On The Road To Eden by Michel Poulin - HTML preview

CHAPTER 2 – ON THE ROAD TO EDEN

Western Europe after the splitting of the empire of Charlemagne between his three sons in 843.

 

14:03 (Rome Time)

Tuesday, January 3, 862 C.E.

Via Appia (old Roman imperial road), 132 kilometer southeast of Rome

Principality of Benevento, Italian peninsula

The group of seven men, women and teenagers walking along the old Roman road while pulling a small, rickety cart loaded with their baggage and supplies, formed a rather heteroclite band, with some of them wearing cheap but colorful clothes and with a young teenage boy playing a flute while walking next to the group’s cart.  The man pulling the cart, who was obviously the oldest member of the group and who appeared to be in his early thirties, was a tall, strongly-built man with blond hair and blue eyes somewhat atypical of the local Southern Italy natives, for the good reason that he was not a local native.  He had been born in a village near Regensburg, in Bavaria, which was part of the Kingdom of King Louis the German, one of the three sons of deceased Emperor Charlemagne.  Karl had left his native village a long time ago, sixteen years ago to be exact, fleeing it with his beloved wife Greta, whom he had married against the wishes of his father, a poor farmer who had wanted to marry him to the daughter of a more prosperous man.  He and Greta had then lived as wanderers, playing musical instruments, singing and dancing in public squares in order to collect some money and survive.  At first, the living had been tough and meager but, with traveling entertainers like them being about the only kind of entertainment available to the people of the time, be they peasants, bourgeois or nobles, and with Karl’s and Greta’s skills improving with practice, they had managed to survive reasonably well while traveling from place to place along the routes and trails of Europe.  On the way, Karl and Greta had two sons, fourteen-year-old Eric and ten-year-old Cedrik, plus one daughter, thirteen-year-old Ingrid.  Along their route, they had also been joined by Judith, a Hungarian Jew who was now 22 years old and who had been saved from Church persecution by Karl and Greta, and by Markus, a young man from a small village near Ancona, in the Duchy of Spoleto, who had fled his abusive family.  The progressively larger troupe had continued its endless trek, going down the eastern coast of the Italian peninsula after crossing the Italian Alps via the Brenner Pass, then reversing course along the western coast once at the bottom of the Italian boot.  Now, the troupe was heading towards Rome, where they hoped to make good money by entertaining rich nobles and merchants.

Karl’s troupe was advancing along a portion of road flanked on both sides by plantations of olive trees when young Eric suddenly shouted out loud while pointing excitedly at the sky above them.

‘’LOOK, ABOVE US!  SOMETHING IS FLYING VERY FAST!’’

The whole group stopped at once and craned their necks, looking up and following with their disbelieving eyes some kind of large, round object speeding silently by at high altitude while creating a white condensation trail.  Greta signed herself as she looked at the impossible sight.

‘’Dear Mother of God!  What could that be?’’

‘’I frankly don’t have a clue about that, Greta.’’ replied her husband Karl.  ‘’However, it doesn’t appear to be some kind of flying animal: its round shape is too regular and it doesn’t have wings.’’

‘’Could it be a manifestation from God…or from the Devil?’’ asked hesitantly young Ingrid.  Karl took some time before answering her while continuing to follow the flying ball as it sped away towards the East.

‘’I just don’t know, Ingrid.  It looked like a ship sailing by, if I would have to compare it to something.  However, it is now gone and we still have some way to go before arriving in Gaeta, so let’s resume our trip.’’

They barely had time to travel another 600 meters along the old paved road when the sound of approaching cavalrymen coming from the direction of Naples made them stop and turn around, alarm filling them: too many times, men on horses meant either soldiers on the move or some noble and his escort ready to sweep them off the road in order to continue at speed.  What Karl saw made him tense up at once: nine armed men were riding towards them, dressed like members of some noble family’s retinue.

‘’Quick, let’s get off the road to let those men pass!’’ ordered urgently Karl to his troupe.  They just had time to do so before the riders came to their level.  However, instead of galloping past them, the riders stopped next to the troupe, with the leading cavalryman asking a question in a harsh tone to Karl, using Neapolitan.

‘’YOU!  HAVE YOU SEEN A TEENAGE ARAB GIRL LATELY?’’

‘’Uh, no, Sire!’’ replied Karl, telling the truth.  ‘’Is she wanted for some crime?’’

‘’SHE SURE IS!  THAT AÏSHA IS AN ESCAPED SLAVE GIRL WHO MURDERED HER OWNER.  IF YOU FIND HER AND RETURN HER TO NAPLES, THERE WILL BE A GOOD REWARD FOR YOU.’’

‘’Then, I will keep an eye for such a girl, Sire.’’

‘’DO THAT!  FORWARD, MEN!’’

Karl, like his family and troupe members, let out a sigh of relief as the riders continued northward on the road.  Greta waited until the riders were way too far to hear her before speaking to her husband.

‘’Whatever reason that Arab girl had to kill her owner, I can’t blame her for it, Karl: slavery is an insult to God.’’

‘’I agree with you, Greta, but there is nothing we can do about that cruel institution.  Only the Pope could possibly have the power to ban that practice.  However, I am not going to hold my breath for that to happen.  The Church has already proved too often that it is the first to violate Jesus’ commandment to be kind and tolerant towards others.’’

Judith, whose family had been burned at the stake as heretics by the Church in her village south of Salzburg, could only nod her head at that.  Karl then had 18-year-old Markus replace him at pulling the group’s cart before they resumed their trip. 

 

17:41 (Rome Time)

Via Appia, 128 kilometers southeast of Rome

Making first Markus and the cart stop, Karl looked up at the Sun, now quite low on the western horizon, then looked around him at the woods flanking both sides of the old road.  Seeing a small stream running parallel to the road at some distance and visible through the trees, he pointed it to the members of his troupe.

‘’We won’t get to Gaeta before nightfall: this old road’s pitiful state slowed us down too much.  Let’s get our cart off the road and go towards that stream.  We will then establish our camp for the night near the stream, where we will be able to get some fresh water.  Follow me, Markus!’’

