The Ladder: Part 1 by David Hodges

Author:David Hodges [Hodges, David]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2016-04-10T22:00:00+00:00

Hazel rested the back of her head on the warm stone as she soaked in a room-sized bath. Up above, there was only a black ceiling full of stars. It had gotten cooler by the day, and the air was crisp out that night, but the rising steam kept her face warm.

The baths were impressive structures, each of them large and square, filled with spring water, and surrounded by stone columns. Hazel and Daniel had the entire bath to themselves. Fergus was supposed to be there, but he had yet to show up.

Daniel was floating on his back in the middle of the bath, wearing only a pair of breeches. “You don’t think she’s stood me up, has she? I thought we were getting on well, she’s been so... physical.”

“Don’t fret, if she doesn’t show, I’m sure she’s got a good reason.” He had been talking about Alviva non-stop since he’d met her.

Hazel heard someone approaching with hasty steps and saw Fergus through the columns. He was fully dressed with a large book in one hand and a lantern in the other.

Daniel said, “Oh, just you... I told you to bring a towel, not a book.”

Fergus ignored Daniel and crouched down next to Hazel. “You’ll want to have a look at this.” He opened the book and flipped it toward her. “Don’t get it wet.”

There was a scrap of paper on top of the parchment pages of the book, a list was handwritten on it. The handwriting seemed familiar. Hazel did not understand the words, but she could make out the name at the top of the list. Sophia Plantagenet.

“Your mother’s name was Sophia, wasn’t it?” said Fergus.

“Where did you find this?” she asked, exasperated.

“In the library, it was right there between those pages.”

“Do you know what these words mean?”

“No, it looks like Celtic.”

Hazel looked at the pages of the book. They were beautifully illustrated with colorful ink that glistened off the page, even in the dim light of Fergus’s lantern. The illustrations included a school of fish swimming around a whale and seals floating amongst starfish. Beautiful swirls of blue bordered the drawings. There was calligraphy amongst the images that Hazel could not understand. “What is this book?”

He showed her the cover. The title read Athraithe na Fharraige. “It’s about Athraithe that have Cineáls from the sea, they live on Ellan Vannin, the Isle of Man. It’s a beautiful book, it’s illuminated, I’ve never seen insular art quite like it.”

“Insular art?”

“Aye, these drawings, some of ’em are done with silver and gold. The Celtic Christians used them after the Romans left. They helped to preserve work that would’ve otherwise been lost in the dark ages after the Viking Raids. People like pretty pictures and shiny things, even Vikings... gave ’em a reason to hold on to the books and the lessons they held.” Fergus caressed the page. “The parchment is high quality as well. Reckon it’s vellum, the finest skin you’ll… see.” Fergus was distracted by something behind Hazel.

She

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