Chapter LXXXII
Thus it came about that two Muslims - Hilmi and myself - went on our way escorted by a strong company of Knights Templars. I watched them out of the corner of my eye, for they were all armed with lances and long swords and armoured with mail from head to foot, even on their hands and their feet.
When we came to the main road we halted while a Templar was sent up a nearby hill where twenty knights and their squires were camping for some reason and we took ten more from a caravan of pilgrims coming down from Nazareth and another twenty from a small grange that the Templars owned. All these men were properly armed and equipped, no doubt because they were on service.
When we arrived at Le Feve Hilmi and I made an excuse and turned aside into an inn; not even for the promised dinar were we willing to encounter de Ridefort again.
It was still dark when we were wakened by the sound of trumpets and a great clatter of hooves. I rushed to the window of our room in time to see an army of horsemen ride past. In the dim light of the setting moon it was impossible to count them, but my guess was that there were at least a hundred knights and possibly a score or so more, all attended by their squires and a footman or two.
Hilmi joined me at the window and together we watched and then dressed hurriedly and went downstairs to waken the innkeeper and pay what we owed. His wife offered us breakfast but we refused, saying that we were in haste; nevertheless she insisted on stuffing pitta bread with cucumbers and onions for us to take and eat as we went.
By the time we left it was light and though the men were out of sight, we knew the direction and it was not difficult to find the road they had taken. We rode briskly enough, but it was nearly the third hour before we came in sight of the little army and after that we drew rein to keep pace with them.
"Look for the Sultan's men as well," Hilmi advised me. "We are caught between two enemies, my friend, for I am not sure how it will fare with us if the Sultan's men come upon us dressed as we are."
It was good advice and about mid-morning we saw a faint haze of dust far away to the west that could only belong to a substantial body of men. Hilmi and I both saw it at the same time and we exchanged glances. By then, however, we were already starting to climb up to Nazareth and the other army, whoever it was, was still far away.
The embassy had reached Nazareth by the time we rode into the centre of the village. There was much excitement, for de Ridefort was shouting out something, but we missed most of it, so Hilmi leaned down from his horse and tapped one of the men of the place on the shoulder.
"What is he saying?" he asked.
The man turned and look up at us, then seeing our Frankish dress his face broke into a smile. "That's the Master of the Temple, that is. He says that there's going to be a great Christian victory against the Muslims who have been raiding down in the valley and if we want some loot, we can follow along behind and help ourselves."
"And are you going to?" Hilmi asked.
"By our Lady!" the man exclaimed. "I'd be a fool to pass up such an opportunity. Those damned Muslims have cost us enough with all their raiding and burning and killing; it's time we got something back from them."
Within a short time nearly every man in the place was rushing around in the market place, clutching a dagger or sword in one hand and a bag or two in the other. Meanwhile de Ridefort had been joined by de Mailly and others, for he had around two hundred knights and their squires as well as mounted Turcopoles, plus two or three hundred footmen - and, of course, the men of Nazareth, who were untrained and unarmoured, but could doubtless do their share of killing once the Muslim ranks were broken by the armoured knights.
"By God," Hilmi muttered to me as we watched the men mustering, "these Franks are always ready for war. Look, at a moment's notice they have an army - two hundred knights and mounted men, three or four hundred footmen, to say nothing of the rabble." He nodded at the old men and youths who were waving crude weapons - cudgels and scythes and kitchen knives.
"And us two," I grinned at him.
"But we two will take no part in the fighting," Hilmi glanced around to be sure no one could over hear us. "If es-Sid were here and required it, we would fight for him, for he is our lord, but here there is no one to whom we owe anything. If they fight against the Sultan, whom may God protect, we can have no part in such a battle."
His words were right, but somehow I felt a little disappointed, for the air of excitement and enthusiasm around us was infectious. Nevertheless, when the little army rode out from Nazareth we rode with them, but in the rear where we could keep an eye on Gerard de Ridefort, as our lord had commanded us, but be far enough away to withdraw from any fighting.
"See what fools they are," Hilmi said to me as we reached the plain and set off towards the coast. "They rush towards an enemy but where are the scouts? Where are those to guide them?"
I looked around and, by God, it was true. They were simply riding or marching in one compact body. There were no outriders such as there had been when we marched to Banias, no scouts rushing back and forth in front and on either side. The whole mass of men were simply heading towards the dust we could see as a smudge of grey hanging in the air in the distance.
"How far away do you think they are?" I asked some time later.
"I've been watching the dust," Hilmi said. "I don't think it's moving - and that would explain why it is so faint. I would say that they are camping somewhere, and that means that they must be where there is water. There are some springs in that direction - Ain Gozeh, which the Franks call Cresson - perhaps that is where they are."
It seemed that the leaders of the army had reached the same conclusion, for the horsemen began to urge their horses forward, eager, perhaps, to catch the Sultan's men while they were dismounted watering their horses. The footmen also quickened their pace, but in that heat they could not keep it up for long and soon there was an ever-widening gap between the two parts of the army. Remembering es-Sid's description of how the Nasranis fought, even I could see that this was not good.