‘’You would think that those damn aristocrats and Church leaders would have collected enough money with their crushing taxes to at least pay for some road maintenance, hey?’’ said Markus while pulling the cart off the road to follow Karl between the dispersed trees.  That attracted a snicker from Greta.

‘’You are dreaming, right?  Those fat nobles, spending their precious gold on something else than their banquets, palaces and various luxuries?  They don’t give a damn about us little people and never will.’’

‘’But Churchmen must care more for us than the nobles, no?’’ asked 10-year-old Cedrik to his mother Greta, getting a shake of the head in response.

‘’The only difference between Church leaders and nobles is that the Church leaders are fatter, Cedrik.  They make their pious prayers and speeches only to get more money from us during masses.  I will however concede that monks, who have made vows of poverty, tend to care more about others, but that’s about all.  Once we are in Rome, you will be able to see how ‘poor’ the Church is.’’

Making Markus stop the cart a few paces from the stream, next to a tree, Karl waved at a small clearing surrounded by trees.

‘’This looks like a fine spot for our camp.  Erik, Ingrid and Cedrik, you go collect deadwood for our fire.  Greta, collect loose stones to build our campfire while me, Markus and Judith erect our tents.  And don’t I see anybody pee in the stream!  I want that water to stay fresh.’’

That made Ingrid giggle before she went off through the woods to collect dead branches for their fire, accompanied by her two brothers.  Out of the experience from long practice, the group took less than half an hour to build their camp, with their two tents and light cart surrounding a small fire contained within a circle of stones.  Thankfully, while the darkening sky was covered with clouds, no rain fell.  However, the heat from the fire was most welcome in fighting off the cold air of January.  Having earned little money lately from singing, dancing and playing music in public, the only food available for supper that night was some bread and cheese, which the group ate mostly in silence.  While eating his bread, Karl thought about what his troupe could expect once in Rome.  As one of the richest cities in the region, they could reasonably hope to earn some fair amount of money there by playing in the various squares of the city and in the homes of nobles and rich merchants.  Maybe they would be able to earn enough to finally be able to buy some new clothes and, particularly, new shoes, to replace the well-worn and holed ones they presently wore.  However, as hard and uncertain that their life as a traveling entertainers’ group was, Karl did not regret the choices he had made in the past, starting with fleeing his native village near Regensburg, in Bavaria.  He may be a poor man, but at least he was a free man.  The same could be said of Greta, Judith and Markus, who also had fled their original homes to escape either abuse or persecution.  His sixteen years on the road, from his native Bavaria, across the Italian Alps and down the Italian Peninsula, had shown him that the vast majority of the people he had seen and met was about as poor as him and his troupe, with peasants and farmers often indentured to their farms and enduring heavy taxes, while a tiny minority of nobles, churchmen and rich merchants profited from their people and lived in luxury, eating to their content.  Karl then couldn’t help feel some discouragement as he contemplated his long-term prospects.  What he was most worried about was the future of his three children.  He was still healthy, thank God for that but, at the age of 32, he was already well advanced into the kind of life expectancy he could hope for.  Greta’s future was even more uncertain, as any new pregnancy for her could well mean her death in labor, a fate that struck too many women in all the countries they had traveled through.  Once he and Greta would be dead, then their three children would have to survive and grow on their own, with little or no assistance from others, especially not from those selfish nobles.  If any of them fell sick, then the most they could hope for was a place in some Church-run hospice, while it was more likely that they would simply die or starve because they couldn’t entertain others anymore.  The troupe’s future prospects would also grow gloomier as they progressed northward, reaching colder regions where Winter would mean more misery for all of them. 

Karl was still in his morose thoughts when an alarmed shout from his son Erik suddenly made him stiffen.

‘’HEY, SOMETHING MOVED OVER THERE, IN THE WOODS.’’

Grabbing at once the javelin he had put beside him on the grass, then jumping on his feet, Karl scanned the dark forest in the direction indicated by his son, while the rest of the group grabbed whatever weapon they had, be they knives, improvised clubs or small stones.  Cautiously advancing with his javelin pointed forward, Karl walked slowly towards the bushes indicated by his son Erik while shouting in Neapolitan.

‘’WHOEVER YOU ARE, COME OUT IN THE OPEN!’’

Still not sure if what Erik had seen was a person or simply an animal, like a boar or a dear, Karl stopped some five paces from a bush whose leaves had just shaken.  After a few tense seconds, a small human shape stepped out in the open, facing Karl with both hands raised to face level.  That shape proved to be a young teenage girl with brown skin wearing a simple short white tunic.  She was also barefoot.  Karl was then able to guess rather easily who she was and spoke again in Neapolitan.

‘’Is your name Aïsha?’’ 

The girl nodded her head slightly before speaking, also in Neapolitan.

‘’Yes!  How do you know my name?’’

‘’Riders from Naples looking for you told us that a slave girl was on the run after killing her master.  Is it true that you killed your master?’’

The teenager, who was quite beautiful and appeared of Arabic blood, answered him in a nearly defiant tone.

‘’Yes, I did!  The fat bastard wanted to rape me and I was able to grab a dagger and stab him as he lay over me.  I do not regret killing him.  Are you going to hand me over to his family?’’

Karl did not reply to that question immediately, his mind racing through the possible repercussions of this encounter.  If he did return to Naples and handed her to the family of her master, he would probably be rewarded with a fair sum of money, money that his family and troupe could certainly use to survive and continue their road trip.  If he sheltered her, then he would put himself and his whole family at risk if someone recognized her in the next few days, in which case he would be accused of harboring a fugitive slave and murderer.  One last option to him would be to chase her away and forget that they had met, which was a fairly safe option.  Karl then detailed more carefully the girl, noting how thin she was: like many slaves he had seen in the past, she had probably been kept close to starvation while being worked hard and being beaten from time to time.  That last point finally decided him and he lowered his javelin’s tip while speaking in a soft tone to the girl.

