Beloved Pilgrim (18 page)

"Elisabeth," she whispered.

"Grazie, Elisabeta," the woman said.

She turned her head to be kissed. Elisabeth
did as she was expected.

They both started when a fist hammered on the
door. "Elias! That's enough. Time to get mounted." It was Ranulf's
voice, interrupted then with guffaws.

Ruggiero's voice jested, "Don't tell him to
mount. In fact, he probably already is in the saddle." More
laughter.

Elisabeth called out, consciously deepening
her voice. "Can't you wait? I will be out in a minute."

Three male voices made lewd sounds.

"All right, but hurry. Conrad wants to get
back on the road."

"Already?" Elisabeth groaned.

After a short time, the door to the room
swung in. Elisabeth, fully clothed, stood with a mostly naked
Giuliana in her arms locked in a deep kiss.

The four men out on the rickety gallery
stared. The whore had her hands clasped on Elisabeth's buttocks.
"Come back, my lord, I beg you. I have never been fucked like that
before. I want it again and again."

Elisabeth gratefully smiled into the woman's
twinkling eyes. "I already did that. All night." She bent in for a
last long kiss. "Arrivederci, bella," she said gently, then turned
to the mercenaries. "Well, what are we waiting for?"

The men took the steps two at a time. Passing
through another door into an alley, Ranulf and Ragnar put their
arms around Elisabeth's shoulders, Ruggiero and Thomas throwing
theirs over each other’s. "Hail the conquering hero!" Thomas began
to sing.

Elisabeth stopped dead. She stared at Thomas.
"You have an incredible voice!"

Thomas dipped his chin in acknowledgement and
switched to a song about a man who seduces every nun in a convent.
Ranulf, Ruggiero and Ragnar beamed at Elisabeth. They patted her on
the back, made rude noises, and did not even try to hide their
admiration.

Ranulf said in Elisabeth's ear, "Now be
honest, what did you pay her to say that?"

Elisabeth smirked. "I paid her nothing. I had
nothing in my purse."

Ranulf raised his eyebrows. "Well, I shall
ask you to give me some tips sometime. I've known Giuliana for
years. She never said anything like that to me."

Elisabeth beamed. "I will be glad to share my
secrets," and thought how she would hold her best secrets back.
They would be of no use to him.

Back at their inn Albrecht ran up to
Elisabeth. "Where were you? What happened to you?"

"I'll tell you later. Have you gotten the
horses ready?" Elisabeth just walked into the inn to retrieve her
things.

Beginning the long tedious ride south through
Italy, a journey that would take some weeks, Albrecht noticed that
his lordly companion seemed troubled. He waited for her to share
what concerned her, but when she did not, he took the initiative.
"My lord, you and frowned ever since we left Bologna. I wish you
would tell me what happened there, when you disappeared."

Elisabeth frowned. "It's just that I am not
sure."

"Not sure what happened? Were you drunk? He
pursued.

"Yes, well no. I mean..." She sighed. Leaning
to speak in a low tone, she explained, "Ranulf took me to a
brothel."

Albrecht stared back at her puzzled. Then his
face cleared, and he said, "Oh. You mean, he took you to a whore."
Her exasperated look and nod made him bark out a laugh.

"It's not funny, Elisabeth protested.

"It's not supposed to be funny," he jested,
then thought better of it. With ill-concealed curiosity he asked,
"So, what happened?"

She swallowed hard, looked about anxiously
and went on. "What is supposed to happen with a whore."

His eyebrows shot up. "Well done! But, um,
how?"

She glared at him. "None of your business.
But there is something I can't help but wonder about. I mean, I
really liked it. Really, really liked it," she emphasized.

"And that is bad... how?" he pursued.

She looked up and around as if searching for
words. "Why did I like it? Is it because what Reinhardt did to me
turned me against men?"

Albrecht shook his head. "Didn't you tell me
that Magdalena told you that it is about whom you desire, not whom
you don't desire. A preference, I mean."

Elisabeth gave him a speculative look. "That
maybe I just prefer women, just as you and Elias prefer men?"

He nodded. "Mayhap twins can share that, um,
proclivity, as well as all the other things."

