The Miracle

I have decided to put together a set of short stories, each with a historical and/or romantic connection.

The one that I am writing at present is based on a true story - when the Emperor Charlemagne sent money to pay for a chapel to be built in the village to commemorate a miracle on 28 May 778. The villagers in Laroque-Timbaut (in South-West France) still celebrate that anniversary every year.

This is the beginning of the story –

Tara had only a few minutes in the evening to rest from the heat under the trees on her way home before she must prepare the supper. As always, her face was dusty with soil, and her legs under the ragged dress weary from the long day in the fields.

As she was about to move on, Tara heard sounds behind her. That would be Thomas; he always came that way to bother her. She had known him since she was a young child, but her mother had never liked any of the local peasant farmers.

Before she could turn her head, a pair of strong hands gripped her arms, and she was lifted up and turned to face away from the valley. A short distance away, Tara saw a very frightened Thomas, short and squat with his hands bound, with a rough looking man standing behind him. The tall stranger was holding her firmly, so it seemed a waste of time to struggle.

“Tell the girl,” said the tall stranger in French, “that I won’t hurt her if she comes without trying to escape.” The other man spoke to Thomas, and he passed on the message to Tara. She replied to him in the local patois, as Thomas did not understand the foreigners’ language.

“Who are they?”