‘’Are you hungry, girl?’’

Seeing her nod her head, he then pointed his family’s campfire to her.

‘’Then, come sit near our fire, Aïsha.  We don’t have much but we have some bread and cheese.’’

‘’Thank you!’’

As she followed him back to the campfire, Karl motioned to his family and companions to lower or let go their weapons.

‘’Calm down: we will offer her hospitality for tonight.’’

‘’But we risk a lot if found with her, Karl.’’ objected at once Markus, who was still holding on to his camp knife.  ‘’Those riders who passed us earlier on will most certainly have alerted the people in Gaeta about that girl.  If we are seen with her there, we could all be hanged for harboring a fugitive slave and murderer.’’

‘’And what did we do when we first met you near Ancona, two years ago?  Did we return you to your abusive family?  Did we refuse to help you?’’

Markus, a rather short and thin young man, hesitated, then sheeted back his knife while lowering his head.

‘’No!  You are right, Karl.  But what will we do with her?  She still could be recognized in Gaeta when we will arrive there tomorrow.’’

‘’I don’t know yet, Markus.  At least, let’s give her some food and shelter for the night, then we will see.’’

Greta, smiling gently to the girl, showed her a place next to their campfire.

‘’Come and sit here, Aïsha.  I will get some bread, cheese and water for you.’’

‘’Thank you!  You are really kind people, to help me like this despite of the risks.  Are you pilgrims going to Rome?’’

‘’No!  We are traveling musicians and entertainers and we have been on the road for years, stopping in villages and towns and playing to earn enough money to survive.  My name is Greta and this is my husband Karl.  The young man there is Markus and this is Judith, a Jewish girl whom we saved from Church persecution in Carinthia{1}, when she was only eight-years-old.  We have two sons, Erik and Cedrik, and a daughter, Ingrid.  Me and Karl originally came from Bavaria, quite far from here to the North.  How about you?  Where were you from?’’

‘’I am from Sicily, but the boat transporting my family and me sank and I was then captured and enslaved by passing Neapolitan fishermen, who then sold me to the owner I killed.  I was eleven at that time.’’

‘’Reduced to slavery at eleven…what a cruel fate!’’

Greta then hesitated before continuing.

‘’You said that you were from Sicily.  Are you a Saracen{2}?’’

‘’Yes, I am!  My ex-master often beat me up to force me to renounce Islam but I resisted him.’’

That confession attracted a frown on Markus’ face, who had just sat back next to the campfire.

‘’A Muslim girl?  That could aggravate our case if we are caught with her.’’

‘’And helping a Jewish girl like Judith did not put us at risk, Markus?’’ replied Greta, her voice hardening.  ‘’Stop worrying about yourself and show some true Christian charity and compassion towards other unfortunate people, Markus.’’

That seemed to chastise into silence the young Lombard man, who clamed up and resumed his eating as Greta fetched some bread and cheese for Aïsha, along with a cup of water.

After they all finished their meager, frugal meal, Greta borrowed an old robe that had belonged to her daughter Ingrid, who had since outgrown it, and accompanied Aïsha to the nearby stream, so that she could wash and change out of her slave’s tunic, which could betray her to the people of Gaeta.  As she was about to slip her tunic off over her head, the teenage girl handed her a dagger she had been hiding at her belt.

‘’This is what I used to kill my master.  I suppose that it could attract trouble on me…and you, if someone found it.’’

Greta, taking the dagger offered by Aïsha, examined it for a few seconds: it was a high-quality blade and had obviously belonged to a rich person.  It also was smeared with blood.  Greta then threw out the dagger into the woods, as far as she could, then looked down at the girl, who was a good half-head shorter than her.

‘’You were right: it could have brought us only trouble.  Now, let’s clean you up.’’

Using a sponge dipped repeatedly into the stream, Greta rubbed it over Aïsha’s young body, removing the grime and sweat covering it.  She then used her old slave’s tunic to dry her before slipping Ingrid’s old dress over her head.  In these hard times, and with the stiff price of new clothes, one used old clothes to the maximum and also kept them in case a new child would one day wear it.  Unfortunately, they had no spare shoes for this new girl: all the shoes worn by the troupe members were already well-worn and often sported holes.  Once Aïsha was dressed, Greta crouched in front of her and smiled to her.

‘’As I said earlier, we are a group of traveling musicians and entertainers.  If you are to stay with us, you might as well join our troupe and learn a skill.  Do you know how to play an instrument, or sing or dance?’’

‘’I am good at dancing, something I liked doing.’’

‘’Excellent!  About our visit to Gaeta tomorrow, don’t worry: we will find a way to keep you safe.  By the way, which language can you speak apart from Neapolitan?’’

‘’My native language is the Arabic dialect spoken in Sicily.  I learned Neapolitan during my two years as a slave in Naples.  And you, Greta?’’

‘’Me?  I was fifteen when I fled my Bavarian village with Karl and have been traveling ever since.  As a result, apart from my native Alaman, I learned Hungarian, Lombard and Neapolitan, plus know some Latin.  My husband Karl also speaks the same languages as me.  Uh, do you mind if I asked you a very personal question?’’

‘’What question?’’

‘’While a slave, did men ever take you?’’

The teenager lowered her head at that and nodded once.

‘’The fishermen who retrieved me from the sea after my boat sank took turns on me before selling me off into slavery.’’

Greta couldn’t help flinch on hearing that: to be gang-raped at the age of eleven!  She could only imagine the kind of cruelty and abuse the poor girl had to go through.  That however only reinforced Greta’s resolve to act like a true, kind and compassionate Christian, contrary to what too many hypocritical Christians she had met behaved.  Getting back up, she gently took the hand of the Arab teenager and led her back towards the camp.

‘’You will sleep in the women’s tent tonight, Aïsha, so don’t worry about being abused again.’’

 

07:09 (Rome Time)

Wednesday, January 4, 862 C.E.

Via Appia, 128 kilometers southeast of Rome

‘’COME ON, PEOPLE!  TIME TO HIT THE ROAD AGAIN!’’

