Historical Setting, 610 C.E. on the road from Besançon to Luxeuil
Soldiers stop Gabe and I on the road to Luxeuil searching for the Father. We appear suspicious as monks from Luxeuil and driving a wagon. Gratefully, the Father escaped on horseback with guards, and is on a less traveled road north. But within sight ahead of us is the pass by the river between the hills. In the pass the roads converge to navigate through steep terrain. The four horsemen will have to come onto this road ahead of us because all paths must use the same pass where the river cuts through.
We are in the wagon facing north, while the guards who stopped us are in front of us, facing south. And now in the distance we see the horses and men we are shielding. They can get through the pass unseen if we can keep the soldier’s attention here.
I asked the soldiers what they are looking for.
“A prisoner escaped from the fortress of Besançon.” The officer is suspicious of us. “In fact you could be hiding him under the tenting covering this wagon.” We are ordered to get down from the wagon seat and stand at sword point while they search through the wagon. We can look northward up this road and see the horses still moving through the river pass just now. It is important the soldiers don’t turn around and look to the north.
The two guarding us won’t see behind them, and the other three are pilfering through the contents of the wagon, our fleeces, a bag of oats we will share with the mule, Greg’s extra monk’s robe, and…
“A-ha!” says one of the young soldiers, “It’s a women’s dress!’”
“Is that what you are searching for?” Gabe asks the guard.
“It’s a curious thing to have with you, wouldn’t you say?” asks the soldier. Now another, who is, as Gaillard had described to us earlier, a ‘tender youth’ [#49.13] recognizes the dress.
“I’ve seen this azure gown before. So what have you done with the lovely who wore it?
“We stopped at a farm near Besançon for a night. The warped wheel had been rubbing the wagon side at the wheel pin,” Gabe tells them, “So the farmer gave that to us as a rag along with some lard for grease. We used all of the lard on the wheel then we didn’t need the rag, so if you want the blue cloth maybe it could still be good enough to wear as a dress.”
(Continues tomorrow)
Lazarus Ink 