Brother George was very tense when he walked onto the playing ground, surrounded by Julian, Maurice, Benedict, Steve, Jack, Marc, Victor and Felix for the first game. Saint Peter was opening the games against Saint Mathew. Brother George stood on the field with his dove cages, to the amusement of the priest of Saint Mathew sitting on his stallion.
“Did you sell Icarus to buy birds?” he said in a sarcastic voice. His horse nervously scratched the earth with its feet.
“I do not need a horse. I am relying on my congregation,” replied Brother George and went on instructing his players.
“Do you use doves to carry your injured players from the field?” said the priest laughing loudly.
Seven hundred players from Saint Mathew flocked into the stadium. Saint Peter had barely five hundred players. Things were really not looking good for Brother George.
But then he heard a voice.
“Wait, wait. Do not start without us!”
Brother George turned around and saw Peter the fisherman with his mates flocking into the stadium.
Brother George was overwhelmed with joy to see the fishermen positioning themselves for the game.
“We saw you training your players. We had discussions in the fishing room how to help you to win the trophy of Saint Mary.”
Abbot Antony walked on the playing ground. He was opening the carnival season.
“Make your vows coaches,” he said to Brother George and the priest of Saint Matthew.
“Nobody of Saint Matthew will enter the church of Saint Peter,” said Brother George closing his eyes and looking to the sky as if he was asking for help from heaven.
“Nobody from Saint Peter will enter the church of Saint Matthew,” said Brother Philip looking at the ground ready to defend Saint Matthew at all cost.
“May God bless the tournament? Saint Mary will decide who is going to win,” said abbot Antony, whose last words were drowned by the shouting voices of the crowd. The fanfares blended in bringing the yelling to the next level.
Saint Peter Verses Saint Matthew
Brother Philip galloped straight to the church of Saint Peter, followed by a shouting mob trying to catch up with him. But they could only see the back of his horse disappearing in the dust.
“You bastard,” said an old lady from Saint Matthew to Brother George.
Brother George felt ashamed for a moment and considered addressing the rude manners of the old lady. After careful consideration he came to the conclusion that it was more important to save the honor of Saint Peter rather than defend his own. He was anxious to see if his defense could withstand the attack of Saint Matthew, whose players were rolling over the field like a tsunami. They clashed against the farmers of Saint Peter who stood there like the Great Wall of China. “Release the birds,” said Brother George to the children who were gathering around the dove cages.
The first birds escaped the wooden boxes, flying over the heads of the players straight to their allocated posts. The first doves returned with messages attached to their bodies. More and more doves gathered around Brother George. The children were busy taking the messages from the legs of the doves and handing them over to Brother George, who took control over the game immediately. Brother George discovered a huge unprotected field leading straight to the middle point. He dispatched a note with a plan to the place where Maurice and Julian were positioned to launch an attack on the statue of Saint Matthew. Brother George posted another message to Brother Benedict, Steve and Jack and Marc to follow Maurice and Julian to the middle point. He also sent three doves with messages to the flanks. The rafters, farmers and fisherman were instructed to protect the runners so they could advance unhindered to the middle point.
Maurice gained control of the statue of Saint Mathew and ran away, followed by Felix and Victor. The players of Saint Peter had formed a line leading from the altar to the middle point. Maurice came out of the church which was the field around the altar. He threw the statue to Felix who threw it to Victor. The statue was thrown from one soldier to another covering hundreds of meters in a very short time. A few players of Saint Mathew followed the statue with angry and frustrated shouting. They could only watch Saint Mathew disappearing in the dust.
Brother George received the information that the attack was successful. He figured out a cluster of opponents about half way to the middle point which needed immediate attention. He started gathering players to attack the stronghold to enable the runners who would arrive there in less than twenty minutes to carry the statue of Saint Mathew further to the middle point. He knew that Father Philip had thrown more than half of his players into the attack, which turned out to be catastrophic. Brother Philip had positioned a substantial number of players close to the middle point to deploy them quickly and fight Saint Peter back if needed. But his tactic was built on stiff hypothesis and not on the true dynamics of the game. Saint Peter did not incur any resistance moving forward to the middle point. The players of Saint Peter were attacking the defenders of Saint Matthew gathering around the middle point. This move had to be quick. If they lost too much time Father Philip would launch an attack from behind and repossess the statue of Saint Mathew as Saint Peter did not have the power to defeat them.
Brother George had to make up a plan to carry Saint Matthew quickly to the middle point. A messenger of Saint Mathew ran to Brother Philip and told him what was happening. Brother Philip sat on his Arabian race horse. His face turned red when he realized the seriousness of the situation. Before he could act, Brother George had already another plan in mind. He organized a strategic move which he called the separation of the sea. He had trained for this move several times with his men. Whilst Maurice’s soldiers, the fishermen and the rafters fought off the defenders of Saint Mathew from the middle point, the runners of Saint Peter were quickly approaching.
