Judah and Levi were on their way to Hebron.  Hopefully, they would catch up on Joseph before he reached home.  The sky was already turning orange and pink.  The sun was retiring. 

"Check this out," Judah said.  He gave Levi a small, carved lion.

"Wow, this is fantastic.  It looks exactly like the real thing," Levi said holding the little wooden craft. 

"You think?" Judah asked him.  Levi gave him a nod.  

"Definitely.  Have you ever showed any of these figures to father?" Levi asked him.

"Not really.  When do I have time?  In between shepherding and selling wool.  It's complicated," Judah replied.  Levi returned the small wooden lion back to Judah. 

"You should tell him.  Show him you  shouldn't be a shepherd when you're clearly a skilled sculptor.  You should be a sculpting animals," Levi told him.  Judah looked at the lion that he had in his hand and then he placed it in his wool made bag. 

"Sculpture animals?  I don't think that's going to work out.  I would end up selling idols.  Imagine that Judah, the son of Jacob selling idols?  I don't think father's going to like it much," Judah said.  Levi gazed at him quietly.  He didn't know what to say.  He wondered if maybe God had cursed him with this gift. 

"However, Joseph can do no wrong," Judah remarked. 

"Joseph is a kid," Levi commented.

"Yeah, you may be right, but the excessive worship from father is becoming annoying.  You can't worship Joseph," Judah said.  Levi shook his head. 

"Tell me about it," Levi replied.  They walked until the sky became dark.  They decided to leave the road and head for a nice camping spot instead.  The brothers built a small shelter with the wood from the area. 

"I'll build a fire," Judah said.

"I don't think that's a good idea.  We're alone and someone could try to come here and rob us," Levi remarked.  Judah shook his head.

"Nothing's going to happen and the fire is a good idea to keep wild beasts away," Judah said.  They talked it out and eventually Judah made a fire next to the shelter.  The night was cold and the brothers hugged each other using their body heat to remain warm.  Their coats were also used as blankets as usual and although at first the rough ground was annoying and made their body ache, the tiredness eventually took over and they were able to sleep.  The next day they woke up and the fire had died.  Ashes replaced the small twigs that had been used for the fire. 

"I have to pee," Judah said.

"Yeah, well, do it away from here," Levi remarked.  Judah walked a bit further down the hill.  There weren't many trees in this area, so he peed behind a palm tree.  Levi opened his bag made of wool and took out a jar with a wooden top.  He removed it and drank some wine.  He yawned and stretched his arms.  He decided to grab another jar that was filled with the water he had collected from the well.  He poured very little on his hand and wiped his face with it.  He felt better.  Judah returned from where he had been doing some natural things and asked for Levi's water.

"Get your own!  This is my water jar," Levi said.

"But, I need to wash my hands too," he said. 

"Use yours!"  Levi replied.  Judah grumbled, but went into the shelter to get his bag.  He checked the jars and when he found the one with water he used it to wash himself. 

"It's time to go," Levi said. 

"Let's eat something first.  I'm hungry," Judah said.

"Are you serious?  You just ate last night," Levi said.

"So?"  Judah replied.

"We're not eating anything, it's time to leave.  If we hurry, we might catch up with that  spoiled little brat before he gets home.  Let's go," Levi said.  Judah complained, but he drank some water, put away his jar in his bag, grabbed it and then followed Levi out of the wilderness and back into the road.

"What is that?" Judah asked.  Levi frowned at him. 

"What's what?"  Levi asked.  They started to hear voices from a distance, along with the sounds of footsteps.  The more they approached the road, the clearer were the voices and the footsteps, nearby.  Then they began to hear drums, flutes and lyres.  Tambourines, sticks, hand clapping and songs began to join the music.  When Judah and Levi finally reached view of the road they saw a large caravan coming.  There were people riding on donkeys and camels with one or two humps.  Mules were carrying carts with boxes of wood on them.  Men wore fine linen, rare women wore makeup, head dresses and jewelry.  They played instruments and sang songs.

"It's a caravan!" Levi said.

"Hey, let's stop them.  Maybe they've seen Joseph," Judah suggested.  Levi gave him a quick nod and they approached the traveling caravan.  They stopped a man dressed in fine clothes of purple and blue.  

"Excuse me!" Have you seen a young boy on the road?" Levi asked the man.  The man shouted to the people at the caravan to make a full stop.  Then, he whistled and the people stopped.

