Pagan in Exile (27 page)

But how can He, when I can’t forgive myself? Now I have this stain on my soul forever. The mark of Cain, and I’ll never wash it off.

‘Pagan, please don’t cry. Please. We have a path, now, a true path.’ Scrubbing at my face with the corner of his cloak. ‘Dry your eyes, Pagan, I want you to witness this.’

Witness what? What are you doing? He stands up, slowly, and the little loose pebbles roll out from under his feet. They tumble down into the pit, with a patter like raindrops. The folds of his cloak billow in the breeze.

He draws his sword.

Help! What’s he doing? A blinding flash – a glitter of gold – as he lifts the blade higher and higher, over his head, leaning back with all his weight on his right foot, and his left arm stretched out in front of him.

He throws.

The heavy sword takes flight. Whirling. Sparkling. Up into the air like a silver bird, like an arrow, fiery in the sunshine, and falling, now. Plummeting. Down and down, still catching the light, down past the cascades of gravel and dandelions.

Until it lands, with a
plop
, in the black water. And slowly disappears from sight.

S
HORTLISTED FOR THE
C
HILDREN’S
B
OOK
C
OUNCIL OF
A
USTRALIA
B
OOK OF THE
Y
EAR
A
WARD
(O
LDER
R
EADERS) AND THE
V
ICTORIAN
P
REMIER’S
L
ITERARY
A
WARDS
(C
HILDREN’S
L
ITERATURE
)

‘Shrewd and scrappy, with an instinct for self-preservation and a strong sense of loyalty, Pagan Kidrouk makes an engaging and spirited narrator. From the beginning of
Pagan’s Crusade
, I found myself plunged into the thick of medieval Jerusalem, meeting a host of intriguing characters … A grand adventure!’

N
ANCY
B
OND
, author of
A String in the Harp
, a Newbery Honor Book

W
INNER OF THE
C
HILDREN’S
B
OOK
C
OUNCIL OF
A
USTRALIA
B
OOK OF THE
YEAR
A
WARD
(O
LDER
R
EADERS
)

‘Jinks succeeds in creating a medieval setting that feels distinctly different from the modern world in spirit as well as in period details. This quirky, witty medieval novel … stands on its own.’

Booklist

W
INNER OF THE
V
ICTORIAN
P
REMIER’S
L
ITERARY
A
WARDS
(C
HILDREN’S
L
ITERATURE
)

‘No question about it, Catherine Jinks loves both Pagan and Lord Roland Roucy de Bram, the Knight Templar whom Pagan follows through the siege of Jerusalem, back to France and on into the Abbey of Saint Martin. Her delight in Pagan blazes through every sentence of his slangy, racy,

irreverent, witty first person narrative ...’

J
ENNY
P
AUSACKER
,
Viewpoint

A C
HILDREN’S
B
OOK
C
OUNCIL OF
A
USTRALIA
N
OTABLE
B
OOK

‘
Pagan’s Daughter
is rich in the historical detail of its setting … Jinks doesn’t sanitise, let alone romanticise, the medieval period she obviously adores recreating … Babylonne is very much her father’s daughter, not just in her resolve, courage and cheeky humour but in the chatty, of-the-moment voice that Jinks has given her.
Pagan’s Daughter
is alive with narrative energy.’

The Age