her again, pulling her close. “Listen, you crazy woman. I’m glad you trust God—you have more than enough faith for both of us. But promise me that you won’t leave the house all alone. Walk with one of the other women if you have to go out. Please, Devorah. Promise?”
    Once again, her stomach turned with dread at the thought of being watched. “Yes,” she finally said. “Yes, I promise.”

Chapter
7
    B ETHLEHEM
    A mina lifted another shovelful of manure from the goat pen and dumped it on the pile. She paused to rest. Along with the late afternoon sounds of whirring insects and chirping birds, she thought she heard muffled hoofbeats on the dirt road and a donkey braying. She listened for a moment. Yes, the hoarse cry of Abba’s donkey was unmistakable. Dread made her heart beat faster. Abba was home.
    He’d been away for more than a week, and Amina had dared to relax during that time, freed from fear of him. Now she tensed, glancing around to make sure Abba couldn’t find fault with anything—although he seldom needed a reason to be angry with her. She stood very still, listening for his voice and for her brothers’ voices, trying to determine their mood after their long journey.
    Laughter. She heard laughter, and allowed herself to exhale before stowing the shovel in its proper place and running to fetch water for the donkey. When she rounded the corner with the jug, Abba and her brothers were standing in front of the house with not one donkey but three, the animals’ backs swaying beneath towering loads. Amina ran with the heavy jar and poured waterinto the trough. In no time, the donkeys lapped up what she’d given them, and she hurried to fetch more. Sayfah brought water for the men while Mama fussed over Amina’s older brothers, ruffling their damp hair and lavishing them with the affection and attention that Amina never received.
    “Unload the animals,” Abba told her brothers after they’d all quenched their thirst. “Carry everything inside. Carefully!”
    “What is all this?” Mama asked. “What did you bring?”
    Abba grinned. “Weapons. The most beautiful swords and spearheads and arrow tips I’ve ever seen in my life. The men of Ashdod are superb craftsmen.” Amina’s brothers untied the awkward bundles, stowing them in the storeroom alongside jars of wheat and olive oil and grain. She knew the sacks were heavy because it took both brothers, working together, to carry each one. At last the donkeys’ backs were bare.
    “I met with the leaders of several other villages along the way,” Abba told Mama as Sayfah filled his cup a third time. “They have some good ideas for carrying out the king’s decree and executing the Jews efficiently. I’m having a meeting here tonight so I can tell the others what I’ve learned and show them the weapons.”
    So that’s what Abba’s journey had been about. Amina hadn’t known why he’d left or where he’d gone. Nor had he mentioned killing the Jews since the night of the celebration. But it hadn’t been just a bad dream after all. Killing had been on Abba’s mind all this time, which meant he still planned to kill Hodaya, the kind Jewish woman from the marketplace.
    The men were hungry after their long journey, and Amina helped Mama prepare a meal and serve it right away. Abba was still in good spirits as he sat down to eat, and he called for Mama to join him in the courtyard, saying he had news to discuss. Amina and her sister stood listening in the shadows, ready to serve him if he called for them.
    “I talked to the leader of my brother’s village just outsideJerusalem,” Abba said. “He’s very interested in taking Sayfah as a wife for one of his sons.” Sayfah gave a startled cry.
    “Shh . . . Sayfah, he’ll hear you!” Amina whispered. Her sister gripped Amina’s arm so tightly it hurt.
    “But I don’t want to get married!”
    “Shh!”
    “She