When He stirred in His sleep, Joseph quietly asked Mary if she wanted to place the baby in the manger once again. She rose and started to walk a step or two, carrying her newborn babe, but halted as a huge dog raised its head from the manger and snarled.
Ira was upon the dog before the brute knew what had attacked him. “Get out!” Scratching and hissing, Ira drove the dog, four times his size, from the sweet-smelling hay.
Mary held the babe tightly until the dog, growling and threatening still, slunk away, and then lowered Him gently to the rough bed.
“Thank you,” she said to Ira and sat down once again, close to the manger. The wise men spoke to her and to Joseph then, keeping their voices low so as not to disturb the babe. They offered their gifts to His earthly parents.
“We realize He, as a babe, has no need of these things now,” Kaspar said, “but please use them as you see fit for Him.” Mary smiled, and Kaspar felt himself blessed beyond ordinary men.
“Your coming was foretold to me,” she said simply. “Will you not tell me of the journey you undertook?”
As the wise men continued to marvel at being in the very presence of the King of Kings, and to speak of their travels, the air grew colder within the small stable. The babe frowned in His sleep, and Kezia noticed. She nudged Ira and Abishag.
“We must keep Him from getting chilled,” she whispered to the others. “Those swaddling clothes don’t look very warm to me.” She jumped up into the hay, landing lightly so as not to wake the babe. She settled herself into the hay, carefully tucking His tiny toes and feet beneath her thick, warm fur. Abishag leaped up into the manger and snuggled close to His left side as Ira did the same on the babe’s right. They all purred, and the babe sighed softly, sleeping soundly once more.
All had watched as the cats made the babe’s bed warm in the frigid temperature. Joseph smiled and put his hand on Mary’s shoulder.
“You need not worry about Him being cold tonight,” he told her, and she reached over and stroked each cat’s head.
The wise men then shrugged out of their heavy cloaks and insisted Mary and Joseph take them to keep out the fierce cold.
Asmodeus crept out of the pack in which he had traveled and ran toward the stable. Blinded by the wind, he ran against the dog’s side as the huge beast lay sullenly outside the door.
“A rat!” The dog sprang to his feet and snarled. “Good; I can kill you now and get back in their good graces.”
“My dear dog,” Asmodeus began, trying to talk himself out of yet another dangerous encounter. “Do not, I implore you, dispatch me with such haste.”
“What?”
“What is your name, good dog?”
“Goliath. Why should you care who kills you?” And Goliath opened his jaws, showing the rat his teeth.
“Why would you devour the one who can help you plan punishment for the cats? The cats who caused you to be turned out of your warm, soft bed?”
“Talk fast, then.” And a whispered conversation took place between the rat and the dog, unheard by the cats, who had dozed off beside the tiny Messiah.
It was near dawn before the wise men finished speaking with Mary and Joseph and turned to leave the stable.
“We should not have tired you so with our tales,” Kaspar began, as he realized how exhausted the new mother looked. Mary shook her head.
“I can sleep at other times,” she said. “And look, your good cats have kept our son warm throughout the night.”
“Truly, they have had the privilege of being a living blanket for the Messiah,” Melchior agreed.
“Now we must see to our servants and camels,” Balthazar said. “And we must return to our homes soon, to tell all who will listen of the Messiah’s birth.”
They left the cats and babe still sleeping together in the hay and quietly returned to the small, muddy courtyard.
Midmorning, Mary and Joseph dozed upon a thin pallet of straw in the corner, the cloaks pulled over them. The cats woke, started to scramble from the hay—and realized the babe was watching them.
“We did not mean to wake You,” Abishag told Him, contritely.
In answer, the babe laughed and stretched out His small hands. He touched Kezia, and she gently licked the tiny fingers.
When He touched Ira, there was a soft snapping sound, and the small soldier gasped. “My leg! My leg—it’s straight again!”
And Abishag cried out to Kezia, “Your ear! It’s perfect once more!”
