The Stone of Knowing by Allan Packer

Author:Allan Packer [Packer, Allan]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780648305163
Publisher: Luminant Publications
Published: 2019-02-25T16:00:00+00:00

18

The afternoon dragged on interminably. Thomas hefted another heavy stone and lugged it to the wall, puffing and blowing as he went. He loathed this work, but he could think of nothing better to do.

He could hardly have felt more miserable. Only a few days ago he had been on top of the world. As horse master he had an important role, a job he loved and excelled at. Now his students patrolled the wall or put out fires; the army had little use for horsemen during a siege. Back then his free time had been spent relaxing with Will and Rufe. Now both men were so busy that he rarely caught a glimpse of them.

The pinnacle for Thomas had been his discovery of the Rogandans lurking at the city gates. His quick reaction had played an important part in saving the city. And the stone, inert for so long, had responded in his moment of need and exposed the designs of the invaders. Now his intervention seemed small and insignificant, overshadowed by the heroic defense of the ford and the drama of the siege. And he had since found the stone closed to him once more.

On one of the few occasions he had seen Will, his friend had noticed that he was bored and inactive.

“Perhaps your father could use some help at the stables,” he had suggested.

But Thomas would not go back to the stables. He had wasted no time finding something else to do. Builders were hard at work strengthening the wall, and he soon found himself helping them.

The work was difficult and dangerous, the more so when the Rogandans began lobbing rocks the size of ponies over the wall. The stone mason in charge of the section of wall where Thomas was working became increasingly upset and irritable as time wore on. Thomas soon became a target. “Can’t you work faster?” “Are you deaf? I told you to put it over there!”

When Thomas made a mistake mixing mortar, the mason lashed out unmercifully. “Don’t you know anything? You’re worse than useless! You create more work than you’re doing.”

Shoveling manure at the stables would have been preferable to this. But Thomas knew that he could face neither his father’s accusing silences nor Simon’s smugness. He decided he had little choice other than to persist.

Life had an uncomfortable way of turning on you just when everything seemed to be going well. And given the circumstances of the siege, it seemed highly unlikely that any further changes would be for the better.

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