Xan opened his eyes. The crescent moon had set; it was pitch black in the dorm.
Something had woken him up—a voice outside the door to their room. There it was again.
“By Adam, I have seen nothing amiss,” said the trembling voice of Brother Oscar.
“We must check,” answered another: the prior, Father Clement.
“As you wish, Father.”
The door cracked open and the prior entered with a small lantern. The priest seemed to be counting the boys’ heads in the dark, his finger pointing in the air. Then he departed.
“You are certain no one has intruded?” The prior was back outside the door now.
“No one, Clement. I hear everything from my cell. The children are safe, I assure you. But tell me: how has this happened to our poor abbot?”
What had happened? Surely this could have nothing to do with the Shadow.
“God only knows,” the prior said. “Let me think on this further. I will make the announcement in the morning. Come. The abbot would not wish us to miss nocturns.”
Their footsteps faded away.
Xan pulled the warm blanket up to his neck. What had happened?
The monks had spoken about the abbot. Nay, he couldn’t possibly be dead—not like Xan’s parents. But what if he had died? John would say the Shadow took his soul, and then there would never be peace in the hearts of the orphan boys.
He whispered a prayer for the abbot and fell back into an uncomfortable sleep.
He stirred periodically through the night, but no voices returned. By the time he’d awakened the third time in the dark, he wondered if it had all been a bad dream. Then he remembered Mother kissing his forehead and touching his cheek, “Good night, my sweet boy.”
After dawn, Brother Oscar woke the boys and led them in prayer, but the monk seemed distracted. Then he escorted them to the refectory. None of the boys mentioned voices in the night. Nor did they seem to notice the abbot’s absence at his usual breakfast table.
As they ate their bread, John simmered, glaring in Xan’s direction and shaking his head. Last night, Xan had not only proved John wrong about the Shadow, but he’d also made him look foolish in front of everyone. That had been a mistake. He’d probably want revenge now.
After the boys finished eating, Brother Oscar walked them over to the chapter house.
“We have a special meeting this morning,” the monk said. “All the children are invited.”
The chapter house already was filled with novice boys and convent girls, murmuring to one another with curiosity. This must be the time of the announcement the prior had mentioned.
“They’ve never done this before,” David muttered as they filed into the crowded room.
The prior and Sister Regina stood up front, along with the novice master. The novices were huddled away from the orphaned boys, as though they didn’t want to be associated with them.
Where were the other monks, like Brother Andrew and Brother Leo? And where was Lucy?
Xan scanned the room until he saw her. Their eyes met. In silent agreement, they wound among the others until they stood side by side.
“What’s happened?” Lucy asked.
He stood closer to speak into her ear. Her hair smelled like sweet soap. “Last night—”
The prior cleared his throat, interrupting. “Please pay attention. I have an announcement.”
A hush spread across the room.
“We ask for your prayers today, children,” the prior said. “Something has happened.”
Several of them murmured again. A few of the younger boys asked each other whether John had been right about Brother Leo’s death at the hands of the Shadow.
“Quiet, please!” The prior waited for the children to be still again. “Regrettably, our abbot took seriously ill last evening. He is unconscious and in critical condition.”
Thank God, the abbot was still alive. But why was the prior hiding the full truth from them? When the monk had come into the dorm last night, he’d counted the boys’ heads to make sure none of them had disappeared. He wouldn’t have done all that if the abbot simply was ill.
“’Til the abbot recovers, I will rule in his stead,” the prior said. “And as my first command, I declare today to be a day of prayer. Your chores are suspended so you might pray with all your hearts for our abbot, who has dedicated his life to God and this abbey. We will say a special Mass for the abbot’s healing later this morning, after terce.”
Brother Leo entered the chapter house and approached the prior. He walked slowly, seemingly in pain every time his robe swished up against his back. He whispered something into the priest’s ear that seemed to disturb him.
“That is all for now,” the prior said, as he followed Brother Leo to the door.
The boys and girls lined up to leave.
Xan grasped Lucy’s arm, so soft to the touch. “Can you meet me at the fountain in a few minutes?” he said. “There’s something odd about all of this.”
The abbot’s “sickness,” coming so soon after the attack by the bandits, might mean the two events were related. Indeed, was it possible that these two attacks—as well as the Shadow, the burning of Hardonbury, even the death of Xan’s parents—might be connected?
