Pilgrims of Promise(164)
The baker looked surprised. “No, I … I suppose not.” It was hard for him to say the words. Weyer had been his only true home; it was where he had always belonged. “Well, it seems I have become a baker without a bakery and a man without a home. Now I am not sure who I am!” He laughed awkwardly.
Katharina took his hand as the group told more of the prior night’s discussions. The woman finally asked, “Then tell me, husband, what do you love?”
“You.”
The company clapped.
“Thankyou, sir,” Katharina said as she curtsied. “Besides me, what do you love?”
“My children.”
“And?”
“My freedom.”
“And?”
Heinrich thought for a long moment. “God?”
Alwin interrupted. “You love truth, my friend. It is truth that has pursued you and set you free. It is truth that now guides those you love. It even hangs on your hip!”
Heinrich looked at his sword thoughtfully. “Aye. ‘Tis so. It is truth that has shaped me.”
“Then call yourself ‘Heinrich Truthman,’” blurted Frieda.
“Nay, just Heinrich Godson Baker is good enough. A baker is what he is,” chimed Helmut.
“No, a baker is what he does,” answered Wil.
Pieter joined the conversation. “I remember when you were called simply ‘Friend.’”
Heinrich nodded. “Aye, Pieter. It was a dark time for me.” He fell quiet and turned his thoughts to Emma and the sunshine that lit her gardens. He tilted his head toward the pink light of the sky and the sun now rising over the mountains. He remembered how she pointed him always upward, beyond himself, and to the “eye of God.”
“Truth is beyond me, and I have too oft failed it to claim it as my own, Frieda. And Wil, I’ve no bread to bake nor ovens to heat. Nay, lads, I fear these names won’t do.” He thought a moment longer, remembering Emma’s words exactly. The sun and the moon are like the eyes of truth; sunshine is hope, and moonlight is mercy. The man looked at Katharina and then took her hand. “I would like to be called Heinrich Godson Lieberlicht… Heinrich, Lover of light.”
Katharina smiled broadly. She took his hand. “Tis wonderful, husband. And I, of course, do gladly take your name.”
It was agreed, and the man repeated his new name over and over. He looked once more at the sun now in full orb above the horizon. He drew a deep breath into his lungs and looked at the white clouds floating in the blue sky overhead. “It is good to be free,” he murmured. “So very good indeed.”
The matter settled, all finished their meal, packed their bags, and waited quietly for the return of their comrades. Wil took his wife for a walk along the riverbank, where the pair paused to study a pool of water filled with slippery-looking black creatures. “Leeches!” exclaimed Frieda.
Wil stooped at the water’s edge and stared into the curling mass of wiggling worms. He shuddered. “I’d not want to stumble into this at night!”
Alwin joined them. “The town makes a business of them. I heard in the market yesterday that they have leech pools all along the banks. They sell them all over the empire and beyond.”
Wil tossed a pebble into the pool and watched the creatures writhe about. “They’d suck a man dry in an hour!”
“Indeed,” added Pieter as he approached. “Or less. As a student, I once left a fevered patient lying in her bed with a full dozen attached to each arm. I went for a stout beer and forgot the poor wretch. Ach, mein Gott, when I came back, she was white as snow and barely breathing!”
“And?”
“Well, her fever was gone, and after a few days rest, she bought a fine silver brooch for my hat!”
The four cut their laughter short when they heard the cries. They whirled about to see Otto, Tomas, and Friederich dashing toward them. “We’ve trouble,” muttered Alwin.
The boys charged into camp, panting. They shared their chilling news between great gulps of air. “Templars!” wheezed Otto. “Templars.”
Friederich cried over Otto’s voice, “Six knights on six mounts bearing six flags! They’re searching for us!”
“How many Templars?” roared Alwin.
“Two, sir.”
“The others?”
“One flag is from Runkel,” said Tomas. “I know it well. The others I’m not so sure of.”
“They’ve found us!” exclaimed Helmut. “And we’re trapped here!”
“Everyone, listen to me,” commanded Wil. “Gather everything. Tomas, where were they?”
“We saw them entering the south gate. They had dismounted and were talking to the guards.”