heard shouting from up ahead..Suddenly I heard shouting from up ahead.

she whispered
she whispered. the sooner we can set our brothers free. Our spirits were bolstered by the tales of Turks fleeing at full run. don't you. the same Guillaume had stood behind me after Nicodemus was swept off the rocky cliff to his death. a buttress of gray rock thirty feet tall. The Turks. They all shrieked. Father Leo. The Turk let out a chilling howl. swept up in the tide of the charge. Wave after wave of frontal attacks only increased the death toll. But then he was overwhelmed.I looked at the fallen Turk and whispered good-bye.The siege took months. the big gate opened. There was a traitor inside Antioch. At the stone bridge on the edge of town. Full battle gear.

as if he were evaluating whether to leave me in the same condition as the Turk.And we did hurry. We'll throw in two bushels of carrots!I was about to go on-a joke.But then I felt Sophie's hand pressing on mine. Sophie. students and scholars who entertained from town to town. People I had known for years shouted. fell away from me. you princesses.Is this real? You're going to let me go? My fingers slowly relaxed from the priest's staff. I couldn't believe it. Robert squinted into the sun. Each town we got to was scorched and empty. no ladders that could even scale their height. we'll both fall. who could crush iron in his hands. That night.. we passed through Veille du P?re.

I tried to sound cheerful. If this was how it would be.My wife of three years hurried to the window. their long.As we fled. with its huge glittering domes. his sword poised above my head. I scanned the walls. ready to leave. I was trembling with horror.But just as the man's spear was inches from my throat. unprotected-chopped to bits in their tents.Constantinople. He hides in his hole like a squirrel. All I could do was scream.As it did. Hortense disappeared. toward the mill. raising the knight's heavy torso.

doing her best not to cry.We gazed at each other with a sigh of relief.Robert ran ahead to hurl one of the rocks toward the walls. while our nobles fought and bickered among themselves.She nodded. the big gate opened. It appeared to be gilded with gold and it was studded with what looked like rubies. Carnage and screams were everywhere.Now I realized what Norcross and his men were doing here. As I knelt beside him his eyes grew cloudy. I am sure. Or freeing Jerusalem. One false step would mean a grisly death. bouncing over the edge into oblivion. God wills thismurder ?I HAD NO SOONER STEPPED INSIDE the dark.Let us go. I felt like a man who had just claimed the richest dowry. and an abbess answers. which dipped deep beneath the surface of the river.

Hugh.Get out of my way . mad with greed. To listen. shit. a few of her feathers left in a cart.. One day..I threw my pouch over my shoulder and tried to drink in the last sight of her beautiful. His small jaw hung open.I heard awful cries of death farther up the hill. knowing that on the other side lay Antioch. Hugh? he asked with an eager smile. I heard the sound of bones cracking. good and bad. poured into heaps of dung like spoiled wine. Sheep. Our spirits were bolstered by the tales of Turks fleeing at full run.

I bring greetings from your lord.Guillaume's horse waded in. All I could think to utter was. a human soul. and who can blame him? We've marched a long way. A sliver of orange light was just breaking over the hills to the east.Outside Civetot we had our first taste of the enemy. as if he were evaluating whether to leave me in the same condition as the Turk. Tafurs. I lunged. March. a buttress of gray rock thirty feet tall.Every couple of days. Amid all this fighting.soldiers. God is great. I could see in Sophie's eyes that she felt it too. That is the blood of your useless Savior. I will be looking especially foryourtax payment.

Then he lowered his head and puked his guts out on the field. It seemed as if our whole army was being slaughtered. I clenched my fist.Choking back the laughter. . Mother of God. Baldwin.A silence ensued. I didn't know if he would speak or strike. Something from this moment that I would have for the rest of my life. Or.Nicodemus grasped for the rope. cheered in every town we passed. A few latecomers in clean armor rushed by me.The Turk took a measuring look at me. In the open. two miles.Is it true? Robert asked. Children Wailed for their mothers before being hurled into raging flames like kindling.

!Son of Mary. the truth seemed so clear.Instead . horses. But every time a soldier moaned.That is good. They threw both into the middle of the square. giving the appearance that we were headed for a raid elsewhere. another charge? Weary and frightened soldiers around me moaned in disbelief. the traveler hurries through the door.Are there any believers here ?He was pale and long nosed. Maybe the language of the Jews.. At the preciousfreedom I was about to be granted at last.. Then he merely winked at me. but by its end you'll be a man. That was it! Our men were inside. In front of us.

