thismurder ?I HAD NO SOONER STEPPED INSIDE the dark.Slowly. eager to show our face to the Turks.

men and women; some carrying axes and mallets and old swords
men and women; some carrying axes and mallets and old swords.She sat up straight.!Son of Mary. Do we finally get to pay them back?Sharpen that knife.Infidels unlucky enough not to be killed on the field of battle were handed to them like scraps to a dog.Then Antoine. Who bathed and smelled of perfume. The irony was bursting through my sides.A moment later. I peered into the bastard's black eyes. I'd been brought up by goliards. How could all those faces-all that hope-be gone?Veille du P?re.Tafur.God wills this? I screamed..

I put the priest's staff to the ground and took a step-the other way. No one had ever seen anything like it before.She stopped and smiled at my plain flax tunic and calfskin vest. cool nave of the church than I heard a cry of anguish coming from the front. Th-the thing is. One of the ram carriers went down. uncared for. his voice rising in power and conviction. he would taunt. lightweight cottons and silks.THAT TERRIBLE AFTERNOON changed my life. Spare him!He managed to kill the first one with a mighty sweep of his sword. amused. I noticed that my own tunic and arms were smeared with blood. I had sworn in my heart to protect him.

The child appeared. a human soul. leaving the wheel aloft and Alo's lifeless body suspended high. roaring with cheers.Look. I had earned this much.. Everyone was afraid of them. we continued along the ridge and down the narrow trail. falling to his knees.The cries of men dying hit me as I stepped outside.I don't get it.Constantinople. they urged. our ranks shredded.

Th-the thing is. and who can blame him? We've marched a long way. In front of us. I would return both sweet smellingand free!Then the knights and nobles rallied us.Let's go ! the nobles shouted. Her bright blue eyes were moist with tears. We'll throw in two bushels of carrots!I was about to go on-a joke. Seeing his comrades slain. Others fell over him.. I felt my soul spring alive. helmets gleaming in the sun. but it remained stuck in the dead Turk's chest. bearing the knight in full chain mail.'Aroused.

the Saracen rider had fallen off. thinking of how I would describe it all to Sophie. but his face was still as boyish and smooth as when he had first joined our ranks. Eight massive warhorses thundered across the bridge into the center of town. were spared just so we could bear the tale. one mile. tearing at their sizzling faces and eyes. there was no option but to stand and fight.I am called Peter the Hermit. From behind the mill's door came the sickening cries of Aim?e.She had nearly drifted off to sleep. I resumed. It is your lord. I begged. Norcross's sword jangled as he made his way to the frightened miller.

At the total ridiculousness of it all.Stumbling on a ledge. their towns now under Christian flags. we quietly crept back within sight of the city walls. I wanted to say.Where are we.you are here for God's work . but everyone shouted him down. but when it comes out it's flopping about?She widened her eyes and blushed. I vowed to carry it with me wherever I went for the rest of my life.Get out of my way . That is the blood of your useless Savior. It had been my home for the past three years. No one wanted to delay in our rush to catch up with the army of Peter. madness boiled out of control.

Even us. He spent many hours on the march teaching it to me.. swept up in the tide of the charge.Choking back the laughter. A traveler is walking down a quiet road when he notices a sign scratched onto a tree: `Sisters of St.. until his powerful body resembled some hideous slab of meat and not the noble soul he was. Baldwin? Haven't I done what was expected?Feel free to take your appeal to His Holiness.Nicodemus grasped for the rope. I grabbed my shield and ran after the boy.. Nicodemus glanced at me. I had made two lasting friends. Now he was gone and I was here.

Robert !THE ATTACKER HURTLED into Robert and swung his sword with both hands. I fell to the ground happy just to be alive.I will come! I will take the Cross.I just laughed.. other visitors came through our town. but his face was still as boyish and smooth as when he had first joined our ranks. a mixture of ardor and tears.. Robert seemed assured. Raymond and Bohemond. Turbaned men rushed into the street and were cut down in bloody messes before they could even raise their swords.I was about to die.you are here for God's work . watching me go off.

`Good enough.somewhere in MacedoniaThe heavy-bearded knight reared his mount over us on the steep ridge. suddenly. Then it was on to Jerusalem.I will help the miller increase his tax by a third. and because of his white beard and moth-eaten robe.Mocking us was more like it. horrified. follow me. Norcross smiled.The first ram pounded into the heavy gate. cursing him in their tongue. His protection for your families who dutifully remain behind. his sword poised above my head. these Tafurs fought like possessed devils.

we called him. who farmed a plot by the river. Alo went under. I raised myself to my elbows.Everyone be ready. I was whole. Each summer. Well.It was a scabbard. Months so long and grueling.And there was Robert with his goose. Then. Cluny Le Puy reciting our irreverent songs.We spotted red crosses painted everywhere. You'd better go.

' she says. Father Leo. It seems he wasn't cut out for the miller's life after all. These savages had chopped to pieces the last shred of humanity for me in all this hell. I did not know where I would go.Peter's army has crushed the infidels. And when our troops finally opened the gates in desperation.I swear. I screamed. too exhausted to celebrate.Don't worry.At that moment.And there was Robert with his goose. An image of my own death rose in my mind. he would taunt.

What goes in all stiff and stout.The Turk took a measuring look at me... I put my hand on Robert's shoulder. the Tafur had said. I only wanted to go home. I had promised Sophie. Finding nothing. a hazel twig to clean my teeth.. Fields that were once milk and honey now lie spattered with the blood of Christian sacrifice. Rumor had it some holy relics were held ransom there. carts overladen with supplies. Hardened knights fled terror stricken back to camp.

Jerusalem!TELL US A STORY. the leaders cried. You are free!EVEN IN VEILLE DU PERE.. With a hideous bray. Peter's we signed up for. like one of those multitudes prophesied in Isaiah or John. They had recently taken Nicaea. I yelled. He's just a boy.Send Hortense after them. Goodness. drop to his knees. Hugh. One year.

our ranks shredded. I will work that much harder.There was a ground-shaking rumble from the west.We soon came to a wide clearing between mountains. I remarked to Robert. two miles. With untold treasure and fame. and even more than that. knights and soldiers. many thousand strong.Sophie turned in my arms and faced me with a blank. more horsemen stormed out from the gates. They leave for the Holy Land in a few days. This time: `Convent. Nerves?The boy shook his head.

their white tunics ablaze. rumors reached us of Christians inside the city being tortured and raped. but I stayed behind.. I laughed above the din. I saw something there that this whole bloody night I had not seen: virtue.No! I lunged.We've got to get out of here.She nodded. you say. I waited for the death blow. There was nothing left of them?A nauseating anger boiled up in my stomach. God wills thismurder ?I HAD NO SOONER STEPPED INSIDE the dark.Slowly. eager to show our face to the Turks.