Chapter 8
The cloth dangling out of the window played in the breeze. Juliana held up her finger and counted again. There is my window marked by the cloth. The windows of the two cells to the right of it I can account for, but here is a third window where there should be none. ’Tis curious….
She’d counted the doors inside, and then counted the windows outside. They did not correspond, no matter how many times she repeated the exercise. At last, she’d thought to mark her own window to be certain.
“Sister Claire! Why are you out here?”
She took in a sharp breath and turned around. The abbess stood with a sour expression on her face.
“I was feeling faint and thought the fresh air would do me good.”
“What is that hanging out your window?”
“I was airing my kerchief. I was ill this morning...I had to wipe up…”
The abbess squinted at her. “Very well, but you should be at work. Where are you supposed to be?”
“In the scriptorium helping Sister Ursula.”
“Off you go, then.”
She hurried past the abbess, down the cloister to the stairs which would take her to the scriptorium. Unlike many activities at the nunnery which she barely endured, spending time with Sister Ursula was a chore she looked forward to.
When she opened the heavy door, she was glad to see it would be only the two of them today. When there were other nuns working there, Sister Ursula had less to say, and Juliana did enjoy their talks.
Sister Ursula looked up from the table she had been hunched over. It was a curious table made special for this purpose, with a tilted top. Two leather cords, weighted down by stones tied to the ends held the piece of vellum in place.
Juliana marveled again at this woman. The older lady’s knees were so arthritic she had to walk with the assistance of two canes on bad days. The knuckles on her hands were large and deformed. Though physically hampered in life, she let her imagine soar with ink and quill. She always had a lively twinkle in her clear, gray eyes.
“You’re late! But no matter, I had ink enough, though soon I will need blue.”
“I’ll grind the stone now,” said Juliana, grabbing a mortar and pestle. “Sorry I’m late, but I had a visit from Sir William this morning, and my day has gone astray since.”
Sister Ursula put down her quill. “Sir William was here?”
“Yes! He brought me this. I am most grateful. ’Tis a book precious to me, and I thought I’d lost it for good, but he went back to find it for me.” She held out the book. Just talking about Will set her heart to racing.
“Did he? How kind of him.” She looked at her with shrewd eyes.
“Yes, I wish I could think of a way to thank him.”
Sister Ursula laughed. “If that is the face you showed him, I wager he felt he’d been thanked in plenty.”
Juliana bent her head to hide her blush. “He said if I ever needed him to come, to tell you and you’ll let him know, but how…” she trailed off, trying not to look at the crippled joints of the woman before her.
Sister Ursula laid a finger alongside her nose. “Carrier pigeons.”
“Oh, I never thought of that!”
Sister Ursula nodded and went back to work. Juliana, thinking about how close he must be, let her thoughts wander to his dancing eyes again. She shook herself out of that daydream. It could never be. She wasn’t free.
Juliana searched the shelves for the stone of azurite to grind into powder. It was curious how Sister Ursula called Sir William by his familiar name. She put a chunk of the blue stone into the mortar, first pounding it into small chunks.
“Sister Agnes is poorly again today, I notice.” Juliana found she could engage the older nun in gossip if the others weren’t around.
Sister Ursula let out a deep sigh. “I fear the poor lamb is not suited for this life. I don’t think she’ll stay with us. Sometimes, I’ve seen the oblates grow into it, but I can usually tell who won’t.”
“Do you think I’m suited to it?”
A wheezy laugh escaped Sister Ursula. “Nay, not a bit. I’d say your body and soul—your heart—are destined for another path. If a knight can transform your face just by returning a book to you…”
“Oh, Will...Sir William teases me. That’s all.” She shook her head, ready to change the subject. “Did you always know this was the life you were meant for?”
She looked up from her work, surprised. “But, I was not always thus. I was married and had children when I was younger.”
“How did you come to be here?”
Suddenly, Sister Ursula’s face took on another light, and Juliana could see the fine bone structure and beauty of the older woman’s face. “I’d lived my life on the outside. I was happy for that time. Then my husband died, and worse, I lost four of my five children. I was no longer young. Too old, too tired to marry again. The only Master I want to serve now is God.” She held her arm out over her work. “For the first time in my life, I have a degree of freedom. I get to pass my days doing what I love.”