Ilia Grinberg - Mother of Jesus

“Nothing” they answered. “Nothing. The fire, of course, is clearly visible. And the rest ... There was no rain, the soil is dry, why are there notice. It is clear that slept. Scraps, embers. Everything.”

“Command, Judah,” said Joachim to the old shepherd. “You are a specialist in such matters, observant, maybe on dry land what trace you will see.”

“No, master. I looked around. I will not say anything more” he answered. “Listen to me all. I walk in the middle, the rest on the right and on the left. Take distance so as to see each other. Do not trudge, but do not run. Turn the head in both directions, maybe you will notice. I will go where I would go myself, and where, for certain, I followed the path of this couple. And further. I turn left, everything left. I'm right and all right. So that the strip, which we will examine, will not change. All is clear?” - he glanced at the owner, waiting for agreement. And when he nodded, he said: “With god.”

Twilight was gathering. Judah already wanted to ask Joachim to give the order to stand for the night, as the cry of one of the shepherds, walking far to the right, was heard.

“Master! Master! goes rather here.”

All rushed in his direction, but were stopped by the shout of Judah:

“Everyone stand! You wasn't called! Master, please see what is there, you are closer to him.”

“Let's go together,” Joacim answered. “And the way he yells, so there, the sight is not very pleasant.”

,When he and the senior approached the place where Saul was located, that was the name of the screaming shepherd, he was already turned inside out. Although Joachim and Judas were men in years, who had seen more than one death in their lifetime, and royal civil strife, and the revolt, and the cruelty of the Romans, but the spectacle that had opened to them caught them by surprise. In a small dell on the ground in strange, at first glance, poses lay three corpses. The fact that they were corpses was clear at first glance. As Judas said, one of them belonged to a hefty peasant, the second to a flimsy old man with a goatee, and the third was John’s body. The hollow was almost never blown by the wind, and the smell around the bodies that had lain in the heat for three days stood appropriate. Clutching their noses, Joachim and Judah came closer. After being in the sun in the rocky desert, where predators scoured, and over whom scavengers soared all day, it was not so easy to identify the guy.

“Master, let's all things put off until the morning. So much time lay, and another night it will lie. All the same, we do nothing in the dark. Menashe, Pinchas come here.”

“Found? “shouted Pinchas.

“Found, found” answered Judas. “Where are you going? Oh, look! Well, looks, you are my curious.”

On the side of the hollow, the sounds of gagging were heard again.

“That's what kind of people! You say do not go. No,he is rushing. Why do you stand here, uninteresting?” he asked Menashe.

Menashe, who was on the far left, just did not have time for his partner. And, having heard how that turns out, sharply braked, representing now the person to whom the find is completely uninteresting.

“As I understand it, it will be dark now, and our four-legged friends will come to us for dinner. We will sleep in turns, or they may foolishly try to eat us. Pinchas, are you okey? Will you have dinner?

A curious shepherd shook his head, indicating that, he says, no.

“That's good” Judas continued. “About a hundred meters away, I saw a completely dried tree. Take an ax and a knife, bring the branches, thicker. You can still grab the bag and the donkey. More wood will be …

“Master,” he said to Joachim. “we need to be on duty. Take turns. The one who will guard will need to walk in circles around the ravine so that the little animals will not climb to us or to the deceased. How do you think?”

“Do as you think right” he dismissed.

“So we have the wind west. So sleep place is located here. It seems the smell does not reach? The plot is flat. There are almost no stones. Rain is not expected. Who after the spectacle and the latest news wants to have dinner? Yes, master, the youth are rather weak these days. On the other hand, this is not so bad. We will get more.

After eating the bread and drinking it with wine, Joachim wrapped himself in a raincoat and lay down comfortably, entrusting the workers with the fire and other household chores. When it began to dawn, Judas woke him and motioned for him. It was quiet around, the animals either left, or did not appear at all. Scavengers, too, was not to be seen.

“Why didn't you wake me up for duty” reproached the senior tracker with Joachim.

“What for? he was surprised. “If the owner does the work that the worker can and should do, what will it be? You have enough of your worries, to organize everything, to provide us with work, with bread, money, if agreed. And we will do the rest. The order should be ... I was sitting here and guard the fire at night and thought. These robbers we do not know. In the city no one heard of them. So they did not seem to be. This time. Two. Can you imagine what will happen if we show all three corpses to the Romans and start explaining that why? It would not have become the corpses themselves, but on the Roman column does not raskoryachitsya. They will not understand for a long time. They do not need it, they need order and that's all. On the rest they do not care. And three. John will not return. I agree?

Satisfied with a nod of Joachim, he continued:

“Therefore I have here a proposal: these two men bury here. Just we put pebbles above them. It is simple and clear. Like a god day. With a guy harder. Of course, he would have to be buried humanly, but, given his appearance ... Come, let's see. It is already light.”

Trampling around the corpses, then squatting, then moving aside, Judas said:

“I think he caught up with them, but did not immediately climb on the rampage, he waited for them to go to bed. Then he cut the throat huge man. But, either he managed to make a noise, or the old man did not sleep soundly, only he woke up and stabbed a knife in Jonh's back. But the guy turned out to be strong and with his last strength stuck his own knife right in the eye. Strictly to the handle. In general, everyone died. If not immediately, there was no one to help them anyway. So what shall we do with the guy?” Judas returned to the issue of burial. “We must wrap the body. We must find in what. And then, God forbid, who decides to look at the face. His eyes pecked out.”

“No one will not look at anyone.” answered Joachim. “ Is's not a fair, come on. And it is necessary to wrap and bring immediately to the cemetery. Then we bury him. This is the first. Secondly, not a word to anyone. Neither his, nor, especially the Romans. The bodies only we saw, no witnesses. They will ask - not found. Maybe he went to a new place to work, maybe he disappeared. We do not know, right? Tell your workes what to do and how to talk. Will be silent - I will pay, I will not offend. If they open their mouth, they will be next to him.”

“Be your way. Do not be afraid, they are guys with the concept. Do not talk. Do you think I’ll probably send two forwards so that they can prepare the grave? Then, as we arrive, one or two, the guy was buried and ready. And we need to manage here. Bury or bury the stones of these bastards so that the animals and birds cannot get to the bottom. All right, let's go. There is a lot of work, but you need to manage in the light of day. Not in the dark to bury the guy. He, of course, does not care, but we are very uncomfortable.

After a quarter of an hour, Pinchas and Menachem, munching on pieces of bread, went to Tsiporia, to prepare a place for John. The rest, led by Joachim, were engaged in a healthy and bearded man. Soon they were incredibly lucky; Judah found a rather deep gorge in the limestone left over from the winter rains. They were not almond-hung with corpses, they tied ropes to donkeys and dragged them straight to the ground. Skat former brigands down, poured on top of the ground. But with this Joachim, Judah, and Shabtai were tormented. Recruit crumbly, and not lumpy land was very difficult. The owner and the two shepherds were about to throw stones at the remains, but then Judas rescued again. In the shadow of a large stone, he found a small area with even slightly damp soil that yielded to a knife and shovel. Throwing an improvised grave half of the ground, they poured stones from above, collected from the neighborhood. Satisfied with the results, Judah said: