by D. J. Holmes
***
Jon, Pierre and Jehanne, finally arrive in Picardie, and make their way to the Castle Beaurevoir. Scouting out the area, they are surprised at the deepness of the moat and the amount of water that fills it. The rock wall that surrounds the castle seems to touch the sky.
“If those rocks ever fell to the ground they would crush whoever they fell on.”
“I wonder where they got those boulders and how they got them way up there.”
“Jehanne, how are we going to get in there?”
“My angels will let me know how to rescue Julia. I won’t leave her in this dangerous situation.”
Later, they walk slowly among the common people listening to all the gossip about the famous Jehanne, now being held at the Castle.
“I know that it’s Jehanne, I saw her. She’s still wearing men’s clothing,” one of the town’s residents says.
“I’ve heard that she goes for walks everyday in the garden, with Luxembourg’s wife, daughter and Aunt,” another says.
Walking away from the crowd, Jon says to Jehanne and Pierre, “Did you hear that? She does go for a walk everyday in the garden just as, Julia said.”
Standing with his hands on his hips, Jon shakes his head as he looks back at the castle. “How are we supposed to get through the moat?”
“Not to mention scaling the high walls!” finishes Pierre.
Jehanne smiles smugly and answers them both, “We’ll walk right through the gate and onto the castle grounds.”
Looking at her strangely, Jon asks, “And how do you suppose that we are going to be able to do that?”
“Every day they have gardeners that go to weed the garden. We’ll go in their stead.”
“Jehanne, you are the expert. You make all the arrangements and then tell us what to do,” Pierre states.
“I will. Just be ready tomorrow…. It will happen tomorrow,” she says with confidence.
Later in the evening, Jon is sitting alone in their room mentally urging Julia to call, “Julia, call me. Julia, call me from your bracelet. We need to let you know that tomorrow is the day. Call me, Julia. Call me, please.”
As if Julia has heard his silent pleading, the bracelet begins to beep. “Julia, I was hoping that you would call. It’s going to happen tomorrow, Julia. Tomorrow,” Jon nearly shouts with relief as he hears her voice.
“What is going to happen?” She calmly inquires.
“We’re coming for you.”
“How many men do you have with you?”
“All you need to know is that we will be in the garden. Watch for us. Wear the clothes that you were captured in. Just be ready for anything, Julia.”
“I will. Tell all of the men to be careful. I don’t want anyone to die because of me.”
“We’ll be careful, Julia. See you tomorrow.”
“Tomorrow, Jon.”
As Julia lies down to rest, her thoughts about what might happen tomorrow continue to surface. “How are they going to do this? Will hundreds of soldiers climb the walls? Will they break down the draw bridge? The saddest thing is that the beautiful garden will probably be ruined. I just don’t want anyone to die to save my life. I didn’t even ask Jon how Jehanne was doing. Is she still awake? Has she completely recuperated yet? Will she be leading her soldiers to rescue me? There’s too much to think about. I will find out what the answers to my questions are tomorrow when they rescue me. I’ve got to get some sleep so that I will be ready.”
Later the next day, Pierre and Jon are amazed when they find themselves on the castle grounds weeding the garden with Jehanne.
“Your comment to the guard at the gate about the cloak that I was wearing, and how it covered my head, was genius, Pierre.”
“What makes you say that, Jehanne?”
“Just that you said my head had to be covered because my skin was sensitive to the sun! I didn’t know what to say when he said that no hoods were allowed. It was pure genius on your part.”
“I’ve learned from you, Jehanne.”
Looking at each other their smiles reflect their total commitment, bonding their hearts together as one.
“Jehanne, do you remember when you were riding the sheep?”
“I do. And do you remember how you rode the sheep and landed in the mud puddle, Pierre?”
“Yes. That was a fun day wasn’t it?”
“It was, Pierre. And I remember the wonderful evenings by the fire playing our war board games; and how day after day you taught me how to use a sword. I will always be grateful Pierre for all that you have done for me.”
“You talk like this is going to be our last day together, Jehanne.”
“One never knows what the next day will bring. We can only trust in God, and in his love for us. Whatever comes, whether it is good or bad, we know that it is a gift from Him. What we need to learn is that we must stand for righteousness. If we turn to Him for strength and understanding, our experiences will make us strong enough to be able to return and live with Him.”
“You are always so wise, Jehanne. That’s one of the many things that I have always loved about you.” Noticing some movement to his left, Pierre quietly says, “Look over there. It’s Julia with those women.”
“Pierre, I need you to create a diversion with the wheelbarrow as soon as you see that Julia walks closer to me,” Jehanne quietly states as she moves slowly to Jon’s side and continues to weed around the flowers.
