'We'd never get it up those steps.'
'Remember Caen?'
'What's that got to do with it?'
'They said we'd never get the cannons up the hill but Dickie Vowell wouldn't listen. He found some block and tackle and we gave the Frogs the surprise of their lives.'
'You're right,' Owen's face brightened. 'There's bound to be some lying around.' He turned to the boys. 'See if you can find some of that lifting gear. The masons will be using it on the tower.'
Gareth ran off and David followed. Shafts of moonlight streamed through holes in the roof of the tower, illuminating the belfry and the scaffolding below.
'Take a look at that,' Gareth pointed upwards.
David craned his neck. 'I can't see nothing. There's all those poles and things in the way.'
'That's what I'm talking about, boyo. That's what it looks like ... poles and wheels and things.'
He ran to a ladder and David followed. They climbed like drunken monkeys, going from one ladder to another until they reached a wooden platform.
David looked around. 'I can't see none of those wheel things.'
'What wheel things?'
'Those block and tackle wheel things.'
Gareth couldn't either but he could see some ropes. He jumped up and grabbed one. David grabbed another. The ropes sank and rose again. They pulled a second time and the result was deafening. The scaffolding shook with the din and the boys collapsed in a heap laughing.
***
In the monastic dormitory, Brother Mathew jerked into life. He'd just fallen asleep, following a tiresome matins service. The sudden noise came as a severe shock to his system. He struggled from his bed and went to where Brother John was lying.'
'Did you hear that?'
'What?' John pretended to be asleep.
'The abbey bells ... someone's ringing the bells.'
'Are you sure?'
'I heard them distinctly.'
'There's nothing now.'
'That's because they've stopped.'
'So there's nothing to worry about.' John buried his head in the hood of his gown and tried to return to his slumbers. Mathew shook him.
'We've got to do something.'
'There's nothing to be done.'
'Yes, there is. We're responsible for security.'
'That's something for the bailiffs.'
'They're abed and asleep.' Mathew reached for a lantern. 'We must go and see what is happening.'
'Shouldn't we call the bailiffs?'
'We can't do that until we know there is a problem. They're not like us. They don't work for nothing. They get paid every time they're called out.'