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Visit From a Shepherd Boy
Visit From a Shepherd Boy
Visit From a Shepherd Boy
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Visit From a Shepherd Boy

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After King Herod hears about the birth of a “new king”, he directs his soldiers to slaughter all children under the age of two living in Bethlehem. Because of this, Joseph must take Jesus and Mary and escape to Egypt. Joey, along with two other young shepherds, David and Luke, has befriended the Holy Family and they want to leave with Joseph, but he can’t wait long enough for the boys to sell their flocks. Herod’s soldiers could arrive at any time! Though the Holy Family left the boys behind, they vow to follow. They don’t find Jesus, but in high adventure they do rescue a teenage slave girl who is owned by an evil Egyptian innkeeper. Follow along as Joey tells this ancient story to his modern day friend, Josh, explaining how he was actually there, and help Josh determine if Joey is a ghost, spirit, or angel . . .
LanguageEnglish
Release dateNov 22, 2016
ISBN9781620203835
Visit From a Shepherd Boy

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    Visit From a Shepherd Boy - Sara Jewell

    TABLE OF CONTENTS

    Title Page

    Copyright

    Dedication

    Chapter One: Joey Returns

    Chapter Two: The Great Escape

    Chapter Three: Beginning the Journey

    Chapter Four: Egypt

    Chapter Five: Trouble

    Chapter Six: Running on Empty

    Chapter Seven: To Judea

    Chapter Eight: The Bad Guys

    Chapter Nine: The Hunt

    Chapter Ten: The Showdown

    Chapter Eleven: Not Quite the End

    Contact Information

    Visit From A

    Shepherd Boy

    © 2014 by Sara Jewell

    All rights reserved

    ISBN: 978-1-62020-280-7

    eISBN: 978-1-62020-383-5

    Cover Design & Page Layout by Hannah Nichols

    Ebook Conversion by Anna Raats

    AMBASSADOR INTERNATIONAL

    Emerald House

    427 Wade Hampton Blvd.

    Greenville, SC 29609, USA

    www.ambassador-international.com

    AMBASSADOR BOOKS

    The Mount

    2 Woodstock Link

    Belfast, BT6 8DD, Northern Ireland, UK

    www.ambassador-international.com

    The colophon is a trademark of Ambassador

    TO THE LORD, MY SAVIOR, AND TO MY HUSBAND, STEVE,

    WHO IS MY EARTHLY SOURCE OF LOVE.

    CHAPTER ONE

    JOEY RETURNS

    Something was nagging him. A memory? In a state of drowsiness, Josh blinked, yawned mightily, and slowly woke up. With a start he realized, oh my, it’s Christmas! Half asleep, he looked at his clock. Staring at the hands in shock, he realized that it was nearly noon. He rubbed his eyes several times, confused.

    Aloud he said, I thought it was just about dawn! The room is so dark. But as he looked out the window, he saw thick snow squalls blocking the weak daylight. He involuntarily shivered.

    Then the morning’s events returned to him in slow motion. His memory came back. He was still in bed because he had tried to find Mr. George, the snowman he had made for his mom and aunt for Christmas. Yes, that was it. Through half-closed eyes, he looked back out the window again and could hear the snow being driven so hard against the pane that it sounded like sand blasting the window. Yes, the blizzard. It was all about getting lost in the blizzard.

    A week ago, he had built this very cool snowman on an old sled he found leaning up against the wall in their dusty, cluttered garage. He dragged the rusted sled to the back of the yard where a small white shed stood surrounded by overgrown bushes and saplings. Behind the building was a small clearing, and there he built his snowman, whom he called Mr. George for no other reason than he liked the name. It was a perfect hiding place because no one ever walked to the back of the large wooded lot, and he could work without anyone seeing him.

    His plan had been to slide Mr. George to the bottom of the porch stairs Christmas morning to surprise his mom and aunt. The snow man was way too heavy to lift and bring up to the porch, but he would make a perfect sentry for the foot of the stairs. Josh was very proud of his work, and he knew his mom and aunt would love their present.

    As Josh made his way toward the shed this morning to get Mr. George, it was snowing so hard that every bush was covered in deep drifts. Even the white shed was barely visible in the storm. To his dismay, he couldn’t find the little clearing where Mr. George quietly sat and waited. Everything looked different as he trudged past the shed. The drifts were everywhere, and the snow was swirling in his eyes, making it difficult to see. The yard covered more than an acre of woods, and as he leaned into the howling wind and gusts of snow, he became confused. In what direction was he going? He kept walking, trying to find his way back to the shed and home, but instead he found himself dreadfully lost. So lost, he feared he might freeze to death before anyone could find him. As he lurched through the ever deepening snow, he realized his only hope was to find shelter. Miraculously, he saw a towering pine straight ahead of him.

