At first, he didn't recognize the bird. It had just been a dark spot in the Irish Sea. Once he realized what it was, and that it seemed to be coming toward the beach below him, he began making his way down the sea cliff to the shore.
Where could such a thing be coming from? And how could such a fragile thing have come so far?
He thought on his own travels; from his native home in the once glorious Carthage to the Holy Land and the storms on the great sea, similar to those he assumed shipwrecked St. Paul; then through Anatolia to the also once glorious Rome; and his latest journey over la dama bianca, through Gaul and here, to the furthest reaches of civilization.
He thought of those who had helped, and hindered, in his travels. He remembered, after his crossing on the ferry from the mainland, the merchants who had tried to take advantage of his lack of understanding of their language and money.
Lodging for the night had been secured as well as a guide to take him north. He had then set about gathering supplies for the last leg of his journey. He had tried to purchase four loaves of the same bread another man just purchased, but was being asked to pay more per loaf than the other man had paid. As he began to argue with the baker, nearby merchants came to help John see "reason," as if any of them had been educated on anything but the cutthroat economy of these muddy streets.
John was sure he was going to die when he saw a man, a full head taller than the dozen merchants who had gathered around John, approach the group. The merchants stopped their lesson in logic and law to stare at this man. John began to finger the gold cross he wore inside his robe sleeve and to pray silently. His hair and his beard were the color of the leaves of the aspen trees around the feast of All Saints' Day. His beard had been woven in to two braids which reached past his breast bone. His face, arms and hands (and John assumed the rest of him as well) were as scarred as the backs of the Abyssinian slaves John had seen in Constantinople, and John was sure this man had always given worse than he had received. He also wore a curious gold brooch, fastening his clothes together above his heart. It was round, encircling what looked like a raven.
As this giant approached, most of the men in the crowd gave him a wide berth. He picked up one of the loaves John was trying to buy.
The man asked the baker, "How much?"
The baker quoted the price he made the first customer pay, and the man turned to John, who was sure Christ would come again before anyone there would do anything without the man telling them to do so.
After a moment of nobody moving, the man took John's money purse, counted out enough money to cover the loaves (which was considerably less than what the baker had asked), and handed John his wallet. As John picked up his bread, the man took a fifth loaf and told the baker, "For the trouble."
The man strode off, leaving John to realize that he, too, should move on from this crowd who would soon remember they didn't much like him.
John saw the man enter a nearby pub, and followed him in. The man sat at a table with a half empty jug of some foul smelling drink and began to tear into his loaf.
As he approached, John meant to give his thanks to the stranger, but instead asked, in what little of the local language he knew, "Why did you do that?"
"I like to eat in peace."
John took this a cue to leave and turned back toward the door, when the man in return said, "You are not from here. From where do you come?"
"Most recently, from Rome."
The man looked at John as though he had said nothing. John wasn't sure what that meant or what to say.
So he asked, "And you?"
"North," replied the man, with a wave of his hand in the direction John assumed the man meant to be North, but in fact wasn't.
"Well, sir, thank you for your assistance and may God bless you."
That was many months ago.
Now as John walked across the sand, he watched as the raven made landfall. It was much larger than he had thought at first. It was painted on the sail of a strange boat, long and shallow. At the prow was carved a fearsome dragon. Men in the strange boat began pulling on ropes and collapsing the great canvas and the giant black bird which was in the same style as the jewelry of the stranger he had met months before.
While some men tended to the boat, five of them and, to John's surprise, a woman jumped out and began making their way straight to John. He thought they looked quite like the man who had helped him with the baker. John had assumed he was a barbarian living north of the wall the Romans built, but he had never heard of those savages building ships like these. Still, John had learned the local languages, including those spoken by those northern clans.
As he spoke, they continued to come closer until they stopped so close he could smell, aside from the sea salt, that they had been in that boat for some days. They, like that man long ago, looked at him as though he had said nothing.
As this giant approached, most of the men in the crowd gave him a wide berth. He picked up one of the loaves John was trying to buy.
The man asked the baker, "How much?"
The baker quoted the price he made the first customer pay, and the man turned to John, who was sure Christ would come again before anyone there would do anything without the man telling them to do so.
After a moment of nobody moving, the man took John's money purse, counted out enough money to cover the loaves (which was considerably less than what the baker had asked), and handed John his wallet. As John picked up his bread, the man took a fifth loaf and told the baker, "For the trouble."
The man strode off, leaving John to realize that he, too, should move on from this crowd who would soon remember they didn't much like him.
John saw the man enter a nearby pub, and followed him in. The man sat at a table with a half empty jug of some foul smelling drink and began to tear into his loaf.
As he approached, John meant to give his thanks to the stranger, but instead asked, in what little of the local language he knew, "Why did you do that?"
"I like to eat in peace."
John took this a cue to leave and turned back toward the door, when the man in return said, "You are not from here. From where do you come?"
"Most recently, from Rome."
The man looked at John as though he had said nothing. John wasn't sure what that meant or what to say.
So he asked, "And you?"
"North," replied the man, with a wave of his hand in the direction John assumed the man meant to be North, but in fact wasn't.
"Well, sir, thank you for your assistance and may God bless you."
That was many months ago.
Now as John walked across the sand, he watched as the raven made landfall. It was much larger than he had thought at first. It was painted on the sail of a strange boat, long and shallow. At the prow was carved a fearsome dragon. Men in the strange boat began pulling on ropes and collapsing the great canvas and the giant black bird which was in the same style as the jewelry of the stranger he had met months before.
While some men tended to the boat, five of them and, to John's surprise, a woman jumped out and began making their way straight to John. He thought they looked quite like the man who had helped him with the baker. John had assumed he was a barbarian living north of the wall the Romans built, but he had never heard of those savages building ships like these. Still, John had learned the local languages, including those spoken by those northern clans.
As he spoke, they continued to come closer until they stopped so close he could smell, aside from the sea salt, that they had been in that boat for some days. They, like that man long ago, looked at him as though he had said nothing.
John began to worry that these men indeed did not come from those northern highlands. He fingered the cross inside his robe sleeve and began to pray silently until he was blessed with inspiration of what to do next.
He did not have to wait long.
Before John realized the man had it, one of the men threw a spear at John. The force of it knocked him down. He saw the others jog past him, toward the path up the cliff. When the man who threw the spear past, he bent down and retrieved the weapon.
Brother John opened his eyes and saw the raven flapping in the sea breeze between him and the low blanket of clouds. He lay in the soft sand of the beach, his clothes soaked through.
He saw the north-men loading their boat with object he recognized from the abbey; gold crosses, silver candle sticks, other things he knew the other brothers would have let go of willingly. He smelled smoke.
As the tide began to come in and wet his feet, he reached for the cross inside his robe, but discovered it wasn't there, so he just closed his eyes and waited for God.
Before John realized the man had it, one of the men threw a spear at John. The force of it knocked him down. He saw the others jog past him, toward the path up the cliff. When the man who threw the spear past, he bent down and retrieved the weapon.
Brother John opened his eyes and saw the raven flapping in the sea breeze between him and the low blanket of clouds. He lay in the soft sand of the beach, his clothes soaked through.
He saw the north-men loading their boat with object he recognized from the abbey; gold crosses, silver candle sticks, other things he knew the other brothers would have let go of willingly. He smelled smoke.
As the tide began to come in and wet his feet, he reached for the cross inside his robe, but discovered it wasn't there, so he just closed his eyes and waited for God.
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