‘He will want to know of such a boy?’

‘Of such a boy, and of such a crusade. This could be another sign of the end of days. He will want to know everything. Why, if they get to Palestine and do half of what they promise, then the Ottoman Empire will struggle to deal with them. For them it will be their worst nightmare knocking at their front door. With such a large band of children they’ll either have to guard them, or arrest them, attack them, or let them enter into the holiest places. Either way these children could upset everything. This may turn out to be the greatest weapon we could have devised against our enemies. We would never have thought of such a device but they could be far more powerful than any Christian army of grown men. If Johann can appeal to Ottoman children and Turk children and if they join him in a Christian crusade, then the world would be turned upside down.’

‘Do you really think they can get all that way to Jerusalem?’

‘Who would have thought they could have got here? And yet they have, in their thousands.’

‘Certainly hundreds,’ Luca said cautiously.

‘There are hundreds of children following that boy already. How many more can he recruit as he marches south?’

‘You can’t think that the sea will part before them?’ Luca asked. ‘How could such a thing happen?’

‘Do you believe that the Red Sea parted for the children of Israel?’ the older man put to him.

‘I have to believe it. The Bible is clear that it did. To question it would be heresy.’

‘Then why should such a miracle not happen again?’

Luca shook his head. ‘I suppose it could. I just—’ He broke off. ‘I just can’t understand how such a thing could be. How it could happen. Don’t question my faith, I believe the Bible as I am bound to do. I am not denying one word of it. But this sea rushing back from the sea bed? And these children walking dry-shod to Palestine? Can such a thing be possible?’

‘We have to see if it can be done. But if the sea does not part for them it may be that Milord will get them ships.’

‘Why would he take the trouble?’ Luca hesitated, noticing the excitement in the older man’s face. ‘Is our inquiry about the end of days, or is the Order more interested in defeating the Ottomans? Are we seeking the truth or forging a weapon?’

‘Both, of course, both,’ Brother Peter replied roundly. ‘Both, always. It is one and the same thing. The world will end when the Ottomans enter the gates of Rome, and at that moment the dead will rise from their graves for judgment. You and I have to travel throughout Christendom to watch for the signs of the dead rising, of Satan emerging, and the Ottoman armies coming ever closer. The infidels in Jerusalem and Jesus descending from heaven is one and the same thing, both signs of the end. What we have to know is when it takes place. These children may be a sign, I really believe that they are a sign. We must write to Milord, and we have to know more.’