Michael Spradlin - Trail of Fate

Everyone laughed. I couldn’t help but chuckle myself. If she was so determined, I would have no choice but to bring her along.

“Now you carry your dog like a Cathar woman carries her baby,” Celia said.

Despite the fact that we were likely to plunge to our deaths in a few moments, Robard and Maryam found this extremely funny.

“Could you make one of those carriers for me?” Robard asked Martine. She didn’t understand him, so she just nodded. “Never mind,” he said glumly.

The time had come to leave and yet, looking at Celia, I found myself rooted to the spot. My body was unwilling to move, yet I knew I had to go. The morning light had painted the world a mellow gold, and despite the dust and sweat that clung to Celia, she was still beautiful and I wished more than anything to change my mind.

“Celia. . I. .” There was nothing left to say. My silence was physically painful, as though the seconds would never pass, but almost in slow motion she stepped forward and threw her arms around me. I went as still as a statue, not sure if I could, or should, return her embrace.

She stepped back from me and I could see the slightest tear at the corner of her eye. “Good-bye, Tristan. Robard. Maryam. My people will not forget you. We will remember what you have done for us. If it hadn’t been for all of you, the High Counsel would have caught us before we reached Montsegur. And you helped us drive him away. Do not worry about Sir Hugh. I believe you. When he learns you are gone, he will lose all interest in us. ”

Robard and Maryam said nothing, too humbled and embarrassed to reply. They merely nodded repeatedly until Maryam finally hugged Celia.

“Good-bye, Celia,” Maryam whispered. “I’m so sorry about what happened when we first met. I hope you’ll forgive me.”

“Don’t take it personally, Celia,” Robard chimed in. “She usually tries to kill all of her friends first.”

Celia laughed as she hugged Robard. I still couldn’t move until Maryam nudged me and whispered that it was time to go. Reluctantly, I stepped up onto the parapet and looked again over the side. Celia had called a few men from their posts to lower us by rope to the ground beneath the northeast wall. Facing away from Sir Hugh’s forces attacking from the opposite side, we could pick our way down the cliff and, I hoped, make it to the valley below.

I would go first. Gripping the rope in my hand, I sat down on the parapet with my legs dangling over the wall. One of Celia’s carpenters had fashioned another windlass, which would give us stability as we were lowered. The men took up the rope, and I looped it over and around my shoulders, being careful not to hurt the dog. She wiggled a little bit more inside her carrier and then stilled. In fact she might have even gone to sleep.

Maryam had taken the battle sword from me and carried it across her back. Robard had his bow and remaining arrows in his wallet. He also carried a pouch of food Celia’s cooks had prepared for us. We all carried water skins, and Robard and Maryam each held a coil of the longest rope the Cathars could spare.

I took a breath, offered up a silent prayer, and nodded to the men working the rope. Gently I let myself go over the side. My last glimpse of Celia was of her ice-blue eyes watching me disappear from sight.

“I promise, Templar,” I heard her say. “We will remember this.”

A few seconds later I stood on the small ledge at the bottom of the fortress. Completely removed from the safety of the walls of Montsegur.

As I stood at the base of the wall, waiting for Robard and Maryam to join me, I reflected on all I had learned since I had left St. Alban’s. Templar laws. Sword fighting and battle tactics. I don’t like ships. Hashshashin are not all bad once you get to know them. These were just a few bits of the knowledge now crowding about for space inside my brain. But along with the many new things I’d seen and done since I’d given up my sheltered existence, I had a revelation and it was this: climbing down a nearly vertical cliff is even harder than it looks.

We had about three feet of space at the bottom of the wall before the rocky ground broke off and plunged nearly straight down. The rope that had lowered us was untied from the windlass and dropped to me. We now had three lengths of rope, but even tied together they would not reach the bottom of the cliff.

“Madness,” Robard muttered under his breath, standing with his back planted firmly against the castle wall. His eyes were closed and his fists were clenched.

“What do you think, Tristan?” Maryam asked. “Tie the ropes together, or go in sections and tie off as we go?”

I was busy at the time, staring at the sheer wall and imagining what the impact of my body at the bottom would feel and sound like. Would Tristan and Maryam be able to hear it up above or would the sound of my death be carried away on the wind?

“What?” I answered.

“Templar, you got us into this!” Maryam shouted, suddenly angry. “Now wake up, pay attention and get us out of it!” She smacked me on the shoulder for emphasis.

“Madness,” Robard repeated.

“All right,” I said. “I think the best approach would be for you both to hold the rope while I climb down as far as I can. I’ll find a place to tie it off, then Maryam, you come next.” A small boulder stuck up out of the ground at my feet. Testing it with my foot, it proved sturdy.

“This will work. Robard, once Maryam is down with me, lower your rope down and we’ll tie it to hers. You can pull it back up, and then lower yourself down to us by using this rock like a windlass. We’ll be able to hold on to you all the way down. With any luck, we can repeat this method all the way down the mountain. It will be easy, actually,” I claimed. In reality it wouldn’t be easy at all, but Robard’s eyes were growing wider by the minute, and I wanted to get us moving before he became too frozen to move.

“Madness,” Robard said again.

Luckily the side of the cliff was rough and uneven, giving me numerous foot- and handholds. It took me several minutes to climb down even a small way, but after a while I found a rhythm. Then God chose to smite me again, for the angle of the cliff became steeper and I found myself hugging the rock wall, unable to move down or to the side.

“Maryam, Robard! I’m stuck!” I hollered up at them.

“What do you mean, stuck ?” Robard shouted back.

“How many different meanings of stuck are there? I can’t move!”

There were no handholds nearby that I could see. My feet were wedged against the cliff and I held on to the rope with both hands, but my feet and legs trembled.

Maryam peered down at me. “Do you want us to pull you back up?” she shouted.

“No! Do you see anyplace where I might be able find a foothold?”

Maryam was silent while she studied the surface around me.

“Hurry up and do something!” Robard shouted at Maryam. “He’s getting heavy!”

“Tristan, about ten feet below you on your right I can see an outcropping. You should be able to reach it. You’ll have to push out and swing over to it,” she yelled.

“What? Push out and swing? I’m barely hanging on as it is!” Push out and swing indeed! Even though Maryam and Robard held most of my weight, my legs and arms were losing strength.

“I didn’t know Templars frightened so easily. You are tied off and we are holding on to the rope, after all,” she shouted down to me.

“Maryam!”

“Relax. Trust me. You can do it. Push out and to your right, then we’ll let you down about ten feet. It’s right there. You’ll see!” She tried to sound encouraging. It didn’t matter, though, because I definitely could not stay where I was.