Miri's mother passed to Sheol earlier this year. She awakens one morning in her home in Magdala to discover that her loutish father has sold her into slavery to a local tavern owner. After a terrifying ordeal in which a wealthy visitor is killed, she escapes into the hills. With the help of a traveling merchant, she evades pursuit and finds her way to Sepphoris, Herod's capital city in central Galilee. In Sepphoris, Miri meets Yeshua, a boy of sixteen who has trouble following rules. A wedding is planned between Yeshua's cousin and a man from the nearby village of Cana. Over the next three weeks, as Miri struggles to overcome her recent trauma, her feelings toward Yeshua evolve from revulsion, to grudging respect, to deep affection. Her past catches up with her on the day of the wedding. A man from her hometown recognizes her, and alerts the Roman authorities. Yeshua is entangled in his own troubles, as his antics with water and wine have embarrassed a powerful rabbi and endangered everyone near him. Both must now flee to an uncertain future.