The Orphan's Wish Read online

  The knight who had yelled strode toward them, a dark scowl on his bearded face. He snatched the purse out of Ala ad’din’s hand.

  Ala ad’din screamed, fearing they would cut off his hand. But even if he got away, Mustapha would beat him.

  The knight, who had hair the color of sand, said something, then shook his fist at Ala ad’din.

  The large man holding him laughed. The rope encircling his round belly shook, but Ala ad’din concentrated on waiting for the man’s grip on his arms to loosen.

  When he stopped laughing, the man, who was dressed in the robes of a Christian priest, said something to the knight. The priest bent until his face was level with Ala ad’din’s. Then he spoke in a strange language Ala ad’din did not understand.

  The priest seemed to be waiting for an answer, but Ala ad’din didn’t give him one. Then the priest said in Arabic, “Where is your mother?”

  Ala ad’din shook his head.

  “You have no mother? Father?”

  He shook his head again.

  The knight said something in his harsh voice, his lips twisting.

  “Do you have a master?” the priest asked.

  Ala ad’din’s gaze darted to the right, where Mustapha stood watching.

  The priest and knight both followed the direction of his gaze. Mustapha turned and disappeared behind a big display of barrels of spices and bread flour.

  “Where did you get those fingerprints on your cheek?” The priest’s face had sobered. “Did your master strike you?”

  He nodded.

  The priest looked up at the knight. “We shall take him with us.”

  “What do you mean? He is a child, not a stray animal. Besides, his master would slit our throats if we took his little thief.”

  The priest raised one eyebrow. “Are you not capable of saving us from the boy’s master?”

  The knight scowled, then spat on the ground.

  The priest turned to Ala ad’din. “Boy, what is your name?”

  “Ala ad’din.”

  The priest tried to repeat the name, but it came out sounding like “Aladdin.”

  “That isn’t right, but no matter. Your name shall be Aladdin, if you like it. Do you like Aladdin, boy?”

  He nodded, no longer concentrating on how to get away, remembering Zuhayr’s words from the night before.

  “And do you wish to come with us—with Sir Meynard and me—to a place called Hagenheim, far to the north?”

  Aladdin gazed into the priest’s kind eyes and nodded.

  The priest laughed and pulled out a small loaf of bread and handed it to him, finally releasing the boy’s arm from his grip.

  Aladdin bit into the bread. The priest held out his hand and Aladdin took it, and they walked away from the bazaar and away from his Arab homeland.

  CHAPTER TWO

  Summer 1403

  Hagenheim, Lower Saxony, Holy Roman Empire

  The first time Aladdin saw Lady Kirstyn, her pale-blonde hair shone in the summer sun like the gold-and-yellow stained glass of Hagenheim Cathedral, reminding him of one particularly bright angel. Was this girl an angel like the one in the window?

  He was still learning the language of the Christians, so when he pulled on the sleeve of the priest’s long, flowing robe, he said, “Who?” and pointed at the small girl who was laughing in the sun.

  The priest stared down at him with that amused look he wore nearly all the time and shook his head. Then he bent down and said softly, “She is pretty, is she not? Only about two years younger than you, I would guess. But that is the duke’s daughter, Lady Kirstyn.”

  Many days and weeks after that, when the priest was satisfied that Aladdin had learned enough German to understand others and make himself understood, he took him back to the place where Aladdin had seen the girl angel. They stood in the grassy yard behind a large brick building where a group of children were playing.

  Priest leaned down to talk to Aladdin, and he gestured at a well-dressed woman. “That great lady there is Lady Kirstyn’s mother, Lady Rose. She has invited you to come and play with the orphans every day when you finish your studies. Would you like to play with the other children?”

  “Yes.”

  The next afternoon he joined the children as they played a game of blindman’s buff in the yard at the end of the street that led to Hagenheim Castle. He kept looking for the angel girl, but she was not there. In fact, several days went by before he saw her again.