"Hey, hey!  Stop," the man had said.  The music players stopped playing their instruments.  The women and men who were singing, shut their mouths and suddenly everyone was quiet and looking at the fine man dressed in blue and purple silk.  

"What did you say?" The man asked.  He had dark features, a large nose, puffy lips and his facial hair was trimmed.  He didn't look Hebrew.  

"I said have you seen a young boy on the road?" Levi asked.

"No and we sold all the boys we had," the man said.  Judah shook his head. 

"No. We mean have you seen our brother?" Judah said.

"No, we haven't.  We haven't seen anyone on the road," the man replied.  Then, the people replied with mumbled and head shakes nobody had seen him.

"He was bitten by a wolf.  He was limping, probably.  He's a handsome young man, 17," Judah remarked.

"I'm sorry.  We haven't seen anyone like that," The man replied.  The brothers stared at each other and then gazed back at the man on the camel. 

"Would you like to buy something from us?  We have clothes, jewelry, wine, oil, fine bread, cakes, instruments and women," the man said.

"Women?" Judah asked excited and the man smiled.

"Yes, but they are expensive," the man replied.

"Never mind.  We must go," Levi replied. 

"Are you sure?  Some of them are virgins," the man replied, but Levi shook his head and pulled Judah away from the road.  The man whistled and the caravan once again moved on its way to wherever they were going.  The music played again and the brothers watched them leave.

"Levi, we should have bought a woman," Judah said.

"They didn't see him.  Do you think he's dead?" Levi asked.

"Who cares?  Why didn't we bring a virgin?" Maybe she wasn't that expensive," Judah said. 

"I think we should return to Reuben and tell him what we know," Levi said.

"Tell him what?  We don't know anything.  Maybe Joseph took another route," Judah replied.

"What other route?  He's either dead or with father," Levi replied.  He was starting to lose his temper with Judah.

"Maybe he's dead," Judah remarked and shook his shoulders.

"We need to tell Reuben,"Levi replied.

"We don't know what happened Levi.  What we do know is that, that caravan has virgins and we can buy one for us," Judah replied.

"I'm not in the mood for a virgin right now," Levi replied.

"Well, I am.  How much money do you have?" Judah asked him.  Levi frowned at him.

"Spend your own money!" Levi replied.

"What about Joseph?" Levi said, but Judah walked away from his brother and followed the caravan.

"Always, thinking with his penis," Levi remarked.  He wasn't going to follow Judah.  He decided to continue his journey to Hebron because he had a bad feeling that Joseph was with Jacob.  Judah stopped the caravan and spoke with the man who was ridding the double hump camel.  He told him that he was interested in a virgin and was trying to negotiate with the merchant to purchase her. 

"The cheapest one I  have costs 20 pieces of silver and this is a very low price," the man said.

"But, I only have 12 pieces of silver.  What if I trade in 2 sheep?  I can give you a male and female," Judah replied.

"That's not good enough.  If you give me 6 pairs of sheep, maybe then I will give you the virgin," the man replied. 

"Six is too much.  I'm offering 12 pieces of silver and 2 sheep.  Sheep cost at least 10 pieces of silver each.  If I give you a pair, that's a total of 32 pieces of silver.  That is a better bargain than the 20 pieces of silver your asking for.  You can sell them and earn double the amount of what you're asking," Judah replied.

"But I would have to raise these sheep while they're not sold," the man complained.

"They feed on grass," Judah insisted.

"Well, then, you really didn't want the virgin to begin with because I lowered the price.  I'm only accepting silver.  I don't see these sheep you're offering.  Where are they?" The merchant asked.

"Don't worry about that.  I have them," Judah continued to negotiate.

"Well, let's see them.  Where are they and are they healthy?  I'm not trading a first class virgin over 12 pieces of silver and sick herd.  I need to see what you're offering first," the merchant replied.

"Well... I don't have them here with me, but I can go get them," Judah said stuttering a little bit.

"Well, when you go get them, then you can have the virgin and that is, if these so-called pair of sheep of yours are healthy," The merchant replied.

"Let me see the virgin first," Judah replied.  The man on the camel whistled at some man and he came and spoke with Judah.

"Follow me," the man said leading Judah to a group of women who were sitting in a cage.  The cage was on one of the many carriages that were being carried by, big, strong mules.  The women were all young and wearing rags.  All of them were sitting on the cage with their eyes to the ground and none of them spoke.  The man pointed out at the third woman and the last woman in the cage.  

