It was early morning when David approached the little pier near his family's cottage. A heavy thick mist rose over the still waters of the lake.
“The fog is unusually thick,” he thought as he began to prepare his boat for another day's work.
David was a ferryman. For a fee, he would carry travelers across the lake which lay on the border between his country and the next. He was only eighteen, but the circumstances of his difficult life had formed him into a strong young man in mind and heart and body. His father had been dead for four years. He had been a ferryman too. In fact, David's family had carried strangers across this lake for more than a hundred years. There were roads from one country to the other, but one path snaked through the mountains to the north and could be difficult, even in good weather. The road to the south was leveled but it was long and passed occasionally through sections of forest where thieves waited to attack any traveler who appeared weak or unarmed.
Generally, though, enough people desired to cross by water to keep David's family out of poverty. But for the last several years, there was a growing tension between the two countries and the flow of travelers knocking at the cottage door was reduced to a trickle. There was even talk of war breaking out and David worried how he would care for his mother. But she was a devout Catholic who had a great love for God and confidence in the Blessed Virgin. She had often encouraged David to pray more and read spiritual books. But like most men, David believed that God was out doing His work and wanted David to stay busy with his own. Except for Mass on Sunday, religion was mainly for the women and the children.
It had been several days since anyone had come, looking to pay for his services and David's concerns for the welfare of his mother and himself was beginning to overtake him. He sat by the water, listening to the stillness in the air as the fog seemed to increase. From deep within him, a prayer of sorts began to emerge.
“God, if there is a God.... I guess there must be a God... God, if You can hear me, You know I've never really asked you for anything, especially since you took my father away from us...”. Something was stirring inside of him and his thoughts became transformed into words aimed at Heaven and rippling out over the water like a wave. He was standing now facing the water.
“God, you know that we are decent people. What harm have we ever done to anyone? And my mother. She has a great love for You and a confidence in Your mother to intercede for us. But my father is dead and the talk of war keeps travelers from coming and soon we will have nothing to eat. If you will not help us for my sake, at least for the sake of my mother, whom I love as much as you love yours.”
And then he stood there, half expecting something without knowing what it might be. He stood waiting for an answer to the first prayer that he had uttered in four years. Nothing. Just silence and the quiet sound of those creatures that lived in and near the lake. David sat down hard.
“I thought not!” He took a rock and threw it as far as he could into the fog. In a few moments he heard it splash somewhere deep in the mist.
“Can you take us across the lake?”
David must have been so distracted by his thoughts, he had not noticed the travelers that now stood near the pier. There was a man with a young woman, who appeared very sad. It looked as though she had been crying recently. They both had on cloaks that fell from their shoulders to the ground with hoods covering their heads. In the man's arms, was a young boy covered with a type of shawl. The boy looked ill, maybe even dying. The travelers seemed weary, as though they had been traveling a long distance. The woman refused to look at David. She kept her hand on the boy's heart, holding the child's hands there, while she stared down, eyes full of grief.
“The boy” David remarked. “He's sick?” The man gently nodded and seemed to grimace at the thought of the child's health.
“It's nothing contagious, is it?” questioned David, backing up a step or two. The woman started sobbing quietly as the man responded with a great heaviness in his voice.
“You have nothing to fear, David. Can you take us?”
The thought of paying customers quickly put aside any fear David may have had about carrying the sick lad in his boat.
“We can leave right now, if you're ready.” The man quietly nodded as he helped the woman and the child onto the boat. David stepped forward. “Because the boy can't sit up on his own, but is laying down instead in the boat – he'll have to be full fare.”
The man responded with a deep sigh. “You'll be well paid.”
Using an oar, David pushed away from the shore and then made his way to the front of the boat, where he sat facing his passengers. Once everyone was secure and seated, he began to row through the shroud of fog.
For a while, no one said anything. David looked from one to the other, studying these three strangers that he was carrying across the lake. He tried to study the face of the man and the young woman, but the hoods prevented him from analyzing them too closely. Were they related? Was she his wife? His sister? Was the boy their's? Or his or hers? The woman was obviously upset. And the man seemed tired and sad. Maybe it was the sick child that was the reason. Was the child dying? What was wrong with him? Were they fleeing from something? They seemed to have an urgent purpose in their trip. Were they trying to get somewhere?
David kept turning his questions over in his mind. Finally, his curiosity got the better of him.
Teresa Gabriel's Ending
……..The faint sound of horses’ hooves stopped the small group dead in their tracks. David anxiously glanced around, “What…is that?” the eyes looked at the knight were filled with fear, “Can you hear that…”
The knight groaned, “How could they have followed us this far?” he turned to his wife, “How could they have known!” A cloud of dread began to quickly overshadow the travelers.
Holding on to the reigns of their only horse, David stood there - listening to the approaching danger. A sharp thought of reproach entered into his head. Fool!, it cried, Why did you go with them? Show them the way? You knew they’d be caught! You should have let them be, with their foolish attempts and religious hopes! Now you are to suffer their same fate! David turned away with growing anger.
