it was too late.
Tom went into the lodge. It was a spacious wood building with a fireplace. Clean tools hung around the walls and there was a big stone in the corner for sharpening them. Two stonecutters stood at a massive wooden bench called a banker, trimming stones with axes. "Greetings, brothers," Tom said, using the form of address of one craftsman to another. "Who's the master here?"
"I'm the master quarryman," said one of them. "I'm Harold of Shiring."
"I'm the master builder at Kingsbridge Cathedral. My name is Tom."
"Greetings, Tom Builder. What are you here for?"
Tom studied Harold for a moment before answering. He was a pale, dusty man with small dusty-green eyes, which he narrowed when he spoke, as if he were always blinking away stone dust. He leaned casually on the banker, but he was not as relaxed as he pretended. He was nervous, wary and apprehensive. He knows exactly why I'm here, Tom thought. "I've brought my master quarryman to work here, of course."
The two men-at-arms had followed Tom in, and Otto and his team had come in behind them. Now one or two of Harold's men also crowded in, curious to see what the fuss was about.
Harold said: "The quarry is owned by the earl. If you want to take stone you'll have to see him."
"No, I won't," Tom said. "When the king gave the quarry to Earl Percy, he also gave Kingsbridge Priory the right to take stone. We don't need any further permission."
"Well, we can't all work it, can we?"
"Perhaps we can," said Tom. "I wouldn't want to deprive your men of employment. There's a whole hill of rock-enough for two cathedrals and more. We should be able to find a way to manage the quarry so that we can all cut stone here."
"I can't agree to that," said Harold. "I'm employed by the earl."
"Well, I'm employed by the prior of Kingsbridge, and my men start work here tomorrow morning, whether you like it or not."
One of the men-at-arms spoke up then. "You won't be working here tomorrow or any other day."
Until this moment Tom had been clinging to the idea that although Percy was violating the spirit of the royal edict by mining the quarry himself, if he was pushed he would adhere to the letter of the agreement, and permit the priory to take stone. But this man-at-arms had obviously been instructed to turn the priory's quarrymen away. That was a different matter. Tom realized, with sinking spirits, that he was not going to get any stone without a fight.
The man-at-arms who had spoken was a short, stocky fellow of about twenty-five years, with a pugnacious expression. He looked stupid but stubborn-the hardest type to reason with. Tom gave him a challenging look and said: "Who are you?"
"I'm a bailiff for the earl of Shiring. He's told me to guard this quarry, and that's what I'm going to do."
"And how do you propose to do it?"
"With this sword." He touched the hilt of the weapon at his belt.
"And what do you think the king will do to you when you're brought before him for breaking his peace?"
"I'll take my chances."
"But there are only two of you," Tom said in a reasonable tone of voice. "We're seven men and four boys, and we have the king's permission to work here. If we kill you, we won't hang."
Both men-at-arms looked thoughtful, but before Tom could press his advantage, Otto spoke. "Just a minute," he said to Tom. "I brought my people here to cut stones, not fight."
Tom's heart sank. If the quarrymen were not prepared to make a stand, there was no hope. "Don't be so timid!" he said. "Are you going to let yourselves be deprived of work by a couple of bully-boys?"
Otto looked surly. "I'm not going to fight armed men," he replied. "I've been earning steadily for ten years and I'm not that desperate for work. Besides, I don't know the rights and wrongs of this-as far as I'm concerned it's your word against theirs."
Tom looked at the rest of Otto's team. Both the stonecutters wore the same obstinate look as Otto. Of course, they would follow his lead: he was their father as well as their master. And Tom could see Otto's point. Indeed, if he were in Otto's position he would probably take the same line. He would not get into a brawl with armed men unless he was desperate.
But knowing that Otto was being reasonable gave Tom no