“How can we ever thank You?” Kezia asked the babe, who only smiled.
The three cats ran to the wise men, who rubbed their eyes and stared at them dancing about and purring loudly in the courtyard.
“We have witnessed His first miracles,” Balthazar said. “Indeed He is the Son of the One God.”
“How could He have done these things?” the slave boy Herod had sent with them asked. “He is but a babe.”
“He is the Messiah, the Son of God,” Melchior told him.
Asmodeus watched the cats capering and snorted.
“Are they suffering from delusions? What are they so happy about?” He suddenly saw Ira’s legs. “What has happened to his crooked leg? The one the centurion’s horse nearly crushed.” He stared at Ira, then noticed Kezia’s ear. “Now my good eye must be losing its vision, for I would swear she has two perfect ears upon her head once more!”
Asmodeus dashed across the length of the courtyard and into the stable. Whatever has healed them came about in this place. And it must have something to do with the humans who are staying here. Panting, he crouched under the manger. Hearing the babe laugh, the rat crept out from under the improvised cradle and crawled up onto the hay.
He reached out His small hand and touched the very tip of Asmodeus’s nose. Afraid, the rat jerked his head back and fell out of the manger and onto the hard dirt floor. Stunned, he shook his head and then opened his eyes. His jaw dropped, and he put his paws up to his mouth. “My eyes! I can see again! My teeth—they’re not broken—and even my tail!”
He whirled and looked back up at the babe. “Who are You?” Asmodeus asked, wonderingly. “How can You do such miracles?” He turned to leave, turned back. “Thank You.”
Goliath met him outside the door. “When are we going to kill the cats as we planned?”
Asmodeus gasped. “I—er—we must wait,” he babbled. He thought quickly, still stunned by the restoration of his broken body. “The humans must not guess what we plan, for they would put us to death instead. In three days’ time, we should be able to safely rid the stable of the cats. Forever.”
Two more days passed, and the wise men knew in their hearts that they must be starting homeward. They told the servants to pack things for the journey, to check saddles and secure initial provisions for the long trip home.
“We will say our farewells,” Kaspar said that night as they left their campfire in the courtyard to go and see the babe once more.
Mary smiled upon them, and Joseph clasped their hands in his own, roughened by years of carpentry.
“We thank you for your many kindnesses, large and small. Now we find you paid for our stay here at the inn, and you have given our donkey, Gideon, good grain with a richly embroidered nosebag from which to eat it.”
The wise men knelt then, and worshipped the babe one final time, even though they were sad at the departure. When they returned to the courtyard, the cats hurried into the stable and leaped into the hay. He blessed them silently as each cat gently licked His small hand, purred thanks, and left.
“And what of the slave boy Herod gave us?” Balthazar asked Kaspar quietly, before they all slept for a few hours. “I believe Herod charged him with bringing news to him of the Messiah. My heart aches when I think of this, for I fear Herod means to do Him harm while He is but a babe.”
“I, too, have the same fear,” Melchior said, joining the quiet conversation, out of earshot of the young slave. “Should we insist he remain with us?”
“No,” Ka
spar said slowly. “We shall simply revert to our generous natures and give the boy his own camel with which to return to Herod.”
Balthazar and Melchior laughed silently until they clutched their sides. “By the time he learns to control that camel, the Messiah and His family will be safely on their way to Nazareth,” Melchior sputtered.
“And we shall be safely out of Herod’s clutches also,” Balthazar gasped. “Kaspar, you are a rogue.”
“So says my kinsman, Alexos, the sea captain. I shall be glad to see him at the docks of Tyre once more.”
Kezia stood beside the small heap of readied packs in the courtyard, her heart hammering. Alexos! He is speaking of Alexos—and we are going to meet him again! Oh, blessed be His name, for I believe He has caused this unforeseen chance to return to my captain!
She ran to tell the other two cats.