“What are we going to do, Roger?” Catherine cried in despair. “If they find the baby with us, they’ll know he’s the prince…and if that happens…” her sobs interrupted her, and she began to weep inconsolably.
“Catherine, I know…” said the knight as he lay his hand on her arm. He glanced around, as if searching for a way out. “They’d find us if we tried to hide here, and the baby is no condition…” His sigh of anxiety only increased the woman’s tears. “We’ll think of something, Catherine…all will be fine, God will protect us..”
Catherine’s fears were far from calmed. There was no way to escape, and with only one horse? It couldn’t carry all of them, and the ones left behind were sure to be overtaken.
“Protect us?” Catherine wailed “We’ve come all this way only to be caught now? There isn’t a chance, you know that, Roger!” she cried “Why doesn’t God do something?”
David was suddenly pulled out of his own thoughts. He turned sharply toward the owner of those words. He had heard that before. How long had he felt those same things? Why any hope or trust that God was there, seeing anything… much less doing anything. He had felt this way, yes, but somehow it was different hearing it from someone else. It seemed so much…worse.
Many thoughts were going through his head as he stared at the miserable group, when his eyes fell on the child. A single thought rose above the others, Poor little fellow, he thought listlessly how he suffers and after so much has been done to try to help him …
As he thought this, the child began to wail a most heartrending wail. This, of course, only increased the princess’s anxiety and that of her husband. David watched them, and at that moment a small sort of grace touched him. David slowly began to feel a real compassion for the little prince and his protectors. A compassion that had never existed. And for the first time in four years, David began to think of how much others suffer more than himself. Still he reasoned there must be a little hope …
What had seemed to him as a small eternity, had only been a few moments. The boy’s eyes still showed the sign of his deep thoughts, when a sharp sound quickly disrupted them.
“David!” the knight called out, “Look out!” David’s eyes looked up and widened. He threw himself to the ground, barely escaping the arrow that flew over his head. A small chaos followed. Roger grabbed hold to the reigns of the frightened horse. Catherine had screamed, having been afraid the arrow had hit David, and began to worry as never before. David was still crouched on the ground, when he looked up at the moaning woman and child. But his eyes wandered past them…and in the fogged distance a small dark outline. The soldiers were coming up fast from behind them. There wasn’t much time, and he knew it.
David, remembering what he had decided before the arrow had come, suddenly pushed himself up onto his feet. “I’ll take him!” David cried out firmly to them.
Sir Roger turned to him is disbelief. “What?!” he said. “Why?”
“Give me the child, I know the way to the monastery…”
“But they’ve seen all of us already.” Catherine moaned.
“I know the fog,” David replied sternly, “they couldn’t have distinguished all of us yet, there’s still a small chance.”
The knight was still staring at him with uncertainty, “But, why do you care about him? You hardly know the child, what is it to you?” Was this the same boy he had met at the ferry? The same boy who had been showing them to the monastery with darkness? “Besides, it’s so dangerous…” the knight started, “I don’t know if….”
“It’s the only chance we have!” David interrupted. The frustration and fear was in his voice, “There is no other way.”
David looked at the knight. He knew what the man was thinking.
“I can make it.” the boy said.
Just then, an arrow hit the tree behind Sir Roger. “Roger, what should we do?” Catherine asked fearfully. He looked at her, then back at David. “I can do it, Sir” the boy said confidently. The knight was quiet. “You’ll have to hurry…” he said.
In a few moments, David had swung himself onto the horse and held his arms out for the boy. With tears still in her eyes, Catherine handed him the baby, and he gently held the boy close to himself. “God be with you, David.” Catherine said. David half smiled back. That would be nice.
“Here.” Sir Roger said taking his cloak off his shoulders and throwing it onto David’s. “Ride with the speed of your Guardian Angel.”
The shouts of the nearing men caused all of them to look back behind them. The knight turned his head back and met David’s eyes for a brief moment. Their thoughts passed to each other. Worry - but gratitude intermingled with worry in the knight. “You’ll make it” he said softly. David slowly nodded back. Sir Roger stepped back, and slapped the horse. The horse raced off, carrying with him the boy and the child.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
David could hear the horsemen behind himself as he rode on. Between them, his horse, and his heart, it seemed to him that there was only pounding. He held both the baby and the reigns with strong arms, arms accustomed to hard rowing. He glanced behind, seeing that the men were not gaining on him. The horse ran with incredible speed. It would have seemed extraordinary to David, if he had thought about it. However his mind was in such a state that no thoughts could really form. His only focus was trying to catch a glimpse of the monastery, which seemed as though it would never appear.
David was now certain the men where following nothing else but him. He fiercely pulled his horse off from the road, and began to make his way through the woods, staying as near to the road as he safely could, as it was the surest way to find the monastery. David knew this wouldn't stop them, but it would at least slow them a little. The trees were flying past him, as the boy swiftly weaved the horse around them. The sound of their wispy passing intermingled itself with the heavy breathing of both the boy and the horse.