  Lady Rose was standing nearby, speaking with the woman in charge of the orphanage. Aladdin kept his eye on Lady Kirstyn as the children played. She was laughing as the other children ran forward and touched the blindfolded child on the arm or shoulder or back, then stepped back or ran away. Finally Lady Kirstyn stepped forward, rather timidly compared to the others, and touched the blindfolded boy on the arm.

  The boy, who was a head taller than her, reached out and grabbed her by the wrist.

  Lady Kirstyn screamed.

  Aladdin leapt toward the boy and reached him just as he was taking off his blindfold.

  Aladdin grabbed the boy by the arm that held Kirstyn. “Let her go!”

  The boy let her go and grabbed Aladdin by the throat, glaring down. “What do you think you’re doing?” He drew back his fist.

  Aladdin cringed, closing his eyes as he waited for the blow.

  “Stop that!” A woman stood beside them, the white wimple trembling that covered her steel-gray hair. “Hanns, do not strike him. He doesn’t know the game.” She glowered at the boy, and he let go of Aladdin.

  Lady Rose stood beside Aladdin and bent toward him. “All is well. It’s only a game. I’m sorry no one explained it to you.”

  Lady Kirstyn stood beside her mother, staring at him with big blue eyes. “Are you the boy who came from the Holy Land with Priest and his knight protector?”

  Aladdin stared back at her.

  “What is your name?” the little girl asked. “How old are you?”

  “My name is Aladdin. And I don’t know how old I am.”

  She gave him a puzzled look.

  The woman in charge of the children was still speaking with Hanns. Lady Rose smiled down at Aladdin and bent toward him. “Hanns was not hurting Lady Kirstyn, but thank you for coming to her aid.”

  The woman with the steel-gray hair said, “The child with the blindfold must try to catch one of the other children. He caught Lady Kirstyn, so now it is her turn to wear the blindfold.”

  Kirstyn laid a hand on his arm, her touch light like a butterfly’s wings. “No one will hurt me.” She smiled. “Come and play with us.”

  Aladdin wondered what it must be like to believe no one would hurt him. After staying with Priest at Hagenheim Cathedral, he was beginning to understand. Hagenheim was a safe place full of families who were kind to each other. And for those children who had no family, they made up their own family in a place called an orphanage.

  Kirstyn was already putting the blindfold over her eyes, and her mother tied it behind her head.

  Hanns seemed to have already forgotten Aladdin, and he and the other children swarmed around Lady Kirstyn. Aladdin stood back and watched as the children touched Lady Kirstyn’s shoulder or arm. She smiled, her teeth showing white between her pink lips. She flailed her arms out in front of her, her small hands grasping only air. She squealed as someone touched her elbow, and she swung around.

  Finally her hand grasped another girl’s hand just as she came near. She called out a name, and the girl admitted it was her. Lady Kirstyn laughed and shouted in triumph, lifting the blindfold from her face.

  The woman tied the blindfold around the other little girl’s face, but Aladdin still watched Lady Kirstyn, the way her eyes sparkled as she talked and smiled and laughed.

  His heart thumped hard against his chest, suddenly full and warm.

  Spring 1406

  Hagenheim Cathedral

  Aladdin had been excused from his language and mathematics lessons for a we
ek as Priest lay sick in bed. Aladdin sat nearby reading, and Priest’s breaths were loud as he struggled to draw in each one. The doctor had come and gone that morning, and now Priest lay with his eyes open.

  “Aladdin, come here,” he rasped.

  Aladdin put down his book and hurried to his bedside. “Do you need some water or wine? Shall I fetch the healer?”

  “No.” He drew in a noisy breath between words. “I want you . . . to go live . . . with the children at the orphans’ home. And, Aladdin . . . never forget . . . your Jesus. He saved you. Love Him. Always.” He closed his eyes, as though speaking had exhausted him.

  Aladdin nodded. “Of course. I shall. Anything you wish, Priest.”

  “Take this . . . copy . . . of the Holy Writ. It’s yours now.”

  Aladdin had seen Priest reading that book every day, always in the morning before he broke his fast, then again in the evening. He’d been using it to teach Aladdin how to read Latin. Aladdin’s eyes watered at the thought that Priest would never read it again.