“Wonderful news, foster sister,” Ira congratulated her. “I will pray to return to Gracus.”
“And I shall pray to return home,” Abishag said happily.
At dawn the next day, the three wise men left the courtyard with heavy hearts, for they knew something of the terrible tribulations that would beset the Messiah in His future life. “Since He is the One God’s Son, perhaps He will somehow be safe from the evil of men,” Kaspar murmured as they rode slowly into the dusty street.
Asmodeus watched them leave. He had gathered rich, fatty mutton bones discarded the night before from camps and kitchens and fed Goliath well, thinking the vicious dog would then sleep through the caravan’s departure.
As her camel turned to go around the gatepost and leave the courtyard, Abishag looked out of her basket and saw Asmodeus. “What, are you staying?” she called to him.
“Yes. I wish to serve Him now. So I must follow Him to wherever His life leads,” the rat called in return. He nodded to the black cat. The very last camel, bearing the terrified slave boy, left the courtyard.
A large shadow fell across him from behind, and Asmodeus caught his breath.
“It’s the third day, and the cats are gone. Not killed,” Goliath growled.
“Yes. They are on their way, safe from your jaws,” Asmodeus replied and suddenly dashed into the stable, inches ahead of Goliath’s teeth. He ran to the manger and jumped up into the hay at the babe’s feet. He was awake and looked at the rat with interest.
“I ask Your pardon,” the rat said softly. “I am not worthy to be here, not even at Your small feet. But I would thank You again, for restoring me to robust health. And—and surely there is some small way in which I may serve You? Perhaps I might keep spiders or beetles from disturbing You?” He clasped his paws together.
The babe laughed, and tears of joy stood in Asmodeus’s eyes. “Soon Your parents must return to Nazareth, for I have heard them speak of this. Please, let me accompany You. For my heart tells me that even a rat may serve the King of Kings.”
16
HOMEWARD BOUND! THE three wise men rode silently, their hearts yet too full for speaking, while the cats dozed in their baskets. They had plotted a course that would take them far out into the desert and away from Jerusalem, for they had no wish to bring Herod’s notice upon them again. The slave boy continued to struggle with his stubborn young camel.
They slipped past the last turning toward the city and rode another hour. Then they spoke to the slave boy.
“We think you would be unhappy in our homelands, for they are far from here,” Melchior began.
“And the only means of transport is of course by camel,” Balthazar added. The slave boy shuddered and nearly fell from his saddle.
“If you ride straight toward the sun, you will return to your former master,” Kaspar added. “You should be at his palace gates before two days have passed.” And he slapped the camel upon its rump, causing the beast to leap suddenly and almost seem to fly over the desert floor.
Balthazar shaded his eyes. “I vow we never attained such speed before upon that particular animal’s back.”
“At least he is traveling in the correct direction,” Melchior said. “Imagine his surprise when he rides into Jerusalem before nightfall!”
The caravan itself did not stop that night, nor did it stop the next day for long. Feeding and watering the camels, with but quick breaks for themselves and the cats, the three wise men made haste toward the west and safety from Herod’s wrath.
THE SLAVE BOY managed to stay in the saddle and return to the outskirts of Jerusalem. The moment his uncontrollable camel was spotted galloping across the desert, Roman soldiers rode out to meet the boy. Sentries had been watching each day for any sign of the returning caravan, for Herod craved news of the three wise men and their search for the Messiah—or so he said.
Quickly subduing the camel, soldiers pulled the slave from his saddle and marched the boy to Herod’s palace.
Once the slave was inside the walls, he was astonished, for the king actually strode from his overheated rooms to demand of him, “Well? And did they find this new King of the Jews?”
“They did,” he gasped, still breathing hard from his forced march through the streets of Jerusalem.
“And you can show my soldiers the palace in Bethlehem where he sits upon his throne?”
“There is no palace in Bethlehem! It is but a small, humble, lowly town, with buildings of the meanest materials. And He sits upon no throne, but lies in a manger filled with hay for His crib.”