Spurred by Karl’s shouted commands, the members of his troupe quickly packed away their tents and utensils and loaded them on their tiny cart.  Unsure what to do, Aïsha went to Karl, who dominated her by a good head.

‘’What do I do now, Karl?  Are you going to hide me?’’

Karl gave her a gentle smile while brushing her long black hair with one hand.

‘’First, your name is now Maria and you are a Neapolitan dancer I hired as part of my troupe a month ago, while in Naples.  You will do your best not to react if someone calls out your real name, possibly as a test of your identity.  Second, you will hide in our cart until we are inside Gaeta, so that the riders we met yesterday won’t see you on their way back to Naples.  Third, when facing other people, look and act as if you are a half-dumb girl, so that it would excuse your less than perfect Neapolitan.  If you are recognized in Gaeta or elsewhere during our trip, then we could all be killed, so take your roleplaying seriously from now on.  Do you understand me, Maria?’’

‘’Yes!  Thank you for helping me like this.’’

‘’Thank me by being a great dancer and helping us earn plenty of money while we do our shows.  Now, get inside that big bundle containing our tents and move as little as possible.  If you need to relieve yourself, then you better do it now, before we start rolling.’’

‘’Then, give me a minute, Karl!’’

As the teenage girl started running into the trees, Karl suddenly called her up.

‘’AÏSHA!’’

The girl stopped and turned around, then realized her mistake on seeing the sarcastic look on Karl’s face.

‘’Oh!  You mean ‘Maria’?’’

‘’Exactly!  Now, go but be more careful from now on.  Our lives will depend on that.’’

After about two minutes, the girl came back at a run, with Karl nodding his head.

‘’That was indeed fast, Aïsha.’’

‘’Who?’’ replied the Arab girl, looking confused and making Karl grin.

‘’That’s better!  Climb in and stay as still and mum as you can until I say so.  We should arrive in Gaeta at around noon.’’ 

Once Aïsha was hidden on the cart, Karl went to its pulling bar and started moving it out of the woods and onto the old Via Appia, with the rest of the troupe walking alongside or behind it.  It wasn’t long before they started passing by other travelers, either merchants driving donkey or ox-drawn carts or chariots or pilgrims going to or returning from Rome. 

The troupe had been traveling for about one hour when Karl stiffened and gave a warning to Aïsha.

‘’Be still, Maria!  The riders who were looking for you yesterday are now approaching, coming from Gaeta, where they probably gave the alert about you.  Whatever happens in the next few minutes, don’t speak and don’t move.’’

With the whole troupe now on alert, Karl noticed that they were not the only travelers crossing path with the riders to act with sudden caution by keeping their distances: aristocratic messengers and guards like them were known for their often arrogant attitudes and brutal ways.  Thankfully, the riders simply trotted by him and his cart without even one look and continued south on the road, allowing Karl to breathe in relief once they were out of sight.

‘’Phew!  Thank God that they were not more suspicious.’’

Raising a corner of the big bundle in which their two tents were wrapped, he spoke in a low voice to Aïsha.

‘’Those riders from Naples I met yesterday on the road just passed again, going back to Naples.  I believe that it can be safe for you to come out by discreetly sliding back and then walk next to the rear of the cart.  However, be ready to hide back on the cart the moment I tell you to.’’

‘’Okay!’’ replied the teenage girl before sliding out of her hiding place, ending one pace behind the cart and with a long scarf wrapped around her head and hiding the lower half of her face.  Karl then pulled his cart back on the road, which he had left to let the horsemen pass, and resumed his trip to Gaeta.

Some three hours later, as the town of Gaeta was becoming visible in the distance, sitting on the slopes of a hill crowned by a castle, a huge shape suddenly sped by at low altitude, flying roughly from North to South.  The troupe, like a merchant driving a heavily loaded chariot crossing paths with it at the time, was both stunned and terrified by the fleeting flyby, which was accompanied by a noise similar to that of a strong rush of wind.  Before they could ask each other what that had been, a second similar giant object sped over them, following the first one.  Greta, following with her eyes the two extremely fast flying objects as they disappeared in the southern sky, put one hand on her furiously beating heart.

‘’DEAR MOTHER OF GOD!  WHAT WAS THAT?’’

While Karl and the others could not answer her question, the merchant they had been level with on the road at that time spoke up, looking enthusiastic rather than scared.

‘’Those, my good woman, were two of the flying ships of the people from the future.’’

‘’The people from the future?  What the hell are you talking about, man?’’ asked Karl, completely flustered.  In turn, the merchant, who had a teenage boy sitting next to him in his chariot, looked at him with some surprise.

‘’What?  You never heard about the people from the future?  In which hole have you been in during the last couple of months?’’

‘’Uh, in and around Naples and Salerno.’’ answered Karl, making the merchant smile.

‘’Those are holes alright!  Big holes but still holes.  To make a long story short, I landed in Ostia by boat a few days ago, coming from Narbonne, where I had boarded a ship after visiting the Frankish city of Toulouse.  Well, believe me or not but, some three months ago, a fleet of gigantic flying ships coming from the far future visited Toulouse.  There, the people from the future concluded an alliance with the Count of Toulouse, who gave them some lands next to his city.  Those people from the future, who possess some incredibly advanced knowledge and use extremely powerful weapons and machines, in turn built overnight a giant tower that reaches the clouds.  That tower is incredibly beautiful and can be seen from afar, both at day and night.  These people also massacred the Vikings who were approaching Toulouse at the time and also destroyed the other Viking armies busy burning and looting other Frankish cities.  They now operate a fabulous open marketplace next to Toulouse, where they trade a variety of advanced goods against foodstuff like cereals, fruits and olive oil.  I was on my way back from Bordeaux, where I had bought many barrels of fine wine, and stopped for two days in Toulouse, where I exchanged part of my wine for a mountain of steel tools and products that I will assuredly be able to sell at great profit in Capua.’’

