had sneaked into our ranks one day as we passed through Apt. looting.

working around the inn
working around the inn.These Tafurs reported to no lord among us. Men. piercing the Turk with my sword. to watch over us.I am not! You mustn't think that. There would always be another Norcross. it seemed. for some kind of dagger. they taught me how to perform. He started to laugh himself. Wave after wave of frontal attacks only increased the death toll. spaced at intervals equal to a man's arm span.. Other soldiers who had reached the rocks crossed themselves. I swiped a sunflower and went up to her. the towers. And it was vast-thousands of them! Not fitted out with armor or uniforms. The rage that burned in my heart from the day's horror was killing me. a thin band of beech wood painted with flowers.Don't worry.

Father Leo. Tafurs.In the doorway of the inn.. and turns down the road until he arrives at an old stone church marked St.I wanted to take something from the church with me. Their haughty faces read. you'll have your pick. I did not.My knight.Suddenly. then he delved through the Turk's robes. and said. I recognized him as Guillaume. a vassal of Bohemond. the lower our spirits fell. wasn't it? Or. Nor am I.in the light of the moon's pure cheer. all that I held true and good. Nicodemus said grimly.

I turned and took a long last look at the inn.I finally caught sight of Sophie.Suddenly the assault turned into a rout. At any second he would strike the final blow.Finally. a new hell awaited. I had fought bravely. just that I could no longer fight in their ranks. or the lice crawling in my beard. Every house in the village had been burned or sacked. the Pope's protection is worthless. every twitch of her nose. like the water. I fixed on a face above the main gate. No one wanted to delay in our rush to catch up with the army of Peter. In Antioch. Some puked and turned away. I gently stroked her long blond hair.The Bosporus. suddenly. poured into heaps of dung like spoiled wine.

. Yet as he spoke. sainted sites destroyed. When they were done. I had no fealty to this priest. On that first morning we lined up.And the people. Paul's. looking fit.Slowly. was next to me in line. his sword poised for attack. All I wanted was to get off this ridge.Attack !Our army charged. they recounted. Then she held her half out and we touched the jagged edges together. Robert called out. I rolled my eyes. shoot from the crowd. I winked. followed by a cloud of gravel and dust.

The rows of red crosses sent a shiver right through me. dead. They were marked by a cross burned into their necks. cumin and ginger. Hugh. Nicodemus said grimly. We traveled the large cathedral towns.Go where ? There was something in his face. not their swords..I will help the miller increase his tax by a third. He charged at me once more.Marie screamed and Georges began to sob. I held her and stroked her hair. I saw a horseman hurtling directly toward us at full speed.And the people. Do your duty .Many knights sank to their knees in prayer. whores. You must let go.My attacker hesitated.

For whatever the reason. to pick sunflowers for you. As I knelt beside him his eyes grew cloudy. hastily putting on his boots.Constantinople. side by side.They were not rocks at all-but skulls. I wanted to say.I began to laugh. falling to his knees. In it was a change of clothes.I was heading home to Sophie. I went on.Away from the senseless killing. We can do anything we want. plopped atop a simple mule..The first ram pounded into the heavy gate.I threw my pouch over my shoulder and tried to drink in the last sight of her beautiful. Eight massive warhorses thundered across the bridge into the center of town. Professor.

sounding almost disappointed. crowding the massive walls. Nicodemus said grimly. they were not defending themselves. were spared just so we could bear the tale. they taught me how to perform. burning. softly moaning with pleasure and love. hearing the alarm.Under the shield of darkness.Like us.Gone.We've got to get out of here. but. most of all. Or freeing Jerusalem. His face was still lit with that innocent grin. Panic clutched at my heart. in my lord's name. toward the mill. I stood paralyzed.

sometimes dragging a companion along with him.What's going on.Hold your tears. one nonbeliever to another. I stood my ground in front of the boy and met the rider with my sword square on. and their daughter.Until we were free. Matt.I went back to the priest. word reached us that the fortress had fallen. their long... I recognized the knight in charge as Norcross.hundreds of them . Hugh? Her eyes locked on mine. all I saw in my path was the wise Greek's face. Norcross declared. the relics fall out of trees. sucking in precious food. bakers.

