Where the Stones Sing (5 page)

Brother Albert was pleased with her progress, and when they broke for the midday meal he told her she could have the rest of the day free. He would stay with Tom that
afternoon
and try to get him to retain some of the Latin lesson in his head. Tom looked very doleful when he heard this.

As they ate, Jack suggested that they go down to the river and see if any new boats had come in, but Kai shook her head.

‘Today I'm going to go to see my brother Edward. He's started an apprenticeship in the stonemason's yard over towards St Kevin's Gate. I'll go with you another day, though. I love going down to the river too.'

‘Common children go down to the river to play in the mud,' said Roland. ‘I have better things to do than go down
there
.'

‘I didn't ask you to come, Roland,' said Jack, ‘But Kai, if you are going past St Patrick's, be very careful. If any of the
choirboys from there spot you going past wearing the priory colours, they will jump on you for a fight. We do the same to them if they dare come up the hill.'

He added, ‘So Roland, so what
are
you going to do for the afternoon? Torture Quincunx? We all know it was you who tied that piece of metal to his tail.'

Kai, who had been known to rescue cockroaches from drowning, looked at Roland in horror.

‘You can't possibly know it was me who did that,' said Roland.

Tom broke in:

‘Yes we can. Because you are the only one here that would have done something that mean. It's your favourite thing, isn't it, watching animals in pain?'

But Roland only smirked as if he didn't care what anyone said about him.

‘Well, then, prove it,' he said. ‘You'll see, you can't. I'm far too clever to be caught.'

Kai left her companions and made her way across the
Corn-market
and into the Liberties of St Sepulchre. Giles the
stonemason
had his yard there, where he worked on the carvings for the churches and monasteries of Dublin. Kai had met him the last time her family had been in the city. She had liked him, and his cheerful wife and his daughter Joan, who was just a little younger than her brother. Joan was brown haired and green eyed and very pretty and she had beautiful clothes that
Kai envied a little. She was always friendly and kind, though, and Kai had thought that, if she could have acted as a girl with Joan, they might have become good friends. She had a feeling that Edward also liked Joan a lot. Now he would be an apprentice living in Giles's house and would have a good chance to get to know her better. At least things were
working
out well for her brother, who, like her, had longed for a quieter life. Maybe they could both now live in a manner that did not involve trying to hang onto their father's cloak tails as he made his dizzy way through life. That was how her father made her feel, dizzy and excited but with the slight threat of a pain in her stomach. As if you had a hive of bees buzzing inside your head.

Even from outside the doorway in the wall that led to the stonemason's yard, Kai could hear loud hammering. She pushed the door open. Inside was a courtyard, full of noise and the fine pale dust from the stone that filled the yard. Half a dozen workers were banging away at blocks of stone with their chisels and mallets. She spotted Edward in one corner, but he did not see her. He was concentrating hard on the piece of stone he was working on. Even when she came right up to him, she had to shake his shoulder to get his attention. He looked up and smiled, then wiped his sleeve across his face, in an attempt to clear some of the dust that had gathered around his cheekbones. It smeared all over his face. It was not a warm day, but his face was covered in sweat.

Kai laughed at him. ‘I see you haven't managed to get any cleaner since you left the road!'

‘Katy!' Edward shouted the name in delight as he hugged her tightly. For her part, Kai almost jumped out of her skin. She pulled back from Edward. Too much hugging between brothers might make people wonder. ‘Shhh,' she whispered. ‘Remember.'

‘Sorry,
Kai
, I mean. How are you? I like the fancy duds.'

A part of Kai wanted to tell Edward about how hard it was going to be to keep her secret from her new friends. Apart from anything else, her conscience felt grubby. She hated to deceive Tom and Jack and kind Brother Albert. And then there was the strange feeling she had had in the
cathedral
. Those voices – they had sounded so real. Had it been the cross, she wondered, speaking to her? But a cross would surely not laugh – and that had been a very distinct giggle she had heard. It gave her goosebumps to think about it. But she decided not to tell Edward, for what could he do to help? If she told him her worries, it would only make
him
worry too. And he seemed so happy now.

Kai grimaced as she answered, ‘Dame Maria gave them to me. I feel so mean lying to her, especially as they belonged to her son. You should be wearing them! But so far everything is going well. Brother Albert is nice and I think I will make friends with two of the other boys who are part of the choir. I'm not sure about the third one. Well, to be honest, I am
sure. He is a really horrible boy. And how are you?'

Edward's smile lit up his face. ‘I'm so happy that this has all worked out so well. I love the work here and I'll be learning all the time. Master Giles says I'm good. He has already let me take on some of the simpler pieces – look, this is going to be in St Mary's, across the Liffey.'

Kai looked. Edward was carving a simple rosette into the stone. It would be one of dozens which would become part of the abundance of flowers and leaves, of small animals and angels which would decorate the abbey.

‘This stone is quite easy to work in because it's soft, though you have to be really careful to treat it gently. Some of the other stone, like the granite Paul is shaping over there, is much harder and slower.'

They went over to where Paul was working. Paul was a tall young man with massive arms, but Kai could see that he was using all his strength with each stroke he made with his chisel and mallet on a large uneven rock. Beads of sweat stood out on his forehead and his jaws were clenched. He did not smile at either of them, just kept working at the stone.

‘Hello, I'm Kai,' said Kai, holding out her hand to Paul. The young man just grunted and Edward pulled Kai over to where Master Giles himself was working a piece of
golden-yellow
stone.

