Moon Song Read Online Free PDF Page B

back to his old school.
    Suddenly, a picture of the Cathedral Close formed in his mind,green grass and the ancient grey stone walls of the cathedral. And the shining, golden-haired woman standing there, laughing.
Sparrow
    The cathedral clock struck one. Isoldé looked out across the Close, the rain had lifted, there was blue sky and the pigeons were strutting about on the grass. It was warm for the end of January.
    ‘I’m off to lunch then,’ she called.
    ‘I’ll keep an eye on things.’ The girl on the till smiled.
    Isoldé went to the brasserie in the alley, got her sandwich. Turning back into the close, she sat down on a bench and opened the ham and brie in ciabatta. The pigeons crowded round her feet, cooing and bonking, no idea of season. A sparrow stood at the edge of the flock. Carefully she aimed some crumbs to him and, quick as a flash, he dived in ahead of the pigeons, succeeding. She shook the last crumbs from the bag onto the grass and went into the cathedral.
    ‘Hi, Zoldé, coming to the concert?’ One of the vergers recognised her.
    ‘Absolutely! Jamie’s been on about it for weeks now.’
    ‘You’d better get some of his CDs in the shop, there’ll be a rush.’
    ‘Done and dusted!’ She told him as he went off up the side aisle.
    For once, the cathedral was quite empty; Isoldé stood sensing into the quiet, the echoes of silence. At moments like this you really got a feel of the place. She stood at the west end. The wide floor of the nave was empty of chairs, the sun sent shadows of colour down through the great window behind her to paint the ancient flags. Huge arches reared up to either side as she walked slowly up the nave, it felt like being in a stone forest. She stopped under the organ, looking up.
    A flutter of wings from the minstrel gallery interrupted her. Somehow a sparrow had got in. She looked around for someone to help but the place was empty. The sparrow flew up the nave and landed beside her on the golden gate in the pulpitum. Isoldéstood watching it as it watched her, wondering what to do.
    ‘Here, little one,’ a voice spoke beside her.
    Isoldé turned. The man put a finger to his lips, eyes smiling, and held out a hand. He called the bird again. The sparrow chirruped, its head on one side, looking. Then it made up its mind and flew down to clutch the finger in tiny claws. The man stroked the grey poll. ‘Come,’ he said, catching the bird’s eye. He turned to walk back down the nave and out the west door. Isoldé followed. In the close he held up his hand. ‘Fly well, little one. In there’s no place for you.’ The bird chirped again and flew off.
    ‘How did you do that?’ Isoldé breathed.
    He turned to her, ‘Birds come to me.’ The blue eyes were laughing. ‘And animals.’
    ‘I’ve never seen anything like it.’ She smiled back, eyes questioning.
    ‘It’s cold.’ He seemed embarrassed now. ‘Shall we go back inside?’
    ‘I can’t,’ she told him. ‘Lunchtime’s over. I must get back to the shop.’
    He raised his brows.
    She pointed to the bookshop on the other side of the green.
    ‘Ah,’ he said, seeing the shop. ‘The bishop tells me you have a good selection of music and CDs.’
    ‘That’s good to know,’ she said. ‘But I must go. It was wonderful, what you did.’
    ‘Mark King.’ He held out his hand.
    ‘Isoldé Labeale,’ she managed in response, realising his CDs were all over the window of the shop and she still hadn’t recognised his face. This was the man giving the concert tonight.
    Something happened as they touched hands, both of them stopped still, looking at each other, then Isoldé let go and set off back to the shop. At the door she turned back. He was still there, watching her, smiling.
Concert
    Isoldé went to the concert on her own. Jamie had fallen foul of a cold and Darshan was with the bishop’s party.
    ‘No way am I providing a cacophony,’ Jamie told her over the phone, ‘and don’t you come round here