The Crowfield Demon Read online

  The pig came over to let William give her ears a good scratch, then with a contented grunt, she flopped down in the straw and moments later began to snore.

  “We’re leaving for Bethlehem, to tell the monks that the demon is dead,” William said. “I think they’ll want to come back to the abbey and start rebuilding it as soon as possible.”

  “Then I will wait here for you, with the pig,” the hob said. “Bring plenty of food back with you and don’t be gone too long.”

  “It’s good to see the demon didn’t dull your appetite,” William said with a grin.

  “Gonegonegone,” the hob sang softly as he settled down beside the pig.

  As he turned to go, William caught the last whispery snatch of the hob’s song, “Gone, all gone . . .”

  GLOSSARY

  Ashlar: stone building blocks with smooth faces and straight edges.

  Book of Hours: a book of prayers, psalms, and holy texts, handwritten and illuminated by monks.

  Caudle: a medicinal hot drink for minor ailments, made with wine or ale, thickened with bread crumbs, egg yolks, or ground almonds.

  Cellarer/Cellarium: the cellarer is the monk in charge of the abbey’s provisions and storeroom, or cellarium.

  Cesspit: a pit for garbage and/or sewage.

  Chancel Screen: a decorated screen of stone or wood separating the chancel from the nave.

  Chapter House: a room off the cloister, close to the south door of the church. The monks meet here each day to discuss abbey business and listen to a reading from the Rule of St. Benedict.

  Chilblains: itchy red sores on the feet, hands, nose, or ears, caused by exposure to the cold.

  Choir: at Crowfield Abbey, this is the area between the transepts and the east end of the church. Two rows of wooden stalls, or seats, face each other across the width of the choir. The monks sit here during the daily round of services.

  Cloister: four covered alleys or corridors surrounding a central garden or garth, usually situated on the south side of the abbey church. The main rooms of the abbey can be reached from the cloister.

  Demesne Farm: land owned and used by a manorial lord or the king, not rented to tenants.

  Dorter/Dormitory: the open-plan room on the first floor of the east range of the buildings surrounding the cloisters, where the monks sleep.

  Frater: a long room where the monks eat their meals. At Crowfield Abbey, the frater is in the west range, between the kitchens and the guest quarters.

  Hurdy-gurdy: a stringed musical instrument. The strings pass over a wheel, which is turned by a crank handle. The wheel acts very much like a violin bow, producing musical notes from the strings. When played, the hurdy-gurdy sounds like a bagpipe.

  Lent: in the Christian church, the forty days leading up to Easter.

  Maslin bread: made from a mixture of rye and wheat flour. After a poor harvest, dried and ground peas or beans could be added to the flour.

  Midden: a refuse heap.

  Mummers: mummers and guisers were street performers in towns and villages who dressed up and wore masks and entertained people, usually around Christmas. They cavorted through the streets, singing carols and playing music and sometimes begging for money from door to door. Later on, mummers performed plays that included such characters as St. George, Beelzebub, and Robin Hood.

  Nave: the long, main body of the church.

  Pannage: the practice of allowing pigs to forage in woodland for beech mast and acorns from September to early November.

  Parchment/Vellum: thin sheets of sheep-, goat-, or calfskin used for pages of books or manuscripts. The skin is stretched, scraped, and dried to prepare it. Better quality skins are called vellum.

  Pottage: a cross between a soup and a stew, usually made with whatever vegetables were available. In winter, dried peas were a staple ingredient. Sometimes a little meat or fish would be included. Herbs such as wild garlic, thyme, rosemary, sage, and parsley would be added for flavor and salt for seasoning.

  Psalms/Psalter: religious songs sung or recited as part of daily worship. A book of psalms is a psalter.

  Reredorter: the monks’ latrines or toilets, situated next to the dorter.

  Rushlight: a type of candle made from rushes. The inner pith of the rush is dipped in fat, grease, or beeswax. The pith then acts as the wick when the rushlight is lit.

  Sacristy/Sacristan: the room where the abbey’s more valuable possessions are kept locked away. The sacristan is the monk in charge of the sacristy. At Crowfield Abbey, this is one of Brother Snail’s duties.

  Shawm: a woodwind instrument, similar to a modern oboe.

  Sigils: magical symbols created to summon and control spirits.

  Small Beer: a diluted beer with a very low alcohol content, drunk by adults and children with meals.

  Tallow: rendered beef or sheep fat used as a cheap alternative to wax in candle-making.

  Transepts: the shorter cross-arms of the church, between the nave and the choir.

  Triforium: an arched gallery running above the nave of a church.

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  PAT WALSH is a trained archaeologist as well as an amateur historian, inspired by the rich mythology of Britain. Born in a haunted house in Kent, she now lives in Bedfordshire, England, with her husband and children. The Crowfield Demon is the sequel to her critically acclaimed debut novel The Crowfield Curse. Visit her at www.pat-walsh.com.

  *Attention, readers! See this page for a glossary of terms.*

  Text © 2012 Pat Walsh

  All rights reserved. Published by Chicken House, an imprint

  of Scholastic Inc., Publishers since 1920. CHICKEN HOUSE,

  SCHOLASTIC, and associated logos are trademarks and/or

  registered trademarks of Scholastic Inc.

  www.scholastic.com

  First published in the United Kingdom in 2011

  by Chicken House, 2 Palmer Street, Frome,

  Somerset BA11 1DS.

  www.doublecluck.com

  Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

  Walsh, Pat, 1954–

  The Crowfield demon / Pat Walsh. p. cm.

  Sequel to: The Crowfield curse.

  Summary: In March of 1348, the awakening of an ancient evil drives

  fay creatures from the woods, causes Crowfield Abbey to crumble,

  and haunts the dreams of the monks, but the demon seems especially

  drawn to Will, who is beginning to realize the significance of his Sight.

  ISBN 978-0-545-31769-6

  [1. Orphans — Fiction. 2. Demonology — Fiction.

  3. Magic — Fiction. 4. Identity — Fiction. 5. Monasteries — Fiction.

  6. Blessing and cursing — Fiction. 7. Great Britain — History —

  14th century — Fiction.] I. Title.

  PZ7.W16892Cs 2012

  [Fic] — dc23

  2011029246

  First American edition, February 2012

  Cover art © 2012 by David Frankland

  Cover design by Whitney Lyle

  e-ISBN 978-0-545-39229-7

  All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. No part of this publication may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of the publisher. For information regarding permission, write to Scholastic Inc., Attention: Permissions Department, 557 Broadway, New York, NY 10012.

 

 

 
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