Shadow of God (39 page)

“Is this what you brought me here to see?”

“No. Not entirely. This Bastion of England is in poor repair. Their King Henry has sent virtually no money or knights. I think the Turks have found this out. And, though the Turks may not know it, there are only nineteen knights in the
langue
of England. I fear the Turks may be successful in making a breach here, and then with so few knights to defend this area, they could enter the city
en masse.”

“Can you not stop them? Stop the mining?”

“I will be doing all I can. My men are preparing the vents and the tunnels to counter-mine them right now. But, still there is always the possibility that we might fail. Or, that we might be occupied elsewhere at the time. Pick your best men, and prepare them for the possibility. You would be a mobile force and respond wherever you are needed. I’ll speak to the Grand Master to get approval. But, I think it might be critical that you are ready for this eventuality.”

Jean nodded. “
D’accord.”
I agree.

Tadini turned to go. He said,
“Au revoir, Jean.”

“Addio, Gabriele.”
Jean descended into the city and ran back to Melina’s house.

The situation in the city had deteriorated since Jean had first entered the streets earlier in the morning. The Rhodians were in a state of serious panic. Most had not yet been born during the siege of 1480, and even those who remembered the earlier siege had not
been exposed to such powerful weaponry. The streets that had been practically empty before were now filled with men and women shouting and crying for help. Though there had been little damage considering the massiveness of the attack, the noise and the flying debris had sent fear through the town. People ran about the streets looking for strong stone buildings in which to hide. The knights of Aragon had been sent to guard the entry to the hospital because there had been a surge of citizens trying to enter the protection of its massive walls and heavy roof. Renato had to block the doors and call for help from the knights, so that his wards would not be overrun. In the small streets, dogs were running wildly about, and the cattle that were penned up were shrieking and kicking at their enclosures, insane with fear from the noise and the fires that burned in the streets. Only a handful of incendiary bombs had exploded inside the city itself, and they merely burned themselves out without setting fire to any of the stone houses.

Jean made his way through the winding maze of houses and shops. He stopped a group of three knights from the Inn of Aragon and said, “Get these people off the streets! Return them to their homes. They will be safer there. Do it at once!”

Then, he began to run toward the Jewish Quarter and the small street where Melina’s house stood. As he rounded the final corner to their home, he watched in horror as a cannonball landed directly on the roof connecting his and his neighbor’s house. The huge stone ball crushed both the houses and sent thousands of fragments of stone flying in all directions. Jean felt the sting as a shard of slate from the roof struck him in the forehead. His hand reflexly flew up to protect his eyes. When he pulled it away, it was covered with blood. He ignored the wound, for his whole being was focused on the devastation; the two little houses were mere piles of stone and wood. Their common roof sagged from the impact, making a slate saddle between the two structures. Cries came from within his neighbor’s house, where the force of the ball had collapsed all the walls. The large intact hemisphere that rested on Melina’s house had crushed the walls to powder. It lay there in the center of the roof like a fist from the sky.

Jean could feel the tears welling in his eyes. His sorrow overwhelmed his anger as he ran the last few yards to the pile of rubble. He began to claw at the debris, trying futilely to make a hole to the interior. He cried out, “Melina! Melina!” Why had he let Tadini detain him? Why hadn’t he moved them as soon as the barrage had begun?

But, it was no use. He could not find a place to enter the house from the street. Then, he remembered the alley that separated the house from the next row to the rear. He scrambled up over the fallen front wall and made his way along the roof tiles. The horrid stone ball lay in his path, and he clawed his way around it. Blood trickled into his right eye from the wound in his forehead. He swiped at the jellied clots to clear his vision.

In his mind he saw images of the babies and Melina crushed to death beneath the oak table.
Why didn’t I take them to the hospital? How could I leave them?
His guilt drove him forward, and he began to pry loose the roof tiles where the stone ball had broken through the rafters. He found several tiles loose enough to remove and threw them over his shoulder. Finally—it seemed like hours to him—he made the hole large enough to squeeze his bulky frame through the gap. His armor held him up as he lowered his legs through the opening. With his feet dangling below, he took off his sword and the breastplate. Finally, he was through. He dropped the few feet to the floor. As he crouched in the small space between the crushed roof and the floor, he called out Melina’s name again and again. There was silence in the tiny room. Motes of dust circulated in the air and Jean began to cough.

When his eyes adjusted to the darkness, he could make out the oak table near the wall. The massive stone was pressing the rafters down upon it, and the table itself was flattened to the ground. Jean’s eyes filled with tears, and a sob gathered in his throat as he saw the pieces of a small rag doll caught under the edge of the table.

He crawled to the table and clawed to get a grip beneath the edge. Blood blurred his vision. He shouted their names. “Melina! Ekaterina! Marie!” Over and over, he called them, whimpering,
“What have I done?” Jean pulled and strained at the table. His fingers became bloody again as he tried to raise the impossible weight.

