building’s recessed doorway, trying desperately to become invisible in the darkness. I lay on the ground, attempting to tighten my entire body into the tiniest size possible.
The horses pranced out of the gate, then stopped in the street. Sir Hugh’s high-pitched voice was instructing the knights, but I couldn’t make out what he was saying. I raised my head, peering over the top of the cart, but a sharp hiss from Maryam startled me and I ducked down again.
The clouds were backlighted by the rising moon, which was almost at its highest point in the night sky. Unfortunately the shadows along the buildings lining our side of the street were beginning to shorten. If Sir Hugh and his men did not ride off soon, we were surely done for. They would see me if they came toward us, and Robard and Maryam would not be hidden for much longer either. My breath came in short gasps and the blood pounding in my ears made it difficult to think.
The sound of horses cantering down the street was a welcome relief. I peered out at the street from beneath the cart. The column rode into my view with Sir Hugh at the lead and the brothers following two abreast, and I was overjoyed to see they were heading away from us. I was about to stand up when everything went sour.
The building secreting Maryam and Robard was a small inn. During my time in Dover it had been a raucous place filled with revelers and drunks. It had fallen on hard times like the rest of the town. No sound came from within and its windows were dark. From all appearances, it looked deserted.
Yet it was not.
Before Sir Hugh and the brothers reached the end of the street, a man opened the door and stepped out carrying a bucket full of ashes, which he must have intended to dump in the street. The door had hidden Robard from his view, but he nearly trampled Maryam. Then he spotted me lying on the ground beside the cart. He bellowed, “What is this? What are you doing here?”
Robard pushed the door shut and grasped the man with one arm, clamping his other hand over the man’s mouth. The man gasped and dropped the bucket, which made a loud clanging sound when it struck the cobblestone street. He thrashed and kicked, and tried to shout out. Robard’s hand muffled his cries, but not enough.
“Quiet!” Maryam whispered. “We mean you no harm!” She tried to reach out and calm him, but he continued to struggle and moaned even louder.
Keeping my eyes on Sir Hugh, I watched in horrid fascination as he raised his hand and called his horsemen to a halt. He turned his stallion and cantered back toward us.
“Run!” I shouted.
I sprang up from my spot on the ground and starting sprinting away. Robard and Maryam did not have to be told twice, and their footsteps pounded on the street behind me.
“Thieves! Thieves!” the man shrieked.
“Stop!” Sir Hugh commanded. “I demand that you stop!”
Not bloody likely.
When we reached the corner, we turned onto the main thoroughfare leading to the marketplace.
“After them!” Sir Hugh shouted. Robard and Maryam had quickened their pace and were running beside me. Every step brought burning pain down my entire leg. I would not be able to keep this up for long.
“Better think of something quick, squire!” Robard gasped. We were no match for men on horseback, and indeed, judging by the sound of their hoofbeats, our pursuers were gaining on us.
“This way!” I shouted, darting down a narrow alley that cut across our path. This area of town was mostly shops. The alley was full of barrels, small carts and other assorted implements, which required us to carefully pick our way through. But it would make it difficult for someone on horseback to follow.
The alley twisted to the right and we kept running. The sound of hoofbeats dimmed, and for a brief second I thought we’d already lost them, but I could hear shouting coming from in front of us. “They’re trying to flank us!” Robard whispered.
We skidded to a stop a few paces from where the alley cut across another street.
“What now?” Maryam asked. The wound in my side was throbbing. Horses were heading toward us, but I could not determine from what direction.
Still gasping for breath, I hopped onto a nearby barrel. I could almost reach the roof of the building.
“Help me up,” I said.
Robard held his hands up over his head, making a platform, and I stepped into them with my left foot and pushed up. The roof was made of timbers and I found a handhold to pull myself up. “Hurry,” I said.
“You next,” Robard said to Maryam.
“No, you first,” she whispered back.
“What? No! No time to argue-up you go,” he said, holding his hands together.
“Ha!” Maryam snorted. Instead of climbing up like I had, she backed up several paces. “What are you doing?” Robard exclaimed, trying to keep his voice from rising.
“Climbing,” Maryam said. She took off, and in no more than three steps she was at full speed. Reaching the barrel, she leapt off of one foot, her other landing squarely on top of the barrel, and then vaulted herself up the side of the wall. The next thing I knew, she was beside me on the roof, reaching down to assist Robard with his climb.
Robard and I stared in wonder. “How. . did you. .” I couldn’t finish. Every time Maryam did something remarkable, I thought she couldn’t surprise me any more. Yet she continued to do just that.
We could hear men coming down the alley. Maryam and I reached down to Robard, and with each of us taking an arm he pulled himself up to the roof. The three of us lay still, waiting for the knights to appear out of the shadows. I had just enough time to draw my sword, and gripped it tightly in my hand as two Templars appeared. Their white tunics with red crosses emblazoned on the chest were easy to spot in the muted moonlight. They walked cautiously with their swords held in front of them, checking every possible hiding place.
We watched in silence as they strolled right beneath us. I could see the plumes of their breath rising up to the cold night sky. Had I wished it, I could almost have reached out and conked both of them on the head with the hilt of my sword.
The entrance to the alley was about thirty paces away. They waited there until Sir Hugh and the other men arrived, still astride their horses.
“What do you mean, they aren’t here?” he demanded. “You must have missed them. Search again.” The two men looked at each other a brief moment, then dutifully turned and retreated the way they’d come. I hoped Sir Hugh would ride off to begin searching another section of town, but he and his men remained.
A small creaking sound caught my ear and I sensed movement to my right. I had been so intent on Sir Hugh that I had failed to realize that Robard had risen to one knee and managed to string his bow. He held it up, an arrow nocked, taking aim.
Sir Hugh was only partially visible, the wall of the building opposite us hiding most of him from our view. It was far too risky a shot, and I reached over Maryam, who lay between us, and grabbed his arm. “Shh,” he whispered at me, trying to twist his arm free from my grasp.
“Robard,” I whispered, my voice so low that he had to strain to hear me, “don’t shoot.”
“Why not?” he whispered back. “When he moves back into sight, I think I can take him. We could end this here.”
“Can you shoot them all? Those are his men. We’re trapped up here. What if you miss? They could keep us here forever or even burn the building down with us on top of it,” I explained.
“Quiet,” Maryam commanded. “You two idiots are going to get us caught. I am not going to be thrown into another dungeon!”
Robard frowned and lowered his bow. “You’d probably just be hanged again,” he whispered. Maryam shook her head.
We waited, the minutes passing by. I wondered about the Grail. It had remained silent so far, but I wondered if it also pulled Sir Hugh to it somehow. I could not imagine God would allow such a thing, but yet there Sir Hugh waited, not more than a stone’s throw away, looking like something was holding him in place.
Finally, the other two knights rode up and reported to Sir Hugh. He was furious.
“Imbeciles. I’m certain it was the squire. I’d swear to it. He came here looking for me.”
“But Marshal, it could have been anyone. Perhaps some thieves-”
“No! It was them!” Sir Hugh cried. “Continue the search. They are here somewhere!”
“Yes, sir,” the knight said. All of them spurred their horses and moved off down the street. All except for Sir