She tilted her head to one side to consider
his words. "I wonder... I mean, why not? So it may not be that
Reinhardt turned me into a sodomite, but that I am one naturally."
She looked up sharply at his laugh. "What's so funny?"

He looked contrite. "I am sorry. It's just
that I don't think women are called sodomites." He took on an
uncertain expression. "Or are they?"

She grinned wickedly, "Well, whom do you want
to ask about that? Black Beast? Alain?"

His disgusted face made her laugh. "We may
never know. Whatever I am, I am content."

Through the winner months they rode south,
marveling at the much more moderate weather along the east coast of
Italy. The fields went fallow this time of year, but there was
ample green in the shrubs and trees. Though it occasionally rained,
Elisabeth found that she was rarely cold. She enjoyed the sight of
the white-washed cottages and simple stone churches, the busy
people singing while they worked, and the young children that ran
alongside the pilgrim procession calling out greetings she could
not understand.

Black Beast put out one arm long and thick as
a tree trunk so that Elisabeth could squeeze in along the rail of
the ship. Albrecht was right behind her, and there he remained.

The San Marco was as crowded as the crew's
movements would permit. Their horses and other goods were coming
along on another vessel, or so they were promised.

"Do you get sea sick?" Black Beast asked
her.

"I-I don't know. I have never been on a
ship." Elisabeth looked out over the water in the harbor at
Brindisi. The San Marco weighed anchor and pointed her prow towards
the open Adriatic as Elisabeth struggled to her place.

"You better stay here then. It's a mixed bag
being at the rail. If you aren't going to throw up, it's probably
better to give the place to someone who is. Otherwise that person
will just throw up all over you," the big man said in a
matter-of-fact voice.

She looked at him, disbelieving. Straining to
look about her she asked, "This voyage will take how long?"

He looked down at her. "Longer than you can
imagine."

As a commotion began behind them that drowned
even the pandemonium of the boarding, she raised her voice to
scream to him, "And we will have to stand the whole way?"

He chuckled, though even he could not have
heard the sound. He leaned and shouted in her ear, "They must have
room for the crew to work. Just wait. You will see."

The men pressing in behind her shoved her
violently against the rail. She was glad Albrecht was the man whose
body covered her own. Slowly as she was buffeted and pushed this
way and that, she saw that the heads over her shoulder were moving
into sections here and there. Albrecht clung to her side so they
would not be separated. Black Beast stood rooted where he wanted to
be, knowing no one would be able to move him. They lost sight
temporarily of Alain and Gerhardt.

Elisabeth was fortunate to have been
shepherded to a spot where her back was to the forecastle. She
suddenly realized that there would be no privy, no privacy in which
to relieve herself. She wasn't even sure how the passengers would
get to the rail to do so, no less have the means to do the even
more private thing. Panic took her, but she was pressed in on all
sides so could not act on that panic.

She turned to Albrecht, or where she thought
he was, and found herself looking straight into the eyes of Ranulf,
the mercenary captain. He grinned broadly. "We meet again, do we,
stud?"

To her horror he turned to the man on his
other side, someone she knew only by sight, and said, "You know
Giuliana at the Settaducati? This fellow spent the night with her
and she could hardly stand afterwards."

The man's eyes widened. He looked at
Elisabeth with admiration. "I am honored to make your acquaintance,
pilgrim. May I know your name?"

She cleared her throat. "Elias von
Winterkirche, and our mutual companion here exaggerates."

"I am Jehan de Liege, and the woman has never
even agreed to consider my gold."

Ranulf puffed out his chest. "I paid," he
boasted.

Elisabeth felt a tap on her shoulder from her
other side. "You know that man, Elias?" Black Beast muttered
unpleasantly.

Turning her head she saw Albrecht next to her
trying not to smile. Black Beast leaned in from in front of them.
He had a surprising amount of space between him and his immediate
neighbors. "I met him and his men in Mölk."

"What is this about the whore?"

Elisabeth searched for an answer, then fell
back on a skewed sort of honor. "A knight of the cross does not
speak of such things."

Ranulf leaned across her. "He doesn't have
to. All of Bologna will know by now, and probably the whole Po
Valley."

