The Miracle at St. Bruno's

But Brother John and Brother James were perhaps more uneasy than anyone. They used to come often and sit and talk with my father. I was too old now to curl up on his lap and listen. Kate was not very interested in them. She wrinkled her little nose with disgust and said: "Monks. Silly old men who go and live in monasteries and kneel for hours in prayer. Their knees must be quite sore. Mine get sore in church. And they live on bread and water and are always telling God how sinful they are-as if He doesn't know without their telling Him! They wear hair shirts. Ugh. I like silk and satin and cloth of gold. When I grow up I shall always wear cloth of gold-or do you think silver tissue would suit me better?”

So I did not know of what Brother John and Brother James talked to my father, but I believed that their conversation was full of forebodings and I caught their lack of ease. But only temporarily for Kate soon dispelled it. Life for her was gay and it must be for me if I was to share it. She discovered so much. She told me that Jim, the chief stableman, who had a wife and six children and lived in a cottage on our estate, crept out into the woods to meet Bess, one of the housemaids, and she had seen them lying in the bracken.

"What would she do about it?" I asked. "Would she tell my father, or Jim's wife?”

She narrowed her eyes. "I'll tell no one but you... and you don't count. I'll remember it. It will be useful when I want to use it." Then she burst out laughing.

She liked power. She wanted to have control over us like the puppeteer had over the dolls which he had shown us at Christmastime when he had come with the mummers.

And then she became interested in the boy.

One day she came to me when I was in the orchard sitting under a tree whither I had taken my Latin exercise. It was a beautiful day and I decided that I could work more easily out of doors.

"Put down that silly old book," commanded Kate.

"It's far from silly, Kate. In fact it is very difficult to read. I need all my powers of concentration.”

"Powers of rubbish!" cried Kate. "I want to show you something.”

"What?”

"First," said Kate, "you have to swear to tell no one. Swear.”

"I swear.”

"Hold your hand up and swear by the saints and the Holy Mother of God.”

"Oh, Kate, that sounds like blasphemy.""Swear or you will be told nothing.”

So I swore.

"Now come on," she said.

I followed her out of the orchard, across our land to that stone wall which separated us from the Abbey. Tangled ivy grew thick over certain parts of this wall. At one spot she drew it aside and to my surprise disclosed the outline of a door.

"I noticed that the ivy looked as though it had been disturbed and I investigated,” she said with a laugh. "And so I found this door. It's hard to open. You have to push it. Come on. Heave with me.”

I obeyed. The door gave a protesting creak and then swung open. She stepped through onto Abbey land.

I stood on the other side of the door. "We are not supposed to. It's trespassing.”

She laughed at me. "Of course I knew you'd be a coward. I wonder I bother with you, Damask Farland.”

I was already stepping through the door and when I had done so the ivy swept back into place covering it. I looked about me, expecting the Abbey land to be different from any other. The grass was the same luscious green; the trees about to break into leaf. No one would guess that we were in what had always seemed to be sacred ground.

"Come on," said Kate and seizing my hand drew me across the grass. I followed her reluctantly. We went through the trees and suddenly she stopped because we had come in sight of the gray walls of the Abbey. "Better not go too near. They might see us and find out how we got in. They might stop up the door. That would never do, for I intend to come here whenever I wish.”

We drew back into the shelter of the bushes and sat down on the grass. Kate watched me intently, knowing exactly how I was feeling and that I was really longing to go back through the door because I hated being where I knew I should not be.

"I wonder what musty old John and James would say if they found us here?" said Kate.

A voice behind us startled us. "They would take you down to the dungeons and hang you up by your wrists and there you would stay until your hands dropped off and you fell to the ground... dead.”

We turned around and standing behind us was the boy.

"What are you doing here?" demanded Kate. She did not scramble to her feet as I did.

She merely sat there calmly looking up at him.

"You ask such a question of me-*" said the boy haughtily. "That I find amusing.”

"You should never creep up on people," said Kate. "It could be alarming.”

"Particularly when they are where they should not be.”

"Who says not? The Abbey door should always be open.”

"To those who are in need," said the boy. "Are you in need?”

"I'm always in need... of something different... something exciting. Life is very dull.”