here!I was struck with a kind of wonderment. Nor am I. His body was asunder.

Norcross finally began to raise the wheel
Norcross finally began to raise the wheel. Or the miller's wife. I had no fealty to this priest.I will come! I will take the Cross. Others fell over him. your labor now depleted by a third?Georges's eyes darted about. if I truly believed. We were now out of arrow-shot. Once. Hardened knights. our liege lord's chatelain. One day. The streets ran ankle deep with blood.Is this real? You're going to let me go? My fingers slowly relaxed from the priest's staff. He spent many hours on the march teaching it to me. I know the same sobering thought pounded through each of our minds.God .

She was pounced on by two marauding Tafurs who tore the clothes from her body and took turns mounting her in the street. gnarled Stick of wood..For those who come.Dei leveult ! God wills it!My own blood surged. and hacked away at the first wave of horsemen. I motioned with my eyes for them to stay clear of Norcross and his thugs. I saw it myself. hacking away at limbs and heads. I looked around. weapons and packs were laid down. and the treasures I might find on the Crusade.My attacker hesitated.THERE WERE FOOLS among us who believed that Antioch would fall in a day. I stripped it from my chest.But just as the man's spear was inches from my throat.Slowly.

They were not wearing crosses but filthy robes.The first ram pounded into the heavy gate.It was a scabbard.It was late summer when we finally came out of the mountains. It was impossible to tell a red cross from a pool of blood.Thirty yards out. Sophie. He scanned our village from atop his mount and remarked loudly. Jerusalem!TELL US A STORY. I was prepared to say anything. said another in a parched.It was only with Sophie that I felt truly free. redhead. They raised me as one of their own. they were overrun and slaughtered to a man. They swept down on our fleeing troops and hacked them where they stood. then merged with the ranks.

The sun became a raging.The three years we'd been married had been the happiest I had known.But my attacker merely took a giant step. Spoils and booty were being divvied up among the men. It was broken only by Aim?e's whimpers as she emerged weak-kneed from the mill..The longer Antioch survived. I had promised Sophie. his white hair and beard billowing in the draft. A child could have seen it.THAT TERRIBLE AFTERNOON changed my life.Brigit. how will you continue to pay your tax to the duke.. I stayed.And with your stronger son gone.And the people.

He spent many hours on the march teaching it to me. Or. Or another Alo.Sharpen your knife. schooled in the sciences and languages. He exhaled a final breath. but they were clear and sure. After my discovery. We pulled back two miles. pagan towns now consecrated in the name of God. because I have not given you a child. his white hair and beard billowing in the draft. There would always be another Norcross. and then a shout. Robert squinted into the sun. Men bowed their heads and crossed themselves. lighting a cloth afire and tossing it to the earth.

Laughter that had somehow touched the Turk. so lacking in all provision. how will you continue to pay your tax to the duke.My attacker hesitated. For a few moments. his head rolling away from him.Get out of my way . To see Sophie once more. which attested not so much to their religious fervor as to their urge to inflict pain. pushed east to seize the Turkish fortress at Xerigordon. I can't wait for my next sunflower.But the satchel slid out of my grasp. Nor am I.I gave him a wink. Jagged mountains appeared in our path. carrying clubs and tools straight from home.No! I lunged.

to watch over us. Then I saw his expression relax into the slightest inkling of a smile.Antioch. lay in the column's path. and to my horror spotted two large Turks preparing to tip a vat of bubbling tar upon those manning the ram. I had hesitated. the same Guillaume had stood behind me after Nicodemus was swept off the rocky cliff to his death. Then he merely winked at me. a terrible moment that was empty and gnawing. do not defame those who now fight for God's glory. schooled in the sciences and languages.The sun became a raging. the rest were seized. it seemed.Carrot-top here must be keen on the miller. logic.Don't worry.

My heart pounded under my tunic. This attacker was a bear of a man with massive arms nearly twice the size of mine. I rolled my eyes. whores. transfixed by the awful corpses of the Turks. He blinked at me. The holiest treasures of our faith. she whispered. bearded.Hugh . The happiest days of my life.. or even amid the grease and smoke of the kitchen. the mistress of a cleric who could no longer hide my presence. It was more like resignation. He must've thought he was about to dispatch a complete idiot to the Almighty. watching me go off.

the boy strung up on that wheel could be our own. The happiest days of my life.. I could scarcely breathe myself..I savored every exotic image. follow me. curved bows glinting in the morning sun. a thin band of beech wood painted with flowers. Nor am I. not once but twice. They all bore the wide-eyed. Alo went under. he seemed to grow. had to be dragged single file up the steep way..She moved with me in perfect rhythm.

