The Secret of Kells by Eithne Massey

that they were safe from further attack as long as they were in the forest, Brendan gathered branches and built a fire. Aidan slept, but although Brendan was exhausted, he sat for a while watching the flames and the moonlight. He found that tears were streaming down his face. He cried for the brothers, for Tang and Assoua and Leonardo, but mostly he cried for his uncle. All his anger with Cellach was gone. The Abbot had only wanted what he thought was best for Brendan and for Kells. He had only wanted to protect him. Brendan remembered his uncle’s kindness. He remembered his goodness. He remembered the gentleness that had been hidden by the stern manner. Now he was dead, and Kells was destroyed, and all his uncle’s work seemed to have been for nothing.
    ‘Not for nothing,’ Brendan whispered fiercely himself. ‘I will finish the Book. I will do it for him.’

12 Leaving the forest
    W hen Brendan opened his eyes the next morning, Aidan was up and about. The old monk was bruised but not badly hurt from his encounter with the Northmen the evening before. Determined to keep their spirits up, he said cheerily, ‘Well, lad, the sun is up. Time to be stirring and on the road.’
    ‘Do you think we could look for some food first?’ said Brendan. ‘I’m starving.’
    Aidan said, ‘You know, it looks like there is something, or someone, looking after us. It wouldn’t happen to be your friend from the forest?’
    He nodded to a pile of nuts and berries, and some wizened winter apples. A small clump of snowdrops grew beside it. Brendan bent down and gently touched the flowers.
    After they had eaten, Brendan said, ‘Where will we go, Aidan? What will we do?’
    Aidan sighed. ‘I don’t think we should try to go to another monastery. Places that were once beacons of learning and peace have become the targets of the Northmen’s greed. For the moment anyway, we should find a place where we can do our work in secret. There’s more than one way of being a monk, you know. The Abbot’s way was one way, and a very good way. But being part of a big group of brothers, and surrounded by all the organisation and the business of Kells is not the only way to serve God. There are many men and women who go down a different path. Saint Kevin, for example, he lived alone in the wilderness and in the wilderness he found God. Though I always think it might have suited him to have lived alone even if he hadn’t been a monk and a great saint. He was a bit of a cranky character, you know – he threw a woman in a lake once because she was annoying him.’
    For the first time since the Northmen’s raid, Brendan found himself close to smiling.
    ‘You will have to tell me his story, Aidan. But isthat what we should do? Live in the wild?’
    ‘We’ll see where the road takes us,’ said Aidan. ‘I think we will know the place we should stay in when we see it. What do you say, Pangur?’
    Pangur miaowed happily, and led the way through the trees.

    For as long as they travelled through the forest they would find stashes of food left for them every morning, nuts and berries and fruit. The food seemed to give them more strength than ordinary food. This was a very good thing, as the journey was difficult. The snow continued to fall and the nights were icy cold. As they walked, Aidan told Brendan his stories of saints and ancient heroes and magical beings. When he thought Brendan was ready to listen, he also told him about the things the Northmen believed, about their gods and their great sagas. He told Brendan how the Northmen believed that the gods had created the first two humans from two trees. He told him stories of Baldur the Brave, of the beautiful goddess Freya and mischievous god Loki. Brendan was amazed to hear that the Northmen told storiesabout a great serpent who lived deep in the earth and about a god who sacrificed himself for the good of his people: Odin the One-Eyed, who had hung for three days upside down on a tree in order to