Chapter C
The wedding feast continued for two days, but after that the guests began to disperse, each to his own tent, and on the third day I went to my father and asked him for my wedding gift.
"Abi," I said to him, "give me six sheep and a ram."
He looked at me and pulled at his beard. "What does the husband of a Frankish lady want with six sheep and a ram?"
"I must go in search of her father," I said, "and also I am sworn to take her to her own land. It will be better if we appear to be poor beduin driving a small flock."
My father grinned. "So you want poor, sickly sheep?"
"Exactly," I told him.
There were not many such among our sheep, for we take good care of our animals, but we picked out the worst-favoured animals and put them to one side. My father also gave us one of his dogs, a great hairy brute that I didn't particularly like but which was known to be a good fighter and able to protect the animals against both wolves and robbers.
On the following day, therefore, I bade my family farewell and Trudy kissed both my mother and my father - which astonished him greatly - and we set off, herding our little flock down the wadi past the sheep's head rock, past the spot where I first met Trudy's father, and on down to Jericho. In the morning I left Trudy in our tent with the sheep grazing nearby and walked for an hour into Jericho to see Abd al-Wahid.
"I am a married man now," I told him and he wished me a thousand blessings and a thousand sons. I asked him if he had heard of es-Sid and he promised to see if he could discover anything concerning him.
"If it comes to the matter of a ransom," I explained, "pay whatever is necessary and if you do not have enough, send to my father. Es-Sid's estate at Gibran and his house in al-Quds are now given to the Sultan's men, but I have his treasure and will repay you whatever you ask."
"Where will I send to find you?" Abd al-Wahid asked.
"I am taking his daughter to her own land," I told him, "but I do not think that we will stay there. Inshallah we will return, but whatever we do, I will send to let you know where we are."
He wished me well and promised to do what he could for Trudy's father and we parted as friends. May God reward Abd al-Wahid, for he is a good man and an honourable one.
From Jericho we climbed slowly up into the hills, taking more than a week to make the journey to Madeba - partly because of a meeting with Ibrahim ibn Quafis. Several times as we crossed their land men of the Bani Jibrin came to ask us who we were and where we were going but I invoked the name of Ibrahim ibn Quafis and they gave us directions to the tents where he might be found.
It was the first time I had seen him since our encounter all those years ago but he welcomed me with great hospitality and Trudy was immediately taken into the women's quarters by his wives. When we parted he would have given me more sheep, for he said that he was ashamed that his guest should depart from his tents with such a small flock, but I explained that my intention was to appear poor and he reluctantly let me go. May God reward Ibrahim ibn Quafis and indeed the whole tribe of the Bani Jibrin, for since there has been peace between us we have been able to serve each other and trade with each other to our mutual benefit.
When we reached Madeba the men of that place came out to meet us and we were received with honour into the house of Charles and Theodora. It was the first time I had seen her and she was pretty enough, but nothing compared to my wife, for she was dark haired and dark eyed like any other woman, whereas Trudy is as fair-skinned as the most beautiful of the houris of Paradise.
I asked Charles if he had attempted to find es-Sid, at which he looked abashed and explained that he dared not leave the town, for his fair hair and skin would immediately mark him out as a Frank and he was not minded to draw attention to Madeba and those who had received him into their midst.
"So how do you live?" I asked.
"I have land," he replied. "I go to work on the land like any peasant, but if a stranger comes near then I take refuge in the town."
I laughed. "What sort of a life is that for a Frank and a knight?"
Charles laughed also. "A strangely satisfying one, my friend. There is more to life than fighting - and anyway, I was never a knight. I may have had dreams once upon a time, but now my greatest dream is to grow bigger melons than my neighbour and to pass my land on to my sons."
"What sons?" I demanded, laughing even more.
"With God's help, I shall have a son in seven months time," he told me.
That same day I sought out Papa Makarios in his house and begged a favour of him.
"Papa," I said to him, "I am married to a Frankish woman according to the laws of Islam and the customs of the Bani Ibrim, but although she has not said anything, I think my wife would be happier if our marriage were blessed by a priest of the Christians. Will you, of your kindness, marry us according to the Nasrani customs?"
"My son," he said, "I am willing, but there is a problem. Not only must you enter a church - which I know you are willing to do - but you must kneel at this point, stand at that point, and allow me to bless you with the cross and the sign of the cross."
"Papa," I said to him, "I am willing."
He looked at me sharply. "In what spirit, my son?"
"I have been in your Church of the Tomb," I said. "I believe that the Prophet Isa, peace and blessings be upon Him, truly died and truly rose to life again."
Papa Makarios' eyebrows rose and he regarded me steadily for a moment.
"And do you believe that He is the Son of God?" he asked me.
I shook my head slowly. "Papa," I said, "that is still not known to me. Allah alone is all-knowing, all-wise."
"Do you believe that Jesus died for you?" Papa Makarios asked.
"I believe," I said slowly, "that by His death the Prophet Isa, peace be upon Him, defeated the plans of Iblis. Brother Hildebrandt explained this to me a long time ago."
"It is good," Papa Makarios said, gazing at me. "One step at a time and the longest journey is accomplished - so long as one does not stop taking steps."
He stroked his beard and we sat in silence for a moment.
"And this Frankish woman?" he asked and suddenly smiled. "Truly you have asked a great thing of me, Fuad. You want me to bless the marriage of a Muslim and an heretic!"
"By your leave, Papa, I will bring her to speak with you," I said.
I went at once to the house of Charles and brought Trudy with me to Papa Makarios. To my amazement Trudy immediately greeted him in his own language, in Greek, and although I could not understand what they were saying, I could see that Papa Makarios was charmed by her. Eventually he turned to me.
"Fuad," he said, "you are a very lucky man. If only all the Franks were such as she - and such as this Charles who has come to live among us!"
He took us to the house of the sheikh, Theodora's father, and the men of the village were summoned - Charles among them - and it was agreed that we would be married on the second day from that day and that the village would provide a feast for us.
"Are you sure that I cannot baptise you first, Fuad?" Papa Makarios asked as we were leaving.
"Papa, I am of Islam," I replied.
"One step at a time," he said, as if rebuking himself. "May God grant that your wife is able to open your eyes."
That evening, when we went to our bed in the house of Charles, Trudy tumbled in beside me and kissed me on the lips.
"Thank you, Fuad," she whispered. "Now I will truly feel like your wife." She kissed me again. "I just wish my father were here; then my happiness would be complete."
