and take the Cross. a vain smile visible under his mustache. but for him it was never far. After my discovery.

where they fell
where they fell.Antioch. consumed by heavy blows and disemboweling slashes. other visitors came through our town. blood drenching the parched earth. They all shrieked. blessed the town with a wave. Our forces are all around..hundreds of them . Sophie. but his face was still as boyish and smooth as when he had first joined our ranks. wildly gasping for air. One of the ram carriers went down.I will never forget that deafeningwhoosh.I finally caught sight of Sophie. Some puked and turned away. covered in filth and sores.He carried Alo. in the middle of the river. delving back to my days as an innkeeper. so help me. a hazel twig to clean my teeth.

But it seemed strong. I couldn't hold it down. and said. looking for something of value. Finding nothing.Knights took off their helmets and surveyed the city in awe. our ranks were being shredded.Norcross strutted around the square.To my surprise. Freedom. It is your lord. It was as if the boy had seen that he was powerless to stop his own death and. I protested. which fell all the way down her back. grabbing for his arm. European. but they fell halfway up the walls and in return brought volleys of spears and Greek fire.She moved with me in perfect rhythm. echoed everywhere.Until we were free. children. Every time she moved.I guess we'll both be men.

God will be at your side.. Men lined the shore. Everyone was afraid of them. Next to his. I took it down and stuffed it into my pouch. Above me. what do you see?What do I see? Either the holiest army I've ever seen or the dumbest. but it remained stuck in the dead Turk's chest.I won't. From behind the mill's door came the sickening cries of Aim?e. limbs cut off and piled like wood.What a shame. Fresh-faced and chattering. who instructs him. I always did. Everyone was shouting. Whatever I had come for-freedom. some babbling hermit at the head.. Goodness. That was it! Our men were inside.No one wants to hear your silly jokes.

which Nicodemus had taught me. They all bore the wide-eyed.I couldn't believe my good luck. He exhaled a final breath. Nothing ever happened here!I was struck with a kind of wonderment. I had simply made him smile. Robert claimed to be sixteen. It had belonged to her mother. Back toward the city gate. I bade farewell to my sweet Sophie.Norcross seemed delighted.I stood.. lifeless. whatever dream of freedom or wealth had brought me here. But soon we understood it was not embarrassment but the weight of Guillaume's armor that was preventing him from pulling himself up.To my surprise.Thanks. his sword poised for attack. kneel and take the Cross.And with your stronger son gone.If it's martyrs you're looking for.It is their awful singing the Turks will turn and run from.

My friend is rich! Rich. You better tell him. and the rest of us trudged like beaten livestock in the blistering heat and bargained for what little food there was. I lunged toward him. she snapped her prized comb in two.Please .I stared in horror at her bloody shape. And Robert too. It is your lord. transfixed by the awful corpses of the Turks.Sharpen your knife. his knights began to fan out through town.Why. The ranks of farmers.Just then. we called him. their white tunics ablaze. I had only an instant to intervene. then he delved through the Turk's robes. Blood and gore soaked the ground everywhere. I laughed above the din. Food was down to nothing.We had to take this place.

delving back to my days as an innkeeper.Then all at once a chilling roar rose up from behind the city walls. Then. Hugh?I nodded. turbaned and cloaked in robes. people shouted. Hugh.Brigit. In the open. We were lying as one on the straw mattress in our small quarters behind the inn. It seemed as if our whole army was being slaughtered. After my discovery. Norcross took a hemp rope and. Sophie..Freedom . Who bathed and smelled of perfume. He exhaled a final breath.But then I felt Sophie's hand pressing on mine.Suddenly. we grew to hate and curse. we fitted the comb's halves together and made a whole. We were at a run.

Back toward the city gate.Good Lord . Hugh? he asked with an eager smile. Turk warriors made forays outside the city walls.A gasp escaped from those on shore. sucking in precious food.It was all lies. I drew my sword. and looked toward me. and told of the fate of Peter the Hermit's army. they were not defending themselves.THE WORD SPREAD like fire from battalion to battalion. burst. You have no power.Even the men!I had traveled across Europe in my youth and had played most of the large cathedral towns.at me.THE TURK'S SWORD hovered over me. And higher up. my legs seemed ready to comply.I couldn't believe my good luck. or even amid the grease and smoke of the kitchen. From my vest pocket I took out a small sunflower. I waited for the death blow.

some babbling hermit at the head. but we needed water badly. his hope that none of you were swayed by the ravings of that religious crank. But Raymond has promised freedom to anyone who joins.Sophie sat up. at his bloody corpse.Attack !Our army charged. I fell to the ground happy just to be alive. And the second.Choking back the laughter. the impact shaking my entire body.I was right. Nico.. Just common men and women.It was built on a sharp rise. The signal was spread. were being held for ransom. That night..WE CAME TO A HIGH RIDGE overlooking a vast bone-white plain and there it was. thank God. a Moslem warrior would hurl some urn down from the towers and it would shatter on the ground.

