again and stumbled. or the lice crawling in my beard.At intervals.

A moment later
A moment later. Even my mother's mother could cross here. No reason to make one less. molten pitch. had turned toward me. Eight massive warhorses thundered across the bridge into the center of town. thinking of how I would describe it all to Sophie. they run like grandmothers. swept up in the tide of the charge. then head directly for it. his rush was intercepted by Robert. At the total ridiculousness of it all. piercing the Turk with my sword.. Once.Norcross shouted. A peddler with a cart was considered an event here.That is good. Months so long and grueling.. Then she held her half out and we touched the jagged edges together... We were heading down. went up to greet him.The old man looked up at me and shook his head.

Saint Peter's sandals . He leaped from his horse and thrashed around for Guillaume under the surface. the towers. I knew I could no longer fight..Carrots too.It was all lies. simply bowed their heads and wept. Battering rams were tossed aside and abandoned. in full armor. an old Greek. I prayed as I ran that my back would not be ripped apart by a Saracen arrow. winding passages where he sees many beautiful young nuns who smile at him.The traveler assumes it is a joke. Ten of Paris could have fit within its walls.I was about to die.I'm dreaming . whatever dream of freedom or wealth had brought me here.. the slower and more treacherous every step became. raped.We spotted red crosses painted everywhere. my friend; we are too few as it is. just go through that door.At the same time.There is the one about the convent and the whorehouse.

I said. You smell it. For a while. We pulled back two miles. whores.. this one bare chested and monstrous. my son?'`I saw your signs along the road.Please.Their presence here could only signal harm.. it's the worst equipped. I wanted not just to fight for my own gain.Hold on .TWO DAYS LATER.Choking back the laughter. That is the blood of your useless Savior. You have no power.Go. He would give up the city.Each year when we returned. You are at risk.Arrows and stones and burning pitch rained down on us from all directions.It took everything I had not to leap on the Tafurs myself. Please. and I always did.

some old knights parading in rusty armor. ready to leave. I raised my sword.Antioch. the feeble and sick. Please. he stopped over me where I still lay and hovered. one nonbeliever to another. West.tonight !Tonight. No reason to make one less. pinning the staff uselessly under his sandal. his white hair and beard billowing in the draft. I fell to the ground happy just to be alive. Robert turned to me. an enclave of stone dwellings on the edge of a dense wood. Our division captain ordered us to follow.I couldn't believe my good luck.Then I'll scare the infidels off with my bright red hair. I couldn't hold it down.' Now his curiosity is piqued.A massive walled fortress. God did protect us after all. a vain smile visible under his mustache. God will reward you. I watched as many a loyal soul.

my lord.The Bosporus . they ripped a bronze bracelet from her wrist and bludgeoned her lifeless. not some moth-eaten hermit. One year. but by its end you'll be a man. next right. House of Prostitution. N?mes.A hundred yards. at his bloody corpse. don't let this be some kind of cruel trick. Norcross declared. I will be looking especially foryourtax payment. Nicodemus glanced at me. no god either. whose name I did not even know.. I could not hold it back. I begged.The party of horsemen pulled to a stop in the square. their long. his white hair and beard billowing in the draft.Is it true? Robert asked. I did not know where I would go.Suddenly I heard a rumble from above.

every twitch of her nose. something told me I could no longer live like this.let the boy up. I thought we would live out our lives together. The man staggered. Even my mother's mother could cross here.. The blade of my sword penetrated his side.I didn't believe.I searched his eyes for panic.Press on. bearing the knight in full chain mail. barely wide enough for a cart and a horse. Nico's trick had worked. an old knight said.As we waited for the word.God wills this? I screamed. because I have not given you a child. N?mes. I'll be back. but these savages would surely kill me. hundreds of tall towers. their skin blistered from the touch of the metal. Here. Our entire town gasped in horror. a mixture of ardor and tears.

then he delved through the Turk's robes.Nicodemus grasped for the rope.There was a ground-shaking rumble from the west. What was I doing here? What had I become?I went over to the fallen priest. I spun to see a third attacker. howled in anguish. The Turk fell to his knees. And Robert too. And I saw that Baldwin will never free you from your pledge. and reached out the jagged edge of her comb one last time. Who knows what I might find there? There are tales of riches just for the taking. The signal was spread. The holiest treasures of our faith. they taught me how to perform. Turk warriors made forays outside the city walls. to help if I could. We pulled back two miles.For the first time. He hides in his hole like a squirrel. on a holy crusade that I never really believed in. We had heard that masses of men were leaving their families.Then the procession started up again. I blinked at the sight.. other visitors came through our town. Sophie.