Suddenly the room became completely dark for a moment as a figure blocked the small opening in the roof. Jean turned in time to see the shape of a man drop through the opening to the ground behind him. He whirled reflexively, more to protect his little family than himself. The man rushed at Jean, knocking him to the floor. Two strong arms wrapped around his body and held him tightly.

“Jean! Jean!
Arrêtez! Arrêtez
!”

Jean struggled to break free of the powerful grip. He tried to drop his right hand to his dagger, still in the scabbard in his belt.

“They’re gone! Jean!
Écoutez-moi!
They’re gone!”

Jean went completely limp, and slumped to the floor. John Buck, Philippe’s lieutenant and
Turcopilier
, released his grip and sat in the dust next Jean. He realized that Jean thought he meant that they were dead. “
Non, mon ami.
They’re not here. Listen to me. They’re fine. Melina took the babies to the hospital. They’re safe with Renato. She asked me to come and find you, so you wouldn’t be worried.”

Jean sat on the floor, still panting. The two men sat together in silence for a moment. He wiped the tears from his dusty face and hugged John Buck. Then, without a further word, they rose and climbed back into the daylight. Jean recovered his armor and gloves. The two men climbed down from the roof and walked back to the street.

They had reentered another world. The air was filled with the blast of cannon, and the shattering of stone as the huge balls impacted the walls and the city streets. Stone fragments flew past them. People seeking shelter from the barrage rushed wildly about the streets.

Slowly, he and Buck became aware of the cries for help coming from the house next door. There seemed to be people trapped inside. Jean turned to help.

Buck put his hand on Jean’s shoulder. “
Va-t-en, Jean. Allez-y!”
Go on, Jean. Go away. “I’ll get some knights to help these other people. Go to the hospital and see Melina. It’ll be all right.”

Jean stood and hugged Buck with both arms. Then he turned and hurried back through the Quarter to the hospital to see his babies.

Earlier in the day, Melina could not bear being in the small, dark room anymore. She had gathered the twins and what clothes she could carry, and left her home. She rushed to the hospital and brought the babies to the second floor. There she found Doctor Renato on his rounds. She went to his side and said, “Excuse me, Doctor, but I need your help.”

Renato turned, surprised to see Melina there holding her three-month-old babies in her arms. He took the bag of clothing from her and set it on the floor.

“What is it, my dear?”

“Oh, Doctor Renato, please can we stay here? The cannons and the noise are terrifying us. I am so afraid for my babies. Please let us stay. I would be able to keep watch on the twins, and perhaps I can help when the casualties start arriving.”

“Why, of course, Melina. You’re always welcome here. Take the babies to the room at the end of the ward. There are no windows, and it’s surrounded by inside stone walls. They should be completely safe there even if a cannonball were to hit the hospital directly. You’ll be able to see them and look in on them as much as you need to. And, yes, I certainly will need your help very soon.”

Melina hurried to the room and placed her babies in a makeshift bed on the floor. She surrounded them with blankets and soft cloths. Then she propped the door ajar. With Ekaterina and Marie sleeping, she went back in the ward to help Doctor Renato.

Over the next hours, she would find herself completely occupied with her work in the hospital ward. She snatched the time necessary to feed and care for her babies. It was immediately obvious to her that working in the hospital with Renato was to be the only way she could keep her babies safe and preserve her sanity during the days of terror.

Jean accelerated his pace as he neared the hospital. He was practically running by the time he ascended the outer stairs. He
rushed into the ward. He saw Renato crouched over a wounded citizen. Blood was running onto the stone floor and puddling near the man’s feet. Jean knelt down next to the doctor and, without a word, reached out to help hold pressure against the badly lacerated leg. The old man had been cut by a shard of stone as he ran through the streets. The impact had torn through his skin and muscle, breaking both bones beneath the knee. Renato would have to complete the cannon-inflicted partial amputation as soon as he had stabilized the injured man. It took a moment for Renato to realize that it was Jean who was assisting him. He turned his head toward the little room, and nodded. Jean looked over his shoulder at the closed door. Renato called for help, and another knight came to relieve Jean. Jean rose, placing a hand on Renato’s shoulder. “Merci,
Docteur
.”

Renato nodded again and returned to his work. Jean walked down the center of the ward, calming himself as he went. He paused outside the room and took a long breath. He said a silent prayer of thanks before entering the small room.

When the door swung open, Melina involuntarily jerked awake. She had fallen asleep while nursing the babies. Ekaterina and Marie were still sucking loudly at her breasts as Jean knelt down on the makeshift bed. He straightened the blankets and helped Melina adjust her position. Then, without a word, he slid down on the blanket next to his little family and held the three of them in his arms. He put his cheek against the top of Melina’s head and smelled her hair. It was so familiar to him that it brought tears to his eyes. Even the grime and the dust of war could not disguise the feel and scent of the woman he loved.