Shadow in the Dark by Antony Barone Kolenc

Author:Antony Barone Kolenc
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: JUV033140, JUVENILE FICTION / Religious/Christian/Historical, JUV028000, JUVENILE FICTION / Mysteries & Detective Stories, middle grade mystery, Religious historical fiction, books with pre-teen protagonist
ISBN: 9780829448108
Publisher: Loyola Press
Published: 2020-07-12T16:00:00+00:00

14

Discovery

That night the rains came again, heavy and cold, and continued into the next morning, carrying away the ashes and washing black stains from the stone buildings.

Brother Oscar gave only indoor chores to the boys, putting them to work throughout the abbey’s buildings. The monk assigned Xan and John work on opposite sides of the abbey grounds. That was fine with Xan, although John had not spoken a word to him since their fight yesterday.

In the afternoon, Brother Andrew escorted Xan across the wet meadow and granges to the abbey’s library for his first lesson as the monk’s pupil.

“You will learn to love the library—a quiet place in troubled times,” the monk said. “’Twill be your place to learn, much like the schoolroom where novices are taught by our novice master.”

Grasping the large handle, Brother Andrew opened the creaking door and led him into a plain room with a large, wooden table, two chairs, and four tall shelves filled with leather-bound books. Its most striking feature was an enormous painting on the back wall, visible upon entry.

“What is that?” Xan said, pointing.

The painting was disturbing. In it, a man’s bloody body lay dead on the ground, eyes closed but lips turned up in a smile. A semblance of the man’s soul rose from his body. The soul—almost transparent, with a yellow halo circling its head—had its eyes open and wore a peaceful expression. The soul seemed to stare down from the painting, its eyes meeting and holding Xan’s gaze.

Brother Andrew looked at him with concern. “Do not be afraid, my son.”

It seemed that everywhere he’d turned since his injury, death was present—in his dreams, in the stories of the boys, in Hardonbury and Chadwick, and now even in this library.

“Why would someone paint this poor man’s death?” he asked.

The monk pondered a moment. “Death is our companion. Wars, plagues—there is much death these days. By displaying it in art, we understand death better. That is why I painted this.”

“You painted this?”

“Indeed. I was well schooled in the art as a child. But ’tis not meant to frighten. That man is Saint Ignatius of Antioch, an early martyr for the faith.”

“Well,” Xan said. “When I die, I don’t think I’ll be smiling.”

The monk chuckled. “When our Lord died on the cross, He conquered death. That is the beauty of our faith. Death is a gateway to Heaven, and I hope to welcome mine one day as Saint Ignatius is doing here. He does not fear his death, you see.”

The saint in the painting showed no sign of terror; it was like Mother’s face in his dream, when she let Death in through the cottage door. Maybe Mother was a person of great faith too.

He stared at the painting again. The monk’s words sounded nice, yet hadn’t the monks hidden in fear from the bandits? Not Brother Andrew, though. He’d run toward the danger.

“Now,” the monk said. “Let us begin.”

He sat Xan at the table and placed a piece of goat-skin parchment in front of him.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.