Julia walks closer and closer to where Jon and Jehanne are weeding; Pierre’s wheelbarrow falls over dumping the dirt and weeds out onto the walkway, next to where the ladies are walking.
“How did that happen?” he says looking at the women with an embarrassed look. “Oh my ladies, please forgive me. I hope that I didn’t get any dirt on your beautiful dresses.”
At that same moment a loud sound is heard outside of the front castle walls. The guards that have been keeping their eyes on who they think is Jehanne, go to investigate what caused the sound.
Knowing the guards will take care of the sound, the ladies turn to respond to Pierre. With their complete attention on this handsome young man, Jehanne quickly and quietly stands up behind them sliding off the cloak she had been wearing, allowing it to fall to the ground near Jon. In that same moment, Jon pulls Julia down to the ground and covers her with the cloak, Jehanne had been wearing.
“Can we help you?” Jon then asks Pierre. Having successfully made the change right behind the women she was walking with and now wearing the cloak, Julia helps Jon and Pierre gather the dirt and weeds up off the ground putting everything back into the wheelbarrow.
“Let me help you.” Jehanne voices a desire to help, thus giving her a few more minutes to be with her friends, and an excuse as to why she would have dirt on her hands.
Once all the weeds and dirt are cleaned up, Jon and Pierre turn and look at Jehanne, “Thank you Madame.”
Julia curtsies in reverence as Jehanne looks directly at her. With the hood hiding Julia’s face from the Viscountess, Jeanne and Auntie, through their eyes Jehanne and Julia exchange feelings of familiarity, respect and a sisterly love. Jehanne smiles and then slowly turns back to the ladies and continues the walk that Julia had started.
The moment Jehanne is no longer by his side Pierre can feel a pain surrounding his heart that he has never felt before. He begins to take long deep breaths.
“Are you alright, Pierre?” Jon questions.
“I don’t know. My heart feels like it is being torn apart.”
“Continue your job, Pierre. For Jehanne’s sake, continue your job. If they find out what has happened, they will use us to break her.”
As the guards reach the wall to ask about the commotion that they had heard outside, they are asked, “Why are you here? You are to have your complete attention on, Jehanne!”
“There isn’t any danger on the inside. The noise came from the outside. We came to help,” they explain.
“Get back to, Jehanne! If she ever escaped, w
e would all lose our heads.”
Hurrying back to watch over Jehanne, they find all is calm. To the guards, Jehanne is still walking in the garden with her woman friends. And the gardeners are still pulling weeds.
“You see, I told everyone that there was nothing to worry about,” the guard proudly states.
Wanting to take the attention off of her friends Jehanne asks, “Ladies, would you mind if I got a closer look at that trellis over there? I love all kinds of flowers, but this red rose is a favorite of mine.”
“It’s been a favorite of mine also, in fact I asked my husband to have this trellis built here,” the Viscountess says finally looking directly at Jehanne. “Your hair….”
Jehanne raises her right hand touching her beautiful black hair, “My hair?” she questions.
“Yes, you finally took your cap off so that your hair could have some air.”
“Yes, I did. Is that alright?” She questions realizing it is something she hadn’t thought of.
“Your hair is beautiful. Just like everyone said that it is.”
“Thank you, ladies.”
“It’s nice that you are talking more, Jehanne.”
“It is my pleasure, ladies.”
Jon, Pierre and Julia, continue pulling weeds wondering if anyone saw Jehanne and Julia change places. Continually weeding and continually wondering if someone will step forward to take them into custody.
Soon it is time to go. Walking out of the castle grounds they pass the guards, walk across the drawbridge as they look at the moat and finally they are back in town. As they continue to walk quietly, they are mystified at how simple it was to make the change.
Pierre and Jon are very happy that they have Julia with them. But they are extremely sad to have left Jehanne, within the castle walls.
“How are we going to save Jehanne now? How are we going to get her away from the English?” Julia finally asks, “Why did she change places with me? Why didn’t she just bring an army to Compiegne and save the people there?”
Jon asks, “And what would have happened to you, Julia? How would that have been explained, with Jehanne leading an army in Compiegne, and you sitting in a tower at Beaurevoir?”
“I don’t know…. I hadn’t thought of that.”
“I know,” Pierre states, “but, Jehanne did. She knew what would have happened to you if she had been seen leading her soldiers. That’s when she made the decision to exchange places with you.”
“She is a very selfless person,” Julia states quietly.
“Yes, Julia she is,” Pierre says with a sense of pride, and love. “Riding to your rescue she told me to go with you and Jon. She told me to get you away from here as fast as I could.”
“What about her?” Julia asks.
“I asked her the same thing. She said that her angels would take care of her…. I didn’t want to leave her, but we needed to get you back to safety, Julia. It was the only way.”
