The covenant - James A. Michener [229]
'To where?' Peter asked.
Their father had a welcome surprise. Through the centuries when Salt-woods sent their sons to Oxford, the boys invariably went by carriage north through Wiltshire and then easterly through Berks, a route that carried them past one of the noble monuments of the world, and generations of the family had come to look upon this place as symbolic of their fortunes, so that occasionally, when no lad had gone north to university for some decades, the Saltwoods would convene and go that way without excuse, simply to renew their acquaintance with Stonehenge.
The monument lay only eight miles north of Salisbury, and a visit could be completed within a day, but the Saltwoods liked to pitch a tent there overnight so as to catch the dawn rising over the ancient stones. This expedition consisted of the Proprietor, still traveling by carriage, with the four Saltwood men on horseback and five servants following with tents, the food and the flagons of wine. The road was a rough one, not much traveled, since most people leaving Salisbury headed either east to London or west to Plymouth. Only the occasional scholar on his way to Oxford went north to Stonehenge, or someone headed to the port at Bristol or the towns in Wales.
Toward the close of day Josiah said, 'I rather think that at the rise of the next hill we shall see it,' and he told the boys to rein in their horses and allow the Proprietor to be in the lead when Stonehenge was first sighted.
'There they are!' the old man cried, and to the east on a small mound which caught the first rays of the rising sun and the last light of day stood the hallowed stones, some fallen, some leaning, some erect in the location they had occupied for more than four thousand years. It was an awesome place, and no Englishman conversant with his nation's history could fail to be humbled upon approaching it.
'D'you think it was the Druids?' the Proprietor asked as the group surveyed the somber monument.
'It was here centuries before anyone heard of Druids,' Josiah suggested.
'My own thoughts,' the Proprietor said. 'Sturdy bastards, whoever they were.'
Hilary had always been enchanted by Stonehenge. He had seen it first as a boy of ten on a family excursion much like this. He had seen it again when he accompanied Peter to Oriel, and of course on his own travels to Oxford. It was timeless, old beyond counting when Jesus was born, and it reminded men of the long sweep of history and the periods of darkness. The stones turned red as the sun dipped to its horizon, shimmering in the fading light.
'We'll pitch the tents over there,' the Proprietor suggested, and that night they slept within the shadowed circle.
Long before dawn the Proprietor was up, cursing the night and abusing his servants for not having lighted candles. 'I want to see the sun striking it,' he grumbled, and as the Saltwoods joined him he said, Tm sure they used to conduct human sacrifice here. At the solstices, anyway. Probably killed off two old men like me and three young virgins. Let's go to the sacrifice.'
And they stood among the ancient stones, hauled here from sources far removed, as the sun broke upon them.
'D'you think you could offer us a prayer, Hilary?' the old man asked.
'Let us bow our heads,' the new minister said, and as day came in earnest he prayed: 'God, Who marks our passage back to Salisbury and to India and to South Africa, and also to America where our brother hides, watch over us. Watch over us.'
The Proprietor said that while these were fine words, he would have appreciated some mention of the fact that this might be his last journey to the stones, whereupon Hilary uttered another short prayer, instructing God on this additional matter, and the old man was appeased.
They spent that day inspecting the fallen rocks and making cautious guesses as to how old they might be, but as dusk approached, Hilary experienced a surge of religious emotion and moved apart from