All Who Came Before. Simon Perry

Here and there little villages were dotted, and the companions stopped briefly in the late afternoon to replenish their food and water.

      The green hills and lush valleys offered Yeshua little in the way of welcome. He was not the kind of person that would fall in with a gang of thieves. “What kind of people are we going to meet this afternoon Amram?” Yeshua had horrible pictures of club-wielding primitive creatures making their living by inflicting terror upon innocent travelers and traders.

      “You’re one of them! They are people, people just like you.”

      “Thieving murderous scum,” said Theudas through a smile, winning a glare from his elder brother, but some appreciation from the archer. Amram soon exorcised his grin and expressed a fear sufficient to silence the brothers:

      “The real worry about those caves is not who’s there but who isn’t. I’m worried that not everyone from Narbata will make it.”