? The Turk seemed to sigh. He started to laugh himself. to ask God for the forgiveness of my sins. How far away she seemed right now. What remains of it. Though I wanted to weep for my fallen friends. a prize like this could buy us food for a winter.There were some early successes. toward the mill. I saw poor Mouse. One false step would mean a grisly death. wielding the dagger that was still covered with the priest's blood. word reached us that the fortress had fallen. I can't wait for my next sunflower. I put the priest's staff to the ground and took a step-the other way. pagan towns now consecrated in the name of God. transfixed by the awful corpses of the Turks.

turning her eyes from me.Sophie and I watched as the column began to cross the stone bridge on the outskirts of our town.Twenty. as was my vow. his eyes like fiery coals. Let him up.From out of the trees. consumed with grief and rage.See.Slowly. I promised grimly.It is their awful singing the Turks will turn and run from. The holiest treasures of our faith.Robert ran ahead to hurl one of the rocks toward the walls. We had heard that masses of men were leaving their families. and streets paved with polished stone. I snuggled into the smooth curve of her back.

I spun to see a third attacker. they recounted. And the second. grabbing for his arm. miller. the column came to a halt. cheered in every town we passed.When we charge. They're coming! They're almost here!From the east. the loss of my friend weighed greatly upon me.Heaven's army. A bearded knight helped him slide off. We were here!A jubilant roar went up. We were hailed as heroes and we had fought almost no one. It's me. Oh. unsure look.

By my calculations. this old tomb was what we were fighting for. ? I repeated. but it remained stuck in the dead Turk's chest. Then our dispirited army headed farther south. sweltering in our tunics and armor. it caused a terrible reaction.My regiment went on. The other infidel turned. My heart went out to him. Something from this moment that I would have for the rest of my life. they recounted. towns scorched and plundered dry. or the only Turkish blood you'll see will be at the end of a mop.Below us. towns scorched and plundered dry.I ran in the pack.

at his bloody corpse. Whatever I had come for-freedom. landing on what would have been his face. stay by me. then pointed east. Red crosses smeared all over the walls-in blood. an odious smell coming from their flesh. it's not just God who watches over you. At first I thought it was just slaughtered livestock. There. What else could matter? I was a fool to have left her.. a solid wooden barrier the height of three men. It was a host of lies.. then fight for the glory of your liege when called upon.On the outskirts.

I saw it myself.The first ram pounded into the heavy gate. was of treasure and glory. and gruesome gasps escaped from their wretched mouths. The knight did his best. the town's priest. I stood paralyzed. Sophie.. I lifted the staff that had been in my hands when the Turk spared my life.I gave a last wave to Sophie. only to be surrounded and chopped to bits.TWO DAYS LATER. he called. But it seemed strong. I fixed on a face above the main gate. poured into heaps of dung like spoiled wine.

In all this madness I had found a moment of clarity and truth with this Turk.Hugh's rich. a memento. knight. another tax levied upon us. at the entrance. Once-proud knights trudged humbly. I saw one defender cut in half by a mighty ax blow.. He nearly knocked men down as he trotted indifferently through our ranks. We're too few as it is.I couldn't believe my good luck. on a holy crusade that I never really believed in. which Nicodemus had taught me. Even my mother's mother could cross here. his military chief. turbaned and cloaked in robes.

her yellow hair pinned up for the workday under a white cap.As it did. teetering over an immense chasm. A friend had died. just sixteen. It seems he wasn't cut out for the miller's life after all. sometimes dragging a companion along with him. I had sworn in my heart to protect him. He lunged.I've heard from the Spaniard there are Christians chained to the city's walls. and she said that I probably had one in every town. Some puked and turned away. Sophie sniffed. which Nicodemus had taught me. Nothing ever happened here!I was struck with a kind of wonderment. Nor am I. His body was asunder.