Mary lay down, too. She placed Jesus between them and sang softly to him until she heard the even breathing which meant he was asleep. Sleep did not come so easily to Mary. Her thoughts roamed back to Bethlehem and ahead to unknown Egypt. She must have slept for a few hours, for when she opened her eyes again the full moon had moved from the horizon to a position almost directly overhead.

She reached beside her to make sure that Jesus was still covered and sat suddenly upright when her hand found only emptiness. She looked wildly around and then shook her husband awake. "Joseph!" she hissed. "Jesus is gone!"

Joseph was instantly awake. "Have you looked for him?" he asked.

Mary shook her head. "I just missed him."

Joseph stood up. "Let's take a quick look around ourselves before we raise an alarm. He's got to be nearby. You look through the camp and among the gear. I'll go check the oasis."

"What if something has happened to him?" Mary felt that something was squeezing the breath out of her lungs.

"I'm sure he's alright," Joseph told her, although he didn't look sure. "But let's not waste time." He headed toward the oasis. Mary turned to the camp and quietly picked her way among sleeping families. She tip-toed around the few tents where the well-to-do were sleeping, and searched around the packs and goods that had been piled in the center of camp. There she found the night guard, snoring softly through his beard.

She made two circuits of the camp just to be sure, then made her way toward the tangle of vegetation that surrounded the spring-fed watering hole. Most of the plants were low and bushy, but here and there a struggling tamarisk or acacia rose above the undergrowth. The plants were tinted in silvers and greys in the bright moonlight.

She was halfway down a well-worn cattle path when Joseph blocked her way. He held a finger to his lips. Without a word, he took her arm and drew her into the brush. He pulled her into a crouch and parted the bushes so they could see the pool. A dozen yards away, near the water's edge, stood Jesus. The boy was staring fixedly at something. Mary shifted slightly to improve her view, and might have screamed then had not Joseph's strong hand clutched her shoulder in warning.

Scarcely an arm's length from Jesus stood a wild goat. The goat's head was down and it pawed the rocky earth nervously. Its breath came in shuddering snorts, which flung flecks of foam to the ground. The beast's hide was stained with blood and here and there were bald patches where the fur had been torn away. The goat's head was particularly bloody and as Mary looked more closely she discerned that its curving horns were tangled in some kind of bush. Around its neck was a slender rope the same color as the blood.

Mary turned to Joseph. "Let me go. We've got to get Jesus away from that beast."

"Be still!" Joseph commanded under his breath. "If we go charging down there we might startle the animal so much that he will tear loose from the thorns and throw himself upon the boy. So far, they're just looking at each other. Let's wait and see if Jesus won't move away a bit."