it's the worst equipped. cut through the rising peaks. An image of my own death rose in my mind. running from house to house. transfixed by the awful corpses of the Turks. I took it down and stuffed it into my pouch.Themetal trade.Frantic shouts rang out. The smallest hope flashed through me: maybe I could whack it across his ankles. What do you say. I knew she was trying to be brave. His small jaw hung open.Somewhere in the heights.Robert and I pushed our way through the crowd and peered out over the edge of the gulf. which fell all the way down her back. carts overladen with supplies. And holy relics worth more than a thousand inns like ours. screaming. but I was blocked by the Turk. were spared just so we could bear the tale.The despicable knight laughed at our priest. They charged our ranks as if on a holy mission.Then my mind fixed on the danger of the moment.Then a torch waved over the north tower. Baldwin. start with this.

it's the worst equipped. His Holiness Urban promises unimaginable rewards. He has to accept. Food was down to nothing.Sir. but he finds himself back outside. she whispered. Sophie said with a start.We had to take this place.. I swiped a sunflower and went up to her. It had been my home for the past three years. I looked down. At the stone bridge on the edge of town. we'll both fall.The trail we walked was flat and manageable. And it was vast-thousands of them! Not fitted out with armor or uniforms. I would return both sweet smellingand free!Then the knights and nobles rallied us.A hundred yards.Such a city I had never seen before in all my life. This happened. God had taken me where I belonged. I dreamed about Sophie every night. Robert squinted into the sun...

Send Hortense after them. and to my horror spotted two large Turks preparing to tip a vat of bubbling tar upon those manning the ram. Guillaume. I could no more hold him off than I could a tornado. more horsemen stormed out from the gates. Hardened knights fled terror stricken back to camp. I heard the loudest chorus of voices. we continued along the ridge and down the narrow trail. children. I would have to charge. Each year I promised I would come back..I wanted to take something from the church with me. they ripped a bronze bracelet from her wrist and bludgeoned her lifeless. tell me. my son. watching me go off. Behind me. `Very well.At what I was dying for.His sword still quivered menacingly over my head. consumed by heavy blows and disemboweling slashes. A child could have seen it.. Reach up your other hand.Every instant.

I know that is a pile of shit. Narrow passes.. Arrows and spears followed them. Norman.Where you're headed.We spotted red crosses painted everywhere.Until we were free. we were told. Everyone was shouting. A crowd of others. She came back a moment later with her treasured comb.His sword still quivered menacingly over my head.The despicable knight laughed at our priest. I saw something there that this whole bloody night I had not seen: virtue..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. Isn't that right. ? I repeated. how to read and write.All but one.' the traveler says. Guillaume turned around and waved.. gone. I saw a horseman hurtling directly toward us at full speed.

' everyone cheered.And the people. And Robert too. to Toulouse. That was it! Our men were inside. You're right. I drew my sword. sticking their heads into houses as if they owned them. European.It was a scabbard. but in his full battle gear and on unsteady footing he couldn't hold the mount. mad with greed. `Please.Along the way.Sophie turned in my arms and faced me with a blank. Clad in colorful. Something from this moment that I would have for the rest of my life. working around the inn. and the treasures I might find on the Crusade. one mind. I didn't remember my father. a bit reluctantly.I finally caught sight of Sophie. stepping into the center of the square.I pivoted aside and brought my sword over the back of his head. The traveler goes in and is greeted by another comely nun.

she said. Then the trumpet sounded again. a prize like this could buy us food for a winter. Whatever I thought I was fighting for. thrusting their swords toward Heaven and hurling their helmets into the air. stepping over to the boy. my companion.He nodded.Mocking us was more like it. Maybe I would be rich. A ways back on that last ridge. the boy's face was bloated and wide-eyed. She hurried to the table by the hearth.. I had fought bravely. Carts. when a raiding party from our lord's rival in Digne swept through town during the wars. the same arrogant bastard who'd mocked Nico after his death.He took a look at his assailants. His mouth curved into a sheepish grin. piercing the Turk with my sword.Nico . My body lit with her warmth.. Churches have been burned and looted. I held her by the waist and she moved on top of me.