‘’What kind of steel tools and products?’’ asked the astounded Karl, his mind in turmoil.  In response, the merchant searched in one of the wooden boxes loaded in his chariot and extracted a 75-millimeter-long nail, which he handed to Karl.

‘’Like steel nails of various sizes.  They sell these steel products at incredibly cheap prices, despite their high quality.  In fact, a box of 200 such nails, all completely similar, cost me only three silver deniers.’’

‘’ONLY THREE DENIERS?!’’ exclaimed Karl.  ‘’But one handmade nail normally costs close to one denier.  Yet, this nail of yours is the best-looking one I ever saw.  What about the goals of these people from the future?  Did they come as conquerors?’’

The expression on the merchant’s face became sober then as he shook his head.

‘’They didn’t come as conquerors, but as refugees, if I could believe the stories I heard in Toulouse.’’

Karl’s jaw dropped wide open at those words.

‘’As refugees?  When they have flying ships and can massacre whole Viking armies?  You don’t make sense, my friend!’’

‘’Well, feel free to believe me or not, my good man, but I will tell you this: go to Toulouse!  What those people from the future are building there is like the Garden of Eden.  I have to go now, so that I could go sell my nails before someone else returns to Capua from Toulouse.  You can keep the nail.  Tata!’’

Karl, like the members of his troupe and young Aïsha, watched the merchant’s chariot roll away for a long moment before they formed a tight circle next to their cart, examining in turn the nail given by the merchant.

‘’That man must have been drunk!’’ said Markus, agitated.  ‘’His story is too fantastic to be believed.’’

‘’Well, we are not drunk and we still saw those two huge flying ships, Markus.’’ shot back Greta, making Karl nod his head slowly.

‘’You do have a point there, my dear Greta.  Maybe we will learn more about these supposed people from the future once in Gaeta.  Let’s continue our trip: asking ourselves many questions about such fantastic things now will get us nowhere.’’

His troupe members could only agree on that, thus resumed their trip once Karl switched place with Markus in order to rest a bit from his cart pulling.

 

13:11 (Rome Time)

South gate of Gaeta

Thankfully for the troupe, the local guards dressed and equipped in Byzantine fashion and manning the southern gate of the town of Gaeta did not ask them or other travelers to pay a gate toll, contrary to many other towns in the region.  What the troupe found, though, was a flurry of conversations, discussions and even verbal confrontations among the population of Gaeta about what the merchant they had crossed path with had called ‘the people from the future’.  As they slowly made their way towards the central marketplace of the town, still pulling their cart, the members of the troupe could see that the recent passage of the two swift flying ships had reinvigorated what was obviously a hot subject locally.  What also quickly became obvious to Karl and Greta was that, despite all that talk, little solid information about these people from the future was factually known, apart from the fact that they had flying ships and were present in the Frankish city of Toulouse.  That made Karl scratch his head in both confusion and frustration.

‘’Damn!  How are we supposed to make out what these ‘people from the future’ really are, if what we have is only wild rumors and some fleeting appearances by flying ships?’’

‘’And why don’t we go ourselves to Toulouse to see what is true about them, Father?’’ proposed young Ingrid.  ‘’We are already on our way towards the Northwest.  Why not follow up the coast and go past Genoa and Massilia{3} to go to Toulouse?’’

That made Karl smile while pointing an index at her.

‘’Ingrid, you are indeed a smart girl!  I think that we will do just that.  First, though, we need to earn some money in order to be able to buy something to eat.  Once in the town’s central marketplace, we will set up a show for the passersby.’’

January being off-season for the growing of local crops, the troupe found the town’s central market half deserted, with only the temporary shops and tents of merchants selling imported items and products occupying it and with a few dozen people milling around.  Going to an unoccupied corner of the market place, Karl had his troupe park their cart and break out their instruments in order to provide a public show.  However, he had to say ‘no’ to young Aïsha when she proposed to help by dancing for the public.

‘’Thank you for your eagerness to help, Maria, but the passage of those riders from Naples is still too fresh and someone could point you out if you make yourself plainly visible.  Keep that scarf over your face and stay near the cart for the moment.  You will be able to dance once we will be in Rome.’’

Karl then took out his lute, while Greta prepared her Celtic harp and Markus sat down with his goblet drum.  On their part, Judith grabbed her flute while Ingrid prepared herself to dance and Erik took hold of a wooden bowl meant to collect the coins the spectators would be ready to give after the show.  Their preparations quickly attracted a small crowd around their cart, a crowd that increasingly grew in size after they started playing, singing and dancing.  Karl prided himself in being a good entertainer and sang along his wife Greta while playing his lute.  Greta also sang while playing her harp, her favorite instrument, accompanied by Judith on the flute and by Markus on the drum.  Ingrid, who had taken off her long, roughly-made travel dress, revealing her much shorter show light dress, proved at once very popular with the male spectators, with much of her long and well-shaped legs now exposed to their eyes.  Their first number attracted genuine applauds from the forty or so spectators watching the show and Erik was able to collect quite a few coins from the crowd.  Encouraged by this initial success, Karl made his group play a second song, livelier than the first one.  Ingrid also became more energetic with her dancing, twisting and turning in ways that made her short skirt fly up, revealing even more of her legs.  This time, that second dance and song earned the group a few silver coins on top of the more usual copper coins.  An aristocrat lady and her suite then joined the crowd of spectators as a third song and dance followed.  That noblewoman obviously liked the group’s show and warmly applauded at the end, stunning young Erik by dropping a gold coin in his wooden bowl.  As Karl announced a short break in order to rest a bit, the aristocrat woman went to him, prompting Karl in bowing to her.

‘’What may I do for you, my lady?’’

‘’I liked your show and I would like for your troupe to come entertain my family this evening.’’

‘’We would be most pleased to do so, my lady.’’ replied Karl, hiding his satisfaction: entertaining nobles was by far the best way to make good money.  ‘’Where should we show up and at what time, my lady?’’

‘’Show up at the Hypati{4}’s castle, up the hill, before supper.  Tell the guards then that you came on the invitation of Lady Livia, the daughter-in-law of the Hypati.’’ 

