hard squeeze made him squeal.
âNot your place to ask,â Jude said, and Flea allowed himself to be dragged across to the low railing that separated the outer court from the inner. Only when they were there did Jude loosen his grip a little.
âIâm curious,â he said. âWhat on earth did you think you were doing?â
âWhat do you care?â Flea said.
He looked properly at the man with rust-colored hair. He had a thin, horsey face with long teeth. There was a star-shaped scar in the middle of one cheek and he appeared to have lost most of his teeth on that side of his face.
âAbout you? Nothing. But to be honest, Iâd stick my head in boiling oil before I handed anyone over to the Temple Police, even my worst enemy.â
âIf you donât let me go, Iâll be your worst enemy!â Flea tried to kick him but could not reach.
The grip tightened again.
âAll right, all right. Iâm one of the Temple Boys,â Flea said. âWeâre a gang. The boys on the bridge you helpedâthey were Big and Snot. The one whoâs all hunched over, thatâs Crouch. The pretty one is Halo. Iâmââ
âYouâre Flea.â
âHow did you know my name?â
âMagicâwhat else? Actually, on the way here your friend Big was telling me about his gang. Apparently, all he has to do is snap his fingers and youâll do anything he asks.â Long-toothed smile. âNow, can I let you go so we can talk? All right? Good.â
Flea flexed his hand while Jude put the money bag safely inside his satchel.
Jude rubbed his face and it sounded like a rock scraping on gravel. âBottom of the heap, are you?â
âYes,â Flea said reluctantly.
âFinding it hard?â
âI guess.â
âI know all about that,â Jude said. âAlthough my case is slightly different.â Flea looked at him with interest.
âYou see, even though Iâm the outsider now, Iâm actually the original member of Yeshâs gang,â Jude continued. âExcept because weâre grownups we donât call it a gang, we call it a movement. And Iâm not the fixer, Iâm a facilitator. And we donât go around doing tricks and talking to people, either. Weâre reaching out, weâre engaging, weâre communicating. And worst of all, we have a plan to follow and a mission to fulfill. Weâre showing people the way.â
âSo leave,â Flea said.
âQuit? That would be like giving up. Anyway, whoâd look after Yesh?â
âYou donât trust the others?â
âI donât trust him,â Jude said.
âSo why should I care?â Flea tried to growl. âAnyway, what do you want?â
Jude blinked, then laughed. âYouâre a horrid little brat. I was going to hire you for a dayâs workâgood wages, tooâbut if youâreââ
âHow much?â Flea said quickly. The thought of money snapped him out of his bad mood.
âThat got you interested. How much do you make in a typical day?â
âA shekel,â Flea lied.
âNice try. I know how these things work. I bet you have to pool it anyway, or pay off Big.â
âHalf a shekel.â
âIâll pay you half that,â Jude said. âAnd feed you. And I promise not to tell anyone that I caught you red-handed trying to rob meâ¦â
Jude broke off and looked over Fleaâs head to the far distant southern end of the Temple. It was where the money changers took the visitorsâ coins and exchanged them for Temple silver. You often got arguments thereâthe exchange rate was crippling and the actual cost of buying a dove or a lamb for sacrifice was highâbut this was different.
âIt sounds like a riot,â Flea said.
âThatâs what Iâm worried about. They said they were planning something.â
âWho?