Pagan's Crusade
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AGAN
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HRONICLES
‘Full of the richly-textured, high-smelling, highly individualistic atmosphere of the Middle Ages, Catherine Jinks’s Pagan series offers unforgettable characters in an extraordinary setting and time, presented in crisp, pungent prose.’
SOPHIE MASSON
‘Humour, romance, adventure, violence – who would have thought Medieval Jerusalem could be so much fun?’
LILI WILKINSON
‘The Pagan Chronicles are a kind of medieval version of Tin Tin, meticulously researched and told with a delightfully slapstick, cinematographic vigour.’
URSULA DUBOSARSKY
‘What a romp! Not since Don Quixote took up with Sancho Panza has a knight had a squire like Pagan Kidrouk.’
Voice of Youth Advocates
‘There have been few characters in recent historical fiction more vibrant than the street-smart, fast-talking protagonist of this series.’
School Library Journal
‘Rich, vivid storytelling, with a sturdy base in historical events, and undercurrents both comic and serious. ’
Kirkus Reviews
(STARRED REVIEW)
‘Jinks dramatically evokes a historical time that was particularly dark and dirty . . . Along with the drama and darkness, readers will find intensity and, yes, humor. Series fans may find other books set in the Middle Ages pallid after this one.’
AMERICAN LIBRARY ASSOCIATION
‘Pagan is a real, live boy who leaps off the page and compels you to listen to his story.’
KIRSTY MURRAY
‘Humour? Rage? Agony? Spiritual journeys? Murder? Moral turpitude? Twists both welcome and dismaying? This decidedly unique historical saga has it all.’
Kirkus Reviews
(STARRED REVIEW)
‘Brimming with wit and fascinating details of medieval history, with its vividly drawn characters . . . this emotionally satisfying epic brings the Middle Ages to life.’
The Horn Book
CATHERINE JINKS is a scholar of medieval history and a prolific author for teenagers, children and adults. Her books have been published to wide acclaim in Australia and overseas and have won numerous awards. She loves reading, history, films, TV and gossip, and says she could write for eight hours straight every day if she had the chance. Catherine lives in the Blue Mountains of NSW with her husband and daughter.
T
HE
P
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C
HRONICLES
Pagan’s Crusade
(shortlisted CBCA and Victorian Premier’s Literary awards)
Pagan in Exile
Pagan’s Vows
(winner CBCA Book of the Year Award for older readers)
Pagan’s Scribe
(winner Victorian Premier’s Literary Award for children’s literature)
Pagan’s Daughter
(notable book CBCA Book of the Year Award for older readers)
Catherine
JINKS
The author would like to thank John O. Ward for his assistance.
First published in 1992
This edition published in 2007
Copyright © Catherine Jinks, 1992
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or by any information storage and retrieval system, without prior permission in writing from the publisher. The
Australian Copyright Act 1968
(the Act) allows a maximum of one chapter or ten per cent of this book, whichever is the greater, to be photocopied by any educational institution for its educational purposes provided that the educational institution (or body that administers it) has given a remuneration notice to Copyright Agency Limited (CAL) under the Act.
Allen & Unwin
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Crows Nest NSW 2065
Australia
Phone: (61 2) 8425 0100
Fax: (61 2) 9906 2218
Email: [email protected]
Web:
www.allenandunwin.com
National Library of Australia
Cataloguing-in-Publication entry:
Jinks, Catherine, 1963- .
Pagan’s crusade.
For ages 12 and over.
ISBN 978 1 74175 231 1 (pbk.).
1. Orphans – Juvenile fiction. 2. Crusades – Third, 1189-1192 – Juvenile fiction. 3. Knights and knighthood – Juvenile fiction. 4. Jersualem – History – Latin Kingdom, 1099-1244 – Juvenile fiction. I. Title. (Series : Jinks, Catherine, 1963– Pagan chronicles ; 1).
A823.3
Cover & Text Design by Zoë Sadokierski
Set in Celestia Antiqua 11.5/15pt by Midland Typesetters
Printed in Australia by McPherson’s Printing Group
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
To John O. Ward
Contents
In the kingdom of Jerusalem, the campaigning season begins – and everyone prepares for war with the Infidel.
A
big man in brown, sitting behind a table. Big hands. Big chest. Short and broad. Head like a rock, face scarred like a battleaxe. He looks up and sees – what’s this? A
street urchin
? Whatever it is, it’s trouble. Trouble advances cautiously.
‘They said I should report to the Standard-Bearer.’
The big man nods.
‘You can call me sir,’ he says. (Voice like gravel rattling in a cast-iron pot.) He pulls out a quill pen. ‘Name?’ he says.
‘Pagan.’
‘Pagan what?’
‘Pagan Kidrouk.’
‘Pagan Kidrouk,
sir.
’ (Christ in a cream cheese sauce.)
‘Pagan Kidrouk, sir.’
Scratch, scratch. He writes very slowly.
‘Age?’
‘Sixteen. Sir.’
‘Born in?’
‘Bethlehem.’
Rockhead looks up. The brain peeps out from behind the brawn.
‘Don’t worry, sir. It didn’t happen in a stable.’
Clunk. Another jest falls flat on the ground.
‘Rule number one, Kidrouk. In the Order of the Temple you speak only when you’re spoken to.’
‘Yes, sir.’
‘Understand?’
‘Yes, sir.’
Rockhead smells rich and rare, like a well-matured piece of cheese. No baths for the Templars. Hot water is for girls and porridge and other soft, wet things. If a Templar wants a bath he can go and stand in the rain. That’s what God put it there for.
‘And where did you come from, Kidrouk?’ (The unspoken question: out of a slop bucket?) Rockhead is highly suspicious. You can see what he’s thinking. Just look at this runt! Smells like the Infidel, and looks like a bedouin boy. Skin the colour of braised almonds. Built like a horsewhip. Black hair. Black eyes. What in the name of God is this Order coming to? We’ll be recruiting stray dogs next.
‘I’m a local, sir. I served in the Jerusalem garrison.’
‘On?’
‘The night watch. I patrolled the northern beat. Between the Postern of Lazarus and the Postern of Saint Magdalene.’ ‘You mean the Jewry quarter?’