Chapter LXXXIX
In mid-afternoon I left my father's tents and rode up to al-Quds, arriving there just as night fell and the gates were closing. Fortunately the captain at the gate was known to me, for the news had reached al-Quds with Hilmi and the whole city was filled with fear. Any other Arab would not have been admitted at nightfall, but I passed through the gate and made my way to the house of Guy.
No one came running to take my horse and I had to stable and care for it myself. I carried my saddlebags to our room, but there was no one there, then I went to the kitchen, but both kitchen and refectory were dark and silent. As I came out I let the door bang and a moment later I heard a woman's voice, calling, "Who is there?"
"Ya Fatima!" I shouted. "Where is everybody?"
I went towards the stairs leading up to Guy's appartments and Fatima was waiting at the top, a candle in her hand. She beckoned to me and I climbed up to her.
"Where is everybody?" I asked again.
"Es-Sitt is within," she said. "Weeping."
"And the others?" I asked. "Hilmi?"
"Hilmi has gone to the bazaar to buy some food for us."
"Has Hamed arrived yet?"
"Aiwa. He came this morning and has been working all day with Hilmi. Now he has gone to see a certain baker's daughter." She grinned at me, but only briefly. "Come, I am sure es-Sitt will see you."
She turned and I followed her into Sid Guy's appartment - but how it was altered! The hangings on the walls were gone and so was everything else. Trudy sat alone at the table and in front of her were a plain pottery cup and platter. The food on the platter was untouched.
"Sitt," I said, coming up behind her, "May God give you comfort."
She sniffed and turned to me. "Come," she said, patting the seat beside her, "sit and tell me all you saw."
I sat beside her, not daring to touch her, but she drew my arm up over her shoulder and I held her to comfort her while I told the story of all I had seen on the battlefield of Hattin and what I had done since.
"Do you think my father is alive?" Trudy asked.
"Sitt, it is as God wills."
"Call me Trudy," she snapped, with something of her old spirit. "What about the others?"
I shrugged. "I do not know, Trudy. Many were still alive at the end and the Sultan is merciful. Inshallah at least some of them were taken and can be ransomed."
At that Trudy buried her face in my shoulder and wept afresh and we continued to sit there for some time until the door opened and Hilmi came in.
"Ahlan, Fuad," he greeted me. "How was your journey?"
"Al-hamdu-lillah," I replied, rising to meet him. "What have you there?"
"Food," he said, coming and laying his parcels on the table. "The cook is locked in her chamber, weeping; the serving girls are also weeping, though some have gone back to their families. I have been to the stalls in the bazaar - felafel, bread, some greens, some stew. Are you hungry?"
"I could eat a camel," I told him. "I left my father's tents before the food was cooked."
"Good," Hilmi nodded. "So tomorrow you can take es-Sitt there?"
"Inshallah," I said.
"What about me?" Fatima asked, coming forward to pick at the food Hilmi had brought.
"You stay here," Hilmi said. "Beduin women do not have servants, so your presence would look strange, but more importantly we need you to help us pack. We must get out of here before the Sultan arrives."
Trudy began to weep again, but Fatima, Hilmi and I sat down to eat and Hilmi told of all he had done since arriving in al-Quds two days before. He had gone to the governor of the Tower of David to tell him the news, then came back to tell Trudy also. After that his whole time had been spent either in retelling his story to anxious women and worried men or in packing everything moveable in the house.
"By the Prophet," he exclaimed, "there is not a packing case or a sack to be had in the whole of al-Quds, for everyone is either fleeing or hiding their valuables."
"When can we leave?" I asked.
"Inshallah we will leave tomorrow or the day after, for the packing is nearly done and now that you are here to take Trudy away there is nothing to keep us."
As he spoke there was a commotion in the yard and Fatima snatched up the candle and went to the door, Hilmi following her. We heard footsteps coming up the stairs and then Hamed appeared, followed by two women.
"Ya Fuad!" he greeted me. "Did you have a good journey?"
"Al-hamdu-lillah," I replied. "And you also?"
"Al-hamdu-lillah," he said.
"Who are these?" I asked, pointing with my chin at the two women who stood uncertainly in the doorway.
"This is Amina and her mother," Hamed said. "They come to you for refuge, Sitt."
At once Trudy wiped her eyes and rose to greet the two and I eyed Amina with interest. Although her head was covered with a veil, her face was visible and I was greatly disappointed. After all Hamed's poetry I had expected some houri at least, but the girl was nothing more than a girl.
"Sitt, we are in your debt," the mother said, coming forward and kneeling before Trudy.
"This is no time to speak of debt," Trudy said, raising her up and embracing her. "We share a sorrow, I think. My father is missing and only God knows whether he will return."
"My husband likewise," the woman said and began to weep.
At that Trudy began to weep again and the girl Amina started to wail. All three women clutched one another and wept aloud. Hamed, Hilmi, Fatima and I exchanged glances and shrugged and then sat down to the table again, for in truth I was hungry and the food smelled good.
"Has she agreed to marry you?" Hilmi asked Hamed in an undertone.
"Not yet," Hamed said. "However I have persuaded her mother to bring her to Gibran, so there is hope."
"Can the mother cook?" Hilmi asked.
"I suppose so," Hamed raised one eyebrow.
"Good. Hildegard, the fat cook, is worse than useless and in any case declares that she will go to Joppa rather than wait here for the Sultan to kill her; the others are equally fearful but they intend to stay, thinking that it is safer to be behind walls than out in the country."
When we had eaten, Hilmi sent me down to our room to bring my bags and my bedding.
"We all sleep up here," he said. "There are thieves in the city and the women need our protection."
"Thieves?" I was astonished.
"Yes," Hilmi said. "Not all the pilgrims went with the army and at least some of those who remain are now roaming the city, robbing the houses and attacking the women. Also many have come from the countryside, some to seek shelter behind the walls but others to take whatever they can find. Bring your weapons also."