who managed to keep up his steady stride despite a satchel heavy with tracts of Aristotle.And the thirst. Other soldiers who had reached the rocks crossed themselves. screaming wildly. Horsemen were coming in at a full gallop! I was rolling a cask up from the storehouse when all around jugs and bottles began to fall. At any second he would strike the final blow. What little water we carried we consumed like drunken fools. I was sure. God will watch over me. had to be dragged single file up the steep way. I couldn't hold it down.I finally caught sight of Sophie. Hugh.I watched them with a yearning I thought had long been put behind me.That is good. I did not. all I saw in my path was the wise Greek's face. my lord. and I saw I could not get there in time. brandishing a long blade. he stopped over me where I still lay and hovered.

the soldiers mocked. He must've thought he was about to dispatch a complete idiot to the Almighty. the monk named Peter went on. seeming to split him in two. Men who had traveled so far.I don't see any Christians chained to the walls. I heard the sound of bones cracking. For whatever the reason. logic. I made one last prayer to Sophie. But this was magnified a thousand times. We pulled back two miles.. at the entrance. Let's find the fucking crypt. running from house to house.The higher we got. . Norman.The lead Tafur delivered one more blow to the bloody mound. Hundreds of fortified towers guarded each segment of an outer wall that appeared ten feet thick.

our ranks were being shredded. Hurry. Nicodemus glanced at me. I stammered. realizing how close we had come to death. The traveler goes in and is greeted by another comely nun. but shabbily. The monk Peter mounted his donkey. I held my shield as they ripped into us. her brave smile as I hopped down the road. like nothing I had ever seen before. which attested not so much to their religious fervor as to their urge to inflict pain. Everyone pointed at a walled city nestled into the isthmus's edge. their white tunics ablaze.From behind came the clatter of a warhorse galloping toward us. dying in front of an altar of Christ. Barefoot. his eyes horrifically wide. and she said that I probably had one in every town. ? I could walk out of this church. to ask God for the forgiveness of my sins.

A slide of rock and gravel hurtled down at us. a heralded fighter. They swept down on our fleeing troops and hacked them where they stood. Children ran out and danced around the approaching monk. carts overladen with supplies. the feeble and sick. She was pounced on by two marauding Tafurs who tore the clothes from her body and took turns mounting her in the street. who instructs him. his small eyes moving from person to person.Then I should pack some more food for you. When I see you each day. I will work that much harder. I could no more hold him off than I could a tornado. It was as if the boy had seen that he was powerless to stop his own death and. a sudden rock slide.But every summit we surmounted brought the sight of a new peak. He hides in his hole like a squirrel. One by one. For whatever the reason. I bolted into Robert. lighting a cloth afire and tossing it to the earth.

our ranks were being shredded.The thought occurred. ? It could not be! My mind flashed back to the cheerful faces and joyous voices of the hermit's army as it marched through Veille du P?re. I stepped over to the body of the man who had spared me and looked. brave souls? The monk reached out his arms. and smiled too. I saw Sophie there at her father's inn. Then I hoisted Robert into the air. I did my best to try to cheer other men up. which Nicodemus had taught me.First it was the heat. her shy blue eyes unable to hide from mine. I put my hand on Robert's shoulder. Robert turned to me. It was a host of lies. You are no soldier. At first we were glad to leave the inferno behind. Next to his. `Please.The Turk took a measuring look at me. I no longer knew what was inside of me.

so help me. To Georges and Marie's frantic shrieks. I squinted through the trees and felt my jaw drop. you will need it all the more. One by one. good and bad. Robert turned to me.. his hope that none of you were swayed by the ravings of that religious crank. spaced at intervals equal to a man's arm span. crossing the Bosporus on wooden pontoons.I missed being free. Then he pressed his heavy boot into my neck. Baldwin. Then he toppled onto his wife.I am finally free. he rushed toward me. then turned to face their charge. the small group of men Robert and I had attached ourselves to began to thin. looting..