Brother Philip left the church of Saint Peter in a hurry and galloped back followed by about three hundred screaming players rolling over the field like a herd of wild bulls. Meanwhile the players of Saint Peter had built up a fifty-meter corridor leading up to the middle point. Any attempt to break the corridor failed as Saint Peter had about double the amount of players gathered around the middle point. Julian appeared in the distance holding the statue of Saint Mathew followed by Maurice, Benedict, Steve, Jack and Marc.
Saint Peter Beats Saint Matthew
Brother Philip had arrived at the middle point in the meantime. He jumped from his horse and tried to snatch the statue out of Julian’s hands in a desperate attempt. Julian threw the statue to Jack who ran into the corridor with Marc. Jack threw the statue to Marc. The orphan placed the statue on the middle point.
The players of Saint Peter were overjoyed and fell in each other’s arms. Brother George smiled happily. The effort had paid off. However, he knew that Saint Matthew was one of the weaker teams and a lot of enduring hard work lay ahead.
Brother George watched the streets of Saint Peter. He saw young ladies dancing half naked in the street surrounded by young males. The people’s morals were declining early. The only way to reestablish the moral rules was to win the games as quickly as possible.
Brother Timothy’s Invention Fails
Saint Peter was taking a break whilst Saint Luke and Saint Marc prepared for the next game. The players of Saint Marc brought a birch tree in the stadium. A few man tied the priest to the tree on a rope. Brother Timothy had identified the same problem as Brother George and was looking into ways to overcome the lack of visibility. However, his approach was different and had him lifted twenty meters in the air to oversee the field. Twenty meters was not high enough to overlook the ten- square-kilometer field, as Brother Timothy soon found out. He hung on the mast like a worm ready to be dropped in the water.
The defense of Saint Marc was not strong enough to withstand the vigorous attacks from Saint Luke. Saint Luke managed to break into the church and take the statue of Saint Marc from the altar. The
players of Saint Luke built a hedgehog, which was a cluster of players keeping the statue in the middle ploughing over the field. A hedgehog was difficult to break because of the players who stuck close together like the needles of a hedgehog. However, the disadvantage of this tactic was that the wall of people moved slowly and using a lot of manpower. Brother Timothy gave orders from the top of the pole. However, his players were too disorganized and could not hear what their priest was shouting at the top. Saint Luke was approaching rapidly toward the middle point. The players carrying the pole with their priest recognized immediately that the attack had to be stopped before it was too late. They looked up to the pole where the priest was struggling like a little baby and then they looked at the wall of people ploughing over the field. Brother Timothy had also become aware of the imminent threat and was shouting but nobody followed his instructions. The players of Saint Marc had made their own emergency plan without consulting Brother Timothy. They looked to their poor priest, fidgeting in the air. Then they nodded their heads simultaneously and released the pole to confront the attack of Saint Luke.
Cries of horror went through the ranks of the spectators when the pole came down with Father Timothy still attached to the rope. He looked like a black caterpillar caught in a spider web. The pole fell on the ground with a dull thud. The abbot and Brother George went straight to Father Timothy who was lying in the grass. They hold him under the arms and carried him to the emergency station. Saint Marc had to accept defeat. The players had mercy with their priest as he had shown a lot of courage. Brother Timothy smiled because he knew that he was not going to be chased in the wilderness of the mountains by his congregation. On the contrary his people treated him as if they had won the tournament. They felt guilty because they had abandoned him.
The Giants of village football
The next confrontation was between Saint John and Saint Paul. Saint John attracted Brother George’s special attention as they had won last year’s tournament. Saint Peter had lost against Saint John in the quarter finals. The team of Saint John was famous for the Black Widows, who provided the attacking squad of the team. People said that the spirit of the men who had lost their lives defending Christian villages dwelled in the hearts of the mighty Black Widows. The attack was composed of twenty elderly women capable of breaking any defense. The Black Widows were also in the defense making sure that nobody touched the statue of Saint John.
Brother George moved nervously up and down the field watching the game between Saint John and Saint Paul. The Black Widows worked effectively together. Brother George could not find any weaknesses in their game. They were fast and very dynamic bringing the game to a higher level. They moved steadily forward with tremendous might. Nobody appeared to be able to stop them if they were in possession of a statue. Brother George could not believe that they were so strong. The Black Widows were all females after all inferior to the strength of men. Saint John won easily against Saint Paul.
The Great Final
Then Saint Peter had to verse Saint Simon. Saint Peter had an easy game and won. Saint Peter made it to the final against Saint John. The Black Widows went straight for the statue of Saint Peter. Brother George acted quickly and threw all his men into the defense. The Black Widows carved through the defense like a hot iron through butter. Brother George was forced to let Saint John enter the church, which was highly dangerous. The farmers of Saint Peter gave the attackers a hard time but were powerless against the sheer might of the Black Widows.
Brother George stood back as the Black Widows tore the statue of Saint Peter from the altar. A Black Widow lifted the statue of Saint Peter in the air, uttering a barbaric cry which could be heard all over the-ten-square-kilometer playing ground, sounding like a stag that had defeated its rivals.
The roar pierced his body like the pins of needles. Brother George could not bear the humiliation any longer. He gave up his commanding position and ran to the church, followed by all his players. He regretted having left Icarus at home as he needed a fast horse now. He would have given his church for his horse at this moment.
