The First Book of Samuel - SAREJESS (chrysanthemum read aloud TXT) 📗

like to have a word or two with you if you have the time” he said. “Certainly Padre I am at your disposal, please continue” said Samuel.

”I have reason to believe that Don Pedro De lasvegus used to frequent your establishment did you know him?” asked the priest. Immediately Samuel was on his guard. “Was this a trap?” He would have to proceed with caution he thought. “Padre so many people come in here it is not always possible to know who is here. Of course I know the name but I must say that I am not sure that I ever spoke to the man other then to serve him food and wine” said Samuel cautiously.

”Come, come man, I know you know of whom I speak. I have a confession that you had speech with him shortly before he was taken prisoner” said the priest. “I give you my word Padre that I know nothing of the man other then maybe to have served him food and drink” repeated Samuel who was becoming very annoyed with this priest. “If you have some one who says other wise bring him and let him say what he will to my face and I will prove that he is a liar” said Samuel, feigning anger. He crossed himself as if the subject would bring a curse on him. The priest lightened and smiled.

”It is well that you answered as you did Samuel Ferreira for if you had answered in any other way you would now be on your way to the gaol for questioning. However, rest assured that we have no confession. It was but a ruse to see how much you knew of the man. Yes we know he drank here often it is a good business this little inn and I suppose many of the Kings courtiers stop here. However there is another matter that I would speak with you on but not here. Later if you find the time, join me at the Cathedral. I will be waiting. Ask for Padre Tomas and you will soon find me” said the priest rising and moving towards the door.

Sweating heavily Samuel left the front room and went through to the kitchen cast his eyes around to see that all was going well before descending the stairs to the cellar where he poured himself a large glass of wine. He wondered what the priest might know. “Was this an attempt at trapping him?” He thought back over the years to see if there was any thing in his own past that might look suspicious. He attended the cathedral regularly, paid his tithes trying to blend in, as a good Christian should. It was not the first time that he had masqueraded as a person of another faith. For a few years he had even been a Moslem. That had been back in the 13th century. It had been expedient to do so, ones survival was paramount. He could not remember any occasion when he might have given away the fact that he was by birth a Jew. After so many centuries it hardly mattered, but one always had to be careful especially now when the inquisition was trying to catch heretics and false Christians. Draining the glass he returned to the kitchen, going to his room he washed his hands and face and put on his coat he would go and see the priest hear what the man of the church of Christ had to say, but he would be on his guard.

The sounds of music drifted up to him. He closed his room’s door and descended the stairs and left the inn. There was a chill on the evening air, he shivered and pulled his clock closer as he made his way down the cobbled street towards the centre of the city. He entered the old cathedral and took a candle and lit it and placed it in the holder with the hundreds of others on the stand. He could hear the chant of even song on the air as the priests sang some where in the body of the vast building. Strangely he found a sense of peace in the old building in some ways it reminded him of the temple. It no longer stood in Jerusalem. It had been destroyed by the soldiers of Rome in the first epoch of the Christian era.

Samuel became aware that the Padre Tomas was watching him. Samuel crossed himself and rose from his knees. “I am glad you have come” said the priest. “It was very wise of you not to ignore my invitation” he continued.

”I am a faithful servant of the church padre” said Samuel. “I do what I am told to do. Pray tell me what is it that you want of me?” The priest smiled a cold hard smile; the eyes though, the eyes did not also smile, Samuel noticed. The church has noticed that a number of men who are in this Godly city like to visit at your inn. These men who are well disposed to the Kings court sometimes say things when they are in their cups and this is what brings us to you. As the innkeeper you must nay you do hear things spoken of that could be embarrassing both to the Court and to Holy Church. Therefore his eminence the bishop of Servile is giving you the opportunity to help rid the church of these men who by their carnal nature have been drawn in to the sin of heresy.

