Certain poor shepherds : a Christmas tale

The story begins on a cold upland pasture where coarse grass and scrub cedar grew.

The hour was midnight. The day was the first of winter. On that night a white goat, Ima, and a huge, gray short-haired sheepdog, Lila, were keeping watch over a small flock of young sheep.

Bright and dazzling, a star appears behind the cedars on the eastern skyline.

It is big and powerful, and it has a pure, clean scent, like something halfway between honey and water.

Lila, the sheepdog, and Ima, the goat, are compelled to follow the star on a journey to a humble manger in Bethlehem, a journey beset with danger, adventure, and love.