"Those two are the virgins. The other five are widowers," the man said.

"How much for the first one?" Judah asked.  She had long, dark hair, brown skin and features that he thought were delicate and attractive.

"She's not a virgin," the man replied. 

"How much?" Judah insisted, but the man didn't reply, so Judah returned to the man who was riding the double humped camel to re-negotiate his terms. 

"I want the widow," Judah replied.

" Widows have more experience, she might cost a little bit more," the man explained. 

"That doesn't make any sense.  Everybody knows that virgins are far more expensive.  I'll pay you the 12 pieces of silver for the widow," Judah said.

"The widow is more expensive.  She knows how to cook, clean, sew and take care of children," the man replied. Judah didn't care.  He wanted the widow and he didn't care how much she cost.  He began to re-negotiate over and over again.

"Two sheep, 3 bags of mandrakes, and 12 pieces of silver," Judah said and the man laughed.

"Forget it. Choose a virgin and I'll accept the prior deal," the merchant said, but Judah wanted the widow.

"2 Donkeys, 2 sheep, 3 bags of mandrakes, 12 pieces of silver and..."  Judah opened his bag of wool and took out the small lion figure he had sculpted.

"This!" He said and showed it to the man. 

"Let me see that," the man said.  Judah handed over his figurine.  The man looked at it and nodded.

"If you bring me the 2 sheep, the 2 donkeys, the 3 bags of mandrakes, the 12 pieces of silver and this, I will give you the widow, but the animals must be healthy," the merchant said.  Judah snatched the sculpture and shook the man's hand.  Finally, they had a deal. 

"Where are you heading to?" Judah asked him.

"We're going to Jezreel."

"Can't you hold her for me while I get the items?" Judah asked and the man had to re-enter new terms for the widow. 

"We will give you 6 days.  If by then, you don't show up, we're selling the widow to someone else.  I'm being very generous with you.  I don't even know if you will return or pay anything," the merchant said.

"I promise I will pay you in full for the woman I want," Judah said.  Then, the man in blue and purple silk clothing called out the other man that had led Judah to the cage. 

"Do you remember the woman he wants?" He asked him and the man nodded.

"Yes.  He wants one of the widows," the man replied.  This other man, the one who had led Judah to the cage wore a red and blue silk toga.  He had a loop earring on nose and short, trimmed hair.  The man had much darker skin than the negotiator with who Judah was speaking to.  

"Record this.   If he doesn't come back with 2 sheep, the 2 donkeys, the 3 bags of mandrakes, the 12 pieces of silver and the wooden sculpture of the lion that he has in his hand after 6 days, the woman will be sold to someone else," the man in blue and purple coat said.  The darker man asked for a tablet of clay and a long branch of sycamore and with it, he wrote what he was told to record.  

"And what is your name?" the man asked.

"Judah, son of Jacob," Judah replied.  The man wrote his name.

"Well, Judah, son of Jacob, we have an agreement.  If these things are not brought to me in 6 days the woman will be sold to someone else.  We are heading towards Shechem and then Dothan, but our final stop is at Jezreel.  We will stay there for a few days and then head to Egypt.  That has always been our route," the man said. 

"And who should I ask for when I return with the items for the widow?" Judah asked.

"My name is Naaman, son of Johash,"the merchant told him.  Judah shook his hand.

"Naaman, son of Johash, I will return in 6 days," Judah said.

"We'll see," Naaman said and arched an eyebrow suspiciously.  He doubted that Judah would really return with the items, but Naaman was going to give Judah the benefit of the doubt.  The widow wouldn't be a loss anyway.  He wasn't going to reach Jezreel in 6 days, so if Judah didn't show up by then, it wouldn't affect his market anyway.

"Time to go," Naaman said and he kicked his camel to make him move. The caravan continued on its way and once again the silence of the road was destroyed by the music of the merchants.  Judah hurried his pace until he saw his brother Levi alone on the road walking.

"Levi!" Judah hollered out loud with his hands surrounding his mouth trying to simulate a bull's horn.  Levi walked on.  So Judah ran and then hollered again for the second time.

This time Levi heard his brother and he stopped.  He turned around and gazed at his brother.  Judah came running with laughter until he reached his brother.  He was breathlessly panting. 

"What happened?" Levi asked him.  Judah bent his knees and placed a hand over his hip and panted.  He really needed a break.  Levi waited silently until Judah could finally talk again.  He laughed. 

