by Griff Hosker
Francis made the sign of the cross when he saw the merchant. “He was a good man. He often spoke to us when he passed.”
“Has he family?”
“He has a wife and two sons. I think one of his sons lives in Jerusalem.”
“Then after we have eaten we will take their bodies and his animals. The king should know of this.” Francis nodded. “And for the foreseeable future I will have guards in the fields with your workers. I do not trust this de Waller. He wants me and my wife but that will not stop him hurting the innocent.”
Brother Peter said, “We will bury poor Harold before we do, lord. We owe him that.”
“You are right. He is the first of my men to die.”
“And let us hope he is the last. The graveyard where the former lord and lady lie is a fine place for his body to repose. It is shaded. There is no yew but the trees form an arch. It is good.”
The funeral meant that we did not leave for Jerusalem until noon. Normally I would not have travelled in the heat of the day but it was not far and I was anxious to tell the King my news. There were looks of surprise from the guards as we led the camels through the gates. The bodies of the merchant and his men were draped over the backs of my horses and were covered in hessian sacks.
“Do you know where the son of Phillip of Jaffa can be found?”
One of the guards said, “By the Christian bazaar lord.”
I turned to Edward, “Do you know where that is?”
“Aye, Sir William.”
“Then find him and bring him to the palace.”
I left Garth, Alf and the rest of my men with the camels and our horses while I sought advice. Neither the King nor Theobald were present. They were at Ramelah speaking with the master of the Templars. Had the Templars done their job then Phillip of Jaffa might be alive.
Queen Melisende appeared. “You look troubled, lord.” I told her my news. “That does not bode well.” She frowned. “None mentioned de Waller’s men.”
“They do not wear his device now. They have adopted the brown mantles of Templar sergeants. If they were seen they would not be taken for enemies. It might explain how they were able to move so freely through this land.”
She nodded, “You have the merchant’s camels?”
“I have sent for his son. I brought the bodies of the merchant and his people. I did not wish to leave them in the desert.”
“I will tell the King when he returns. Until de Waller is caught then you must stay close to your home. I overrule the King’s commands.”
“The three new towers they had built at Ascalon have been damaged but we could not destroy them. We have delayed their construction that is all.”
“And you have done what was asked. The knights who live close by will take heart from your efforts. When you have ended de Waller’s reign of terror you can resume your work.”
When we reached the entrance Roger son of Phillip was waiting for us. “Thank you for doing this, Sir William. My father held you in great regard. This shows you to be a true knight and I thank you. I will continue my father’s work.”
“Then let me know when next you travel and I will provide an escort.”
As we rode home Garth said, “So we do not return to Azdud?”
“No my friend, first we find de Waller and defeat him.”
We began the next day. We returned to the ambush site. Already the carrion had begun to devour the bodies. The desert is a cruel place and before winter came there would be nothing to show where men died. The birds, foxes, rats and mountain lions had already made a mess of the area but we found the tracks of horses which showed that Santiago had come from the south west. That was even more galling. They had passed along the road which was supposed to be patrolled by the Templars. We spent seven days searching the south and west for the enemy. We met travellers and Templars but none had seen any sign of them. It was as though they had disappeared.
I had begun to think that we had frightened them off. I was weary as I entered my gates eight days after the attack. Rebekah saw that I was weary. “Come Will, I have a surprise for you.” She led me to a chamber which had been used for storage. It was built into the rock at the far end of the floor in which we had our bedroom. I had never been inside.
Rebekah opened the door and revealed a bath. It was raised from the ground and had been made from blue and white tiles. There was a perfumed smell to the air. The bath had water in it and I saw steam rising. It was a hot bath. “How on earth?”
“As soon as I came here and found this I realised that this could be a room where we could bathe.” She pointed to a channel. “I saw that water dripped from above but did not pool. It left through that channel. Absalom built it. Brother Peter advised us on how to make it watertight. We have lined it with clay. There is a plug which allows us to empty the water. The tiles we found in another room. Francis said that the lady of the manor had planned on using them for the floor of her closet. That would have been a waste. Come let me undress you and we will see if it is a success.” She closed the door. The oil lamps made it look like a grotto. It was magical.
After she had undressed me I stepped into the water. Rebekah said, “If it is not hot enough, my husband, then I am sorry. I did not know when you would return.”
“It is wonderful. Come and join me.”
She blushed, “Will! I cannot but I will wash you.” She looked like a young girl. Excitement was written all over her face. She must have been planning this since first she came. I was a lucky man.
She took a sponge and began to wash the dirt and dust from my body and hair. I lay in the water with my eyes closed. Her fingers were soft and delicate. As she washed my legs I found myself becoming aroused. There was a sudden splash and I opened my eyes. Rebekah had a strange look on her face. She was looking down at the water. I tried to cover myself. “I am sorry my love! I …”
She held her hand up, “Do not apologize, Will. It is natural but it just came as a surprise. I would have….”
I stood. “Hand me a towel and I will dry myself.” I had to be careful with my frightened young wife. I had to treat her gently. I had frightened her.