‘’We will certainly be there at that time, Lady Livia.’’ said Karl, who couldn’t believe his luck.  The noblewoman smiled, then turned around and walked away with her small suite of servants and guards.  The other members of the troupe then gathered around Karl, eager to learn what the woman had told her.  Greta was particularly ecstatic on learning that they would play for the family of the local consul.

‘’That is great news!  We will be able both to make lots of money and eat a good supper.  With luck, we will be offered a place to spend the night at the castle.’’

That attracted a concert of pleased reactions: while their two tents were fairly sturdy, they still made for cramped accommodations where heavy rains could and would flood the ground on which they had been pitched and which were quite cold in Winter.

Getting back into their act, the troupe performed for another hour or so, earning in the process more coins.  Then, with all of them being quite famished, the troupe went to one of the popular soup kitchens established around the market place, where they ate a reasonably good chicken and vegetable stew and drank some local ale and cider.  In that, they were doing like a large number of common people who were too poor to buy their own cooking utensils or pay for firewood to feed a stove or kitchen fire.  Such popular soup kitchens were in fact a common occurrence in the towns and cities of the time, with the practice dating at least as far back as the ancient Roman Empire.  Those popular soup kitchens also often had a rather bad or at least suspicious reputation for often spoiled or overpriced food, with a popular saying declaring that food came from God, while the Devil provided the cooks.

With the Sun starting to go down and with their stomachs filled, with a fair amount of coins now in their purses, Karl led his troupe up the hill, helped by Markus and Erik in pulling their cart towards the castle.  They were stopped at the main gate by two guards, with one of them eyeing the group before speaking to Karl.

‘’What are you doing here?’’

‘’We are a group of entertainers and we were invited to come here by Lady Livia, who wanted us to perform at supper time this evening.’’

The senior guard, who had obviously received some instructions about the group, then nodded his head.

‘’Stay here!  I will go get one of the Chamberlain’s{5} assistants.’’

The guard then walked away, to return a few minutes later with a middle-aged man who eyed the troupe before gesturing with one hand.

‘’Please follow me!’’

Following him past the fortified entrance gate, Karl and his group walked across an internal courtyard and soon entered a stable, where they found large stacks of hay and a few horses.  The assistant chamberlain then pointed one of the stacks of hay.

‘’You can use that corner of the stables for the night.  You will find both water and a chamber pot in the nearby stable boys’ dependency.  Who is in charge of your group?’’

‘’I am!’’ said Karl while stepping forward.  ‘’My name is Karl and I originate from Bavaria.  I have been a traveling musician for sixteen years now.’’

The man nodded his head, obviously pleased at hearing about his amount of experience.

‘’Then, make yourselves comfortable here for the time being.  You may even practice with your instruments in the meantime.  I will come and guide you to the main hall when your time to perform will come.  After you will be finished performing, you will then be able to eat supper at a separate table set in a corner of the main hall.  Be ready to play again if one of the guests asks so during the evening.’’

‘’Of course, Sire!’’

With the man then leaving the stables, Karl looked around him and pointed at an empty spot next to the mound of hay.

‘’Okay, lets push our cart against the wall, next to the hay.  Then we will go clean up and prepare for our show.  Maria, I will especially want you to practice your dancing with Ingrid, so that you can learn about the kind of music we play and the rhythm to follow.’’

‘’But, Karl, you told me earlier to be discrete and stay out of sight.’’

‘’Yes, I did, while we were in the marketplace.  Here, the Consul or some of his people could wonder why a pretty girl like you is traveling with us but not performing with us.  We will have to take our chances on that this evening.’’

‘’As you wish, Karl.’’ said Aïsha, only half convinced.

Some three hours later, the assistant chamberlain came back to the stables to get them and led the troupe inside the castle proper, to finally introduce them into a large, vaulted high-ceiling hall where servants were busy setting up tables and benches for the coming supper.  The assistant chamberlain then pointed at a solitary pair of tables set in a far corner.

‘’You will be able to sit at one of those two tables, along with the Hypati’s servants, when it will be time for you to eat.  The Hypati and his family and guests should start arriving in about half an hour.  Be ready to perform by then.  I will be the one to introduce you and your troupe.  Remind me of your name again.’’

‘’I am Karl, from the area of Regensburg, in Bavaria.’’

‘’Then, Karl the Bavarian and his troupe it will be.’’

The assistant chamberlain then left them to go direct some of the servants in the hall.  On his part, Karl led his group to the table assigned to them, where he looked straight into Aïsha’s eyes while speaking to her in a near whisper.

‘’Listen to me, Maria: this is very important.  One of the cardinal rules for people like us when invited inside a castle, mansion or palace is to never jump into a conversation between our hosts and his or her guests, unless you are directly asked to speak.  Doing otherwise is considered extremely impolite and inappropriate and could get us thrown out, often after being punished.  So, even if you hear something that you think you should talk about, don’t!  Also, I know that you Muslims can’t eat pork, like Judith, who is Jewish.  If we are served pork for supper, don’t say a word and nibble at the side dishes or eat bread, while we take care of making at least part of your portion of pork disappear discretely.  Do you understand me?’’

‘’Yes, Karl!  About eating pork, I won’t mind that: during my over two years into slavery, my ex-master took pleasure into starving me by giving me only pork to eat.  After a few weeks of that treatment I gave up, figuring out that Allah, in his infinite wisdom and kindness, would understand my reasons.’’

Karl shook slowly his head at this story of cruelty and sadism.  Too many so-called Christians conducted themselves in a way that would have displeased the good Lord Jesus.

‘’Still, we will be ready to help you if you need it, Maria.’’

‘’And I thank you for that, Karl.  You and your troupe are truly good people.’’

‘’You’re welcome, Maria.’’

The troupe’s wait wasn’t very long, actually, with the first supper guests arriving only a few minutes later and with the Hypati and his family entering the hall some twenty minutes later.  The costume worn by Hypati Constantine however surprised Karl, who nearly did a doubletake.

‘’The Hypati is a man of the Church?’’