The blurry ground that flew underneath the hooves of the galloping horse, turned into passing miles. All that time, David didn't know whether or not he was praying. But for the first time, though, he seemed to be really wanting help, although, he wasn't very aware of it. He wasn't aware of much at the time. David's eyes remained focused ahead of him, piercing into the fog. Then, his heart began to beat even more, as he began to make out the blurred outline of the monastery. David's eyes lit up as he saw its shape, but a sudden noise made him turn his gaze. Behind him, he saw another blurred outline of horses. David spurred his horse on faster, though it didn't increase much speed. It's body was beginning to become tired. "Faster!" David cried out to it, as he dug his heals into its sides. It wasn't much farther now for David....or for them.
"Ride with the speed of your guardian angel" suddenly came back to David. The memory caused him to quickly raise his head. Through the trees, he focused his eyes on the monastery. He realized how close he was, and how far it had been. He's helped me so far, I guess. The noise was becoming clearer behind him. David closed his eyes and said aloud, "Guardian Angel, I know that you're with me. You've gotten me this far. Please, help me now!" The eyes of David opened with a start, as his horse suddenly began to gallop with renewed strength. He turned around and smiled as he saw the soldiers get farther away. He returned his gaze ahead, as his horse galloped with amazing speed through the woods to the monastery.
David rode up to the monastery door. As fast as he was able, he jumped off the horse and smacked its back, sending it running on. David rushed to the gate and began pounding at it. “Open the gate! Open!!” he yelled, as his hand didn’t stop banging the door. The men were coming closer. If he could get inside, he would be safe. “Please, fathers! Open the gate!” The soldiers were nearing now - David could distinguish voices out of the din of noise. “Please, God,” he groaned. “just let them open the door.” A shout from the woods behind made him turn his head. With wide eyes, full of fear, David looked around himself. They would soon be able to see him. David swallowed hard and turned back to the door. “In the name of God, fathers!” he cried out, “Let me inside!!”
Unexpectedly, a muffled and hasty, “Coming, coming!” came from the other side of the door. David gave a fearful glance behind him, and in the distance he could just begin to see spear heads through the fog, coming over the distant hill. “Come on, come on….” he breathlessly whispered, not once letting the palm of his hand a rest.
“I’m so sorry, son,” came a voice, becoming clearer as the door was opened. “It’s just that I was…” Without waiting for an invitation, or for an explanation David shoved himself past the monk as soon as the door opened, and slammed it shut with his back. “Wha..! What are you doing?” cried the monk, in utter confusion. “What is going on?” the monk reached to open the door. “Don’t open it!” David cried out, pressing his back more into the door. “Please…just leave it.” His labored breathing made his choice of words little, which didn’t help his credibility. The monk eyed him curiously. So as to not upset the boy, he calmly replied, “Alright”, as he slowly stepped away from the door. David’s features relaxed a little, “Thank you….”, he breathed as he leaned the back of his head on the door and closed his eyes. For a few moments the only thing to be seen in the monastery parlor was a boy leaning against the door holding a baby, and monk, standing there looking at him in a very suspicious way.
Without warning, David’s eyes opened with a start and he instinctively straightened. The sound of the horses passing by could be heard. The look on his face betrayed his fears. “Who are you running away from?” David’s head turned as he stared at the monk with concern. “And why have you come here?” David didn’t know how to read the tone of his voice or suspicious look of the monk. “Please,” he started, “I would like to speak to your superior…”
“Was that before, or after you came in, that you decided you wanted to see him?” came the doubtful question.
“Before…actually, after…I mean…”
The monk seemed to have been expecting something like that.
“It’s not how you think! I just came here knowing that I had to come here…I was being followed…and I didn’t even know if I was going to make it here…” The other seemed to be softening a little, though still a little curious.
“I was sent here because of the relic of St. Joseph that you have here….”
This completely surprised the monk. “How did you know?”
David raised his eyebrow. “Know what?” he cautiously asked.
“About the relic! We’ve only had it for two months and haven’t said anything to anyone yet because the new reliquary isn’t ready.”
What? David thought to himself. He sighed audibly, “Please, can I just talk to your superior. I’m so tired and this child is sick. He’s is the reason why I’m here.”
For the first time since David had arrived did the monk notice the baby in the boy’s arms. “Oh my goodness! What’s wrong with him?”
David was trying to be patient, “I don’t know, Brother, all I know that he is sick. Please let me see the superior…”
“All right, well you stay here, while I go see if he is busy…” David glanced the door nervously. Those soldiers could easily come back, and if they do….
“Please..” he blurted out. The monk turned around in surprise. “Yes?” he seemed to say with his eyes. “Please let me come with you…” David asked. The monk seemed to understand. “Alright ”, he said at last. ”However, how about letting me tell you when you can go through the doors?” David seemed confused for a second. “Oh…” David said slowly, realizing what the other was referring to. The monk smiled, “I should hate to see what would happen if you should run past me and into the superior!” David smiled slightly as he began following the monk, who had already started down the corridor .....