With their chores suspended, they might have time to solve this mystery together.
Lucy nodded as the girls streamed from the room. “We’ll be there.”
While the boys marched over the granges back to the dorm, Joshua walked by Xan’s side.
“Too bad the abbot’s so sick,” Joshua said.
“There’s more to that story,” Xan said. “C’mon. Follow me and I’ll tell you all about it.” His heart was beating fast again as he led Joshua over the meadow to the fountain. This felt like a vital moment—the time to discover the reason God had sent him to this abbey. This might be the clue he’d been looking for to understand why his parents had died.
“And where do you think you’re going?” Two hands shoved Xan hard on his back, sending him reeling to the grass as Joshua yelled out in surprise.
Another light flashed in Xan’s mind—a husky boy with crooked teeth standing over him while Xan’s lip throbbed and bled. The boy in his memory had punched his mouth in front of one of the cottages at Hardonbury. He was staring down and laughing at Xan, dazed on the ground.
“Xan, get up!” Joshua pulled on his arm.
The light vanished, but a memory remained. Aye, he’d been in a fight at Hardonbury with a bigger boy. He’d tried to stop the boy from doing something bad—the boy had stolen something from one of the other children. Then the boy had punched Xan in the face, and he’d fallen and cried.
Xan got up in a daze. There stood John and David. “You didn’t think I’d let you get away with that smart mouth of yours, did you?” John said.
Lucy and Maud rushed over to them from the fountain nearby. “Leave him alone!” Maud yelled, her little fists raised in the air, her long hair wild.
“Stop this right now,” Lucy said.
“Stay out of this, Frog Face.” John put up his fists. “This is about me and Sire Clumsy.”
Xan shook off the strange memory that had stunned him. “Nay, I don’t want to fight you.”
John sneered. “Oh, but I want to fight you.” He moved his hairy arms into a battle stance.
“John, we don’t have time for this. I really need your help.” Xan’s voice almost had a pleading tone; anything to stop this fight. “Something bad is going on at this abbey.”
David scratched at his curly head. “What are you talking about?”
“All of you, just listen for a minute,” Xan said. “Then you’ll see.”
John held his fists high but stood back on one foot, giving Xan a moment to speak.
He told them about Carlo’s search for the abbot, Brother Leo’s disagreement with the abbot and the prior, the Shadow’s walking into Brother Leo’s room, and the voices speaking in the night about the abbot, concerned for the safety of the boys.
“Brother Leo should be dead,” John said, lowering his fists. “Unless you’re lying about the Shadow going into his room. It should have taken his soul.”
“You can’t be serious.” Lucy put her hands on her hips. “A ghostly shadow who walks into monks’ cells to take their souls? And I thought girls were silly.”
“John, why won’t you see that Brother Leo is the Shadow?” Xan said. “I don’t know why he’s always walking around out there. I don’t know what any of it means. But we need as much help as possible to figure this out ere something else bad happens to this abbey.”
“So, what is your plan, Xan?” Lucy said. “How can we help?”
Thank God that Lucy was here. Her focus and gentle demeanor were like the melody of a harp, singing peace and calm into an anxious moment.
“The way I see it, there are two things we need to find out,” he said. “First, we need to know what really happened to the abbot last night. Second, I’m worried about Brother Leo and whether he might be involved in all this. Did you see how he came in and rushed the prior out of that meeting? We need to know what he’s up to today.”
“Sister Regina will know the truth about the abbot,” Lucy said. “Maud and I can go talk to her. She’s kind and quite clever. She’ll tell us if we ask.”
David looked to John. “I wouldn’t mind finding out what that grumpy monk is up to. It would be nice to get him back for all the mean things he’s done to us.”
John smirked. “That sour old monk does have a lot of revenge coming to him, doesn’t he?”
Thank you, God. The plan was coming together as if by a miracle.
Xan raised a hand to John in peace. “If you and David want to spy on Brother Leo, then me and Joshua can go find Brother Andrew. He’s one of the obedientiaries appointed by the abbot, so he knows just about everything that goes on at this abbey. He’ll know what to do.”
They all looked to each other. They seemed to be in agreement.
“Fine, then,” Lucy said. “Why not have all of us meet at the abbey church ere Mass?”
Xan nodded. “Perfect. We’ll meet at the church when we hear the bells toll.”