A huge dust cloud rose in the air bearing witness to the fierce battle. Maurice tried to regain the statue of Saint Peter with his soldiers. Just when the battle tipped in favor of Saint John, the rafters from the mountains arrived and joined the ranks of the soldiers of Maurice. Brother Benedict had taken over the command and had sent every man who was close to the church to fight for Saint Peter. Brother George ploughed into the bodies of the Black Widows engaging in a tough fight. He made his way right into the centre of the fight. He tore Saint Peter out of the arms of a Black Widow, roaring like an angry lion who had taken his prey out of the claws of a hyena. He held the statue in his right hand. Then he threw the statue right into the hands of Marc who was waiting outside the circle of fire.
“Run Marc! Run back to the church!” shouted Brother George.
Marc looked at the statue and ran off like a little rabbit chased by a pack of wolves. Jack and Steve ran close behind him. A group of Theban soldiers, rafters, fishermen and farmers protected Marc and Steve from the attacks of Saint John. More and more players of Saint Peter came to the rescue and Steve was close to putting Saint Peter back on the altar. But they ran into a hundred men strong wall of Saint John. The same players had previously helped the Black Widows to bring down the defense of Saint Peter.
The players of Saint John immediately ran toward Marc and Jack, who tried to escape. Brother Benedict was figuring out ways to turn the game around. He had to be very careful not to get drifted back to close to the middle point as they could lose the statue any moment. Brother Benedict dispatched fast runners from the defense to work the statue slowly forward. The Black Widows had recovered and continued the hunt for Saint Peter.
The attacking team of Saint Peter had been worn out by the attempt to storm the altar of Saint John and had not even come close to the Saint. They were tired and gathered their strength for the next attack.
Marc still held the statue of Saint Peter in his hands. He threw it to Jack. When Jack watched the angry faces of the people of Saint John he got frightened. It suddenly occurred to him that there was no way in the world that he could put the statue back on the altar. He decided to ran away to give Brother Benedict time to figure out a new strategy.
The Black Widows soon caught up with the tired man. Saint Peter’s players were exhausted. Jack was close to a faint. He threw himself down to the ground protecting the statue with his body. He was hoping that some of his mates would soon arrive to support him. Instead two players from Saint John lifted him off the ground like a little child. They tore the statue out of his arms and dumped him on the ground like an empty nut-shell.
Brother George followed about a hundred meters behind having difficulty catching up with the fast runners. Every player of Saint Peter was aware of the precarious situation and followed the escaping players who were determined to make it to the middle point in no time. Brother Benedict had dispatched a few players coming straight from the middle point to stop them. However, the Black Widows were receiving support too on the way. A powerful confrontation emerged between the two teams giving Brother George enough time to catch up. Players from Saint John arrived from left right and center and outnumbered Saint Peter hugely.
Saint John managed to drag the statue of Saint Peter further to the middle point to the horror of Brother George. Not only was the Saint not in the church anymore, Saint Peter was in enemy territory and needed to be redeemed from this shame immediately. Brother Benedict gave up his position and attacked the upcoming players immediately.
The statue of Saint Peter was only fifty meters away from being placed in the middle point signifying the death of the Saint. The abandoned commando centre of Brother George was surrounded by hundreds of doves waiting to have the little chains with the messages taken off their legs. But there was nobody there who could detach the posts as everybody was involved in the battle of the Saints. The doves hopped on
the ground not knowing what to do.
Brother Benedict tackled the Black Widow holding the statue of Saint Peter and threw him on the ground. Brother George arrived and grabbed the statue. The doves recognized Brother George and flew straight to her. Brother George was soon surrounded by hundreds of birds. He had the statue of Saint Peter in his left hand and tried to scare the doves off with his right hand. The attack of the birds reduced his speed considerably and he was soon caught up by the players of Saint John wrestling him down. Brother George lay on the field with the statue of Saint Peter buried underneath him. Some of his mates gathered around him trying to protect him from the attackers. Six Black Widows lifted Brother George from the ground and tore the statue out of his arms. They dumped Brother George on the ground.
Brother George saw the smile in their faces when they took possession of his Saint. The Black Widows disappeared with Saint Peter whilst doves were flying around Brother George’s head. The Black Widows bulldozed all the players in their way to the ground. Nobody could stop them anymore and they run straight to the middle point where they laid the statue of Saint Peter on the ground.
Saint Peter had to admit defeat. Brother George stood on the playing ground with tears in his eyes. The pain of the defeat was terrible. He wished he was a snail so he could hide in the snail house. He starred to the ground when he congratulated the priest of Saint John for his victory.
The Joy of the Carnival
The people followed the smell coming from the nearby food stands. Loud voices and laughter resonated from the inns where people gathered to discuss the games. The farmers presented all their latest inventions to the people. Young men engaged in woodcutting competitions. A grinder competition offered young lads the opportunity to compete against older rivals. Beautiful embroideries the women had crafted in the long winter months for Mary were on display too. Religious themes were woven into the silk cloth.