Raymund & Natalie's Grand Adventure

It is the year 1069, three years after William the Conqueror has become King of England. The Church and barons are in a constant struggle for land and wealth. The peasants are yoked with bureaucracy and taxes. What does a mature loving couple do when they’ve had their fill of frustration and headache? They go abroad to have the adventure of a lifetime, that’s what! Rating: MEDIUM controversy.

“Are we really so old, Raymund?” Natalie asked. “Have we nothing left but to wither and die like the trees do at the onset of winter?”

“We still breathe, my pumpkin.” Raymund answered. “It cannot be said that life is over for us while we can still do that much.”

“But is this really life?” Natalie asked. “To do the same thing, day after day, and year after year, until one of us has passed and the other is left with nothing but a memory of what we once knew?”

“We need an adventure!” Raymund blurted out. “We need to leave this place and to have a grand odyssey that the bards will be singing over for years to come.”

“But where will we go, my husband?”

“To the stars themselves, if need be. I refuse to believe that our best seasons are already behind us. We are only a few years past our fortieth birthday!”

“Fanciful, yes. Practical, no. Are we to just leave everything we own on a whim?”

“We’ll sell everything.” Raymund replied. “We’ll pay that half pound tax to the Church and we’ll pay off whatever other debt we carry, by selling off the entirety of our land and all of our possessions. We’ll go to Salisbury so that you can see your family again.”

“I will not go to Salisbury as a beggar.” Natalie refused.

“Then, then we’ll head further north, to Oxford, or to Nottingham.”

“I’ve heard such dreadful things about the sheriff at Nottingham. A popular revolt is in the works, if I’m not mistaken. The outlaws are quite heroic there.”

“We could go to York.”

“I’ve already been to York. And haven’t you heard? There are rumors of war circulating all about York.”

“Woman, is there a place in England that you haven’t been to?”

Natalie considered this question for the next few minutes. “Well, I’ve never been south of the English Channel. What lies in that direction?”

“Brittany, Marne, and Normandy.”

“Let’s go there.” Natalie decided.

“Where? Those are three different places.”

“Let’s go to all of them. You’re the man who wanted to have an adventure, so let’s have a memorable one.”