A Leaf for the Vault

High on the scaffold at Longmere, where the vault still has no roof over it, Aldous Penhallow chiselled a leaf into a boss that no one below will see in his lifetime. Across the lake the Kilnrows gave their bell for House Spider’s link, and he kept the mallet going until the last vein of the leaf was cut. Then he signed the underside with his mason’s cross, the way his mother had taught him, and climbed down for his supper.