The blask rood

'Indeed, yes,' said Yordanus, breaking in. 'You were never forgotten for a moment, I can assure you. Welcome, Duncan,' he said, seizing my hand. The old trader beamed with good pleasure and danced from one foot to the other, unable to contain himself. 'Welcome, my boy. Praise Christ, our mighty redeemer.'

'Is this all you have with you?' asked Gislebert, indicating my crude bundle of soggy parchments.

'Yes,' I told him. 'I kept a record of my imprisonment, and I hoped to bring it out with me. Alas, they are ruined.'

'Allow me to have a look,' said Padraig, lifting the sodden sling from me.

'And who was that with you on the wharf?' Gislebert said, looking back towards the crowded quayside. For someone who was only glad for my freedom, the Templar sergeant seemed unduly concerned with the particulars of my release.

'That is Wazim,' I replied, truthfully enough, 'a guide who helped me find the ship.'

'How did you know we were waiting with the ship?' He could not keep the suspicion out of his tone.

Yordanus and Padraig both heard it and regarded the Templar with disapproval. Sydoni, however, appeared interested to hear my reply; leaning against the rail in a crisp blue mantle, her arms folded over her breast, she lifted an eyebrow-a sceptical judge inviting me to make my best explanation.

'How else would we come for him?' Yordanus chided; stepping forwards quickly, he embraced me again. 'Come, let us celebrate the return of our friend! Padraig, let us fill the cups and drink to his safe return.'

'Forgive me,' Gislebert said haughtily. 'I merely wished to know if you had seen Commander de Bracineaux?'

'How should I have seen him?' I asked, smiling. 'Was he looking for me?'

'When the riots began, he went to the palace to see if he might rescue you,' the sergeant answered. 'I imagined that was how you were freed.'

'I pray something has not gone wrong,' suggested Padraig quickly. The canny priest had seen his chance and taken it. 'Perhaps you should see what has happened to him.'

Gislebert frowned with indecision. He disliked the turn things had taken, but was not quick enough to see how to forestall the thing. 'I think the priest is right,' added Yordanus innocently. 'Yes, go at once, Gislebert. He may need you.'

'My orders were to wait here with you,' the sergeant replied dully.

'And you have done that,' said Sydoni suddenly; she stepped forwards, took his arm and turned him towards the rail. 'All is well, thanks to you and the good commander's vigilance. We can fend for ourselves here-at least long enough for you to see if your help is required elsewhere.'

Sergeant Gislebert's frown deepened. At Sydoni's gentle leading, he found himself at the rail. Unable to disagree, he said, 'Very well, if you think-'

'Do not worry about us,' Sydoni told him. 'You must consider your duty to your commander now.'

'No doubt he will welcome word of Duncan's return,' suggested Padraig. 'It would be well to tell him as soon as possible, lest he trouble himself unnecessarily.'

The Templar climbed reluctantly over the rail. 'I will inform the commander that Duncan has returned,' he said and, with a last dubious look at me, he dropped to the wharf. He called the two Templars on the dock to accompany him, and the three of them hurried away together. We watched until they were out of sight.

'Yordanus,' I said, 'how soon can the ship be made ready to sail?'

Taken aback by the question, he hesitated. 'You want to leave? But the commander will be exp -'

'How soon?' I insisted.

'Well, as soon as we can lay in some provisions,' he replied thoughtfully. 'I know you must be anxious to -'

'We can get provisions along the way,' said Sydoni. To me she said, 'We can cast off at once, if that is what you wish.'

'We cannot leave Commander de Bracineaux here without at least -' began Yordanus.

'Father, I think Duncan is attempting to avoid the Templars,' Sydoni said, looking to me for confirmation.

'It is true,' I confessed. 'I know you have laboured mightily on my behalf, but I fear I must ask you to aid me a little longer. There is some deceit at work here, and I fear de Bracineaux is not to be trusted. We must leave at once.'

'The pilot is sleeping below,' Sydoni said. 'I will wake him. You and Padraig make ready to cast off.'

I was puzzled by the sudden change in her disposition, but there was no time to wonder about it just then. 'I will fetch Wazim,' I told Padraig, already sliding over the rail. 'Begin casting off.'

I hastened back to where I had left Wazim, and found him sitting cross-legged on the dock, his eyes closed, the sacred relic nowhere to be seen. 'Where is the rood?' I demanded sharply. 'What have you done with it?'

'Calm yourself, my friend.' He smiled and stood, and I saw that he had been sitting on it. 'May God forgive me,' he chuckled, bending to retrieve the sacred object, 'but what thieves do not see, they do not steal.'

Stripping off my mantle, I quickly wrapped it around the holy cross and then we hurried back to the ship. The pilot and his two crewmen had been roused, and were lazily going about the task of getting the ship ready to sail. Yordanus and the others already knew Wazim, of course, and they welcomed him, and asked what had caused our delay. 'We expected you last night,' said Yordanus.

Leaving Wazim to explain, I went to secure the rood below deck. Curious, Padraig started to follow, but I asked him to stay behind and keep anyone from intruding on me. 'I will tell you everything,' I promised, 'just as soon as we have put this city behind us.'

I descended the short wooden steps, aware that Sydoni was watching me all the while. I hid the rood among the baskets of stores and supplies in the hold of the ship, and then rejoined the others on deck. I stood at the rail and nervously watched the quay for any sign of the Templars. But de Bracineaux did not appear. A few moments later, Persephone pushed away from the dock, and we left Cairo behind for good and forever.

FORTY-FOUR

The green-bordered Nile spread its slow, gentle curves before us, bearing swift Persephone north to Alexandria and the sea. I stood at the bow as the tiny riverbank settlements receded, and watched the twin columns of smoke rising in the distance-all that could be seen of Cairo now, and soon that was gone, too, blended and vanished in the heavy blue summer haze.

Leaving the rail, I descended to the hold, retrieved the prize and rejoined the others gathered around the mast where Wazim Kadi had been telling them about our escape from the palace. Yordanus and Sydoni were seated on cushions, and Padraig reclined on his elbow on a rug, listening to the little jailer as he spun the dull dross of our ordinary trials into the gleaming gold of great adventure.

'And this!' Wazim said proudly, waving his hand with a grand flourish as I lay the bundle on the rug before the seated listeners. 'This is the Holy Rood of Christ, rescued from the treasure house of Khalifa al-Hafiz.'

Padraig rolled up onto his knees, and Yordanus and Sydoni leaned forwards eagerly as I slowly unwrapped the sacred relic. I pulled away the cloth to reveal the dark, deeply grooved length of ancient timber. Padraig gasped, and reached out a hand, hesitated, and stopped short.

'Go on,' I said. The priest lowered his hand and with trembling fingers, stroked the age-polished wood. The sunlight revealed a feature in the wood I had never seen before-a narrow cleft, sharp and very deep, in the centre of the piece, much, I imagine, like that which would be made by driving a spike into the wood.

Padraig's fingers found the cleft, and he gasped again. 'On this rough beam our Blessed Saviour King, the Holy One of God, shed his lifeblood for our redemption,' he said, his voice losing solidity as the tears began to stream down his cheeks. 'See here,' he said, 'this rough beam bears witness that our hope is not in vain.'