Samuel left the cathedral. He had much to ponder on. What the priest had asked him to do saddened and sickened him. Firstly, as Jew it was a betrayal of all in which believed. Samuel knew of many Jews who had served the royal house of Spain loyally. Secondly, as a man it was disgusting to think that the officers of the Christian church had offered him money to spy on his customers and report on what they had said. It shocked him to think that he had even considered it, even for a moment, before dismissing the suggestion.

In his long life he had experienced a lot of things but this thing that the priest had proposed was by far the worst thing that had ever been asked of him. For a moment he remembered the eyes of Don Pedro as he burned at the stake. According to Padre Tomas this same Don Pedro was a heretic and some one who refused to accept the church law as laid down by the Catholic Church. Don Pedro was a man with a questioning mind who did not accept things at face value, but rather probed a subject until he came to the place where he knew the truth of the matter, despite other people not wanting him to know. This had been his real crime. They had searched Don Pedro’s home and found a collection of books which were of a nature which would make the padre shudder when he thought of them. This had been “the final straw that had broken the camel’s back” according to the padre. The church had put up for a number of years with Don Pedro’s questioning of the faith but it had come to a point where he started making statements about the faith which in all likelihood would have caused others to doubt the teachings of Holy church. This was some thing that the inquisition would not tolerate.

The more he thought about it the more the idea sickened him. He had listened as the priest had spoken and had begun to shiver, not with cold but in the knowledge that here he was in the presence of pure evil masquerading as holiness. Samuel did not know what to do. He had told the priest that he would consider what had been asked of him and would return in a few days with an answer for the padre. But as Samuel walked down the streets of Seville, he knew he would not return to the Padre. Samuel knew it was time for him to leave Spain. This had only made his departure more pressing. Realizing that time was short, Samuel quickened his step in the direction of home.

He did not take any one into his confidence; he knew that would be too dangerous to those he would be leaving behind. If the inquisition became suspicious they would attempt to question those whom had served him and this he did not want to do. Samuel retired to bed and spent an uneasy night, waking often, listening for the footsteps of the inquisition. In the morning he left the inn and found his way to a lawyer. Here he made over the deed to the inn to Maria who had served him now for more then ten years. With the deed in his pocket he returned to the inn, going directly to his room. He packed a small bag with as much gold as he could comfortably carry. Once this was done he cast his eyes around the small room for the last time before going downstairs to find Maria.

”Maria I have some thing that I need to give you” he said, when he found her washing potatoes in the kitchen. “Oh Samuel what can it be she said?” “I am going on a journey and will be gone for a few weeks if anything should happen I want you to have this he said handing her the deed and a bag of coins. Maria, sensing that some thing far more important than a little business trip was taking place took the parcel from him and said “Senor, I believe you are saying farewell. What ails you that you are leaving us” she asked?

”Ah Maria you are wise beyond your years” he said “but the time has come that I visit some of my relatives in the country. I have not spoken of them before because they are far from us but the priest brought news which needs me to see my family before it is too late so I am off to the mountains of Andalusia” he said. He kissed Maria lightly on the cheek and left the inn.

The first day he did not travel far. He knew if he took ship from Seville he would have to offer papers to show that he had permission to leave. But further down the coast he could always find some way of getting off shore, so he walked about fifteen miles, the first day arriving at dusk at a little village which bordered the outskirts of Seville. Finding no inn he asked around and found an obliging farmer who let him sleep in his barn for the night.

Having spent the night in the barn he rose early, refreshed, and started walking. The countryside through which he walked was an old farming district settled a thousand years earlier. There were many old trees under which he could find shade in the heat of the day. As he walked, he observed the birds flying and the sight of workers in the fields gave him joy. It reminded him of his youth round Bethlehem when the farmers would go out early in the day to tend their fields and animals. As the day passed, the heat grew. He knew that before mid day he would have to find a place where he could rest. High summer in Spain was not the place to be walking during siesta. It was just too hot. In the late morning he found an old olive tree and settled down to rest. He planned to walk until well after sunset. Settling down he