A servant passing near him at the time gave him a benevolent smile.

‘’He is!  Hypati Constantine was the Bishop of Formiae before his enemies chased him out years ago, forcing him to flee to Gaeta.  Now, he is the Bishop of Gaeta…and the Hypati.’’

‘’And…does he still have many enemies?’’

The servant nearly laughed at his question.

‘’Does he have enemies?  My poor man, every nobleman or ruler in Italy has his lot of enemies and rivals, including the Pope himself.’’

The servant then walked away, leaving Karl to digest his words.  Actually, it was easy to believe that servant, as what he had said was true about the local rulers and nobles of nearly all the lands and countries Karl had gone through during his years of traveling.

As soon as the Hypati had arrived, he clapped his hands twice together just before sitting at the head table.

‘’Please sit, my friends, and let’s have supper together.’’

Everybody else waited until Constantine had sat before imitating him.  Karl couldn’t help notice then that no woman was sitting next to the Hypati.  Maybe he was a widower, Karl reasoned, something that was far from rare for mature men of the time.  A procession of six servants then entered, carrying soup bowls which were then distributed to the Hypati, his family and his guests.  Aïsha was about to ask why the troupe was not being served as well when Karl spoke to her in a low voice.

‘’We will be served after we give our show, Maria: we are supposed to entertain the guests while they eat.’’

Effectively, the assistant chamberlain approached them as soon as all the others had received their soups.

‘’I am going to announce your troupe.  Be ready to start performing.’’

As the man then turned around and walked to a position a few paces in front of the head table, Karl signaled to his troupe members to grab their instruments and go take position in the middle of the hall.  Karl grabbed a stool as the assistant chamberlain bowed to the Hypati and his family and spoke.

‘’Your Excellency, it is my pleasure this evening to announce that the troupe of Karl the Bavarian will be playing and entertaining us tonight with music and dancing.’’

‘’Then, let’s hear them!’’ pronounced Constantine, a slightly overweight man of rather short stature who was in his late forties.  The assistant chamberlain bowed to him again, then turned around and nodded to Karl, who spoke briefly to Judith, Ingrid and Aïsha.

‘’We will start with a round dance.  One, two, three!’’

Karl then started playing his lute, accompanied by Markus’ goblet drum and Greta’s flute, while Judith, Ingrid and Aïsha started dancing an old form of pagan dance, holding each other’s hands.  Karl, who had a nice voice, also started singing in Alaman while playing his lute.  The Hypati and his guests watched on while eating their soups and exchanging a few words and comments, to applaud warmly at the end of the first dance.  Constantine then looked at Karl, speaking to him in Neapolitan.

‘’That was a nice piece, Karl of Bavaria.  Do you know any ballad in Neapolitan or Latin, to which your girls could do a slow dance?’’

‘’I certainly do, Your Excellency!’’

Taking a second to select a song in his mind, he then nodded to Greta.

‘’Get your Celtic harp, Greta.  We will play ‘Lothar’s Ballad’.’’

Getting her harp and a stool, Greta then sat next to Karl and Markus, while Judith quickly explained in whispers to Ingrid and Aïsha the kind of moves to do for that dance.  With Markus switching to a sort of early guitar fiddle named ‘cithara’ and with both Karl and Greta singing, Judith led Ingrid and Aïsha in a slow, whirling dance around the hall, passing close by the guest tables and the high table, smiling to the dinners as they passed by them.  Aïsha, who had done many such dances during her time as a slave girl and who knew well the effect she could have on men, made her moves as provocative as possible without becoming offensive to the noble women present, with the idea of earning as much tips as possible for Karl’s troupe.  She did not miss the fact that the Hypati seemed especially captivated by her and gave him an extra warm smile when she waltzed in front of him.  Her charms and those of Ingrid and Judith, who were also quite beautiful in their own rights, apparently won the appreciation of the Hypati, who applauded warmly at the end of that ballad.  Calling his chamberlain to him, he whispered to him while giving him a few coins which he took from his belt purse.  As the chamberlain then went to Karl, the latter noticed that Constantine quickly conversed in whispers with his son Marinus and his daughter-in-law Livia, who nodded their heads and smiled in response.  Karl was wondering what was going on when the chamberlain stopped in front of him and gave him a fistful of coins while whispering to him.

‘’His Excellency liked very much your ballad and your girls’ dancing.  There will be more coins like these if your girls could, uh, spice up the next dance for the enjoyment of His Excellency.’’

Looking at the coins he now had in his hand, Karl’s eyes opened wide on seeing that they were gold solidus coins, each of which equaled twelve silver denarii.  Not being a fool and having heard such ‘wishes’ before, what the Hypati truly wanted was not difficult to figure out.  His long experience on the road had also taught him that nobles and churchmen of high rank were often far from immune to the temptations of the flesh and were accustomed to get what they wanted.

‘’Uh, give me time to speak to my girls first.  They may have to go change before their next dance.’’

‘’Do that, but don’t disappoint the Hypati.’’ 

On that less than subtle warning, the chamberlain walked back to his own place at the guest tables.  Calling his troupe members close to him, Karl looked at Judith, Ingrid and Aïsha.

‘’Look, girls, I do not wish to force you to do this, but the Hypati is ready to give us gold if you could make your next dance more, uh, revealing.  He already gave me five gold solidus and is promising more if we satisfy him.  On the other hand, refusing his request would most probably get us booted out of the castle.  What do you say?’’

Judith, obviously not too pleased by that, nonetheless decided to go with the flow: the amount of money they could earn tonight would easily sustain the whole troupe for weeks on the road.  Ingrid also agreed with a nod, sighing in resignation.  The reaction from Aïsha however surprised them all.

‘’I had to dance naked many times for my ex-master.  I am ready to do my best to please the Hypati tonight, for the good of the troupe.’’

‘’Then, go to the stables and change into lighter attires.  Make it quick!’’

As the woman and two teenagers nearly ran out of the hall, Karl hurried to the chamberlain and spoke to him in a low voice.

