JACK BATSON AND THE HOLY GRAIL

by Georgekutty Adappur

  Then they carried out their punishment. He was also thrown into the river. Jack realized that he was drowning into the water and he took his last breath. He could see the cruel alligators coming towards him from every direction.

  “Oh, God, only for this you brought me here! But, if it is your will, I am ready to die!”

  Jack chanted this prayer and closed his eyes and prepared himself happily to die for his faith.

  “O, Jesus Christ, I entrust my soul into your hands. Give Matt and me Heaven that you have promised.” Even when faced death, Jack was brave enough to pray so. Seconds passed very swiftly. Seconds became minutes and minutes turned to hour, but nothing happened. So he ventured to open his eyes to realize that he was lying on wet sand, on a riverbank in an unknown place. On that riverbank, he couldn’t see anyone- no masker men, hill or alligators. Was it a dream? No, then where is Matt? He looked around, nobody was lying on the bank except him. What happened to Matt? Even though Jack was brave enough to face death, he started to cry because he lost his dearest brother.

  “O, Lord, why did you abandon me? If you want to take a life, take mine; not his. He was your good child. He was very devoted to you, but you took his life and saved the life of a big sinner-me. Why Lord, why did you do this to me?” Lying on the wet sand Jack Batson started to cry loudly. His tears started to flow from his eyes and it blurred his vision.

  He heard someone’s footsteps nearby and realized that somebody was approaching him. Suddenly, a heavy hand fell onto his right shoulder. “Stand up!” A male voice ordered him. He got shocked when that strange hand fell onto his shoulder and that voice like thunder echoed in his ears. But he obeyed out of fear to that commanding voice.

  He wiped away his tears on his jacket and looked around to see who was talking to him. He could see a group of men being gathered around him. All of them were clad in luxury shining clothes and had worn blue silk hats embroidered with the image of a king seated on a male deer, on their head. But the very man who stood in front of him had worn a golden crown ornamented with different coloured gems. The man had a sword in his hand, its handle also was in gold which was decorated with 10 different coloured gems.

  The rest of the men had carried modern guns and long sticks in their hands. Jack was annoyed with their presence, especially when he wished to dissolve his own pains with his tears.

  “Who are you intruder, why did you come to my country?” The man with the golden crown asked him.

  Jack Batson didn’t give him any answer, but he started to run instead. Suddenly, the people chased him and surrounded him. The man with golden crown approached him, raised his sword in the air and pointed towards Jack’s chest.

  “This man is not willing to answer, so let us take him to our castle and interrogate him.” The man with golden crown commanded.

  “Yes, Your Majesty, he seems like a cheat. I think he is an agent from Bettowalsh to spy on us.” A man with brown eye brows and round eyes said.

  “If he belongs to our enemy country Bettowalsh, I want to teach him who this King Arthur is.” The man with golden crown replied.

  “Yes Lord, we will teach him how to respect our King.”

  Then the men approached him more closely like a battalion of army rushing towards a castle to invade it. They had long sticks in their hands and they altogether raised it towards him to beat him up. Somehow Jack snatched one of the sticks and started to defend. He counter-attacked the enemies and ten of them fell down on the ground. It gave him more courage, so he raised the stick again, and smashed at every direction without considering who they are and where to hit. Again, he could knock down two more individuals.

  The next moment, somebody hit at the back of his head and he fell onto the ground. He tried to open his eyes and struggled to rise from the ground, but he was helpless. He felt as if the earth around him was rotating. His enemies started to beat him from head to foot and his whole body started to bleed. He couldn’t control the severe pain and moaned for help. Again, he got another smash at his head and he lost consciousness.

  When he opened his eyes again, he was lying on a granite floor in the open sun. With his opened eyes, he looked around and understood that many people had gathered around him, watching him like an alien who just landed on earth.

  “Please give me some water!” Jack Batson begged.

  A woman came forward and poured out some water from a jug into his mouth. He gulped the whole water and extinguished his thirst. He groped on the floor and tried hard to stand up on the ground. The same woman who gave him water, helped him to rise up and Jack stood unsteadily on the ground.

  He noticed that woman, she was very old and her skin had wrinkles upon it. She smiled at him, and he noticed that she had only one eye. In the eye socket of her right eye he could see only an empty hole. This sight made him sad and he felt sorry for her.

  “Who are you my dear child?” She asked him empathetically.

  “I am Jack, came from Billston . Could you please tell me where I am at present?”

  “My dear son, this is the land of rivers which is known as Riveria. Why did you come here? I heard from the people that you are a spy came to betray our country.”

  “Dear madam, please believe me, I am not a spy or betrayer. I am the victim of a kidnap done by two beastly men. They threw my brother and me into the river with lots of alligators. By the grace of God, I survived from those animals. When I was in the water I lost my consciousness, and somehow I reached on the river bank in your country. I don’t know what happened to my brother. Either the alligators would have killed him or he might have reached somewhere else like me.”