"Well?" Levi asked.

"I got a deal" Judah said. 

"You're really buying this virgin right now with everything that's going on?" Levi said.

"She's not a virgin," Judah replied.

"You already had sex with her?"  Levi asked confused.

"No.  She's a widow," Judah replied.

"A widow?  Isn't that a downgrade?"  Levi asked, but Levi laughed.

"No way.  She's very skilled.  She's better than a virgin," Judah replied.

"You had sex with a widow?"  Levi asked and Judah laughed again and waved his hand at him.

"We have to get to Hebron and steal two donkeys from father," Judah said.

"Are you crazy?  He'll kill us," Levi said.

"He's going to kill Reuben, not us.  Come on man, you need to help me," Judah said.

"Forget it.  I'm not stealing donkeys for some widow. I can't believe you downgraded," Levi said, but Judah didn't care what Levi thought.  If Levi didn't help him steal, his father's donkeys, he would have to do it himself.

"I think Joseph is dead and if he isn't he must be with Jacob by now.  Nobody on the caravan saw him," Judah reminded Levi. 

"Well... maybe he's somewhere resting.  Maybe one of us should travel through the wild.  I'll use the road.  I'm in a hurry anyway.  We'll meet up tomorrow," Judah replied.

"Tomorrow?" Levi asked.

"Yeah, I can't waste time.  I only have six days to return with the items before they sell the woman," Judah said. 

"You're not going to reach Hebron in a day.  You're nuts," Levi said, but Judah ignored him and walked on.  Levi shook his head disapprovingly at his brother's plan.  He thought it was dumb.  Judah was never going to reach Hebron in a day.  That was absurd.  Levi walked into the woods to try to see if he could find Joseph.  He thought that maybe Joseph wasn't using the road.  Judah on the other hand, walked on, thinking about a plan.  He had to get 2 donkeys, 2 sheep and 3 bags of mandrakes from somewhere.  As he walked on he saw another shepherd he knew by the name of Jaakobah. 

"Judah?  What are you doing here my friend?"  Jaakobah asked him with a smile.

"Jaakobah, you must have been sent by God.  I need a huge favor," Judah said.

"Of course, but where are the rest of your brothers?  I thought you were all tending the sheep together?" his friend Jaakobah said.  So Judah told him all about the wolves and Joseph and why he was on his way to Hebron.

"Wow, that is terrible," Jaakobah said.  Then, Judah told him about the caravan and the widow he wanted to buy for himself.

"You know I have that and more, but I'm in a hurry right now.  I promise to give you everything back," Judah told him. 

"Judah, do you really want to buy this slave right now?  I mean, what about your brother?" Jaakobah said.

"Levi is helping me out.  Right now he's covering the woods, but I really need this stuff before the caravan goes to Jezreel.  Right now they're not very far, but if I don't get these things I won't reach them on time.  They only gave me 6 days," Judah told his friend. Jaakobah rubbed his chin and sighed.  He really felt bad for Judah and decided to help him out.

"Okay, but remember to give me a back the livestock you took Judah.  You know that I have five sons and three daughters to feed plus four wives.  I need my herd back," Jaakobah said.  Judah joined his hands together as if forming a pyramid. 

"I promise I'll return everything as soon as I can.  If I don't see you, I'll just leave the items with one of your wives," Judah said.

"Okay, it's a deal. I don't know if I have mandrakes though," Jaakobah said.

"Don't worry about that.  I know where to get some, but I need the herd and 3 empty wool bags," Judah said.  Jaakobah showed him his herd.  Judah found two beautiful sheep, one female and a goat.    Two young donkeys were also available.  Judah tied the two donkeys forming a rein to and pulled the reins and then he pulled the sheep towards him.  

"Jaakobah, you've just saved my life.  If you ever need anything let me know," Judah said.  Jaakobah gave him a nod. 

"I appreciate it.  Just remember to bring other animals to replace these.  This economy is terrible," Jaakobah said.

"Yeah, I know what you mean.  Thanks, and you have my word," Judah replied.

"It was nice to see you Judah.  I hope you can find Joseph alive.  He's a really good kid," Jaakobhah said. 

"Yeah, me too," Judah lied.  He didn't really care about Joseph.  He just hoped their punishment wouldn't be worse.  He waved goodbye at Jaakobah and left with the animals and 3 empty bags made of wool.  Now all he had to do was to go get the mandrakes fill out the bags and the widow would be his.