‘’My girls have gone back to the stables to change and should be back in a few minutes.  Me and the rest of my troupe will play some music in the meantime.’’

‘’Excellent!  That will give us time to have the main course served.’’

Letting Karl return to his seat, the chamberlain then clapped his hands together and shouted out to the servants present in the hall.

‘’BRING IN THE MAIN COURSE!’’

Once they arrived in the stables, Judith and Ingrid searched at once in their meager collection of spare clothes, kept in their cart, trying to decide what to put on.  Seeing them both reluctant about showing their bodies and undecided about what to wear, Aïsha, who had nothing else to wear but her old slave’s short tunic, took on her to help them.

‘’Look, girls.  I can perfectly understand that you don’t like this and are not eager to show your bodies to those so-called ‘nobles’ but I had to do this constantly while I was a slave, so I can live with that.  I think that I have an idea about how to please the Hypati without shaming you.’’

‘’What do you have in mind, Maria?’’ asked Judith, whose Jewish upbringing had taught her modesty.  The Sicilian girl then spoke quickly, exposing her idea to her and Ingrid and making them nod in agreement.

Back in the main hall, the guests got served the main course, which consisted in roast beef served on thick slices of dry bread called ‘trenchers’ and covered with some sauce, plus an assortment of steamed vegetables, the lot served with wine.  Karl was eating with gusto his portion of juicy meat while Greta played her harp when the girls came back from the stables.  He frowned a bit on seeing that their new outfits were not much sexier than their previous ones but nodded his head once Judith whispered a few words into his ears.

‘’That could work.  Let me wipe my hands clean and get my lute and you will be able to start dancing.’’

Using a corner of the table cloth to wipe his hands and mouth, Karl then signaled to Markus to interrupt his eating as well and told Greta to switch to her flute before telling them what piece of music to play to accompany the dancers.  As he did so, Judith whispered a few sentences into the young Erik’s ears, making him smile in anticipation.  The Hypati, watching all that while eating, bent sideways to speak to his son Marinus.

‘’I wonder what their next dance will look like.  These girls’ dresses are not much more immodest than the ones they wore before.’’

‘’Maybe their wardrobe is limited, Father.  After all, they are obviously fairly poor.  However, their girls are definitely worth the look.  Aah, I believe that they are about to start to dance.’’

Karl, Greta and Markus effectively started playing a new piece of music, this one starting on a relatively slow rhythm as Judith, Ingrid, Aïsha and Erik started dancing.  Hypati Constantine, surprised at first to see a boy join in the dancing, quickly understood the theme of the dance and smiled in amusement as Erik whirled around the girls, touching their buttocks and chests and attracting false cries of protestation.

‘’The boy is flirting with the girls.  They turned this dance into a vaudeville.  I like that!’’

It was soon evident to all the guests that the older Judith was rejecting poor Erik’s advances, with the boy then trying his luck with Ingrid.  Ingrid in turn gave him the cold shoulder despite some quite audacious caresses from Erik, who then started buzzing around Aïsha while she danced around.  To the titillation of the Hypati and of his male guests, Aïsha seemed more receptive to the boy’s advances and let his hands go up and down her body, while her own hands rubbed a few times against his groin.  As the rhythm of the music accelerated, Erik’s moves became even more audacious and he pulled down one of the shoulder straps of Aïsha’s short tunic, making her young left breast pop out and also making the Hypati’s eyes pop out.  Continuing to dance around Aïsha, Erik very visibly fondled her left breast a few times, then pulled down the other strap of her tunic, making her topless and then fondling both of her breasts.  With falsely offended exclamations and more than a few laughs coming from the guests, Erik then pulled on one end of Aïsha’s loincloth, undoing it and leaving only the lower part of her short tunic to cover her closely shaved groin and her buttocks.  However, she then started whirling around, supposedly to escape the boy’s preying hands but also making her tunic fly around, giving tempting glimpses of her lower body to the Hypati and his guests.  By now, Constantine had creamed his robe and couldn’t take his eyes off her.  Aïsha then finished her dance by throwing her right foot up and resting it on the head table while performing a wide split in front of Constantine and giving him a wide, inviting smile, her breasts still exposed and her groin most visible to him.  Constantine, completely seduced by Aïsha, got up on his feet and applauded wildly.

‘’BRAVO!  BRAVO!  Come join me at the high table, girl.’’

‘’Right away, Your Excellency.’’ replied Aïsha before letting her right leg come down and then crawling quickly on all fours under the table, with Constantine then sitting her very close next to him and having a cover added for her.  She then gave her a mischievous smile.

‘’Should I cover back my chest, Your Excellency?’’

‘’Hell no!’’ replied at once the Bishop.  ‘’You are perfect just as you are now, girl.  And what is your name, my child?’’

‘’Maria, Your Excellency.’’

‘’Then, Maria, I think that we will get along just fine tonight.  In truth, it seems that your dance fired up many of the married men among my guests.  We may have a rather torrid night around the castle tonight.’’

At the table assigned to his troupe, Karl mentally thanked young Aïsha for offering herself as bait the way she did, saving both Judith and his own daughter Ingrid from having to expose their bodies in public.  The chamberlain soon walked to him as he was resuming eating, along with his troupe member.  Stopping at his right side, the chamberlain discretely gave him a small leather purse which clinked with metallic noises when he took it.

‘’For your troupe’s latest number, from the Hypati.  One of you is now free to walk around and collect tips from the guests while they are still all warmed up.’’

‘’Thank you very much, Sire.’’

As the chamberlain walked back to his seat, Karl told Ingrid to do the tour of the tables and collect the tips but to avoid trying to collect from the Hypati.  The blonde teenager jumped to it right away and walked around the tables with a wooden bowl, making sure to frequently bend down quite low and thus give a good view down her cleavage to the male guests, something that more than often made their tips more generous.  As for the purse given by the chamberlain, Karl found fifty silver denarii in it.  Overall, this made for a truly excellent night for his troupe, which would now be able to afford new shoes before they continued on their way to Rome.