Snowfall

We parted ways soon afterwards. I went back to the church and Father John was there to meet me at the front entrance. His face lined with concern and I once more felt that twinge of guilt for selfishly causing him pain. I must have appeared more calm than before because he nodded in seeming understanding and did not ask me where I had been. No doubt he thought that I had walked and soul searched perhaps communing with the Lord to come to some understanding or acceptance of what had happened. Father John always did believe the best of me. It was a shame that I would never live up to his hopes for my goodness.

I awoke the next morning and glanced over at the window. There in the morning condensation was the script that Amar had taught me. I checked the letters against the ones written on the parchment. It said one word. Stay. Confusing and cryptic, I opened the window and wiped away the word before heading out to find Father John.

The priest had been waiting on me. Not unusual itself but Father John seemed tense and trying to hide it at the same time. He smiled at me, asked how I had slept and then finally got to what was on his mind.

\"I have received a letter that they would like you to continue your training and service at a monastery near here, later you might even receive placement somewhere in the Church of Rome. This is a rare opportunity for a young English clergyman, Albin.\" He seemed all at once sad and proud.

I opened my mouth to speak. Stay. It made sense now. \" I will have to think about it.\" Best not to look too eager.

Eventually, I told him that I had chosen to stay in Italy. It was soon time for Father John to be heading back to England. I worried about him travelling all the way back alone but I looked cheerful and told him that I\'d never forget the things he\'d taught me and that I was excited about all the things I would learn here in Italy. It felt horrible to lie but it was getting easier and seeing that it put the priest at ease helped tremendously. His eyes glowed with pride when he looked at me. He had given his project over to the Lord, it was done. I was relieved that Amar thought to do this; Father John could now go home thinking he\'d accomplished his work with me. It would bring him pride and joy instead of disappointment or fear. It might be a lie but it was helping one kind man who\'d had so much go wrong in his life. I couldn\'t see God finding that so bad.

Soon a small delegation of monks in robes of a different order came to pick me up. I followed them out and wondered just when Amar planned to claim me. Did these monks really think I was coming to learn with them? They smiled at me but they were a quiet group. I thought back to the brothers of the Abbey and it made me glad that I was not going to be a part of their order. Such a solomn bunch. They looked a bit rough too, made me wonder just how far into the countryside their order might be. The monk who did the most speaking was quite eloquent though and very refined. He seemed like he would be at home in a court somewhere, his companions looked more at home in brawl. The Lord takes all kinds, Albin, quit being judgemental, these monks were bringing you closer to Amar whether they knew it or not.

We rode most of the day, heading north, the same direction as Father John but we never saw him in our journey. Worry plagued me again. Shouldn\'t we have passed a walking priest? My companions made camp close to nightfall, They were quiet and efficent, soon everything was unpacked, dinner was started and they even set up a watch. They totalled four men, besides me.

\"Here eat this.\" The well spoken priest said handing me a pot of stew and a hunk of bread. It smelled delicious, far better than the fair I was used to eating on the road. Even better than the food the priests normally eat. It was on the spicy side for me but I found it delightfully tasty. The priest sat back and watched me with a knowing look in his eyes. I must have looked like quite the barbarian not used to finer foods. I tried to cultivate a bored expression and eat at a slower pace. This seemed to amuse him all the more but he did have the grace to get up and go find one of the other monks to speak with for a few moments while I ate.

I finished quickly and looked around as the stars were coming out and I began to wonder if I should sneak out of camp tonight and wait for Amar. I would, of course, it was what we had been doing on the road and he gave me no instruction not to do so here. I was about to tell my companions that I felt like turning in early when I noticed they all seemed tense. Waiting, they were expecting something or someone. Trouble? I had noticed heavy saddlebags being carried by one of the horses. Yes, these monks had horses not mules. They had come to fetch me on foot and then led me to the waiting beasts. I rode behind one of the other monks not having the skills necessary to ride. They didn\'t have a fifth horse so I gathered they did not expect me to have this knowledge.

Back to the saddlebags and my musing.. I began to wonder if they were carrying something important, gold, messages of state? My active imagination was coming up with all kinds of possible plots. Could the Church have given these traveling monks something important to pass along? Perhaps they would hand it off to another group and it was bound for a different country all together. Multinational intrigue! I was busy fitting together the make of the bags and the possible origins of the people that I had not noticed the arrival of a sixth person until the leader of this group spoke.

\"He\'s here and well, My Lord.\"

\"Bon, Merci Beaucoup, Xavier.\" Amar\'s voice lifted me from my thoughts and I looked up to find him standing close by smiling down at me.

I rose quickly to my feet, dusting off my tunic and pushing a hand through my hair to get it out of my eyes. It had been a while since I meet Amar with other people present and I felt suddenly awkward. \"Amar, I.. I\'m glad to see you.\" How much had these men been told? They obviously knew him but what did they know? I seriously doubted they were monks at this point. That did not do anything to clear the puzzle up it just gave me a new puzzle to solve.

Amar hid a grin that suggested he knew just what must be going through my mind and turned to the other men.

\"We\'ll stay here for the night. Albin and I will return before dawn. Make yourselves comfortable, my friends.\" He then took me by the hand and led me away from them. There was a mixture of awe and jealousy in each one\'s eyes.