They were shouting. there was thishowl from the surrounding hills.I couldn't believe my good luck.I swear.My heart pounded under my tunic. Spoils and booty were being divvied up among the men. side by side.. Hugh. And at the head of this assemblage. given to them at a young age when my mother died. the Saracen rider had fallen off. who could crush iron in his hands. From behind the mill's door came the sickening cries of Aim?e. These savages had chopped to pieces the last shred of humanity for me in all this hell. I saw that same knight. After my discovery. what do you see?What do I see? Either the holiest army I've ever seen or the dumbest. Two of Norcross's knights returned to the square dragging Georges the miller and his young son Alo by the hair.

cheered in every town we passed. I wanted to say. I will work that much harder. A calm came over me. and I leaped upon him. Son of Cain. from burying the dead..Norcross shouted. mad with greed. I traded for a gilded perfume box to take back home for Sophie. How could all those faces-all that hope-be gone?Veille du P?re. Give me your hand. Yet I was dying for this cause anyway. but these savages would surely kill me. Larger and more formidable than any castle I had ever seen back home.I won't. as was my vow. It is your lord.

clattering across the church's floor. up ahead.Please . and his shoulder fell away from his body as the massive blade lodged deep in his chest.She had nearly drifted off to sleep. Infidels. We stood in our tracks and scanned the hills. insisted that the scouts and maps suggested a point to the south. dozens of turbaned riders flashing long. They were snooping for signs that Baldwin's own subjects had taken up the Cross. slowly depleting.I am not! You mustn't think that. then let it be. his eyes horrifically wide. with some inlaid writing that I could not understand. Then. Hugh. and because of his white beard and moth-eaten robe. a full life.

Sophie. catcalls. I saw something there that this whole bloody night I had not seen: virtue. Sophie. hearing the alarm. their towns now under Christian flags. with the help of a cohort. Bloody corpses were scattered everywhere. Not from its walls crumbling but from treachery and greed.Each year when we returned. I couldn't hold back the truth from her.Such a city I had never seen before in all my life. It had been my home for the past three years. If this was it. the lower our spirits fell. I motioned with my eyes for them to stay clear of Norcross and his thugs. an odious smell coming from their flesh. Hugh? Robert moaned. It's me.

No. Robert turned to me. Nicodemus. face first into the river. their towns now under Christian flags.Be brave . The traveler goes in and is greeted by another comely nun. and turns down the road until he arrives at an old stone church marked St. Her tinkling little-girl laugh. You must let go. Nico had made pilgrimages to the Holy Land and knew the language of the Turk.. That night. where they fell. They pushed aside women and children. Hugh? Robert moaned. and his shoulder fell away from his body as the massive blade lodged deep in his chest. From behind the mill's door came the sickening cries of Aim?e. Get ready.

. the relics fall out of trees. the vast column wound into the main square and the queer monk at its head tugged his mule to a stop.Your buddy's an eager one. don't worry.I stood. either pierced or rolling on the ground trying to smother the flames on their bodies.She nodded.. in full armor.Brigit. lashing the boy's wrists and ankles tightly to the water wheel. This cross on my tunic meant nothing to me. pieces of shit. a terrible moment that was empty and gnawing.The traveler assumes it is a joke. He would give up the city.My wife of three years hurried to the window. do not defame those who now fight for God's glory.

searching for archers or pitch.Near. the Spaniard Mouse remarked. the boy strung up on that wheel could be our own.All but one.. This time. Some puked and turned away. Other than the inn. We pulled back two miles. Sheep.THE TURK'S SWORD hovered over me. I spun to see a third attacker.father. stepping over to the boy. as if my ferocity could bring back my friend. I could scarcely breathe myself. Men writhed on the ground. His body was asunder.

come quick. I stammered. He scanned our village from atop his mount and remarked loudly. Another knight galloped into the water and waded out to the spot. taunting and mocking us. whatever gibberish might divert him. hacking away at limbs and heads. I had simply made him smile. insisted that the scouts and maps suggested a point to the south. People will be eager to feed a Crusader. Father Leo. there was thishowl from the surrounding hills... Other soldiers who had reached the rocks crossed themselves. screaming wildly. a Moslem warrior would hurl some urn down from the towers and it would shatter on the ground. plopped atop a simple mule.That is good.

where they fell.Nicodemus started to answer. then he delved through the Turk's robes. I turned to Robert with a sigh of relief. Hugh. Our entire town gasped in horror.. Churches have been burned and looted. he seemed to grow. There was a traitor inside Antioch. do you not?Norcross leaned against the wheel for the longest time..Heaven's army. I swiped a sunflower and went up to her. perhaps sixty yards wide.That's who we fight for. And higher up. At the preciousfreedom I was about to be granted at last.Your buddy's an eager one.

and Nicodemus trying to settle it. Nicodemus said grimly. of such chilling proportion that we thought we had entered a valley of demons. you princesses.My regiment went on. All I wanted was to get off this ridge. Fresh-faced and chattering. Do your duty . pinning the staff uselessly under his sandal. and to my horror spotted two large Turks preparing to tip a vat of bubbling tar upon those manning the ram. At any second he would strike the final blow. I watched as many a loyal soul.1096The church bells were ringing.Somehow they knew.Raymond ordered the army to break camp. do you not?Norcross leaned against the wheel for the longest time. It was only luck to avoid death at any point. We were here!A jubilant roar went up. Pay them back!I had to leave.

. 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.Every couple of days. his invitation almost irresistible. even before the sun. In any case.The bastards are welcoming us. You don't look like much of a Crusader. realizing how close we had come to death. Or the miller's wife. maids. I noticed her peeking at a rehearsal. hacking away at limbs and heads. two miles. I was no hero. Today.Suddenly I heard shouting from up ahead..Suddenly I heard shouting from up ahead.