  Aladdin leaned over him and patted his arm. “Rest so you can get well.”

  “I will not . . . get well . . . this time.”

  Aladdin’s own breath hitched and tears flooded his eyes. “I’m sorry for what I did when I was younger. I promise I’ll never steal again.”

  “You are . . . forgiven. I shall . . . see you . . . in heaven . . . You are . . . my son . . . from the Holy Land.” Priest lifted his hand and touched Aladdin’s cheek with his fingertips, then let his hand drop. His eyes closed and he continued to breathe hard, his chest rising and falling beneath the large cross hanging from a chain around his neck.

  After about an hour, his chest stopped rising and falling. The rasping breaths ceased.

  Aladdin waited. He touched the older man’s shoulder, but he still didn’t open his eyes. Priest was dead.

  The next two days were a blur of numbness. On the third day the whole town of Hagenheim came to see Priest’s body as it lay in the polished, ornate coffin. “He’s not there,” Aladdin wanted to tell them. “He’s waiting for me in heaven.”

  Everyone had come, even Duke Wilhelm and Lady Rose and all their children. They gazed down at Priest’s waxy, still face. Lady Kirstyn stared at him the longest. She was still standing there when her parents and siblings had moved away.

  Aladdin’s tears had been sitting like a hard lump inside his chest for three days. They suddenly rose to clog his throat, then continued up until they blurred his vision, spilling onto his cheeks and flowing down his neck.

  Priest had been the one who taught him to speak German. Priest had bandaged his skinned knees and patted him on the shoulder. Priest had laughed at the things he’d said, calling him “a fine boy” and “clever beyond reason” and “destined to do great things.” Priest had taken him from a cruel master who forced him to steal. He’d fed him and clothed him and taught him about the One who saves all people from their sins, the Son of God who died a vicious death so men could be free from shame and guilt.

  Priest was his family. Who would care about Aladdin now that Priest was gone?

  He took a shuddering breath, using his hands to wipe the tears from his neck and chin. When he looked up, Lady Kirstyn was holding out a small cloth bag.

  “I brought you some cake.”

  He took the bag, which was still warm.

  Lady Rose approached him, smiling gently. “Aladdin, would you like to live with the other children at the orphans’ home? Did Priest talk with you about that?”

  He nodded. Kirstyn stood next to her mother, looking at him even though her siblings and nearly everyone else had left the church.

  “Will you show me where you sleep? Perhaps we could gather your things, and Kirstyn and I could accompany you over there.”

  Aladdin walked by the coffin that held Priest’s body, but he could no longer bear to look at him there.

  They were both starting a new life. Priest’s was certain to be good, but Aladdin was less sure about his.

  CHAPTER THREE

  Spring 1409

  Kirstyn had purposely worn her oldest dress and sturdiest shoes. She fetched her lightest cloak from her bedchamber and ran down the stairs, out the door, and into the fresh spring air.

  The sun was shining and the sky, bluer than she ever remembered it, was dotted with fluffy white clouds, whiter than the cleanest wool. She raced toward the stable and kept running to the large chestnut tree where Aladdin had agreed to meet her. He was just arriving with a smile on his face.

  “Did you finish your studies early?” she asked.

  “Yes.”

  “Are you sure you won’t get in trouble?” She bit her lip. Aladdin was always so willing to do whatever she asked of him. Was he so willing that he would take a beating for her? Her stomach sank at the thought.

  “What kind of trouble?” He tilted his head to the side.

  “The stable master might be angry with you for being late. He would not punish you, would he?”

  Aladdin shook his head and waved his hand as if the idea were silly. “I can simply work late instead of early.”

  “Then let us go!” Kirstyn giggled and started off in the direction of the gate leading out of town.

  She glanced over her shoulder. “Why are you walking behind me?” Of course, she knew why. Before he could answer, she said, “You must walk beside me. We’ll be at the gate in a moment.”

