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met to dispense justice. It wasn’t unusual for them to call for Joshua, often sending for him when they were unable to reach a decision. But as he approached he was surprised to see Miriam’s ten-year-old brother, Nathan, standing in the center of the group. A guard held the boy’s thin arms pinned behind his back, but Nathan’s chin was raised in stubborn contempt.
    “What’s going on?” Joshua asked.
    “We’re sorry to disturb you,” the chief elder said, “but you’re the boy’s legal guardian, aren’t you?”
    “Yes…. Is there a problem?”
    “I’m afraid so. One of the vendors in the marketplace caught him stealing. He ran off with about twenty shekels of silver.”
    White-hot anger rushed through Joshua. He grabbed Nathan’s bony shoulders and shook him slightly. “Is this true, Nathan?” Nathan stared defiantly at Joshua without answering. “I asked you a question. Answer me!”
    Nathan’s eyes narrowed with cool disdain. “Make me.”
    Joshua raised his hand to slap him, then stopped himself in time. Nathan’s disrespect was shameful, but Joshua didn’t want to make things worse by losing his temper. Then another thought occurred to him. “Why aren’t you in school, studying with the rabbi?”
    When Nathan gave a snort of contempt and spat on the ground, it took every ounce of restraint Joshua had to keep from striking him. He turned, instead, to one of the elders.
    “Please tell Nathan the punishment for stealing.”
    “It’s fifteen lashes.”
    “Fifteen lashes, Nathan. Are you going to answer my questions, or shall I assume by your silence that you’re guilty and let the elders flog you?”
    The boy folded his arms across his chest and raised his chin to stare Joshua in the face. “Why don’t you flog me yourself?”
    At that moment, Joshua was angry enough to do it. Nathan was humiliating him, challenging his authority in front of the city elders. Joshua was the second-ranking official of this island community; how would it look if he couldn’t control a skinny ten-year-old boy? His jaw clenched in anger.
    “Is there proof of his guilt?” he asked the elders.
    “Yes, there were several witnesses.”
    “Did the vendor get his silver back?”
    The chief elder held up a leather pouch. “It was all here when they caught the boy.”
    “Then if you’ll agree to release him into my custody, I’ll see that he is properly punished.”
    “That’s fine with us, my lord.” The elders seemed relieved that they wouldn’t have to deal with Nathan. Joshua grabbed the boy by the back of his tunic and hauled him away. He wanted to take him someplace where no one could overhear them—and where Nathan’s disrespect couldn’t further humiliate him. He marched Nathan to the pits outside the village where the laborers mixed mud and straw to make bricks. It was approaching the hottest hour of the day, and the area was deserted as the workers took their break. Joshua pushed Nathan down on a bale of straw and stood over him, his hands on his hips.
    “What do you have to say for yourself?”
    Nathan said nothing.
    “You’d better start talking or—”
    “Or what?” When Nathan lifted his chin with a sneer of defiance, Joshua slapped him, unable to tolerate any more of the boy’s contempt. Nathan grinned. “It takes a big, tough man to hit a defenseless kid, doesn’t it?”
    Joshua stared at the red mark he had made on Nathan’s cheek and battled to keep his rage under control. For some reason, Nathan seemed to want him to lose his temper.
    “You deserve a lot more than a slap,” Joshua said. “You owe me for what you did today. You owe me an explanation and an apology.”
    Nathan sprang to his feet. “I don’t owe you anything!”
    Joshua pushed him down again. “You were nothing but a worthless thief when I took you in, and in spite of all the breaks you’ve been given, it seems that you’re still a worthless thief. I fed you, tried to educate you, made you part of my