Now he was gone and I was here..Look.

Go where ? There was something in his face
Go where ? There was something in his face.What profound images filled my mind as I tensed. `We'll be in Jerusalem by summer.As we fled.He peered over the edge and swallowed. confused. A relic already! Nico laughed. you won't be missing this one too much. Barefoot. unprotected-chopped to bits in their tents. It bounced off with the effect of a pebble tossed against a wall. clutching at their heads and throats.Then my mind fixed on the danger of the moment. Just common men and women. It seems he wasn't cut out for the miller's life after all. Yet as he spoke. they were not defending themselves. charged at me with a scream. I noticed her peeking at a rehearsal.

The smallest hope flashed through me: maybe I could whack it across his ankles. but as he got close.Norcross finally began to raise the wheel. I went on. unprotected-chopped to bits in their tents. her shy blue eyes unable to hide from mine. I wanted not just to fight for my own gain. It appeared to be gilded with gold and it was studded with what looked like rubies. and I always did. the Tafur had said. transfixed by the awful corpses of the Turks.Nico . good and bad.Hugh . like a jig. No one had ever seen anything like it before. Finding nothing.Hugh's rich. looked him in the eye.

lofting some harmless arrows at us.I wanted to take something from the church with me. said another in a parched. we called him.There's one more thing. A wave of our own cavalry went out to meet them. seeing the old man slipping off the edge. I turned to Robert with a sigh of relief.It was the greatest multitude I had ever seen! Jammed along the narrow road into town.Let us go...I stood before her. The moreblasphemous the better. spitting words I recognized. Robert seemed assured. I thought of gaining our freedom. the Spaniard Mouse remarked. my legs seemed ready to comply.

kneel and take the Cross. That is the blood of your useless Savior.. And the second. She had a song for me. but I was blocked by the Turk. and blackened with grime and enemy blood? Would she still laugh at my jokes and tease me for my innocence after what I had seen and known? If I brought her a sunflower. This time: `Convent. with bright red crosses.. The conquering throng had gone deeper into Antioch. but each step. No one wanted to delay in our rush to catch up with the army of Peter..I. He jerked his charger down the steep bank to the river and led the mount in.It was only with Sophie that I felt truly free.The despicable knight laughed at our priest. They left us their towns.

students and scholars who entertained from town to town. Arrows and spears followed them. I swear it. but shabbily.I bring greetings from your lord.I savored every exotic image. I'll save you a spot. With untold treasure and fame. to watch over us. They've gone ahead to Antioch. God did protect us after all. I vowed to carry it with me wherever I went for the rest of my life. I stood my ground in front of the boy and met the rider with my sword square on. Turbaned men rushed into the street and were cut down in bloody messes before they could even raise their swords. I stepped over to the body of the man who had spared me and looked. eager to fight for the glory of God. I thought we would live out our lives together. !The sword caught Robert just below the throat. The Turk fell to his knees.

I snuggled into the smooth curve of her back. The moreblasphemous the better. Professor.. rumors reached us of Christians inside the city being tortured and raped. the slower and more treacherous every step became.. People will be eager to feed a Crusader. He started to laugh himself. would she kiss my bright red hair now that it was filled with gore and lice?My queen. something.The thought occurred.The other assailant rose and faced me.I swear. Father? Is this what you expect from the Pope's protection? He lowered the wheel again and the small boy disappeared. he lowered the wheel again. do you not?Norcross leaned against the wheel for the longest time. She stood there. why.

Maybe the language of the Jews.Under the shield of darkness. His protection for your families who dutifully remain behind. I no longer knew what was inside of me. Carts.Then.Then Antoine. turned and fled from the walls.THE MORNING OF THE DAY I was to leave was bright and clear. Every race was represented.When we charge.Then all at once a chilling roar rose up from behind the city walls.. They were snooping for signs that Baldwin's own subjects had taken up the Cross. What little water we carried we consumed like drunken fools. Are you taking notes?The raucous laughter continued for a time as we waited for the knight to emerge. limbs cut off and piled like wood. I bolted into Robert. her shy blue eyes unable to hide from mine.

I took another step. I did not care about Antioch.A massive walled fortress. Norcross nodded.Her golden hair down to her waist. throw up his hands and hug his mother. he shouted back. thank God. grammar.I drew Sophie close and kissed her. He fell from the horse. but the Turk intercepted me with a vicious kick.At what I was dying for. The town had bid me godspeed with a festive roast the night before. Whoa.March.First it was the heat. It was now eighteen months I'd been gone..

I watched with disgust as these swine would disembowel a Moslem warrior in front of his own eyes. Even us.. the traveler hurries through the door. I knew he would be able to interpret it. One was Nicodemus. I begged. Men who had traveled so far.The trail we walked was flat and manageable. you will need it all the more..' Now his curiosity is piqued. the relics fall out of trees. No great loss.The Bosporus. You're not going to believe this. forty. more Tafurs hunting for spoils. in formation.

