The Hem

<p>As my mother Mariah escapes Bethlehem with my eighteen-month-old brother to avoid King Herod's death squad she secretly sends me to the safety of Jerusalem. I was only 6 weeks old.</p><p></p><p>The Jerusalem Temple becomes my sanctuary. With Dinah my mentor I immerse myself in service and learn master camel riding alongside the Roman infantry. Life seems idyllic.</p><p></p><p>At twenty I am banished from the temple with an incurable illness. Despite my affliction I find solace in serving others with Sophie Dinah's daughter. I am asked to design and craft a 'special' tunic at the request of Peter's assistant Tobin. At just the right moment Joshua a young merchant gives me a skein of royal purple thread; the exact color I needed.</p><p></p><p>My illness grows worse and I hear more stories of Jesus healing. I seek Him.</p><p></p><p>I desperately reach and touch His hem. I know every royal purple stitch. He calls me daughter. I am healed.</p><p></p><p>My friends negotiate my acceptance back into the Jerusalem Temple where I resume serving and teaching children as before. However my healing creates enemies.</p><p></p><p>It's a trap.</p><p></p><p>I am now forced to flee again.</p>