Herod stared at the boy until he ceased gasping and began to tremble. “Do you mock me, boy?”
“No, I would not, King Herod. I would never mock you in any fashion!”
The king stood deep in thought until his legs began to weaken from the unaccustomed exertion, and he sat down in a litter chair, summoned to him by a mere snap of his fingers.
“Then you shall take soldiers with you and direct them to the place where this babe lies in a certain stable. And they will carry out my orders. You have done well, boy. What is your name?”
“Thomas.”
“Go and sleep with the soldiers tonight then, Thomas. Soon you depart, to lead them to the—Messiah.” Laughing, Herod raised his hand and his chair was lifted up and bore him away to his overheated rooms once more.
On his way to the soldiers’ barracks, Thomas’s heart jumped in his chest and he staggered as a premonition grew in his mind. King Herod means to kill the babe! He doesn’t want a king who might replace him—did he not murder his own sons to save his throne? Herod will have his soldiers kill the babe and parents, too. I can’t lead the soldiers to that stable. The wise men said the babe is truly the newborn Messiah. I do not know that for myself. But I—I must somehow return to the wise men. They will know what to do.
Thomas turned to the soldiers as they saw the barracks doors ahead of them. “May I have my camel again?”
“Why would you, a foolish slave boy, have need of a camel in Jerusalem?” one of the soldiers answered.
“I want to sell him, so I may have money.”
“Money for what?” another soldier asked.
“To gamble. I am very lucky at games of chance.”
The first soldier’s eyes gleamed beneath his helmet.
“Are you? Then go, and sell your camel! Hasten back here, and I myself will play a friendly game or two with you. Be sure you get a good price for the camel.”
“Oh, I will. His saddle will bring a good price, too.”
FOUR DAYS OUT into the desert, the three wise men began to feel a little easier in their minds. On the fourth night, they stopped and made camp, easing the packs and saddles from the tired and grumbling camels at last. The cats, too, were so tired they could barely crawl from their baskets.
“I think I have bruises under my fur from rattling around in that basket all this time,” Kezia grumbled. “Alexos had better have some especially tasty treat for me when I return to his ship.”
“I only hope I may somehow find Gracus.” Ira sighed as he finished scratching his back. Then he shook the loose dirt fro
m his fur, setting his foster sisters sneezing.
“Ira! Must you always do that!” Kezia began to scold him. Then she stopped and looked at the black cat beside her. “Oh! I just realized—this is the last journey we will all have together.”
Abishag nodded, sinking down upon a pack, too tired even to wash her small face. “Yes, for you will go to sea as soon as we find Alexos. And I am sure Ira will somehow be reunited with Gracus. I will miss you two very much when I am at home; that is, if the Messiah will help me to return.” She licked a sore spot upon her paw.
The weary caravan rested the next day and night also, for when the servants tried to load the camels’ packs upon their backs again, the great beasts snorted and showed their teeth, refusing to stand.
“They are wiser than we are,” Kaspar told the servants. “We, too, need rest. And we shall do so today.”
Late that afternoon, Balthazar suddenly stood and shouted, “A camel! One lone camel—and one rider. It is the slave boy Herod gave us!”
The camel came slowly into the camp, grumbling a greeting to the other camels as it recognized them. Thomas was exhausted, slumped over the beast’s neck, and Kaspar felt heartsick as he gently lifted the boy from his saddle. Black circles were under his eyes, and he begged for food and water.
Melchior had a servant tend to the weary young camel and dipped a large bowl of good hearty soup from the kettle over the fire.
Thomas gulped at the soup and then closed his eyes, only to sit up suddenly. “You must know! King Herod wanted me to go back with soldiers to Bethlehem and show them where the babe was. But I slipped out of Jerusalem after my camel rested a few hours. How I found you, I do not know. But I dare not return to Herod now.”
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