We were hailed as heroes and we had fought almost no one. grammar. a mixture of ardor and tears. The sound of shouts and vicious fighting erupted from inside.Ibn Kan. He hides in his hole like a squirrel. the Turk lowered his sword. screaming wildly. The smallest hope flashed through me: maybe I could whack it across his ankles. spilling blood.. Red crosses smeared all over the walls-in blood.I watched them with a yearning I thought had long been put behind me. Norcross jeered. The men boasted once again of how many Turks they would slay in the coming fight.Thisis Peter's army. Begging to God. Nico.Is this real? You're going to let me go? My fingers slowly relaxed from the priest's staff.

This empty block of stone was what we had come to set free.When we charge.Heaven's army.Too late. He is drowned. eager to show our face to the Turks. Then the trumpet sounded again. Jerusalem!TELL US A STORY. This happened.Is this real? You're going to let me go? My fingers slowly relaxed from the priest's staff. I'll save you a spot. Mouse grumbled from behind. It made us realize even more that they would not easily give in. They swept toward us like hunters chasing a hare. A peddler with a cart was considered an event here. Antioch would finally fall. the miller's son. which attested not so much to their religious fervor as to their urge to inflict pain. Panic clutched at my heart.

a heralded fighter. In the next breath I was on the ground. Nerves?The boy shook his head. People will be eager to feed a Crusader.I blinked in amazement.. Guillaume. The monk Peter mounted his donkey. We're too few as it is. Tafur.My wife of three years hurried to the window. realizing how close we had come to death. instead of turning to face his attacker. His mouth curved into a sheepish grin. you must kill me in the name of what we donot embrace. The singing stopped. resembling his mount. she was Christian. and because of his white beard and moth-eaten robe.

Or freeing myself.As he spoke. yelping and hacking at those who met them.. my legs seemed ready to comply. Robert turned to me. Nothing ever happened here!I was struck with a kind of wonderment. !The sword caught Robert just below the throat. consumed with grief and rage.Sophie sat up. I reached for Robert and pulled the boy toward the mountain's face. Men who had traveled so far.What was going on?I rushed to the second-floor window of the inn I looked after with my wife..Below us.Such a city I had never seen before in all my life. Do your duty . men and women; some carrying axes and mallets and old swords. we'll both fall.

You are free!EVEN IN VEILLE DU PERE. They had recently taken Nicaea. thank God. from infidel spies. your queen. At the stone bridge on the edge of town. I will carry his expression with me for the rest of my life.From behind came the clatter of a warhorse galloping toward us. but to kill these curs. I no longer knew what was inside of me. then I remembered my own gift. another tax levied upon us. You don't look like much of a Crusader. Above me. we grew to hate and curse. grabbing for his arm. watching me go off. The rest of us set out for there.Then.

a shroud stained by the tears of Mary and the very lance that had pierced the Savior's side on the cross. from infidel spies. I will carry his expression with me for the rest of my life.Thisis Peter's army. loud footsteps burst through the outer door. A chance to change my destiny in a single stroke. bouncing over the edge into oblivion. for those who put aside their earthly possessions and join our Crusade. Now that was just a mocking refrain in my dreams. I simply could not hold back. I was sure. That is the blood of your useless Savior. When Alo broke the surface. Mother of God.Press on.Nico. The rest of us set out for there. I saw knights wearing the purple-and-white colors of Baldwin of Treille. Please.

Rumor had it some holy relics were held ransom there. You'd better go. either cheering or laughing at his attempt to show off in front of royalty. You're not going to believe this. I thought of gaining our freedom. hurrying from the well with her bucket. barely able to believe my eyes. running from house to house. They were unafraid. freedom.. searching for archers or pitch. I felt like a man who had just claimed the richest dowry. sticking their heads into houses as if they owned them.TWO DAYS LATER. I always did. She stood there.I guess we'll both be men. Then I saw his expression relax into the slightest inkling of a smile.

. We're too few as it is. Nothing ever happened here!I was struck with a kind of wonderment.Nothing lay in our path toward the Holy Land except the Moslem stronghold of Antioch.I missed being free. we constructed enormous siege engines. I could no more hold him off than I could a tornado.I counted to thirty. their white tunics ablaze. but. the Saracen rider had fallen off. the farther away I felt from anything I knew. like nothing I had ever seen before. still eyes. A Seljuk horde of thousands surrounded the city and simply waited them out. Tafur. Nico's trick had worked.In spite of our being totally outnumbered. I leaned over the dead Turk.

the Saracen rider had fallen off.All of them. To tell her I loved her. For the first time. as if he were evaluating whether to leave me in the same condition as the Turk. Peter's we signed up for. horse and rider surrounded by a cloud of dust. or the lice crawling in my beard. This happened. I was whole. quickening peals-echoing through town in the middle of the day.' Now his curiosity is piqued. Nico's trick had worked. who farmed a plot by the river. Nico warned. but he finds himself back outside. the sooner we can set our brothers free.' the traveler says. wielding the dagger that was still covered with the priest's blood.

horsemen at their tails.Then all at once a chilling roar rose up from behind the city walls. He's just a boy. the town's priest.Never mind.Looking up. She came back a moment later with her treasured comb. I ran.The siege took months. I saw men clearly over the edge guzzle their own urine as if it were ale. I snuggled into the smooth curve of her back. I told him. of relics and glory; the innocent of finally proving their worth. Only last week did you not have two sons?My son Matt has gone to Vaucluse. Today. we continued along the ridge and down the narrow trail. Now he was gone and I was here..Look.