By command of the frustrated queen Sibylla, who was acting on behalf of her imprisoned husband Guy, whatever might be of use to those within the castle during the siege had to be moved inside the walls.
Thus, the following morning, I took one of my back-up horses and went along with Victor and six more of the seventeen remaining Templar brothers outside the city walls in order to supervise and coordinate the transfer of grain and other goods towards the warehouses and the castle pens.
The fortification works in the castle were reaching their end. The engineers and masons, who had come hurriedly to our aid from the West in the middle of July, did a very good job. In the moat, the deforestation–so that the attackers would have nowhere to hide- was completed and now the shepherds were gathering their sheep. All the Christian population of the city were helping in any way they could, following the officers', the non-commissioned officers and the few knights crusaders' orders. The Muslim residents were temporarily confined, in order to avoid sabotages.
We stopped in front of the city gate and decided to divide in four teams. Before we had time to set off, I saw an elderly woman laden with a bale of wood walking uphill towards us.
"Good morning, grandma! Where are you off to, laden as you are?" I asked.
She stopped and glanced at us. She left her bale down, dried her wrinkled forehead with the back of her hand and said:
"To the castle, son. I have nothing to offer. I collect wood and take it inside, as we'll need it for fire! I've already carried more than ten bales son".
"Great; but now I want you to promise us this is your last run. These jobs are for the young. You've contributed enough already. Are we clear?"
I motioned to one of the gate guards saying: "Let the commandant know that it is my wish to give shelter to this elderly woman immediately. She is to remain there".
"As you wish" the guard answered and saluted.
"Son, I don't like to sit idle when everybody else is working" the old lady complained.
"You will find things to do inside the city, grandma. Don't worry. Have a good day".
"You too, son. All of you. May the Lord be with you!" she said; bending, she took her bale again and took off towards the city...
According to my notes it was the 24th day of August, of anno domini 1187.
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The Templar's Sword (Kindle Edition/ISBN 978-618-84874-4-4)
Historical FictionΜy name in Hebrew means: Gift of God, God has been generous, or something like that anyway. I offered my services for thirteen whole years in the Kingdom of Jerusalem protecting the pilgrims of the Holy Land. I traveled to the ends of the earth; I m...
