The Road to New Life

The next section in this book has been one full of loss, hope, and endless turmoil. Tom Builder, as I predicted, found work at Kingsbridge, but the reason was not entirely what I had anticipated. At the end of the first section Philip had become prior of Kingsbridge, and one of the top things on his list of changes was to repair the worn down cathedral. When Tom and his family (Martha, Alfred, Ellen, and Jack) arrive at the priory the are given food and a place to sleep for the night, as is customary hospitality at a monastery. Ellen's son, Jack, decided he would not go back to being a hungry homeless child and had to find a way for Tom to be guarunteed a job. When the rest of his family fell asleep Jack crept out of their guesthouse and snuck into the cathedral. He made his way to the roof, and set a fire! Soon afterwards jack was out of the burning building and all the monks had awoken. They all organized under Philip's instruction and went about saving valuables, books, and the remains of their patron saint, Adolphus. The devastated monks escape the fire unharmed, but their cathedral has been burned to the ground. Just when all hope is lost, Tom takes charge and starts organizing a clean up. Jack's plan works and Tom is put in charge of rebuilding the cathedral.

The problem for Prior Philip in this agreement was that there was nowhere near enough money to pay for a new cathedral. He could barely makes ends meet as it was. He couldn't even pay Tom for weeks, so the priory owed the mason money right at the start. To try and remedy this problem Philip went to Bishop Waleran Bigod. Bishop Waleran was sympathetic to the plight in Kingsbridge and decided to take Philip to see King Stephen in hopes of recieving some money. Waleran and Philip traveled to the king's court in Winchester where they met another bishop, Henry. Henry was not only the king's bishop, he was the king's brother, so he was a powerful ally for Philip's cause. The three went to the king and proposed that the recently vacated lands of the Earl of Shiring to the Church in order to raise money and to gain stone and timber. The King was open to this idea, but had said he had all but promised the lands of Shiring to the Hamleighs. The king decided to take a day and think about his decision. After the meeting Philip left the palace and explored the city of Winchester. Later on he was called over by a furious Regan Hamleigh, the wife of Percy Hamleigh the soon-to-be Earl of Shiring. She berated the prior for his stupidity at not seeing how the bishops were using him. The bishops wanted the money for themselves to spend on Bishop Waleran's new castle, and were only using the burned down cathedral as an excuse. Philip, after validating Regan's accusations, was angry so he decided to make a deal with the Hamleighs. He would take the quarry and forest needed to provide materials for his cathedral, and the Hamleighs would take all the farm land, the market, and the castle of the Earl. Both sides agreed to this pact and the Hamleighs presented the deal to the king. The next day King Stephen sided with Philip and the Hamleighs over the bishops, and Waleran Bigod developed a hatred for Philip. The cathedral would be built, but now the bishop would forever be its enemy.

When the Earl of Shiring was deposed by the Hamleighs, he was sent to jail for treason. His children and steward, however, remained at the castle trying in some way to live out a semblance of their former life. When the Hamleighs were put in charge of the lands, though, the three had no right to live there anymore. William Hamleigh, accompanied by his groom Walter, traveled to the castle and began to order Aliena, Richard, and Matthew around. The two cruel men then started hurting the two children, and when Matthew tried to help they killed him. After that William and Walter beat Richard and raped Aliena. When the two men had fallen asleep Aliena and Richard went outside and stole the horses William and his groom had arrived on. The two traveled on the road to Winchester to appeal to the king for help. Along the way they lost their horses, were attacked, and were forced to kill a man. Eventually they reached the king's palace and were told he wasn't there. In despair the siblings felt like giving up. Then they were told their father was being held in the nearby jail. They needed a penny to get in, so they befriended a woman named Meg who gave them one. Once inside they talked to their father who made them swear an oath to regain the lands and title he lost. After that they left and never saw him again. Aliena and Richard made their way out to a small town to see if their uncle would take them in, but he turned them away. Instead of relying on others, Aliena decided to take her future into her own hands. She used a pound of silver from her father to buy wool and made her way back to Winchester to sell it. Once there she and Richard befriendedPrior Philip who helped them sell their wool.

There were parts in this section that made me feel emotional: angry, sad, happy. When William and Walter hurt Richard and raped Aliena I felt angry. How can someone do this to another person? The purely sadistic nature of William Hamleigh was too much for me and I truly wanted him to die for what he did. I was very sad when Aliena and Richard were traveling from Shiring to try to make a new life. They were met with such adversity and hardship that I felt for them. When the verder cruelly stole their horses and planned to do even more, Aliena pushed through and continued determinedly towards a brighter future. When Jack was able to burn down the cathedral I was very happy for him and his family. The cathedral being destroyed meant that they would no longer be starving and wandering from town to town. No one was hurt in the fire, and nothing valuable was lost, besides the building, so the benefits greatly outwieghed the negative aspects of Jack's actions. It also gave Philip a chance to see that Waleran Bigod is more of a politician than a bishop and that the priory must be wary of the man. I predict that with the new rights to the quarry and the forest the cathedral will continue to be built without anymore setbacks. Eventually Tom will be paid his dues and all will be well at Kingsbridge. For Aliena and Richard, I think they will begin to have a business buying and selling wool, but it will not be profitable enough because they cannot make very much money per transaction. They will have to switch to a different occupation, that will not work out either because neither of them have any skills. They will eventually have to move to Kingsbridge where they will take advantage of Prior Philip's hospitality. Richard may find work on the cathedral, and that way all the main character's will come together around the momentous construction of God's house in Kingsbbridge.