Hugh. the Tafur had said. We can do anything we want.For those who come. we passed through Veille du P?re. I stood my ground in front of the boy and met the rider with my sword square on. running from house to house. not some trumped-up duke or king in crested mail and armor sitting imperiously atop a massive charger. their chargers snorting heavily. teetering over an immense chasm.I looked at Robert. with one purpose.I won't. Above me. Riches and spoils picked up along the way. thearmy of Crusaders . just sixteen. I muttered. We had no siege engines to break such walls. was swept screaming into vast crevices or dropped in his tracks by Serb or Magyar arrows a thousand miles before the first sign of a Turk.I watched them with a yearning I thought had long been put behind me.

Behind me.At first I stared in horror. passing from horror to horror..In this he has no choice. but where I'm headed a woman's comb may be looked at strangely. A ways back on that last ridge. His small jaw hung open. the traveler hurries through the door. cheered in every town we passed. I'd have been dead myself. And Robert too. as tall as the highest towers. It took my breath away. I lifted the staff that had been in my hands when the Turk spared my life.. As I knelt beside him his eyes grew cloudy. She came back a moment later with her treasured comb. His small jaw hung open..A moment before.

and said. we called him. We said good-bye to Constantinople.And who areyou . Freedom from all servitude upon your return. one mile. I vowed to carry it with me wherever I went for the rest of my life. humor. A trace of a thin. Or freeing Jerusalem. His mouth curved into a sheepish grin. Marie begged on her knees.The traveler assumes it is a joke. howled in anguish. At first we were glad to leave the inferno behind.Your lord asked me to impress upon you.As we fled. I said. Hugh? What could be more important than what we've just shared?I swallowed. the Spaniard Mouse remarked. on a holy crusade that I never really believed in.

For once. she said.See ? One more time. Then our dispirited army headed farther south. They pushed aside women and children. she whispered. how I had since the first time I had set eyes on her. with some inlaid writing that I could not understand. reminded me how much I loved her. dozens of turbaned riders flashing long. Then he merely winked at me. crossing the Bosporus on wooden pontoons. but in his full battle gear and on unsteady footing he couldn't hold the mount. carrot-top? The glowering knight turned. with no great malice toward the enemy but ready to fight whoever confronted me. I instructed him. Carnage and screams were everywhere. with one purpose.Marie screamed and Georges began to sob.Send Hortense after them. his blade caught the glint of a torch.

Men who had traveled so far.The lead vermin ran the blade of his sword across my chest. Who bathed and smelled of perfume. they were setting me free!If the Turk had not hesitated just a moment ago. laughter had entered my soul.It was the image I carried for the next two years. Turks hacking at them.I didn't believe. Everyone in our town was pressed around the tiny square. but my legs seemed rooted to the ground. The signal was spread. grasping.Georges threw himself at the chatelain's feet. a full life.He had just uttered these words when another turbaned warrior charged toward him. Children Wailed for their mothers before being hurled into raging flames like kindling. Men and women hacked up like diseased stock.. All around us. she was Christian.At what I was dying for.

and the head of a man next to me shot off like a kicked ball. pagan towns now consecrated in the name of God. Frank. I said.I didn't believe.'Yes. Each year I promised I would come back. I took it down and stuffed it into my pouch. dressed up in ornate robes. resembling his mount. wielding the dagger that was still covered with the priest's blood.I knew it. but we needed water badly.Why had I ever come to this place? I had walked across Europe to fight for a cause in which I didn't even believe. and continues along. this time it's different. ? It could not be! My mind flashed back to the cheerful faces and joyous voices of the hermit's army as it marched through Veille du P?re. burning. He grinned. What a glorious adventure awaited. Nico had made pilgrimages to the Holy Land and knew the language of the Turk.

Bloody corpses were scattered everywhere.As this became clear. Their temples.My knight.It's an army. His Holiness Urban promises unimaginable rewards. I lost my tongue. The animal's hind legs spun. so help me. and looked toward me. It took my breath away. raped. Tafur. but the Turk's stroke was so strong it knocked me backward over the dead priest. It may be cold.!Son of Mary.Then I knelt beside Robert. I felt sure I would soon die too. Battering rams were tossed aside and abandoned. who had sneaked into our ranks one day as we passed through Apt. looting.