The Pillars of the Earth - Ken Follett [425]
For the moment Jack’s grudge against Philip had been overshadowed by the threat from William, and Jack did not feel unfriendly toward Philip. He said: “If we survive this, we should rebuild the wall, bit by bit.”
“I agree,” Philip said fervently. “We should aim to have a stone wall right around the town within a year.”
“Just here, where the bridge crosses the river, I would put a gate and a barbican, so that we could keep people out without dismantling the bridge.”
“It’s not the kind of thing we monks are good at—organizing town defenses.”
Jack nodded. They were not supposed to be involved in any kind of violence. “But if you don’t organize it, who will?”
“How about Aliena’s brother, Richard?”
Jack was startled by that idea, but a moment’s reflection led him to realize that it was brilliant. “He’d do it well, it would keep him from idleness, and I wouldn’t have to support him any longer,” he said enthusiastically. He looked at Philip with reluctant admiration. “You never stop, do you?”
Philip shrugged. “I wish all our problems could be solved so simply.”
Jack’s mind returned to the wall. “I suppose Kingsbridge will now be a fortified town forevermore.”
“Not forever, but certainly until Jesus comes again.”
“You never know,” Jack said speculatively. “There may come a time when savages like William Hamleigh aren’t in power; when the laws protect the ordinary people instead of enslaving them; when the king makes peace instead of war. Think of that—a time when towns in England don’t need walls!”
Philip shook his head. “What an imagination,” he said. “It won’t happen before Judgment Day.”
“I suppose not.”
“It must be almost midnight. Time to start again.”
“Philip. Before you go.”
“What?”
Jack took a deep breath. “There’s still time to change our plan. We could evacuate the town now.”
“Are you afraid, Jack?” Philip said, not unkindly.
“Yes. But not for myself. For my family.”
Philip nodded. “Look at it this way. If you leave now, you will probably be safe—tomorrow. But William may come another day. If we let him have his way tomorrow, we will always live in fear. You, me, Aliena, and little Tommy, too: he’ll grow up in fear of William, or someone like William.”
He was right, Jack thought. If children such as Tommy were to grow up free, their parents had to stop running away from William.
Jack sighed. “All right.”
Philip went off to ring the bell. He was a ruler who kept the peace, dispensed justice, and did not oppress the poor people under him, Jack thought. But did you really have to be celibate to do that?
The bell began to toll. Lamps were lit in the shuttered houses, and the craftsmen stumbled out, rubbing their eyes and yawning. They started work slowly, and there were some bad-tempered exchanges with laborers; but Philip had the priory bakehouse going, and soon there was hot bread and fresh butter, and everyone cheered up.
At dawn Jack made another tour with Philip, both of them anxiously scanning the dark horizon for signs of horsemen. The riverside fence was almost complete, with all the carpenters working together to fill in the last few yards. On the other two sides, the earth ramparts were now as high as a man, and the depth of the ditch on the outside gave it an extra three or four feet: a man might scramble up, with difficulty, but he would have to get off his horse. The wall was also man-height, but the last three or four courses of stone were completely weak, because the mortar had not set. However, the enemy would not learn that until they tried to scale the wall, and at that point it might even serve to distract them.
Apart from those gaps in the wooden fence, the work was done, and Philip issued fresh orders. The older citizens and the children were to go to the monastery and take refuge