The second of our Tales of Orange, following last episode's The Queen and the Orange. Music: Creepy — Bensound.com. James: Here are some Totally Made up Tales, brought to you by the magic of the internet. Andrew / James (alternating): Mist covered the land, and from the recesses of the valley came a new sound. Bwaaaaaaah, it went. This startled the villagers, who gathered at the edge of town with ear pressed to the ground listening to the mysterious rumblings and worrying. It made many noises before they saw, emerging from the mist, elephants! As they stampeded toward the town, the elephants put their trunks into action, trumpeting the arrival of the herd. Thus, was jazz invented. James: And now, the Cavalier of Saint Ignacio. Andrew: The sun rose over the hills with the promise of a hot summer's day ahead. James: Sitting in the shade of an orange tree, a man bit into the fruity pulp of the delicious orange globe. Andrew: He offered half of the fruit to the dog that faithfully sat by his side, and man and beast together wolfed down their delicious fruity breakfast. James: Over the hill back in the town, he could hear the sound of trumpets. Andrew: It was the celebration of the Feet of Saint Ignacio. James: Since sundown the day before, people from the villages all around had been bringing their wares and particularly their oranges, fabled throughout the country, to the town square in preparation for the feast. Andrew: Saint Ignacio was the patron saint of orange grove, and legend ran that wherever his foot had landed on the earth, a tree had sprung up — and in celebration of his feast day at the end of the orange season, the growers would gather in the capital city of the region, and paint the soles of their feet orange and walk through the streets. James: The children would run amongst them singing and dancing and laughing, and when they reached the town square, a great feast awaited them all. Andrew: This man however, was not taking part in the feast this year, for something significant was about to happen to him. James: As he got up intending to make his way into the town, another sound reached his ears. Andrew: He was not the only one who heard the mysterious sound. His dog's ears pricked up, and his eyes became immediately alert, and he too stood and man and dog looked at the distant horizon. James: At first they could see nothing but dust. Then, gradually they could see figures moving through the dust and finally, as the figures got closer, they could see men on horseback; the thundering of the hooves as they galloped towards the town warning of the importance of their mission. Andrew: He took from his bag a spyglass and extended it in order to inspect the men and determine who they were. James: He swept the spyglass from one side of the band of cavalry to the other, counting 6,7,8,9,10, no twenty men, all on horseback… until he found their leader. Andrew: Their leader, the Cavalier of Saint Ignacio, the twenty knights of the orange grove! The fabled, nay, mythical group! Surely, they had died out centuries ago! But no, now here they were looking exactly as they did on the mighty altarpiece painting that stood in the church in the town. James: He ran to the town elders. Andrew: Breathlessly, he arrived in the village square and threw himself down before the mayor and said, "Quick! Quick! You must come with me, there is something that I must show you at once. I know it seems unlikely. I know that this is the worst possible time but you must come with me as you trust me as a man and as a member of the city, please!" James: And then Old Marco, the priest stepped forward and said in his gravelly voice, "It is the Calvary of Saint Ignacio, is it not?" Andrew: "But how could you know that?" Said the young man. "How could you possibly know?" James: "I have prayed and I have been visited by the Feet of Saint Ignacio and they pointed towards the frieze of the Cavalry this morning. I knew that they would be coming." Andrew: "There has been a legend, a legend of yore that was passed to me by the former priest of this town on his death bed that one day the Cavalry would return. They would return with a dire warning." James: And so the mayor got into the mayor's official cart and the two ponies were hitched to it and the elders followed behind with the children singing and dancing and playing and not understanding that this was not the normal feast of the Feet of Saint Ignacio, but this was something very special. And the entire town met the Cavalry on the border. Andrew: At the front of the imposing column of men in their dark black robes with orange silk flashes on the sleeves, there was the Cavalier resplendent, a gold cross on his chest, a mighty lance in his hand, a shining helmet upon his head that in the morning sun seemed to be ...