. I grabbed my shield and ran after the boy. a vain smile visible under his mustache. Marie. I pumped out my chest. An anguished plea rose from the crowd. Sophie.The pagan is a coward. cut through the rising peaks.We will.. I saw that same knight. side by side. I heard voices. After my discovery. Isn't that right.You probably thought you were ridding the world of a complete madman. we passed through Veille du P?re. keeping up with his shuffling stride. hooded eyes that flashed only a sliver of light. I stepped forward. I could no more hold him off than I could a tornado. He has to accept.Somehow they knew.THERE WERE FOOLS among us who believed that Antioch would fall in a day. He scanned our village from atop his mount and remarked loudly.

And holy relics worth more than a thousand inns like ours. It would have beenme in that pool of blood that was leaking across the stones.God wills this? I screamed. The poor warrior was empty of anything: a ring. I tried to pivot around Robert.I stood. If it's riches. I think the duke's point is adequately driven home. just sixteen. Norcross jeered. In it was a change of clothes. some babbling hermit at the head. Ten of Paris could have fit within its walls. seeming to split him in two. kicking and screaming. Guillaume turned around and waved. You'd better go. kicking and screaming.There is the one about the convent and the whorehouse. clattering across the church's floor.The despicable knight laughed at our priest. word reached us that the fortress had fallen.My Sophie. We were meant to be together. I felt like a man who had just claimed the richest dowry. I could not hold it back.

My heart pounded under my tunic. Begging to God. a human soul. some babbling hermit at the head. A traveler is walking down a quiet road when he notices a sign scratched onto a tree: `Sisters of St. someone said. lay in the column's path. What little water we carried we consumed like drunken fools. I saw poor Mouse. it seemed as if our glorious Crusade would end in Antioch. God is great. I felt sure I would soon die too. just sixteen. surely the coming battles could test us no more than what we had already faced. she was Christian. It was not me. Jerusalem!TELL US A STORY. Food was down to nothing.. If it's a fight you want. holding the sunflower. Our pace quickened.I had to get out of here. we'll both fall. A peddler with a cart was considered an event here.Press on.

You'd better go. a buttress of gray rock thirty feet tall.She sat up straight.Then Norcross's face split into an amused smile. Guillaume's mount seemed to stumble.I'm dreaming .And the thirst.Then I knelt beside Robert.Yet still we climbed. A peddler with a cart was considered an event here. Raymond and Baldwin are aligned. But most of all. Tafurs. Water was as scarce as wine.I love you too.Are there any believers here ?He was pale and long nosed. I knew she valued it more than anything in her life. I shouted. I heard the loudest chorus of voices. hooded eyes that flashed only a sliver of light. I waited for the death blow. Our division captain ordered us to follow. Peter's we signed up for. Very old. Then-eerie silence. Men and women hacked up like diseased stock.

They threw both into the middle of the square. were each manned with archers. Do not compare the Pope's holy protection to yours. Nico warned.. like an eighth-moon.Constantinople. Everyone in our town was pressed around the tiny square. A peddler with a cart was considered an event here. bakers. the Holy Land. It was as if the boy had seen that he was powerless to stop his own death and. The singing stopped. she whispered. delving back to my days as an innkeeper. On my word. with a thatched crown. so we decided to enter the town. but we needed water badly. At ten!I had spent my youth traveling with a band of itinerant goliards. I resumed. The rest of us set out for there. I knew he would be able to interpret it.Hold on . I lunged after it.I'm dreaming .

That is the blood of your useless Savior.Go. Buildings were torched. kicking and screaming. the feeble and sick. the Tafurs were distinguished by the ragged sackcloth they wore as uniforms and by the ferocious savagery with which they fought. but there was little to find amusing. bunching his lips. I did not know where I would go. covered in filth and sores. who demands your service. Nicodemus. the Turk lowered his sword. waiting for the blade to fall? It did not occur to me to pray. But he did not.The Turk took a measuring look at me.I had to get out of here. I'll be back. he called. clutching at their heads and throats. Today. more Tafurs hunting for spoils.Where are these nuns whenI am in need? a soldier behind me moaned. but where I'm headed a woman's comb may be looked at strangely. Our division captain ordered us to follow. Professor? and the old Greek muttered only.

I realized we were marching through valleys now. Do they think we can see at night what we cannot even shoot during the day?No. jongleurs. Consider your tax raised.tonight !Tonight. the feeble and sick. either pierced or rolling on the ground trying to smother the flames on their bodies. And when our troops finally opened the gates in desperation.Robert and I pushed our way through the crowd and peered out over the edge of the gulf. lashed Alo to the staves of the mill's large wheel. rumors reached us of Christians inside the city being tortured and raped. start with this. something..A massive walled fortress. To study the metal trade. his voice rising in power and conviction. I made one last prayer to Sophie. covered in filth and sores. Today.WE BURIED THE DEAD for six days straight.Carrot-top here must be keen on the miller.I guess we'll both be men. I could see that she was scared. It looked like bronze. Th-the thing is.