‘What's wrong with
him
?' asked Kai, looking back to where Paul continued to beat at the stone, a frown on his face.

Edward raised his eyebrows. ‘I don't know. He has been nasty to me ever since I arrived. But come, have a look at this.'

Kai looked at the stone. It was the same type of stone that Edward had been carving and reminded Kai of the creamy stone of Christ Church.

‘You must come back to see this piece finished – it will be wonderful. One day,' he told his sister, ‘I will be allowed to put my own mark on the stone, so that in years and years in the future people will be able to look at some wonderful carving and know that it was me that made it, me, Edward Breakwater.

Kai grinned and couldn't resist a tease. ‘Do you think they will care? And are you sure that the cathedrals will last so long?'

‘Of course they will. They are made of stone. What could last longer than stone?'

Kai looked on as Master Giles, his forehead furrowed in concentration, worked with a tiny chisel and hammer on what seemed to be becoming a group of people. The noise of the chisel made its own music as Master Giles worked the stone. Looking more closely, she saw that the group was made up of musicians. Each instrument was delicately carved, each face was different. Edward spoke again. ‘It's like magic, isn't it? The way he pulls the figures out of the block of stone. It's almost as if they are speaking to him, asking to be set free
from the stone.' Edward's voice was low and reverent.

Kai looked at her brother in surprise. She had never heard him sound so passionate about anything.

Now Master Giles looked up from his work and smiled.

‘Well, young Kai, greetings to you. I have heard that you have taken up residence in Dublin too. It will be good for your brother to have you nearby if your father goes off on his travels again. And I believe you are singing in the
cathedral
. That's a great honour indeed. We usually go to Mass in our own church, but we must be sure to all go up to hear you sing. Edward has a great voice too. I'm sure we are often going to ask him to sing for us in the evenings.'

Master Giles lifted his head as the bells of the city rang out. They had to stop their conversation until they had stopped. ‘There now, it's getting late. I must keep working on this. It is for Christ Church itself. You two go into the house and Joan will get you some almond pastries and something to drink. But you must not wait too long to go back to the priory, Kai. The streets can be dangerous at night.'

As they made their way into the house, Edward said, ‘He's a great master, isn't he? He treats me like one of the family. And he has said that he will look after my application to the guild, and even pay the fees, so that I can become a real mason. I can't ask for better than that.'

Kai nodded. She had heard stories of apprentices who were treated worse than slaves during the time when they learned
their craft, and could do nothing about it. An apprentice had to stay until he was finished the long years he was bound to his master, or risk punishment. But Kai was sure that Edward would be more than happy here.

Now her brother asked her, ‘Kai, has Father said anything about leaving?'

‘I haven't seen him since we were both with him outside the priory yesterday. When he was muttering about getting me to let him into the cathedral. But I won't do it. I won't.'

‘Oh, he was probably just teasing you. You know the way he loves to do that. Anyway, you might not have to worry about it for too long. I have heard news that Father was gambling with a group of sheep farmers and they are not happy with the way things turned out for them. Pa may find it is better for him to get as far as possible outside the walls of Dublin for a while. And then the archbishop has been preaching against beggars, and the mayor has been
complaining
about travelling entertainers. He says they do no work, just live off the labour of the good people of Dublin. Pa may find he has to get up and go. There's a part of me that would be almost happy if he did.

‘Me too,' said Kai, guiltily. ‘Even if he went for just a little while. It would be so nice to stay in one place and make some friends.'

That was one of the problems with having adventures and travelling all the time. She never got a chance to get to know
other children. Everywhere she went, she was the last one in, an outsider coming to a place where people already had best friends. And just when she got to know somebody really well, Ned would arrive and break the news that it was time to move on.

That night Quincunx came to Kai's cell, mewing fretfully. He jumped on her bed and began kneading the bedclothes with his paws.

‘Do you want to go out then, you brat?' asked Kai, and went to open the shutters in the tiny arched window over her bed. But when she looked out she jumped, for standing in the moonlight looking up at her was a cloaked figure.

Within a moment the figure had pulled down his hood. Kai saw it was her father.

‘Pa!' she said. ‘What is it? Where have you been?' She
shivered
. Surely her father was not trying to get her to sneak him into the priory already?

‘I have been lying low, my dear. Those bloody sheep
farmers
are looking for me and are very persistent in their
searching
. It must come from looking for lost sheep … But I came to talk with you and Edward, before I go away for a while. How is it with you?'

‘Good, Pa, better than it's ever been. Edward is very happy in Master Giles's house, and I am happy here too, in the
priory. I want to stay here, for a while anyway.'

‘That is what I have come to speak to you about. No, don't look at me like that – I have not come to ask you to let me into the priory. Not this time. Now, listen to what I have to say. I fear it may not be safe for you to stay here. In fact, I have changed my mind – I have decided that you should leave Dublin and come with me.'

‘Leave Dublin? Why?' Kai was astonished.

Her father looked grim.

‘I have heard stories about a terrible disease. It has already killed hundreds of people in Europe. It's said that it has made its way as far as the English ports. And if the infection has reached that far, it is bound to come to Dublin as well. Dublin is a city and a port; boats come in from England every day. The disease is a dreadful one. It is almost always mortal. I cannot bear to think of you or Edward catching it. So, I am leaving the city, going up into the mountains with some of the fairground people. I want you and Edward to come with me. You will be safer out of Dublin. But we must get on the road tonight. Will you come with me now?'