  “Dear son, I am sorry to hear the fate of your brother. I trust you. From your facial expressions, I can guess that what you said is true. I think that you are innocent. So, I shall beg the King to release you.”

  The King was sitting on a throne, guarded by the security guards, not too far away from Jack. He was watching carefully what Jack and the old woman were talking. Meanwhile many people approached the King with different petitions. Jack could faintly hear what they were speaking. He could also see the King ordering his guards to punish a tall fat man, and they started to whip him mercilessly. Meanwhile the old woman went to the King, knelt down before him and started to beg for Jack’s release. She appraised the King the information she gathered from Jack.

  Miracle still happens…The King ordered his guards to set him free as he was convinced by the old woman’s words. One of the guards who was a well-built man with enormous height approached him and said:

  “You will be under observation and we will watch you over. Remember, if you do something wrong against the country, you won’t see the next morning. So, be careful when do something stupid against our Majesty.” With this warning the soldier removed the handcuffs from Jack. At the same time the old woman approached him.

  “Let us go dear child?” She said kindly.

  “To where?”

  “To my house. You are my guest tonight.”

  “Madam, thank you for your kindness. But, please tell me who you are and why you saved my life when nobody came forward to help me.”

  “I am Agatha and I am a widow. I saved you, because I know you are innocent. We can talk more after reaching home.”

  Agatha offered her hand and helped him to stand up. He rose slowly and stood on the ground. Even though she was very old, her hands seemed very powerful like iron rods. They started to walk and passed the citadel wall.

  On the way to Agatha’s house, they could see a horse cart coming towards them from the opposite direction, that pulled by four white horses. While it approached the citadel wall, it reduced the speed. Meanwhile Jack Batson could look into it, and he was fortunate to see the travellers inside. Two beautiful pretty young women looked back at him and smiled. He also smiled back, in the meantime the horse cart increased it speed and passed through the entrance.

  “Who are those beautiful women?” Jack asked Agatha while they walked ho
mewards.

  “They are King Arthur’s two daughters, Amanda and Angela. They are very famous for their beauty all over the world, like their mother Queen Eva!”

  CHAPTER- 10

  THE APPARITION OF AN ANGEL

  Agatha and Jack increased their speed and they passed a muddy road. He could see small cottages on both sides, while they moved further. A cold breeze passed them and they shivered in cold. Jack’s clothes were already wet with blood, mud and water; the cold breeze made him to rattle.

  “You feel cold, aren’t you?” Agatha asked very softly.

  “Yes, this is unbearable for me and I am shivering.” He answered and looked at her face, sadly.

  She offered him the blanket she was wearing. But he refused her offer and said:

  “Dear Madam, you are old like my grandma. If I accept your offer, you would die in this cold. Besides, my clothes are dirty and wet. If I wrap my own torso with your clean blanket, it would become dirty. So please keep it with you. What I need tonight is, just a shelter under a secured roof and something to eat and drink. That is more than enough for me. Thanks for your consideration.”

  Jack stopped for a moment and looked at her wrinkled face. She was looking tenderly at him with her gleaming eyes. Both smiled and Jack continued:

  “I am sorry to ask about your family.! Could you please tell me, do you live alone or you have a family?”

  “I am staying with my only daughter Christa. She is the only kin I ever have.”

  While she said this, Jack could see her tears trickling down from her eyes and wet her cheeks. It made him sad as well; he asked quietly:

  “Dear Agatha, I am very sorry to hear that. You saved my life and now I made you cry. I am very sorry!”

  “It is O.K.!”

  “Can you please tell me; where is your husband?”

  “I am not married, I am a prostitute. I gave birth to my daughter Christa when I was 22 years old. She is the daughter of the famous merchant Antonio Pedro who was my lover at that time. You know, I loved him very sincerely, more than my parents! My parents knew his character and warned me. But, I was heedless to their words, and I thought they were making silly allegations against him as they hated him. When they opposed my love, I loved him more ardently. I thought that he was the best man, the best lover in the world. It was my own fault that I fell in love with him.”

  When Jack heard this sad story, he was shocked and felt sorry for her. While they continued their journey, they approached a cottage that was protected by a fence. At the back side of the building there stood gigantic pine trees resembling the security guards of King Arthur. It was a lone corner, so Jack couldn’t see any houses in the neighbourhood. The fence was strong and made of sharpened wooden pickets and tied together with steel ropes. Besides climbing hydrangea, vine plants were overhanging on the fence. In the middle of the fence stood a big wooden gate and Agatha unlocked it to enter the courtyard. Jack quickly looked around to study its surroundings. It was a small cottage that stood in the middle of a small yet beautiful garden. The cottage roof that were covered with red tiles blazed in the sun light. The courtyard was kept very clean and tidy.

