He left the priory close in twilight and went to the little house in the poor quarter where Aliena lived with her brother, Richard. She smiled happily when Jack walked in, but they did not kiss: they never touched one another nowadays, for fear they would become aroused, and then they would either have to part frustrated or give in to their lust and risk being caught breaking their promise to Prior Philip.

Tommy was playing on the floor. He was now a year and half old, and his current obsession was putting things into other things. He had four or five kitchen bowls in front of him, and he tirelessly put the smaller ones inside the larger and tried to put the larger inside the smaller. Jack was very struck by the idea that Tommy did not know instinctively that a large bowl would not fit inside a small one; that this was something human beings had to learn. Tommy was struggling with spatial relationships just as Jack did when he tried to visualize something like the shape of a stone in a curved vault.

Tommy fascinated Jack and made him feel anxious too. Until now Jack had never worried about his ability to find work, hold down a job, and support himself. He had set out to cross France without giving a moment’s thought to the possibility that he might become destitute and starve. But now he wanted security. The need to take care of Tommy was much more compelling than the need to take care of himself. For the first time in his life he had responsibilities.

Aliena put a jug of wine and a spiced cake on the table and sat down opposite Jack. He poured a cup of wine and sipped it gratefully. Aliena put some cake in front of Tommy, but he was not hungry, and he scattered it in the rushes on the floor.

Aliena said: “Jack, I need more money.”

Jack was surprised. “I give you twelve pennies a week. I only make twenty-four.”

“I’m sorry,” she said. “You live alone-you don’t need as much.”

Jack thought this was rather unreasonable. “But a laborer only gets sixpence a week-and some of them have five or six children!”

Aliena looked cross. “Jack, I don’t know how laborers’ wives keep house-I never learned. And I don’t spend anything on myself. But you have dinner here every day. And there’s Richard-”

“Well, what about Richard?” Jack said angrily. “Why doesn’t he support himself?”

“He never has done.”

Jack felt that Aliena and Tommy were enough of a burden for him. “I don’t know that Richard is my responsibility!”

“Well, he’s mine,” she said quietly. “When you took me on you took him too.”

“I don’t remember agreeing to that!” he said angrily.

“Don’t be cross.”

It was too late: Jack was already cross. “Richard is twenty-three years old-two years older than I am. How come I’m keeping him? Why should I eat dry bread for breakfast and pay for Richard’s bacon?”

“Anyway, I’m pregnant again.”

“What?”

“I’m having another baby.”

Jack’s anger evaporated. He seized her hand. “That’s wonderful!”

“Are you glad?” she said. “I was afraid you’d be angry.”

“Angry! I’m thrilled! I never knew Tommy when he was tiny-now I’ll find out what I missed.”

“But what about the extra responsibility, and the money?”

“Oh, to hell with the money. I’m just bad-tempered because we have to live apart. We’ve got plenty of money. But another baby! I hope it’s a girl.” He thought of something, and frowned. “But when…?”

“It must have been just before Prior Philip made us live apart.”

“Maybe on Halloween.” He grinned. “Do you remember that night? You rode me like a horse-”

“I remember,” she said with a blush.

He gazed at her fondly. “I’d like to do you now.”

She smiled. “Me too.”

They held hands across the table.

Richard came in.

He threw the door open and walked inside, hot and dusty, leading a sweating horse. “I’ve got bad news,” he said, panting.

Aliena picked Tommy up off the floor to get him out of the way of the hooves. Jack said: “What’s happened?”

“We must all get out of Kingsbridge tomorrow,” he said.

“But why?”

“William Hamleigh is going to burn the town again on Sunday.”

“No!” Aliena cried.

Jack went cold. He saw again the scene three years ago, when William’s horsemen had invaded the fleece fair, with their blazing torches and brutal clubs. He recalled the panic, the screaming, and the smell of burning flesh. He saw again the corpse of his stepfather, with his forehead smashed. He felt sick at heart.

“How do you know?” he asked Richard.

“I was in Shiring, and I saw some of William’s men buying weapons at the armorer’s shop.”

“That doesn’t mean-”

“There’s more. I followed them into an alehouse and listened to their talk. One of them asked what defenses Kingsbridge had, and another said none.”

Aliena said: “Oh, God, it’s true.” She looked at Tommy, and her hand went to her stomach, where the new baby was growing. She looked up, and Jack met her eye. They were both thinking the same.

Richard went on: “Later I got talking to some of the younger ones, who don’t know me. I told them about the battle of Lincoln, and so on, and said I was looking for a fight. They told me to go to Earlscastle, but it would have to be today, for they were to leave tomorrow, and the fight would be on Sunday.”

“Sunday,” Jack whispered fearfully.

“I rode out to Earlscastle, to double-check.”

Aliena said: “Richard, that was dangerous.”

“All the signs are there: messengers coming and going, weapons being sharpened, horses exercised, tack cleaned… There’s no doubt of it.” In a voice full of hatred, Richard finished: “No amount of evildoing will satisfy that devil William-he always wants more.” His hand went to his right ear, and he touched the angry scar there with an unconscious nervous gesture.

Jack studied Richard for a moment. He was an idler and a wastrel, but in one area his judgment was trustworthy: the military. If he said William was planning a raid he was probably right. “This is a catastrophe,” Jack said, half to himself. Kingsbridge was just beginning to recover from the slump. Three years ago the fleece fair had burned, two years ago the cathedral had fallen on the congregation, and now this. People would say the bad luck of Kingsbridge had come back. Even if they managed to avoid bloodshed by fleeing, Kingsbridge would be ruined. No one would want to live here, come to the market or work here. It could even stop the building of the cathedral.

Aliena said: “We must tell Prior Philip-right away.”

Jack nodded. “The monks will be at supper. Let’s go.”

Aliena picked up Tommy and they all hurried up the hill toward the monastery in the dusk.

Richard said: “When the cathedral is finished, they can hold the market inside it. That will protect it from raids.”

Jack said: “But meanwhile we need the income from the market to pay for the cathedral.”

Richard, Aliena and Tommy waited outside while Jack went into the monks’ refectory. A young monk was reading aloud in Latin while the others ate in silence. Jack recognized an apocalyptic passage from the Book of Revelation. He stood in the doorway and caught Philip’s eye. Philip was surprised to see him, but got up from the table and came out straightaway.

“Bad news,” Jack said grimly. “I’ll let Richard tell you.”

They talked in the cavernous gloom of the repaired chancel. Richard gave Philip the details in a few sentences. When he had finished, Philip said: “But we aren’t holding a fleece fair-just a little market!”

Aliena said: “At least we’ve got the chance to evacuate the town tomorrow. Nobody need get hurt. And we can rebuild our houses, as we did last time.”

“Unless William decides to hunt down the evacuees,” Richard said grimly. “I wouldn’t put it past him.”

“Even if we all escape, I think it means the end of the market,” Philip said gloomily. “People will be afraid to set up stalls in Kingsbridge after this.”