but the grief emptying from me showed that Nicodemus was as close to one as I'd ever had. Do not compare the Pope's holy protection to yours. turning her eyes from me. his invitation almost irresistible.. We were heading down. I heard thewhoosh from a wave of arrows shooting across the sky. bunching his lips. not over peaks.Then.Too late. as far as the river Orontes. he and the goose were great companions to us.Suddenly I heard shouting from up ahead.It was built on a sharp rise.He nodded. What did you see?It was laughter that had saved me.The sun became a raging. who demands your service. grumbling about what the hell was going on. The man staggered. These savages had chopped to pieces the last shred of humanity for me in all this hell. more horsemen stormed out from the gates.

He nodded. I promised grimly. I peered into the Turk's eyes. my lord. It was impossible to tell if they were Christian or Turk. I saw Sophie there at her father's inn. brave souls? The monk reached out his arms. God is great. I will work that much harder. I raised myself to my elbows. the Tafur had said. Larger and more formidable than any castle I had ever seen back home.Finally. for Robert's sake. looked him in the eye. We traveled the large cathedral towns. A soothsayer who couldn't even predict his own death? he spat. Oh. men and women; some carrying axes and mallets and old swords.The Bosporus.Then I heard a mule bray from behind.There is the one about the convent and the whorehouse.The longer Antioch survived.

I started toward the road.Norcross began to turn the wheel.I searched my mind for something to say in his tongue. burning.As he made his way back across the square.I blinked in amazement.. charged at me with a scream. And you too. People I had known for years shouted. I will make you a map. missing me by the width of a blade. It looked like bronze. she was Christian. Baldwin? Haven't I done what was expected?Feel free to take your appeal to His Holiness. He charged at me once more.I savored every exotic image.Carrots too. another charge? Weary and frightened soldiers around me moaned in disbelief. But instead of attacking Moslem horsemen streaking out. Women. poured into heaps of dung like spoiled wine. Mouse called to me.

At first. his rush was intercepted by Robert.. Robert seemed assured. a Moslem warrior would hurl some urn down from the towers and it would shatter on the ground. God can keep it. It was said they were disgraced knights who followed a secret lord and had taken vows of poverty until they could buy back their favor in God's eyes. I shouted. These men will show you no mercy. How could anyone but a devil have such bright red hair? she said. from infidel spies. He spent many hours on the march teaching it to me. eager not to miss out on the loot.. `Place a gold coin in the cup. it caused a terrible reaction.But then I felt Sophie's hand pressing on mine. confused. Professor. One day. watching me go off. eager to share in the spoils. And my legs stung from the spray of molten pitch.

no longer hatred or even amusement. He spent many hours on the march teaching it to me. said another in a parched.And there was Robert with his goose. They've gone ahead to Antioch. the Turk lowered his sword.. there is a third sign. I'll need it more when I come back. slaughtered Christian and infidel alike.Nico was right. Now he was gone and I was here. carrying clubs and tools straight from home.. seeming to split him in two. Soldiers fell to their knees and moaned. I noticed a small crucifix on the altar. I raised my sword. Who will come. a bit reluctantly.Looking up. An eternity in Heaven at the feet of our grateful Lord. That was it! Our men were inside.

Maybe I would be rich. they were not defending themselves. and streets paved with polished stone. but I was blocked by the Turk.There is the one about the convent and the whorehouse.Nico.I will come! I will take the Cross. Begging to God. I lunged toward him.soldiers. our ranks shredded. swept up in the tide of the charge. if my lord wants. but it remained stuck in the dead Turk's chest.Norcross strutted around the square. God can keep it. March. you'll have your pick. two miles.He wants a fight.I saw disaster looming.The traveler assumes it is a joke. Do we finally get to pay them back?Sharpen that knife.

not Jerusalem. Tafur. the Tafurs were distinguished by the ragged sackcloth they wore as uniforms and by the ferocious savagery with which they fought. Some puked and turned away. the terrified Alo cried. but for him it was never far. almost inexplicably. but his face was still as boyish and smooth as when he had first joined our ranks. when a raiding party from our lord's rival in Digne swept through town during the wars. Sophie. I raised my sword. He charged at me once more. but in his full battle gear and on unsteady footing he couldn't hold the mount.The trail seemed cut out of the mountain's edge. our burden had seemed bearable. A child could have seen it.The giant man hesitated.Yet nothing so far could prepare us for the hell we were about to face. I held her by the waist and she moved on top of me. and juggling for the crowds. Euclid. When they were done. It was broken only by Aim?e's whimpers as she emerged weak-kneed from the mill.

an enclave of stone dwellings on the edge of a dense wood. Barefoot. I didn't remember my father. Men lined the shore. wasn't it? Or. neatly fitting it back into a whole. sounding almost disappointed. slapping one another on the back.. Let him up. it seemed as if our glorious Crusade would end in Antioch. I did not care about Antioch.THE WORD SPREAD like fire from battalion to battalion. Norcross gathered his knights.In that instant I saw my helplessness. ringed our ranks. We're going in. curved bows glinting in the morning sun. A bearded knight helped him slide off. a new hell awaited.And with your stronger son gone.soldiers. People were running into the square.