The horsemen were almost out of sight when I saw them come to the top of a rise and halt. I looked to Hilmi and pointed.
"They have seen the enemy," I said. "They wait for us to reach them."
The footmen seemed to think the same, for they broke into a run, but before we were anywhere near the cavalry the knights began to move and disappeared over the rise.
"Come on!" shouted Hilmi and kicked his horse's flanks.
Together we raced past the footmen and headed for the rise. We reached it and drew rein to stare down at a scene of the utmost confusion. Below us there was a host of Muslims, some dismounted and scrambling for their horses, some mounted and trying to form a line, others standing their ground with spears or swords and yet others in the act of drawing their bows.
Down the slope towards them thundered the Nasrani knights in a compact column whose rear ranks were opening out so that the formation resembled a wedge as it reached the Sultan's men.
"By God!" Hilmi yelled beside me. "Nothing can stand against a Nasrani charge."
And then the first arrows struck and the first knights reached the spearmen who, perhaps from sheer desperation, were standing still with their spear butts anchored in the ground. Suddenly horses reared or stumbled, sending their riders sprawling on the ground, others fell and their riders somersaulted over their necks to land and lie unmoving in a cloud of dust. Each man who fell caused those behind him to swerve or draw rein and the charge disintegrated into a melee of individual men fighting desperately against the Muslims who swarmed about them.
With horrifying swiftness the fighting ended. There was a struggle in one place where a single man - by his arms I think it was Jaques de Mailly but Hilmi disagreed - fought on, but then the Muslims closed around him from every side and overwhelmed him and then there was nothing. The Muslims looked about to find that there were no more enemies. For a long moment there was absolute silence and stillness and then someone shouted and pointed up towards us and we looked to our right and saw the footmen reach the top of the rise and halt to stare down in dismay at the cloud of dust that was all that remained of the charge of the knights.
Instantly the Sultan's men began to move, cavalrymen swinging nimbly into their saddles and footmen running together to form companies. Someone shouted an order and the whole Muslim force swarmed up the slope towards the footmen - and the Nasranis turned and fled with the Muslims whooping and charging after them.
"Ya Allah!" Hilmi screamed beside me, standing in his stirrups and waving his arm. "Yallah! Yallah! Al-hamdu-lillah! Al-hamdu-lillah!"
I myself was grinning so that I felt that my face must surely split, for this was an incredible victory, the first time I had heard of the Arabs defeating a charge by the dreaded Nasrani cavalry - and men of the Temple at that!
"Your friend seems excited," a voice spoke in my ear and I jerked round in my saddle to discover a band of horsemen a couple of paces from us - and all of them save one with a drawn bow pointing at us.
The man who had spoken was richly dressed, with burnished steel on top of dark blue silk and a horse that even I could see was a thoroughbred. I salaamed with my right hand and at the same time reached out my left hand to pull at Hilmi. He stopped shouting and turned to stare like me at the men who were surrounding us.
"You are my prisoners," the man said. "What are your names?"
"I - I am Hajji Fuad ibn Hassan of the Bani Ibrim," I stammered.
"And I am Hilmi ben Ghassan," Hilmi said. "Alas, I have not yet had opportunity to perform the Haj."
"You are of Islam?" The man's eyebrows rose as high as his voice.
"We are," Hilmi said.
"But you are dressed as Nasranis," the man gestured towards our clothes.
Hilmi shrugged. "How else shall we go undetected in the land of the Franks?"
"You are spies?" the man asked.
"We are spies," Hilmi said. "We send messages through Abd al-Wahid, the merchant of Jericho."
"And we are known to the Emir ibn Hamza," I broke in.
"Well well," the man said and at his gesture the drawn bows were lowered and those about us relaxed.
"What are you doing here, Sid?" Hilmi asked.
The man smiled. "My name is Dildirim al-Yaruqi from Aleppo," he told us. "We are with the forces of al-Afdal ibn Salah ud-Din and we here are commanded by Muzaffar ad-Din Gokbori. We were sent to show our faces outside Acre, the lands of the Nasrani king Guy."
"Did you not fear to come so far into enemy lands?" Hilmi asked.
Dildirim shrugged. "We came with the permission of the Nasrani emir Raymond."
I gasped. "Surely not!"
Dildirim chuckled and those with him laughed. "Did you not know? Raymond has made an agreement with the Sultan. Al-Afdal simply sent to him a writing, asking permission to cross his lands and he had no choice but to grant it. We were supposed to go and return without causing harm or damage, but you will bear witness that we were attacked - and no man can blame us for defending ourselves." He paused and gestured towards the battlefield. "Who were these madmen, by the way?"
Hilmi and I looked at each other and for the first time the enormity of the victory struck us.
"By God, ya Sid," Hilmi exclaimed. "You have killed the greatest of your enemies, for you have slain the Grand Master of the Hospital and the Grand Master of the Temple!"
"Have we, by God?" Dildirim asked as his face broke into a huge smile. "That is news indeed." He turned to his men, "Come, we must take this to al-Afdal. There will be rejoicing in Damashq this day." He raised his hand to us. "Go with God, lads."
