By Ken Follett the Sequel to "The Pillars of the Earth"

WORLD WITHOUT END by Ken Follett The sequel to "The Pillars ofthe Earth" Outline-Final draft with additions 350,000 words anticipated 17 June 2005 Part 1: All Hallows' Day, 1327 Kingsbridge is now one of the largest cities in England, with 7,000 population. For comparison, York is England's second city with 11,000; London has 35,000; and Florence is probably the largest city in the world with 70,000 people. Chapter 1 1. It is Sunday 1 November. Just before dawn, thousands of people crowd into Kingsbridge Cathedral for a special service that takes place only when All Hallows falls on a Sunday. The cavernous interior is lit by a few torches that cast cavorting shadows. The church bell tolls once. The torches are extinguished by hooded monks. The congregation falls silent. In complete darkness, a terrible scream is heard. More noise follows: drumming, wailing, clanging, animal sounds. Small children cry and adults laugh nervously. In the congregation is Oran, from the nearby village of Wigleigh, with his wife, Ethna, and two of their children, Philemon (12) and Gwenda (9). They belong to the lowest stratum of village society, for Oran is a landless labourer, hiring himself out to whomever will employ him. He gets work in the busy summer months, but during the winter the family struggles to survive. Our point of view character is Gwenda. She is frightened-but not of the noise, which she knows to be made by the monks. In the darkness, she must steal. If she is caught, she will be punished; but if she refuses, her father will beat her mercilessly. She slips through the crowd, emptying purses she identified before the lights went out. Her brother, Philemon, used to do this, but now he is too big and clumsy. A new sound arises: music. The choir is singing. Gwenda knows she has only a few more seconds of darkness left, but she fears she has not got enough loot to satisfy her father. She decides to rob one more purse. As the choir becomes louder, the cacophony dies away. A candle is lit, then another, then dozens. Outside, dawn is breaking. Gwenda is almost caught robbing the last purse, but she slips out of her victim's grasp. She feels sure she has been spotted by another child, a richly dressed girl slighter older than Gwenda; but the rich girl says nothing. The church fills with music and light. The prior, Anthony, appears before the altar and says: So, once again, the evil and darkness of this world are banished by the harmony and light of the church. Gwenda hands her takings over to Oran, trembling with relief. 2. The person she robbed last is Sir Gerald Porlock, a knight down on his luck. He is with his wife, Maude, and their two sons, Merthin (11) and Ralph (10). Sir Gerald is an impractical romantic. He often tells the story of how he fell in love with Maude instantly, on seeing her in a crowd, but she disappeared before he could speak to her, and he carried a torch for her for years, until by chance he encountered her again. The loss of his purse is merely the latest misfortune to strike Sir Gerald. He is in trouble, and cannot pay his debts. His wife is more sensible, but has been unable to 2 prevent her husband mismanaging their money. However, she has persuaded him to stop letting matters drift, and they have come to Kingsbridge to work out a solution with his main creditor, the priory, with the help of Gerald's old friend and distant cousin Roland, the earl of Shiring. Sir Gerald is proud of his noble ancestry. His great-grandmother, Lady Aileen, was sister to Earl Roland's great-grandfather. They in turn were the grandchildren of Thomas, who became earl of Shiring in the year that Archbishop Becket was murdered. Earl Thomas's parents were Lady Aliena and Jack Builder. Merthin is our point-of-view-character. The older son, he is smaller than his brother. He has red hair and light-brown eyes that are almost gold in colour. Bright, charming and impish, he is his mother's favourite. To his soldier father, he is a disappointment. He is keen to be a knight and fight for the king, but in fact he shows no aptitude for anything military. The younger son, Ralph, is his father's consolation. Tall and athletic, he excels at all sports and games. He sometimes bullies his smaller elder brother, though Merthin, being cleverer, usually gets his own back. Their mother always says to Merthin: "Look after your little brother." This seems ironic, given that Ralph is bigger and stronger than Merthin. But Merthin knows what she means: Ralph's aggression and foolhardiness can get him into trouble. After the service, the Porlock family eat communal breakfast at the priory hospital, where they are lodging. A hospital at this point in history is the same as a hotel and a hostel. It is used by pilgrims, travelling merchants, and visiting noblemen as well as sick people. Poor people stay free (but only for one night), others pay. It consists of a long main room with an altar at the eastern end, plus one or two private rooms for aristocratic guests. (This mingling of sick with healthy visitors will be an issue later in the story.) It is a fine day, cold but sunny. After breakfast there is compulsory archery practice-a royal edict intended to improve the military skills of the population. The longbow is the stealth bomber of the Middle Ages. Six feet high, it fires a three-foot arrow that can kill a man at 200 yards. It has given English kings victory over Scottish mountain men and armoured French knights. Merthin and Ralph want to join the practice, but they are laughed at. The longbow requires a pull of l OOlbs, impossible for a child. Anticipating this, Merthin has made a bow of his own, smaller, but no one believes it will be any good. They meet up with several other children who will feature in the story as adults: Charis ( 10) is the only child bright enough to interest Merthin. Bored by girls her own age, she will all her life resist attempts to make her behave as a lady should. She is a born leader, and the most popular child in her age group. Philemon (12) is a sneaky boy they all dislike. He hangs around the priory, sucking up to the monks, pretending to be pious. He is a thief, always ready to steal from other children or even adults if he can get away with it. We have already met Gwenda, Philemon's kid sister. She is a plain-looking little girl. She has with her a three-legged dog called Hop. Charis gives Hop a piece of mouldy bacon and he becomes her friend for life. 3 Charis, always the leader, proposes that they hold their own archery practice in the forest--even though they are forbidden to go into the forest alone, and the punishment is severe. But Charis is a rule-breaker; and Merthin and Ralph are still smarting from their rejection, so they agree. They shake off Philemon, who would betray their secret, but Gwenda tags along. All the while, Merthin is worrying about the family crisis. He is old enough to understand the trouble his father is in, and young enough to be frightened of the break-up of the family. Ralph's reaction is different: he is fearful and angry about the humiliation his father may suffer. They find a clearing and try out the bow. Although it is small, its power is awesome. Merthin turns out to be a poor shot, to his distress. Like most small boys of his time, he reveres knights, with their swords and warhorses, and dreams of going to war with the king. His lack of ability distresses him, particularly as it has been witnessed by a girl he would like to impress; but does not cause him to abandon his dreams. Charis demands a try, but Ralph bullyingly says girls can't shoot. Ralph himself turns out to be a natural. First try, he hits a tree. Then he shoots the dog, Hop, killing it. He is pleased with himself, but Gwenda is heartbroken. After more practice, he kills a hare. Suddenly they hear voices. They are frightened of being caught, for they will be punished; but worse will happen if they are taken by outlaws. They hide. They see a knight being chased by two others. The pursuers catch the knight and overpower him. They question him. They find in his possession a letter, written on vellum (paper is not yet in use) and rolled up like a scroll, which they seize triumphantly. It is clear that the two pursuers intend to kill the knight. But he catches them in an unwary moment and draws a concealed knife. There is a fight, and he is wounded, but he kills one and overpowers the other. With his knife at the second man's throat, he asks who sent them. "Earl Roland," comes the reply. The knight kills him. Bleeding, he conceals the bodies perfunctorily. At that point, he spies the children. He grabs Merthin. The others flee. Merthin is terrified. The wounded knight makes him bury the letter in its leather bag. He says: "When you hear that I am dead, bring a priest to this spot and dig up the letter.

Load more