Free A Quiver Full of Arrows by Jeffrey Archer Page B

foreigner he fell on his
knees spilling the water onto the straw and then covered his face. The boy
stayed on his knees for some time before he rose, and walked slowly towards the
barn door. When he reached the opening, he turned back and stared once more
into the face of the beautiful woman. She still did not speak.
    The young Roman hesitated only for a second,
and then bowed his head.
    It was already dusk when he ran back out on to
the winding path to resume his journey home, but he was not afraid. Rather he
felt he had done something good and therefore no harm could come to him. He
looked up into the sky and saw directly above him the first star, shining so
brightly in the east that he wondered why he could see no others. His father
had told him that different stars were visible in different lands, so he
dismissed the puzzle from his mind, replacing it with the anxiety of not being
home before dark. The road in front of him was now empty so he was able to walk
quickly towards the compound, and was not all that far from safety when he
first heard the singing and shouting.
    He turned quickly to see where the danger
was coming from, staring up into the hills above him. To begin with, he
couldn’t make sense of what he saw. Then his eyes focused in disbelief on one
particular field in which the shepherds were leaping up and down, singing,
shouting and clapping their hands. The boy noticed that all the sheep were
safely penned in a corner of the field for the night, so they had nothing to
fear. He had been told by Marcus that sometimes the shepherds in this land
would make a lot of noise at night because they believed it kept away the evil
spirits. How could anyone be that stupid, the boy wondered, when there was a
flash of lightning across the sky and the field was suddenly ablaze with light.
The shepherds fell to their knees, silent, staring up into the sky for several
minutes as though they were listening intently to something. Then all was
darkness again.
    The boy started running towards the compound
as fast as his legs could carry him; he wanted to be inside and hear the safety
of the great gate close behind him and watch the centurion put the wooden wedge
firmly back in its place. He would have run all the way had he not seen
something in front of him that brought him to a sudden halt.
    His father had taught him never to show any
fear when facing danger. The boy caught his breath in case it would make them
think that he was frightened. He was frightened, but he marched proudly on,
determined he would never be forced off the road-When they did meet face to
face, he was amazed.
    Before him stood three camels and astride
the beasts three men, who stared down at him. The first was clad in gold and
with one arm protected something hidden beneath his cloak. By his side hung a
large sword, its sheath covered in all manner of rare stones, some of which the
boy could not even name. The second was dressed in white and held a silver
casket to his breast, while the third wore red and carried a large wooden box.
The man robed in gold put up his hand and addressed the boy in a strange tongue
which he had never heard uttered before, even by his tutor. The second man
tried Hebrew but to no avail and the third yet another tongue without eliciting
any response from the boy.
    The boy folded his arms across his chest and
told them who he was, where he was going, and asked where they might be bound.
He hoped his piping voice did not reveal his fear. The one robed in gold
replied first and questioned the boy in his own tongue.
    “Where is he that is born King of the Jews?
For we have seen his star in the east, and are come to worship him.”
    “King Herod lives beyond the...”
    “We speak not of King Herod,” said the
second man, “for he is but a king of men as we are.”
    “We speak,” said the third, “of the King of
Kings and are come to offer him gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh.”
    “I know nothing of the King of