Where the Stones Sing (6 page)

Kai couldn't believe that her father was doing this to her. Again. Just as soon as she had adapted herself to whatever mad plan Ned Breakwater dreamed up, he changed it. This had happened so many times. And she had done as he wished. But not this time. This time she was going to do what
she
wanted. And she did not want to go back out on the road
again. Not with winter coming on. Not with the possibility of new friends like Jack and Tom and Dame Maria and a safe, ordered life in the priory.

She shook her head. ‘No, I told you, I'm happy here in Dublin. And Edward is the same.'

‘Aye, I have already been to talk to him. He too has refused to come with me. But you, Kai, you are younger. I beg you to come to where you will be safe from the plague. I would wait a while, but, as you know, I am in some difficulties with those sheep farmers. And with some guardsmen. And with some ladies of the city. I fear I cannot stay to watch out for you any longer.'

Her father sounded as if he were close to tears, but Kai knew what a good actor he was – nearly as good as herself. She suddenly felt very angry.

‘When did you ever watch out for me? Go away, Father, and leave me here in peace. You must go now, straight away. I can hear someone moving.'

It was true, she could hear someone shifting in the cell to her right – the one where Roland slept. She couldn't bear the thought of him finding her talking to her father, so she said again, her voice sharp, ‘Father, you have to go. I have nothing else to say to you.'

She saw her father's face change, and realised with a sense of shame that she had really hurt his feelings.

He compressed his lips.

‘Very well, child. If that is what you want. But if you need help, be sure to leave a message with Ymna. She will be able to find me. I wish I did not feel that I was leaving you in danger. But perhaps the plague will not reach across the sea, and you will be safe with the good brothers. Go with God, my child. I will not be so far away that I cannot come to help you.'

Her father turned and moved into the shadows, and Kai, with a sudden pang, wondered when she would see him again.

The Disappearing Cat

ai soon became used to the routine of life in the priory. No word of any sickness came to the brothers, and she breathed a sigh of relief that she had not taken to the road with her father. She had seen Ymna the washerwoman once,
delivering
her washing to the prior’s room, but had dodged behind a pillar so as not to be spotted by her. The Breakwaters had known Ymna for years. She lived with her children and her father in a small house with a large laundry attached. She never stopped working, and the muscles on her arms were huge from constantly beating linen clean and wringing it out to dry. She had always been very kind to Kai, but she also had a mouth to match her muscles. She talked all the time, never thinking before the words came out of her mouth. Kai was afraid that if they met she would blurt out something that would give away Kai’s secret. It was bad enough trying to keep that secret herself.

There were times when it was really hard to keep the fact that she was a girl hidden. Each morning, the children rose to sing lauds with the monks, sleepy eyed and chilled from having left their warm beds for the cold stone of the church. And every single day, Kai had to be sure to be up and washed and dressed before anyone else. Luckily, Quincunx had decided he wanted to sleep in her cubicle and woke her up in the morning before the first bell rang. She became very fond of the furry white cat. He was very affectionate but also seemed to have his own secret life, disappearing off for long periods. Everyone in the priory was used to him turning up out of nowhere after he had not been seen for hours.

But then Quincunx went missing. The cat was seen one evening beside the fire in the kitchen and had disappeared the next morning. That was not so unusual, but when there was still no sign of him the morning after, Kai began to worry. When Roland appeared in a hood trimmed with white fur, Jack had his theories about what had really
happened
to Quincunx, but no one wanted to believe him.
Everyone
knew that Jack’s imagination was a little overactive.

But Roland had made some remarks about how close Kai was to the cat, and she was afraid that he might really have done something to hurt him. Roland hated all animals, but cats especially. ‘Everyone knows that cats are close to the devil. Witches keep them, as familiars,’ he said. They were discussing Quincunx’s disappearance in the schoolroom.

The conversation had started when Kai told Brother
Albert about how worried she was that something had
happened
to the cat.

Brother Albert replied, ‘Roland, there is no other animal closer to the devil than we humans when we chose to do evil. It would be well for you to remember that. Now, as regards souls, Augustine, for example, says that animals do not possess them. But not everyone agrees with him. And then, we can’t really know, can we? The Lord’s creation is a
mystery
which we know very little about at all … And whether animals have souls or not, it is our duty to look after them and treat every living thing kindly.’

Roland replied, ‘My father says that animals are here to serve us; that’s what God put them on Earth for. It doesn’t matter how we treat them. We are their masters.’

Kai couldn’t help butting in angrily: ‘It matters how you treat anything alive! It matters if something feels pain!’

Roland’s face was set in a stubborn expression. He was not about to change his mind. ‘Not if they don’t have a soul. Animals don’t go to heaven, only humans do. We are God’s children and animals are not.’

Brother Albert interrupted. ‘That’s enough, now, boys. It’s time for a story. But I want you all to keep a good eye out for Quincunx. Whether he has a soul or not, I want to be sure that he has not come to any harm.’

Brother Albert took their education seriously, and they worked very hard. But every day, towards the end of the
morning, he would tell them stories, sometimes religious ones but also folktales and fables. Although she often got bored with arithmetic and grammar, Kai loved these kinds of lessons almost as much as she loved the singing. And Brother Albert was delighted that she worked so hard; she had become his best pupil. Tom tended to go into a daydream; Jack was too restless to listen properly and Roland didn’t think anyone could tell him anything he didn’t already know.

