Now. were spared just so we could bear the tale. he lowered the wheel again.

but it remained stuck in the dead Turk's chest
but it remained stuck in the dead Turk's chest. students and scholars who entertained from town to town.1096The church bells were ringing. His protection for your families who dutifully remain behind. Brothel. We split up our forces.Now I realized what Norcross and his men were doing here. I snuggled into the smooth curve of her back. Paul's. urged by His Holiness Urban to lead an army of believers to the Holy Land to free the holy sepulchre from the heathen hordes. Then. In the open.I watched them with a yearning I thought had long been put behind me.I was about to die. the monk named Peter went on. Nicodemus. for those who put aside their earthly possessions and join our Crusade. . I defended Robert. piercing the Turk with my sword.

Thousands of them. I noticed her peeking at a rehearsal. ? I repeated. I pumped out my chest. N?mes. were each manned with archers. trails more nerve wracking than the last.In a flash he was gone. I was a different man. An anguished plea rose from the crowd.Twenty. Maybe I'll come back a knight. softly moaning with pleasure and love. perhaps sixty yards wide.And who areyou . then turned to face their charge. we'll both fall. pinning the staff uselessly under his sandal. With untold treasure and fame. was of treasure and glory.

he said. children. was of treasure and glory. an officer barked from behind. He charged at me once more. How could all those faces-all that hope-be gone?Veille du P?re. Baldwin. Sophie. From that moment on. it was said. actually. nonsense. Young and old. a shroud stained by the tears of Mary and the very lance that had pierced the Savior's side on the cross. We were at a run. they urged. Even my mother's mother could cross here. argued why lose a day. There was nothing left of them?A nauseating anger boiled up in my stomach. clattering to the ground.

I lunged. his eyes horrifically wide. what do you see?What do I see? Either the holiest army I've ever seen or the dumbest.tonight !Tonight. In front of us.I finally caught sight of Sophie. amused. I will be looking especially foryourtax payment. If it's riches. I told him.Sir. eager not to miss out on the loot. I saw the hostility on his face fade. almost dumbfounded. this time it's different. Yet as he spoke. Churches have been burned and looted.What a shame. Months so long and grueling. glistening eyes.

just sixteen. I saw knights wearing the purple-and-white colors of Baldwin of Treille. my fear left me. then I remembered my own gift.. When Alo broke the surface. I didn't remember my father. I scanned the walls.. I had gone into the hills to pick it early that morning. which Nicodemus had taught me. and she said that I probably had one in every town. It could be anybody. hacking away at limbs and heads.. hollow look of men who have seen the worst atrocities and somehow lived.' the abbess replies.In the doorway of the inn..My knight.

. Another yelping rider bore directly into our ranks as if bent on self-murder. Who bathed and smelled of perfume.I came upon a Christian church.Thousands of them. then he delved through the Turk's robes. past Robert and Nico. Or freeing myself. And so wasour song:A maiden met a wandering man / In the light of the moon's pure cheer. every twitch of her nose. I no longer knew what was inside of me. then let it be. I saw it myself.We looked at each other for a long while. I felt connected for the first time in my life. If it's riches.TWO DAYS LATER.By my calculations. Isn't that right. They've gone ahead to Antioch.

. it seemed. I ran. and an abbess answers.The lead vermin ran the blade of his sword across my chest. swelling in song. I came bearing a sunflower. I saw it myself.Hold your tears. A good-sized river. 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. Yet as he spoke. A wave of our own cavalry went out to meet them. as if my ferocity could bring back my friend.Slowly. I did my best to try to cheer other men up. We're too few as it is. I had hesitated. I said to Robert. I was a different man.

. I snuggled into the smooth curve of her back.I would never see Jerusalem in this lifetime.In the doorway of the inn. until his powerful body resembled some hideous slab of meat and not the noble soul he was. It was a slaughter.I stared in horror at her bloody shape.Right in front of our eyes. to Toulouse. a terrible moment that was empty and gnawing. Even my mother's mother could cross here.you are here for God's work .Everyone in town stood and stared..Gone. drop to his knees.Saint Peter's sandals . I thought I saw something there that in that instant mirrored my own thoughts. gone. I couldn't wait to show it to Sophie! Back home.

The sound of shouts and vicious fighting erupted from inside. Robert said behind me. And the second.Guillaume's horse waded in.. But soon we understood it was not embarrassment but the weight of Guillaume's armor that was preventing him from pulling himself up. You must let go. ran to get their possessions. I recognized the knight in charge as Norcross. When we hit the mountains. who farmed a plot by the river. There was a traitor inside Antioch. If it's riches. I'd been brought up by goliards. but shabbily. I saw that Civetot was smoking like burning cinders. I will work that much harder.Robert! I screamed.. Norcross pressed on.

He had just uttered these words when another turbaned warrior charged toward him..March. ? 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.Arrows and stones and burning pitch rained down on us from all directions. consumed by heavy blows and disemboweling slashes. until his powerful body resembled some hideous slab of meat and not the noble soul he was. It seemed as if our whole army was being slaughtered. I began to make my way slowly toward the square with my heart pounding.They passed by me on their way to loot the church. I stripped it from my chest. cheered in every town we passed. I recognized the knight in charge as Norcross. the stubborn Bohemond among them.IT HAPPENED JUST THAT WAY nearly every day. My stomach felt as empty as a bottomless pit. What did you see?It was laughter that had saved me.THE MORNING OF THE DAY I was to leave was bright and clear. Sophie. students and scholars who entertained from town to town.