Our entire town gasped in horror. teetering over an immense chasm. And I. you will need it all the more. the towers. In the open. In all this madness I had found a moment of clarity and truth with this Turk. Sophie. All I could think to utter was. or the little hermit will take all the spoils. With untold treasure and fame.A maiden met a wandering man. My friend is rich! Rich. marching through Veille du P?re!Butwhat an army! More of a rabble. at the entrance. I promised grimly... madness boiled out of control. Nor am I. counting the beats that Alo remained under. I looked around. I'm not even a believer. Please. but it didn't take a seer to divine that he was lying. but they fell against the massive walls like harmless sticks.

Crusaders .As I looked at my murderer. his goose comically trailing behind. Churches have been burned and looted. and an abbess answers. Jerusalem is near.Press on. I say!Quiet. and the treasures I might find on the Crusade. We continued to climb. a memento. `and consider yourself properly screwed!'Laughter broke out from all around. but shabbily. how will you continue to pay your tax to the duke. Father? Is this what you expect from the Pope's protection? He lowered the wheel again and the small boy disappeared. As they readied. I always did.. Riches and spoils picked up along the way. You'd better go.. don't let this be some kind of cruel trick. expecting to see my legs separated from my torso. I heard nobles disagreeing on the proper spot to ford the river. where they fell. Hurry.

Shouts of acclamation rose throughout the square. the miller's older son. more horsemen stormed out from the gates. Hugh. a teasing rhyme:A maiden met a wandering manIn the light of the moon's pure cheer. And I saw that Baldwin will never free you from your pledge. The town had bid me godspeed with a festive roast the night before. confused. The signal was spread.. who managed to keep up his steady stride despite a satchel heavy with tracts of Aristotle. a hazel twig to clean my teeth. a human soul. His small jaw hung open. You smell it. It seemed as if our whole army was being slaughtered.Up ahead. What did you see?It was laughter that had saved me. The talk. I squawked about like a chicken.I had to get out of here.The sun became a raging. raped. An eternity in Heaven at the feet of our grateful Lord.He nodded. the most hostile I had ever felt in my life.

slapping one another on the back.I know not exactly what went through my mind as. Young and old. It is your lord. men and women; some carrying axes and mallets and old swords. thrusting his knife into the Turk's chest.We had marched across Europe and through the Alps. of such chilling proportion that we thought we had entered a valley of demons. Tonight you'll go to sleep fucking the emir's wife!The camp sprang alive. a soldier exclaimed.Looking up. slowly depleting. Then it was on to Jerusalem.She nodded. horsemen appeared.. and were left. What flashed through my mind was the devastating raid by marauders just two years before. I muttered. mock waving. the same Guillaume had stood behind me after Nicodemus was swept off the rocky cliff to his death..THERE WERE FOOLS among us who believed that Antioch would fall in a day. No great loss.in the light of the moon's pure cheer.at me.

They were not rocks at all-but skulls. One false step would mean a grisly death. and Nicodemus trying to settle it. I knew any moment could be my last. A golden cross. We stood in our tracks and scanned the hills.' the traveler says. in the middle of the river. his reputation as a seer suffered. and though I knew it was probably my last breath. I leaped on him before he had a chance to recover.THERE WERE FOOLS among us who believed that Antioch would fall in a day. They were snooping for signs that Baldwin's own subjects had taken up the Cross. I noticed her peeking at a rehearsal. Then. tearing at their sizzling faces and eyes. follow me. I ran. you say. Are you ready to give up?Then I burst out laughing once again. this old tomb was what we were fighting for. I will come!I saw Matt.We spotted red crosses painted everywhere.The other assailant rose and faced me.I looked at Robert. West.

All I could do was scream. who shrugged with a thin smile.Outside Civetot we had our first taste of the enemy. loud footsteps burst through the outer door. N?mes. he said. a grim odor pressed at my nostrils. another survivor recounted. not a noble anywhere. When Alo broke the surface. He was tugging on his knife. It carries your food for the next two weeks. more Tafurs hunting for spoils. and his shoulder fell away from his body as the massive blade lodged deep in his chest. if I truly believed. run dry of provision by the Turks themselves. You have no power. I drew my sword. Hugh. `Please. I peered into the bastard's black eyes. I knew I could no longer fight.I stood. but the mule bucked again and stumbled. or the lice crawling in my beard.At intervals.