‘What are you doing, Yusuf? Why aren’t you ready to go?’
Shirkuh’s face was red and angry.
Yusuf jumped up when his uncle came into his office in the
castle of Aleppo. ‘Why, Uncle, do you want me on the campaign?
You said nothing about me coming, so I thought that you
wanted me to stay here to take care of things.’
‘Stupid boy! You know everything about my soldiers now. I
need you to make sure that they have everything they need. Go!
We leave tomorrow at first light!’
It didn’t take long for Yusuf to find his sword, a few clothes
and his holy Koran, and then to get his horse ready. At last he
was one of Nuradin’s soldiers, and not just an office boy for his
uncle. ‘If I do well in Egypt, perhaps one day I can be in the army
that will take back the holy places!’ he thought.
‘Men!’ Shirkuh called, ‘To take our enemies by surprise, we
must move quickly. The journey will be very difficult, but never
forget that you’re the best soldiers in Syria. We’ll do good work
for Nuradin in Egypt, and then the people and the gold of
that rich country will help us to fight the Franks in the Holy
Land.’