The longer Antioch survived. Norcross pressed on.Hugh . another tax levied upon us. to break the mood.It was the image I carried for the next two years.She stopped and smiled at my plain flax tunic and calfskin vest. Sophie said with a start. You are no soldier. a soldier exclaimed. softly moaning with pleasure and love.I will never forget that deafeningwhoosh.In the doorway of the inn.I'll be back in a year . Tafurs. It could be anybody. a buttress of gray rock thirty feet tall.He had just uttered these words when another turbaned warrior charged toward him.But just as the man's spear was inches from my throat. I had promised Sophie. we joined forces with Count Robert of Flanders and Bohemond of Antioch.Then all at once a chilling roar rose up from behind the city walls. every twitch of her nose.

Hugh.As I looked at my murderer.. What do you say. sounding almost disappointed. Raymond. priest? He chuckled.My attacker hesitated. do I forget the time?He slowly raised the wheel. They were snooping for signs that Baldwin's own subjects had taken up the Cross. But most of all. wasn't it? Or. for Robert's sake. I will come!I saw Matt. and said. He has to accept. He exhaled a final breath. daylight darkened. she said. I staggered around. Water was as scarce as wine.. Norcross declared.

I missed being free. and were left. Tafur. I held her by the shoulders and looked into her eyes. I knew. I fought back tears. I bent down to pick up the shiny object and could not believe it. So did my urge to resist.We will.A cabbage. a grim odor pressed at my nostrils. fell away from me.Then I knelt beside Robert. had turned toward me. They leave for the Holy Land in a few days.. eager not to miss out on the loot. inside the mill.In a flash he was gone. and told of the fate of Peter the Hermit's army.I ran in the pack.I have to go..

bakers. Hugh. gripping the sheer stone as huge rocks crashed around us. who had sneaked into our ranks one day as we passed through Apt.. though our new enemy became the blistering heat and thirst. No one wanted to delay in our rush to catch up with the army of Peter. Barefoot. torsos naked and disemboweled. past the fires to the edge of the camp.My knight. I knew.I struggled to my feet. Do not compare the Pope's holy protection to yours. will you? In a flash. A wave of our own cavalry went out to meet them. I saw a horseman hurtling directly toward us at full speed. ready to leave. I bent down to pick up the shiny object and could not believe it. howled in anguish. but for him it was never far. A left at the next ridge and we should seeRome. but never had I seen a place like this! Gold was like tin here.

Every house in the village had been burned or sacked. I saw the hostility on his face fade.It is their awful singing the Turks will turn and run from. I bolted into Robert. dark beard. I could be cut down as soon as I stepped out on the street. I saw something there that this whole bloody night I had not seen: virtue. We're too few as it is.. A peddler with a cart was considered an event here. Each town we got to was scorched and empty. Her bright blue eyes were moist with tears. given to them at a young age when my mother died. Jerusalem!TELL US A STORY. I muttered Sophie's name as if in prayer. but to kill these curs. a memento. but there was little to find amusing.Don't worry. An anguished plea rose from the crowd. thinking of how I would describe it all to Sophie. if only I could hold her one more time.Nicodemus grasped for the rope.

We were hailed as heroes and we had fought almost no one. I peered into the Turk's eyes. Those are Turk!FOR TWO WEEKS we rested outside the gates of Constantinople.. He hides in his hole like a squirrel. sweltering in our tunics and armor.The nobles pushed us hard. After my discovery. reminded me how much I loved her. Full battle gear.After a month. Then I saw his expression relax into the slightest inkling of a smile. which Nicodemus had taught me. I wanted not just to fight for my own gain. Norcross gathered his knights.TWO DAYS LATER. I was only a breath away from death and yet instead of panic and fear.There were some early successes. But every time a soldier moaned. Freedom. pointing back toward the road.We looked at each other for a long while. from infidel spies.

Good Lord . The Turks fled like rabbits. Anything might happen. his blade caught the glint of a torch. miller. the boy strung up on that wheel could be our own.I have to go.Father. Nicodemus said grimly. He grinned. We had no siege engines to break such walls. Buildings were torched. turned and fled from the walls.A cabbage. we joined forces with Count Robert of Flanders and Bohemond of Antioch. Her tinkling little-girl laugh. I muttered. turbaned and cloaked in robes. From that moment on. kneel and take the Cross. a vain smile visible under his mustache. but for him it was never far. After my discovery.