    Now lying in bed, he pulled the covers up to his chin. He silently thanked God he had been found—unconscious—but alive. His neighbor Dave said the reason they found him was because of Josh’s little toy dinosaur—something he always carried with him. It had fallen out of his pocket as he crawled and scratched his way under the giant evergreen tree. When Dave and his mom were frantically searching for him, they noticed the little toy poking out of a snow drift in front of the tree. They then knew where to find him—under its snow-laden boughs. Sure enough, when Dave dug his way through the snow and pushed under the heavy branches, there was Josh leaning against the trunk of the tall evergreen. Josh didn’t remember a thing about being found. He was in a state of frozen slumber.

    Remembering all this, he closed his eyes to the bedroom and the fearful events of the morning. He settled deeper under the warm covers, not wanting to think about his early morning ordeal, but his mind didn’t want to let it go. Finally, he slipped into sleep again, where images appeared in his mind. The sky was gray with fat, lazy snowflakes quietly drifting in front of him. He turned his face upward and opened his mouth to catch the delicate flakes on his tongue, but the gentle wind tossed the flakes around like feathers, just out of his tongue’s reach. He watched the flakes, one by one, dance around his face, teasing him. Suddenly, without reason, they turned into sharp, icy crystals that swirled dangerously close to him. He batted them away and tried to run, but his legs were too heavy. The wind hurled the beautiful but jagged crystals at Josh like tiny spears. He ducked and swatted at them, but they managed to hit him. He was surprised they didn’t hurt. They melted harmlessly on his cheeks like tears and curiously, when he wiped them away, they didn’t feel wet at all.

    He held his hands in front of his face. No mittens. Where were his mittens? He squinted because the storm was in full fury, and he looked around to get his bearings. Snow pelted him. He couldn’t tell where he was. Up ahead, he saw a majestic pine tree soaring to the sky. Its boughs, like arms, were beckoning to him, Come, come, it whispered. Find safety under me!

    With great effort he tried to reach the tree, but the storm intensified. His legs became as heavy as lead. He couldn’t move them. He panicked. Would he ever be safe?

    Blinking away sleep and the dream, Josh opened his eyes. He was back in his bedroom! Safe. His heart was pounding like a hammer, but he knew it was only a bad dream brought on by the morning’s events. He took a couple of deep breaths to calm himself and pulled the covers closer to his chin. Yes, he was safe! Protected in the room he shared with his two little sisters, who were somewhere off in the house playing with their Christmas presents. Although groggy, he decided he should be out there too opening his presents, but he was still too sleepy and weak.

    Lying quietly, he enjoyed the luxury of being in his sisters’ bed. There wasn’t much space in the small room, so as the oldest, he was stuck with the mattress on the floor while they got the bed. But because he nearly froze to death, his mom tucked him in the warmth of the girls’ bed.

    Josh smiled as he remembered the discussion his mom and aunt had over the room. His mom thought that even though it was a closet, it would make a great kids’ bedroom.

    But it couldn’t have been a closet, his aunt had reasoned when she first saw it. It has a window.

    I think it was a big walk-in closet. Look, it has shelves and hooks.

    His mom and aunt had argued about this for a while because the apartment they were renting together was once part of a farmhouse, and it had lots of weird nooks and crannies. The owners had created three apartments with different layouts, and this one had either one large walk-in closet or one tiny bedroom.

    Well, no matter, his mom had said with a wave of her hand. We’ll have to use the room as a bedroom for the kids. Josh will just have to sleep on the floor. We can’t get two beds and a desk in here at the same time, but there are some long shelves here we can use to put their clothes on.

    Oh, it will work out fine, Aunt Katherine had said. It may be a little drafty for ol’ Josh though. She messed his hair and laughed. I’ll make sure you have plenty of blankets!

    He checked the floor by the side of the bed for his mattress. Somebody had slid it and the blankets under his sisters’ bed. He hoped he could stay in their bed for the night and wondered briefly if his sisters would have to sleep on the couch.

    When he looked back up, he gaped in astonishment at the end of the bed. There, sitting at the desk that was jammed between the foot of the bed and the wall, was a small figure. This small person was fiddling with Josh’s little toy dinosaur and watching him. Already rattled from the morning events and his bad dream, Josh didn’t know what to think.

    Hey, it’s about time! I thought you’d be stuck in that snowstorm forever!

    Josh could only stare as the young boy hopped off the chair and dragged it around the end of the bed. He carefully positioned the chair beside Josh and perched on the edge of the seat. With eyes as big as a baby owl’s, he stared at Josh intently, appraising him. Whew. You’re okay. You had me worried there for a minute.

    Josh looked closely at the boy. Was he dreaming still? It couldn’t be Joey, could it? When his mom put him to bed earlier, the doctor had given her some kind of medicine that she poured in a little plastic cup for him to drink. It tasted like sweet, purple grapes. The taste made him gag. His mom pleaded with him to swallow, which he finally did. It made him bleary and finally put him to sleep. Maybe that was why he was having odd dreams about snowflakes attacking him. Was this vision of Joey a result of the medicine too? Was Joey a hallucination? Was he for real, or was Josh

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