Sarum - Edward Rutherfurd [92]
The frost held for over a month and by the midwinter solstice, all the sarsens were at the henge.
But although one danger was past, the cloud over Nooma’s life remained; for as he looked at the ten, unfinished stones, at the pits still to be dug, and at the dour faces of the priests, he wondered: “Shall I, even after this, complete the henge in time?”
But Krona was filled with a new confidence. For just as the great blanket of ice formed over the high ground, the gods kept another of their promises and Menona let him know that she was pregnant.
Once again, Dluc sacrificed a sheep to the gods who had kept faith with Sarum. Even Nooma the mason, beset as he was with troubles, smiled with relief when he heard of it.
The period from that cold midwinter to the summer was a busy one at Sarum; but with each succeeding month, both the priests and the people felt a lightening of their spirits.
Nooma worked feverishly with his masons. The remaining sarsens were hurriedly beaten into shape and each day the labourers carried away dozens of baskets full of chippings and deposited them in pits they had dug some distance from the sacred grounds. Other gangs of labourers were needed to raise the huge sarsens into place as the circle was completed.
Above all however, Nooma found that he had to supervise the masons to make sure that in these last, critical stages, no mistakes were made.
As for Tark, who saw the mason almost every day, he observed no change in Nooma’s manner towards him.
Soon after the birth of the little girl, whom they called Pia, he had visited Katesh.
“Does he know?” he had asked.
She shook her head. “I do not think so.”
“Does he show any anger towards you?”
She shrugged. “He is away at the henge so much. He has never spoken to me of it.”
Tark considered. “He has given me no sign either,” he remarked, marvelling at the simplicity of the mason.
As the months had passed, Nooma had still seen little of his wife, and Tark had seen him several times with slave girls; but he attached no special significance to this. No doubt the mason was seeking variety.
Several times he returned to Katesh, but each time she was reserved towards him.
“What we did must be over now,” she told him. “I have forgotten.”
He saw that she was lying and saw the effort it cost her. Despite the neglect of the mason, she was now determined to remain faithful to him.
“The gods punish me,” she said simply. “I have deserved it.”
When Nooma was at home, though he paid only perfunctory attention to his wife, he found to his surprise that he delighted to watch Noo-ma-ti playing with little Pia, and he would often take them both in his arms and carry them round the hut in triumph while they shouted with joy. Although she was not his, he took a special pleasure in the fact that little Pia adored him and would often sit staring at him fascinated, with her large round eyes.
Often now, Dluc came to look at his work, to make sure for himself that the new Stonehenge would be completed on time, and Krona too now emerged from his seclusion to inspect the temple.
As the spring progressed, Menona grew larger.
Though they looked forward to the birth of Krona’s child, neither the High Priest nor the chief had forgotten the instructions of the gods set out in the auguries, that his first born was to be given to the gods.
“The auguries must be obeyed in every detail,” Dluc reminded his priests.
But Krona showed no alarm at this. “I feel a young man again,” he told the priest. “I think I shall have many sons before I die.”
Before the winter was over, to the delight of all Sarum, he several times went hunting in the woods again.
Under Nooma’s ceaseless care, the last of the huge sarsens were