  “You are the duke’s daughter. I dare not—”

  “Nonsense. We are two people—a brother and a sister perhaps—making our way to our little wattle-and-daub house in the woods.” She giggled again. How fun it was to pretend!

  Aladdin allowed himself to catch up with Kirstyn. His heart soared at being her companion for the afternoon.

  “I brought some apples and bread and cheese for us.” She showed him the bag at her waist. “In case we get hungry.”

  Her cheeks were pink, and her teeth flashed in the sunlight. She didn’t seem to have any idea how pretty she was. He was suddenly thankful she was the duke’s daughter. That fact would protect her in future from lecherous eyes.

  She turned toward him even as she kept hurrying along. “The weather is still a bit cool, but I simply could not wait.”

  “I don’t mind the cool air.”

  As they approached the gate, Kirstyn threw the hood from her cloak over her head, letting it hang low over her eyes. He drew closer to her side as the guards scrutinized them.

  Would the guards stop them and question them? Aladdin had never passed through the gates alone before. Would they recognize Lady Kirstyn?

  The guards did stare, first at Kirstyn, then at Aladdin, then glanced away as the two of them passed on by.

  When they were several horse-lengths outside the gate, Kirstyn turned to him and clapped her hands. Then she veered off the road leading away from Hagenheim and ran.

  Aladdin ran after her, quickly overtaking her. He stayed beside her as they traversed a meadow full of wildflowers. In the middle of it was a large tree. Kirstyn didn’t stop until she reached it, then leaned her shoulder against the trunk.

  She was breathing hard, but a wide smile stretched across her face. “This is fun. But I feel as if I’m doing something wrong.”

  “Are you?”

  Her smile faltered, but then she shook her head. “No one said I could not go exploring with a friend. They only said I couldn’t leave the castle courtyard alone.”

  He frowned a little, but he couldn’t scold her.

  “And I will not permit anyone to blame you if they try to punish us. I shall tell them I forced you to accompany me, that you warned me and tried to stop me. Come. Let us go explore the forest.”

  She pushed herself away from the trunk and strode up the gentle hill toward the edge of the dark woods. He walked beside her, listening to her chatter about the leaves and the trees and the animals who lived in the forest.

  The trees were mostly beeches and oaks, with their spring leaves just
sprouting—new life on limbs that stretched up to the sky.

  “The ground is so soft and springy,” Kirstyn said. “How many years’ worth of leaves are under our feet?”

  Aladdin touched the tree’s bark beside him. There was something restorative about being in the woods, in the natural world, away from cobblestone streets and stone and brick and people.

  “You’re very quiet,” Kirstyn said.

  “I like how quiet it is. We haven’t heard anything besides a few birds chirping.”

  “Yes, the forest is almost reverent, like a church.”

  She was so clever in how she described things, and the joy on her face created a warmth in his middle.

  They walked a bit farther. “Look at these pretty flowers!” Kirstyn bent and examined the tiny purple blossoms.

  “What are those called?”

  “I think they’re violets. I shall pick some and take them home to my mother.”

  A small animal scrambled out of the dead leaves and raced across the ground. Kirstyn let out a short scream.

  Aladdin leapt forward, ready to defend her. Perhaps he should have brought a weapon of some sort. He did have his small knife that he carried everywhere in the pouch at his belt.

  Kirstyn laughed, pressing her hand to her chest. “It was only a field mouse.”

  When Kirstyn had asked him to go exploring with her, Aladdin inquired of the men who worked in the stable whether dangerous animals roamed in the forest outside Hagenheim. After teasing him about all of the wolves, poisonous adders, wild cats, and bears, one of the kinder men, Eiderholt, told him that wild animals large enough to harm a man rarely appeared anywhere near Hagenheim. They preferred the mountainous areas away from people.

  Which left the adders.

  Aladdin scoured the ground until he found a fallen tree and broke off a limb about six feet long. He cleaned the smaller limbs from it and gripped it. Yes, it was just the right size.

  Kirstyn looked at him. “A walking stick. What a good idea.”

  He didn’t tell her he wanted it in case they encountered a snake in the leaves.