That night, as I ate with Brother Peter, my knights, my squires and my wife I felt content. Robert smiled, “Considering we did not find de Waller again, lord you seem remarkably happy.”
Tom chuckled, “And you look clean too!”
I put my hand on Rebekah’s, “Let us just say that I have happiness here within these walls and nothing that de Waller can do will make that change. We have stout walls and even stouter men.”
Brother Peter said, “Amen to that, Sir William. In the desert they have oases which are a sanctuary for those in need. Here you have created an even better sanctuary for here you heal people.”
“Heal people?”
“Have you not noticed that Edward is happier now? When first he came, there were nights when he tossed and turned and cried out. It is not just my counsel which has helped him. Sir Tom and Alf have done their part too. The women and children you rescued now blossom and bloom. They are happy. Why some of your men at arms have asked if I would approach you to ask if they could be married.”
“They do not need my permission!”
“Of course they do, Sir William, you are the lord and the women and children are your property.” He shook his head. “You are the most unlikely lord of the manor I have ever met. You take nothing and give all. Strange.”
That evening I felt content. It was a peculiar feeling. Brother Peter’s words had made me happy. I kissed Rebekah. Our kisses were no longer chaste and I lay in my bed. The sheets were newly washed and smelled fresh. Rebekah blew out the candle.
“Goodnight, my love.”
Strangely there was no answer but I felt the movement of the sheets and Rebekah slid next to me. She slid her hand across my chest and kissing me on the ear said, “You will be gentle lord, will you not? And if I cry then…”
I rolled around and kissed her. “My
love, I will be gentle and I promise that I will not hurt you.”
“Then I am content.”
Chapter 20
I was happy and my wife was happy. That should have warned me that all was not well with the world. My grandfather believed in three sorceresses who spun webs to entrap men. They lulled them with happiness and then snatched it away. Two days after we removed the second bed from our bedroom and as I was preparing to ride forth, Masood appeared at the gate. Normally taciturn he was distraught. I thought he would speak with me but he did not. He knelt at my wife’s feet. I could now understand more words of Hebrew but he spoke too quickly for me to understand more than a couple. My wife’s smile left her face to be replaced by stone. She put her hand on the back of Masood’s head and stroked his hair. She said something and he nodded and rose.
“What is it, my love?”
“My father’s house has been attacked. All have been slaughtered and my sister and mother abused.”
Even as I asked the question I knew the answer, “Who was it?”
“From Masood’s words, it was de Waller. He said there some bodies who were not my family. They were Gentiles. He said they were Franks and they wore brown mantles.”
“That is de Waller. How did Masood escape?”
“He had been in the hills with his sheep. He said that, from the state of the bodies, the attack took place three or four days since.”
That made sense. Few visitors frequented the lonely estate. “We will hunt them down. Fear not.”
“First we must tend to the dead. I will come with you.”
“I forbid it. It is too dangerous.”
She smiled, “I will obey you in most things, husband, but not this one.” She turned to Francis. “Have carts made ready.”
I nodded, “As you wish. Garth, I want all but four men fully armed and ready to ride!”
“Aye lord.”
I had my men in a protective circle around the carts which contained my wife, her women and the servants Francis had sent. When we came to the fork in the road I sent Alf to Jerusalem. I gave him the hastily written note. “Give this to Theobald, or the King or the Queen. Someone should know that de Waller is loose. He is a mad dog and must be put down.”
The vultures were circling and, as we rode through the gates the rats, wild dogs and foxes fled at our approach. Crows and vultures lazily flew into the air. Bodies littered the ground before the hall. They were mainly servants and slaves. My professional eye took in the scene. De Waller would have attacked at dawn, or just after. The guards at the gate would have been slain. Servants and slaves were always up early and they would have seen the intruders. That is why their bodies lay in untidy heaps.
“Ask Masood to find tracks.” Francis did as I asked. The hunter leapt onto his horse and galloped off. I turned to Rebekah, “Stay here. We will make sure that it is safe.” She nodded and with swords drawn, we entered. I did not expect to find de Waller but there were bandits who might seek to take advantage of the situation. David Ben Samuel and his sons had died bravely. I saw the six sergeants whose bodies lay before them. De Waller had not even bothered to give his own men the respect of a burial. He had abandoned them. It said much about the man we fought. Ruth was the next one we found. Before she had died she had been raped. I gently covered her lower body with her dress and laid a cloak over her. Mary was even more shocking. I found it hard to view. I picked up her body, “John, a sheet, a clean one.”
John of Chester had a stony expression as he carefully covered the body with the sheet. As I turned to carry her out I said, “Carry all the bodies of my lady’s family out. I do not want her to see this. The rest of you search the building and see if you can find any others.” There was blood, intestines and body parts lying all over the hall and the room where we had eaten so many pleasant meals.
Rebekah stood stoically watching as we came out. I said not a word but I laid her sister’s body as reverently as I could in the back of the cart. As I did so the sheet slipped and Judith, one of the younger servants cried out. Rebekah snapped, “Judith, compose yourself. They are dead! We cannot bring them to life but we can care for their remains.” She was showing me a harder side I had not seen before. I suspected it was an act for she was now the lady of the house. The last of the line.
