Chapter XXXIX
The journey back to Aqaba took fifteen days, for I was in no mind to endanger the camels and the men from Wadi Musa were not experts at riding, so that the first three days were small stages out of pity for them. At noon on the fifteenth day we came in sight of Aqaba and by mid-afternoon I was seated in the house of ibn Tahir explaining to him what I had seen and done. I also asked him about buying or hiring horses or mules for my two companions, for it would be a slow journey if they were to walk all the way to al-Quds.
"There are none for sale save those that we send to Misr, to the markets of Cairo," ibn Tahir told me. "Those are of a price that your lord would not wish to pay. As for hiring, it would be very expensive to hire horses for such a journey, for the animals must be brought back again."
He sat back and thought for a moment.
"The best thing would be for your men to wait here for two or three days, for at this time Ibrahim the fish merchant sends salt fish to al-Quds and ash-Shams. If they will take service with him, he will take them to al-Quds for you - yes, and bring them back again also provided your lord does not keep them too long. Meanwhile you can ride ahead and tell him that they are coming."
Within a short time it was arranged. Ibrahim the fish merchant agreed to take the men as donkey drivers and he also agreed to pay each of them half a dinar plus their food, provided that they came as far as Aqaba on the return journey.
The following day I set out on the journey north, spending the first night with a family of beduin I met near the road. As darkness fell a chill wind sprang up and the sheikh saw me shiver, for my jallabiyeh and abba were suitable for summer and now summer was well past. He called to his womenfolk and they handed out a thick woollen cloak in which I wrapped myself and slept.
In the morning the sheikh pointed out that we were already in the hills and the weather would become colder as I went further north. He said that though the cloak was of the finest and thickest wool and made especially for his own son, he was sure that if I made a suitable present to the women who had made it, he could persuade them to let me keep it.
"Ya host," I said, "I know nothing of making or buying clothes - that is women's work. What is a suitable present for a cloak like this?"
"Twelve dinars," he said, "but more if you wish to show gratitude."
"By God!" I said, "Twelve dinars for a cloak that is at least three years old and is so thin that every breeze passes through it? If I gave you three dinars my master would beat me for allowing myself to be cheated."
At length we agreed on six dinars and in addition. he gave me a woollen keffiyeh for my head. I was well pleased with my purchase, for it was indeed cold and by the look of the sky would soon be colder and he seemed pleased with the price I had paid - which made me suspect that I had been cheated in some way - and made haste to pass the money through into the women's part of the tent, though I doubt that the women had much say in the spending of it.
From there I pressed on towards Wadi Musa, which I reached as night was falling. A chill wind had sprung up and I was grateful for my new cloak as I slept in the same cave as Harun and I had occupied those few months ago, but no one came near me and in the morning I departed for Montreal. Without Charles to speak for me the guards on the city gate were most unfriendly, searching not only my bags but also my clothes before they allowed me to enter and go to the inn.
To my surprise, however, there was no such problem at Kerak. I discovered that the Lord Reynauld had returned from Aqaba, leaving his men to continue the raid. I presume the return of their lord had made the soldiers complacent, for they merely enquired the reason for my journey and when I said that I was a messenger for Guy d'Orleans and would spend the night with Madame Melisande they allowed me to pass without searching me.
I had little trouble finding the small square with the fountain and I advanced confidently to knock on the door. Madame Melisande answered and looked up at me.
"Madame," I said in my best French, "I am Fuad ibn Hassan from Jerusalem. I stayed here three months ago with my friend Harun from Damascus. May I stay again this night?"
Madame Melisande stepped outside and pulled the door shut behind her.
"Alas, my son. I remember you and would gladly take you in, but I have a party of men staying here and I have no room." She came a step closer and lowered her voice. "In any case, they are men from the castle and I do not think you would be safe with them."
"But . . . but . . ."
My dismay must have shown on my face, for she put out a hand and touched my arm.
"Don't worry, my son. Come with me. I will take you to Dame Katarina. She is a friend of mine and as she comes from Syria and speaks your language you will be comfortable there."
She led me down the street to another house and knocked on the door. It was opened by a man who must have been a servant, for she directed him to fetch the lady of the house and the man bowed and disappeared. A minute later a well-dressed woman, small and dark-skinned appeared.
"Katarina!" Dame Melisande advanced and embraced her. "I have here a young man who needs lodging for the night. He has stayed with me before, but alas I have five of Gerald de Compiegne's men with me at the moment. Can you take him in?"
The lady looked past Dame Melidsande and examined me, her eyes shrewd and suspicious, but then she smiled and said, "But of course, my friend. I will gladly accept one of your friends."
She beckoned behind her and the servant came out into the street.
"Come," he said to me. "I'll show you where the stable is."
I bowed to the lady, thanked Dame Melisande, and followed the servant down an alley to the entrance to the stable, where all things necessary for the care of a horse were hanging neatly on the wall. While the servant brought hay and feed I removed the saddle and brushed the horse down. When both trough and bucket were full the servant opened the door again.
"Now I'll take you to the house. Don't worry about the horse. I sleep over the stable, so it will be safe."
I thanked him and went with him to the house where a serving girl took me upstairs and showed me a comfortable room with a bed, a table and chair, and a cross and several pictures on the wall. The girl immediately touched one of these pictures and then kissed her fingers. When I did not do the same she looked at me boldly.
"You are a Mussulman?"
"I am of the Household of Faith," I said proudly.
"Do you mind if these things remain here?" she asked.
I shrugged. "I am a guest in this house," I said. "It is not for me to say what should or should not stay in the room."
"The wish of a guest is a command for the host," she quoted. "I will remove them and bring you water for washing."
"You are kind," I said as she lifted the pictures and the cross down from the wall, kissing them as she did so. "The cross I understand, but who are these?" I gestured towards the pictures.
"This," she said, showing me a picture of a woman, "is Santa Katarina, the particular saint of this house. She was a young girl in Alexandria in Egypt who refused to worship idols when the governor of Rome commanded her to. For this she was tortured to death and so we honour her as a martyr for the faith."
"A martyr?" I was astonished.
"Why yes," the girl answered, grinning impudently. "Unlike your martyrs, who die in battle trying to kill other people, our martyrs do not seek death but accept death rather than do what is wrong."
I thought for a moment, for this was a new idea to me, then I said, "But why did she refuse to worship an idol? You kiss these idols and worship them."
"I do not," she replied indignantly. "This is not an idol; this is an icon or a likeness of Santa Katarina. If she were here herself I would show her honour for her courage and her faithfulness to God. As she cannot be here I show the same honour to her likeness. Would you not show honour to the likeness of your mother, if you had such a thing?"
"I take refuge in God!" I exclaimed. "Never would my mother permit such a thing."
The girl shrugged. "Never mind. If there were such a thing, I am sure you would not treat it with dishonour. I'll go and get the water."
She bustled out of the room and a short while later returned with a bucket of water which she placed inside the door.
"When you have finished praying, come downstairs. The food is almost ready."
She withdrew and I shut the door, then washed, guessed at the correct qibla and prayed. When I had greeted the angels I rose and went downstairs, hesitating in the hallway until the servant girl came past and took me into the dining room.