Once again, for their own safety, they ride by night and hide during the day. All the time a sad silence hangs over their heads wondering if something more could have been done. Finally, they are back within the safety of the loyal French.
Jon finally says, “Julia, I think that we need to check in with Daniel and get his advice.”
“That’s a good idea, Jon. I’m so emotional right now I can’t think.”
Tapping the flat crystal bracelet three times, Daniel’s voice can be heard as his picture immediately appears. “Hello, Jon. All is well, I hope.”
“Daniel, Jehanne is being held prisoner. Shouldn’t we stay here and help free her?”
“Jon…Julia…can you hear this?”
“Yes, Daniel. We can hear what you are saying.”
“I know that what I am about to tell you will be very hard for all of you to do. But it must be done so that history will be what it is meant to be.”
“What are you saying, Daniel?” Julia asks feeling that they are not going to like what Daniel is going to say.
“I need all of you to continue your journey back to the portal.”
“What about Jehanne?”
“Her angels will be with her, Jon…. Julia do you hear me?”
“I do, but we are here, Daniel. We could help!”
Not letting her finish Daniel says, “Julia and Jon, I need you to listen carefully. In fact, I want Running Deer to hear this also. Can you hear me Running Deer?”
Stunned and extremely sad because of what Daniel has just said, he whispers, “I can, Sir. I can hear you.”
“Everyone, listen carefully. Jehanne was prepared for this moment in her life. She will never be alone. Her angels will always be with her. In order to progress, to learn the things that she needs to learn in this life, she has to experience everything that will come to her. Along with that purpose, before she came to this life, she volunteered to endure these things to test other people. You see, it is up to the people born in this dimension to save her. If you save her, all of history will be changed. Now that you have found Running Deer, his life is in your charge. You need to return as soon as possible.”
“Daniel, are you sure?” both Jon and Julia ask, hoping to ride to Jehanne’s rescue.
“Yes, I am sorry. You have done all that you are allowed to do in that dimension.”
Pierre’s face shows only an extreme sadness.
“What about Jacque and Isabelle? Can we say good bye to them?” Jon asks.
“That would be fine. But you must get to the portal as soon as possible.”
Riding to Jehanne’s tent, Jon, Julia and Pierre sadly dismount their horses. Jacque and Isabelle are standing together out in the sun by the doorway of the tent. “Hello. I see Jehanne’s plan worked, as always,” Jacque sadly states.
“Yes. She put my life above hers,” Julia answers barely able to speak her words because of a lump in her throat.
Jon walks up to, Jacque, “We have come to tell you good bye.”
“You’re leaving?” Isabelle asks surprised.
“Yes. We have orders to return,” Julia says looking at Isabelle, while tears stream down her cheeks.
“What about, Pierre?” Isabelle questions.
Jon answers, “He is to go with us.”
Even as Jon’s words hang in the air, Pierre walks over to Isabelle. “You have been a wonderful mother.” Taking her hands in his, he says, “My heart is sad to know that I have to leave you.”
“I will miss you, Pierre. You have been a wonderful son. Thank you for being with Jehanne for as long as you have been.”
“This is so hard for me to do, Mother. From the moment I left Jehanne, my heart has been torn apart. I have never experienced anything like this before. This is not what I want to happen.”
Jacque walks over to Pierre. Putting his hand on his shoulder he says, “Good bye, my Son. It is important that you return to your parents. Jon and Julia came to help you get back to them.”
“But Father, how will you work the farm without me? And what about Jehanne, I know that she needs my help. I could stay and help her,” Pierre says with great emotion, trying to keep the tears back.
“I know what your heart is feeling, my Son. But your place is to return to your family. We must have faith. We must know that all of this is in the hands of God and that we will all meet again someday.”
With tears running down his cheeks, Pierre says, “Until we meet again Father, and Mother.”
“Until we meet again, my Son,” Jacque says as he wraps his arms around Pierre, hugging him tightly. Isabelle walks closer to them extending her arms out to hold her son for the last time in this life. Jon and Julia watch the great expression of love, respect and sorrow that is displayed between Pierre, Isabelle and Jacque. There is not one person with dry eyes. All are caught up in the emotion of the moment.
Sadly gathering their belongings Jon, Julia and Pierre mount their horses. After taking a long look at Jacque and Isabelle they ride away, turning around once more to give a final good
bye.
Jacque and Isabelle shout, “Good bye, we will always remember you.”
Pierre tries to make a mental picture of his French parents, as pictures and memories of Jehanne also flash in his mind.
The emptiness they feel is hard to come to grips with. But the knowledge that each had to live their own lives in the dimension they were born in, is clear.