By the time all of the bodies had been found Masood had returned. He spoke to Rebekah and pointed to the south and west. Rebekah nodded. “They have gone towards Ascalon. They have taken camels and all that they could carry.”
“Then when we have escorted them home we will follow.”
She shook her head. “First we need to do something. I want the house burning to the ground and then you and I must go and collect my father’s fortune.”
I shook my head, “De Waller will have it now.”
She said, “No, he will not. My father was careful. Have your men bring two shovels. We will need them.”
I followed my wife around the rear of the house. She headed purposefully towards the bench and the huge fig tree surrounded by the lemon trees beneath which I had first seen her seated. It was her special place and David Ben Samuel had said it was special for the whole family. Now I understood why.
“Move the bench and dig.”
I saw that the soil underneath was not hard and compacted but had been turned over some time in the last months. After a few shovelfuls of earth had been moved we heard a clunk.
“That is it.” John and Henry struggled to lift the chest. Eventually they wrestled it out of the hole. “That is my father’s fortune. He has large amounts with Simon but he always kept half here. He feared that our home might be raided at some time.”
“Let us get it back to Aqua Bella. The sooner we are on the trail of de Waller the better.”
Rebekah wanted nothing more from her home. Her mother’s jewels and those of her sister had been taken. The bodies of her family had been stripped of anything of value. She put the torch to her family home herself. As we headed home she did not look back. I did and I could not help feeling sadness as the pall of smoke rose higher into the sky. He whole family was gone in a heartbeat. At least I still had my father. She had nothing.
The first thing that Rebekah insisted upon doing was cleaning up the bodies of her family. It was a grim task but she and her women did it. Alice helped them and Brother Peter did what he could. We laid them in the ground close by Harold Longsword. Not long ago the cemetery had just contained the lord and lady of the manor. Now it was filling up. How many more of my men would end there?
The next day the hunt began. I left six men to guard my home. Theobald had sent a message to us with Alf. He said that he would have men guard my home. I did not fear that de Waller would try anything. He would get away as fast as he could. The fact that he was heading for Ascalon led me to believe that he might be trying to lose himself in the wild borderlands. There he could prey on the weak of both sides. Masood was like a hound. He had the scent of de Waller and he followed their tracks unerringly. It helped that de Waller had taken the camels. Masood was able to follow their spoor and the tracks of the Franks. Even when the camels crossed the tracks of other camels our prey was unmistakeable. They had more than four days start on us but they would be moving more slowly. Camels, especially laden ones, did not move quickly.
We had a problem with our scout. None of us spoke Hebrew. We had to use sign language. That first night, as we camped forty miles from Aqua Bella I spoke of that to my men. “If we are to prosper out here then we need to speak the language. When we return, I will have my wife’s servants begin to teach us.”
Alf said, “Why cannot they learn our language, lord?”
I smiled. This was the old belligerent Alf raising his head again, “Because this is their land. You spoke Greek when you lived in Constantinople.”
“That was because my mother was Greek.”
I nodded, “And my wife is a Jew.”
Garth ruffled Alf’s head, “Think before you speak! I thought we had
changed you. It seems we still have some way to go.”
Tom stood and stretched, “But are we to go back home eventually lord?”
“You tire of this land, Thomas?”
“Of course not, but I miss England and I miss Normandy. I would like to wake up and not be thirsty and know that I can drink any time I choose. I want to be in a land where I am not constantly covered in dust.”
Robert said, “If I remember England you will be covered in mud.”
Garth nodded, “Sir Robert is right but I still miss it.”
As I curled up in my cloak I realised that I had a decision to make but I could not make it on my own. I now had a wife and she would be involved in the decision I made. First we had a mad dog to catch.
Masood left before any of us were up. He had his two horses and he rode them in relays so that he could cover great distances. He seemed to have a bond with the horses. He did not use a saddle, just a cloth held by a leather strap yet he had as much control as any of us. He needed no stirrups. Then again, he would not need to fight from the back of a horse. We would ride as hard as we dared and that would be faster than our prey was moving.
We rode hard all day. We began to see signs of the enemy. We saw discarded clothing and objects too heavy to carry. They had been taken from Ben Samuel’s without any thought to their use. We found the carcass of a butchered camel. They were either hungry or the animal had become injured. It was a hopeful sign. If de Waller could reach Egypt then we might have an impossible task to recapture him. So long as he was in the open, then we had a chance. Once he was behind walls we did not. When Masood returned, he was animated. By his gestures and his signs, we gathered that they were camped just ten miles away. Although we had travelled another forty miles which was our limit their camp was tantalizingly close.
I turned to Robert. “Do we push on or try to catch them on the morrow?”
“It is not like you, Sir William, to ask advice.”
I pointed to Masood, “From our scout we know that they have forty men. We need to plan our attack carefully. Night time gives us surprise but we have seven archers who cannot work as well in the dark.”