  They entered the house and saw a young woman, the same age of Nova, sitting on an easy chair immersed in reading a thick book. Her cheek was rosy and lips were red like the beautiful rose flowers in the Sharon valley. Her gleaming eyes looked overstrained due to insomnia. Yet, she was very beautiful and attractive at the first sight. She stood up and gave a beautiful smile to Jack.

  “Hi mama, is he the same Jack Batson whom we expected?” The beautiful young woman asked.

  “Yes, my sweetie. He is the one!”

  “Mama, I think he is very tired. I have prepared special meal for him, let us give him that food.” She said and went to the kitchen.

  “Please be seated!” Agatha said to Jack and he sat on the same chair where the girl was sitting, because he couldn’t see any other chairs there.

  “So, is this young lady your only daughter Christa?” Jack asked.

  “Yes, dear Jack, that is true.”

  She grabbed a chair from inside and sat beside him silently. Jack noticed the sudden change in her behaviour and understood that she was very sad; yet he couldn’t think of the reason behind it.

  “Dear Agatha, please tell me the truth! Why are you looking sad?”

  Suddenly, instead of answering his question, she started to cry. While this happened, Christa came back from the kitchen with a cup of coffee and some snacks. She placed it on a tea table and knelt in front of her mother. Christa hugged her and started to cry with her mom.

  “My dear mama, please don’t cry, …You know, God won’t leave us alone. Don’t you remember what happened yesterday, so don’t be afraid, God is always with us.”

  “Can you please tell me what happened, if it is OK with you?” He requested.

  “Yes, Mr. Batson... I shall tell you...” Christa replied while wiping away the tears from her beautiful cheeks. Jack was eager to know what happened to them. Before she started the story, Jack took the coffee cup and drank from it. Her tears dropped on the biscuits. Even though Jack noticed it, he didn’t change his facial expression and took a biscuit to eat.

  “I have never been fortunate to see my biological father in my life. I know, where he lives. He is a very famous and rich merchant and his name is Antonio Pedro. But I am scared to go and meet him face to face. When I was in my mother’s womb, my father rejected her and she went back to her own home. That time, my mama’s parents had already died with broken heart, because she ignored them and went with my father. I don’t like to introduce him as my father, because he was such a cruel person to give up my mama. My mama has three siblings- two elder sisters and one elder brother. When she got back home, they denied her and kicked her out. She didn’t know where to go. At first, she thought of committing suicide, but she knew that it would be a sin against the will of God. She thought about me too, so mama took a decision to go elsewhere, gave birth to me and grew me up. Thus, with a broken heart and wet eyes, she left her home.

  Finally she reached in front of a magnificent house by evening. “Ghost Ship”- she read the name of the house hung on a board on its huge gate. The residents in that house were an old couple- an old man named Richardson and his wife Julia. Some supernatural forces enticed her to that home. So, mama went inside and narrated her sad stories to them. Those nice people felt sorry for her and gave shelter in their home.”

  “That old couple had a son, who was an artist. When mama reached there, he was away. The couple welcomed my mama to their family like their own daughter. The old woman appointed a nurse to take care of my mama’s pregnancy.

  Days passed by. One day while mama was sitting on a chair in their garden, she saw someone coming towards the house passing the gate. He was an attractive young man with green eyes and handsome countenance.”

  “When she met him she felt like an Angel appeared before her. He approached mama and asked her who she was. Before mama opened her mouth, Julia came into the scene and introduced them to each other.

  He was the old couple’s son Miller. My mom noticed that his smile was very attractive. That night Julia organized a delicious dinner and after that everyone went to bed. The clock in the hall struck at 12:00 midnight and it chimed. After a few minutes, mama heard somebody knocking at her door. She was very concerned about her safety and had the habit of locking the door before going to bed. She panicked hearing the knock in the midnight. So with a trembling voice she asked who it was and why knocking at the door at that time. Then she heard a male voice. It was not the old man, but his son who just arrived that evening.”

  “She became nervous and asked him, why he came there to meet her in the wrong time. Suddenly the tone of his voice changed and he started to beg her to open the door. He sobbed and requested again and again to open the door immediately because he wanted to talk to her urgently. So she opened the door. He came inside with a burning candle in his hand
, and she noticed that he was sweating and panting. His face was tangled with fear.

  “What happened…Tell me, what happened to you?” She asked.

  “Could you hear that sound?” He asked while his body was shivering with fear.

  “No, I couldn’t hear anything. What sound you heard, please tell me?”

  “Agatha, please pray for me. I am trapped.” He said this and started to weep.

  “When my mother saw him crying, she felt very sad, because she never expected that from a man who was very handsome. She made him to sit on a chair in her room and asked again, what happened. Then he showed two tattoos on his right arm. One was 666, and other was an upside down cross with a snake that tangled upon it.”

  “What is it?” She asked.

  “I am doomed…. I am doomed.” He said and started to weep again, covering his face with his hands.

  “Please don’t cry, Miller. Please tell me what happened?” She patted on his shoulder to console him.