Barefoot. A trace of a thin. Isn't that right. Get ready. God wills thismurder ?I HAD NO SOONER STEPPED INSIDE the dark.. I raised my sword.At last we stood in the land of the dreaded Turk!The first fortresses we encountered were empty and abandoned. I swiped a sunflower and went up to her. the hooting ceased. It was now eighteen months I'd been gone. Free of my illusions.Then all at once a chilling roar rose up from behind the city walls.The sun became a raging.I was able to grip the strap of the leather satchel slung over his shoulder. Tonight you'll go to sleep fucking the emir's wife!The camp sprang alive. Once-proud knights trudged humbly.The lead vermin ran the blade of his sword across my chest. and she said that I probably had one in every town. for Robert's sake.

It was the image I carried for the next two years. I knew she valued it more than anything in her life.. And holy relics desecrated. I saw it myself. and often during the day: that last image of her. She would never know how I died.. an enclave of stone dwellings on the edge of a dense wood.And though they fell in love at that first sight. Reach up your other hand. Hugh?I nodded. how I had since the first time I had set eyes on her. I lunged after it.Civetot seemed deserted. just because you're first at the party doesn't mean you get to sleep with the mistress of the house. something. my son.Then I should pack some more food for you. the impact shaking my entire body.

When I see you each day.Yet nothing so far could prepare us for the hell we were about to face. It was not me. resolved that any breath might be my last.I was heading home to Sophie. we were told. He jerked his charger down the steep bank to the river and led the mount in. no god either. A sea of white tunics and red crosses. He spent many hours on the march teaching it to me. brandishing a makeshift knife.Carrot-top here must be keen on the miller. an officer barked from behind. fortune-all that left me as if it had never been there. but the stone gave way.Where you're headed. Robert took his place. thrusting their swords toward Heaven and hurling their helmets into the air. hundreds of tall towers..

He is drowned. a human soul. He blinked at me. stay by me.Yet nothing so far could prepare us for the hell we were about to face..I ran in the pack.Shouts of acclamation rose throughout the square. barely wide enough for a cart and a horse. Sophie. masons.. God did protect us after all. It was a rough. lifeless.All at once. even heroic. his reputation as a seer suffered. Other than the inn. Then.

. taught me Latin. Others fell over him. I said. You are free!EVEN IN VEILLE DU PERE. as tall as the highest towers. In front of us. while the fearful cleric did his best to defend himself with a rough wooden staff. What else could matter? I was a fool to have left her. And there was nothing in its place. a new hell awaited. Alo went under.But then I felt Sophie's hand pressing on mine. But the forays were met with such fierce resistance from the walls that they became graveyards for our bravest men. I heard voices. I have something important to talk to you about. he boasted. of such chilling proportion that we thought we had entered a valley of demons. His protection for your families who dutifully remain behind. he called.

I fear not. she whispered. which dipped deep beneath the surface of the river.Then all at once a chilling roar rose up from behind the city walls. God can keep it.The sight sent a chill shooting through my bones. howled in anguish. He lunged. I swiped a sunflower and went up to her. as another interminable valley loomed before our eyes. we'renear . Then I saw his expression relax into the slightest inkling of a smile. Some puked and turned away. I had earned this much. turbaned and cloaked in robes. quickening peals-echoing through town in the middle of the day. He leaped from his horse and thrashed around for Guillaume under the surface. Thousands of them. The smallest hope flashed through me: maybe I could whack it across his ankles. but.

Disaster loomed in front of my eyes. Every house in the village had been burned or sacked. the Spaniard Mouse remarked. with one purpose. wildly gasping for air.. I simply could not hold back.He nodded. my legs seemed ready to comply. redhead. I finally prayed.As we fled.Robert ran ahead to hurl one of the rocks toward the walls.Whatkind of God inspired such horror? Was this God's fault? Or man's?Something snapped in me. kicking and screaming. And deeply in love. yelping and hacking at those who met them. Six thousand.I searched his eyes for panic..

Everyone be ready. the sooner we can set our brothers free.As Norcross passed the miller's cowering daughter. no longer hatred or even amusement. I knelt down and took a handful of earth to mark the day and placed it in my pouch. how I had since the first time I had set eyes on her. It had belonged to her mother.The longer Antioch survived. and because of his white beard and moth-eaten robe. but it didn't take a seer to divine that he was lying. spaced at intervals equal to a man's arm span. women. at his bloody corpse. It would have beenme in that pool of blood that was leaking across the stones.I grabbed Robert by the tunic and dragged him farther away. I begged. dark beard. spinning around a final time to catch her laugh. next right. Infidels.

Amid all this fighting. his eyes focused and fierce. not some trumped-up duke or king in crested mail and armor sitting imperiously atop a massive charger. shoot from the crowd. rumors reached us of Christians inside the city being tortured and raped.Sir.He grinned sheepishly. they urged. I wanted not just to fight for my own gain. Nerves?The boy shook his head. of relics and glory; the innocent of finally proving their worth.'Aroused.Sir. It will be made easily. Everyone pointed at a walled city nestled into the isthmus's edge. nonsense.. Seeing his comrades slain. Whatever I thought I was fighting for. Let me get your skin.

mock waving. covered in filth and sores. lighting a cloth afire and tossing it to the earth. 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. In it was a change of clothes. A child could have seen it. The streets ran ankle deep with blood. I muttered Sophie's name as if in prayer. Except me.No one wants to hear your silly jokes. You'd better go. Sophie.Those we captured were sometimes handed over to a fearsome group of Frank warriors called Tafurs.By my calculations. We were meant to be together. They all bore the wide-eyed.I am called Peter the Hermit. Now. were spared just so we could bear the tale. he lowered the wheel again.