Going pale, Elisabeth wondered just what the
whole Po Valley had heard. She realized two things, however: she
trusted Giuliana. It didn't matter. She didn't think she would ever
leave the Holy Land. She looked around sheepishly at Black Beast,
expecting condemnation, but instead a sort of admiration played on
his face.

"I congratulate you, young Elias. And to be
truthful, I am a little relieved. You were making us all look
really bad."

"So, Black Beast, where have you been keeping
yourself?" Ranulf cut in.

"You know each other?" she asked, darting
looks at each man in turn.

"Well enough to know what influence a
scoundrel can have on a young knight," the big man said. He reached
a hand across her and clasped Ranulf's. "After paying for Giuliana,
did you have any gold left?"

Ranulf grinned. "Oh, there is always more
where that came from." He laughed as Black Beast and a few others
near them put their hands to their money pouches. "Don't worry, I'm
not the one of my company who can steal in plain view." Stretching
his neck, he looked over his neighbors' heads. "There he is over
there."

In concert with the other heads about them,
she looked where he nodded. There stood Thomas the Silent, his eyes
closed and his mouth moving. He was either praying or singing. He
certainly was not conversing with anyone.

Ranulf grinned around at them all.

"How do you know each other?" she
prompted.

Shrugging, Black Beast supplied, "In some
battle or another. Either on the same side or not."

"You don't mind fighting without a cause?
Without honor?" she shot at the mercenary, appalled.

He simply cocked his head and smiled. "You
mean to say that any soldier fights for something he believes in?
Not someone else's cause?"

She glanced at Black Beast who appeared to
have nothing to say. "What about this holy pilgrimage?"

A cloud passed quickly across Ranulf's face.
Getting his expression in hand swiftly, he shrugged. "There are
mitigating circumstances."

The Frankish knight on his other side lowered
his voice. "Mainz?"

Elisabeth was astounded by the bitter anger
on the usually jesting Ranulf's face.

Jehan rapidly demurred. "Forgive me," he
blurted, lowering his gaze.

Ranulf glared at the Frank and moved to where
Thomas stood. He roughly prodded the man, who Elisabeth noticed had
a hunting bow slung on his shoulder. Thomas looked up startled,
then moved as far to the side as was possible. Ranulf squeezed into
the tight spot smashed up between protesting men.

"Mainz? The Jews?" she inquired of the
Frankish knight.

He muttered, "Nothing." He turned his back on
her.

At her questioning look, Black Beast shook
his head. "I have heard rumors, but they are so muddled that I dare
not spread them. Some say he and his band took part in the
massacres. Others said he had a mistress among the Jews and fought
the rampaging pilgrims. Still others say he was part of the
desecration of the cathedral. I don't know."

All grew silent. Elisabeth gazed out at the
coast of Brindisi, which slid by and seemed to grow more distant.
It was beautiful in the failing light, she thought. Why is the
earth so fair and men's hearts so dark?

Once the light had failed she leaned to
Albrecht. "I have to piss," she said in a whisper. "What do I
do?"

It was apparent that Albrecht had not thought
about the problem any more than she had. "It's dark. Can you just
go to the rails?"

She watched other men making their way
through the standing crowd. "Where are they going?"

Albrecht stood on the tips of his toes to see
what Elisabeth saw. "They are going to the beakhead."

"The beakhead? What is that? And how do you
know what it's called?"

"Some squire told me to find a spot up near
there, that I would be glad I did. Wait, I see him. He's the big
burly fellow, the one climbing out on the beakhead." He watched a
moment. "Oh."

"What?" she pressed.

"He's leaning way out to take a piss."

Elisabeth paled. "You have to climb out on
that thing to piss?"

Albrecht shrugged. "Well, at least it's more
private. I guess that is where you should go."

"And do what?" she demanded irritably. "Pull
down my britches and sit with my arse to the sea? Everyone else is
facing the other way."

Albrecht replied, "Not everyone. Can't you
pretend you have to, you know . . . ?"

"I suppose. I might be able to get away with
that in the dark." She started the process of pushing between men
and made her way to the beakhead. To a man standing in her way she
quipped, "Gotta take a shit. You mind?"