During these times, Brother Albert talked to them about magical places: Prester John’s kingdom far to the east of the world, the disappearing island of Hy Brasil off the west coast of Ireland, the Elysian Fields where the heroes of old lived in eternal sunlight. One day, as he was telling them about the Garden of Paradise and the choirs of angels singing there, Jack interrupted him, as he so often did.

‘I think I’d rather be out in the fields of Elysium than in a garden. Or in a boat sailing to Hy Brasil.’

‘Paradise is not a small garden, you know,’ said Brother Albert rather shortly. He didn’t take interruptions to his storytelling well. Kai, watching him, felt that when Brother Albert talked of these magical places he was imagining
himself
really there, far away from the worries of life in the priory. Sometimes he didn’t want to come back. But now he smiled.

‘And you know that the church is a boat too, bringing us all to salvation,’ he continued. ‘That is why the part of the church where the congregation stands is called the nave. Can
anyone tell me what Latin word this comes from?’

None of them could, and he sighed.

‘Not even Kai?’ He looked at her, but Kai, although she thought she might know the answer, said nothing. She had already answered five questions this morning. She didn’t want to seem too much of a teacher’s pet.

‘It comes from
Navis
, of course, meaning ship. Because when you look up, you could be looking into the bottom of a ship. And because, as I said, it carries us all safe to the Lord. Really children, I don’t know if anything goes into your heads at all.’

‘But the Elysian fields, Brother. Do they have horses there?’ persisted Jack.

‘Ah, the Elysian Fields. A pagan notion, but one which shows how close the virtuous pagans could come to the idea of Paradise. They were the fields where heroes went after death, so called from the Greek word meaning “reeds”, for reeds grew in them. It was a place of eternal happiness, where good people walked and talked together and were at peace. And no doubt, Jack, in your Elysian fields there would be horses. In mine, there would be a library and a great deal of singing. And Kai, what would you have in yours?’

Kai thought hard. ‘A house. A nice square stone house and a garden. A garden with flowers and birds. And of course everyone I love.’

There was a derisive snort from Roland, seated behind her.

‘You talk like a girl!’ he sneered. ‘And I suppose you will be sitting there in heaven, wearing a dress, doing embroidery in your pretty garden! With a sweet little pussy cat at your feet!’

‘That’s enough, Roland,’ said Brother Albert sharply. ‘What about you, Tom?’

Tom had to be poked hard by Kai. He had been asleep. He didn’t know what the question was and Brother Albert sighed and moved on.

‘And what about you, Roland? What would be in your Elysian Fields?’

Roland snorted. ‘I don’t believe in such rubbish. It
certainly
wouldn’t be up to much if any of you were there with me!’

Brother Albert sighed again.

‘Uncalled for and unpleasant, Roland. I fear you have become like the child in the story, unable to open your mouth without toads jumping out. I would like you to write for me, in Latin, a description of what you see in your
paradisal
landscape. We will discuss it at class tomorrow.’

Roland scowled at Kai. She whispered to Jack, ‘Look at him, he’s blaming me for getting him into trouble. As if he wasn’t able to be totally obnoxious without any help at all from anyone else.’

The bell for the midday meal rang out. Jack jumped from his seat, nearly knocking the bench over.

Brother Albert sighed again. ‘And Jack, try not to make quite so much noise as you leave the room. I don’t know how many times I have had to tell you to go quietly.’

After their meal, it was time for them to go to sing in the cathedral, in the side chapel of the White Mary of Dublin. The chapel held a small oak statue of the Virgin Mary, and every day fresh flowers were placed in front of it. This was where Dame Maria had asked to have her son remembered. Today Dame Maria herself was already there, praying, and Jack whispered to Kai, ‘She’s always there when we arrive. Sometimes Tom and I have thought we have seen her lips moving, as if she’s speaking to someone.’

‘Maybe she’s just praying?’ suggested Kai.

Tom shook his head. ‘No, she has her head on one side, as if she is listening for something – or someone – as well as talking.’

Brother Albert frowned at the children to be quiet, but Kai watched Dame Maria, and it was true that she did sometimes look as if she were listening to something or someone. By the end of the service she looked much more at peace than at the beginning, as if she had somehow been comforted. She usually stayed and talked to the children and Brother Albert. She always remembered to bring some sweetmeats or fruit from her garden for them. After this, the children were free until supper, and after supper there was the final office of the day which the children sang with the monks.

Kai soon made good friends with Jack and Tom. Jack was the more adventurous of the two; if there was trouble to get into, he was always in the thick of it. Tom was quieter but he was always up for any adventure Jack might lead them into. Together, they explored the docks, where the great ships moored in the sludge of the Liffey. Kai thought their high masts and flying sails some of the most beautiful things she had ever seen. The children would spend hours watching the strange-looking people and the fascinating cargoes they carried: bales of rich silks, exotic wines and fruits, spices and perfumes, and lovely yellow stone from England for the
continuing
work on the two cathedrals and the castle.

Jack was especially excited the day a shipload of
thoroughbred
horses was unloaded. They went wild coming off the boat, kicking and snorting and trying their best to run away. Jack ran down from his perch on the dock and offered to hold some for the groom, who was cursing soundly as a flying hoof narrowly missed his head.