Pope Joan Read Online Free PDF Page A

He scuffed at the dirt with his feet, erasing the marks she had made.
    “No, Matthew, no!” Joan tried to pull him away. Disturbed by the noise, the pigs started a chorus of grunting.
    Matthew bent to embrace her. “It’s all right, Joan. Don’t be unhappy.”
    “B-but you said my letters were good!”
    “They
are
good.” Matthew was surprised by how good they were; better than John could do, and he was three years older. Indeed, if Joan weren’t a girl, Matthew would have said that she would make a fine scribe one day. But it was better not to put wild ideas in the child’s head. “I could not leave the letters for Father to see; that is why I erased them.”
    “Will you teach me more letters, Matthew? Will you?”
    “I have already showed you more than I should have.”
    She said with grave seriousness, “Father won’t find out. I won’t ever tell him, I promise. And I will erase the letters very carefully when I am done.” Her deep-set gray-green eyes held his intently, willing him to agree.
    Matthew shook his head in rueful amusement. She was certainly persistent, this little sister of his. Affectionately he chucked her under the chin. “Very well,” he agreed. “But, remember, we must keep it our secret.”
    A FTER that, it became a kind of game between them. Whenever the chance presented itself, not nearly as often as Joan would have liked, Matthew would show her how to trace letters in the earth. She was an eager student; though wary of the consequences, Matthew foundit impossible to resist her enthusiasm. He, too, loved learning; her eagerness spoke directly to his heart.
    Nevertheless, even he was shocked when she came to him one day carrying the huge, wood-bound Bible that belonged to their father.
    “What are you doing?” he cried. “Put that back; you should never have touched it!”
    “Teach me to read.”
    “What?” Her audacity was astonishing. “Now, really, little sister, that’s asking too much.”
    “Why?”
    “Well … for one thing, reading is a lot more difficult than merely learning the abecedarium. I doubt you could even learn to do it.”
    “Why not? You did.”
    He smiled indulgently. “Yes. But I am a man.” This was not quite true, as he had not yet attained thirteen winters. In a little over a year, when he turned fourteen, he would truly be a man. But it pleased him to claim the privilege now, and besides, his little sister didn’t know the difference.
    “I
can
do it. I know I can.”
    Matthew sighed. This was not going to be easy. “It’s not only that, Joan. It is dangerous, and unnatural, for a girl to read and write.”
    “Saint Catherine did. The bishop said so in his sermon, remember? He said she was loved for her wisdom and learning.”
    “That’s different. She was a saint. You are just a … girl.”
    She was silent then. Matthew was pleased at having won the debate so handily; he knew how determined his little sister could be. He reached for the Bible.
    She started to give it to him, then pulled it back. “Why is Catherine a saint?” she asked.
    Matthew paused, his hand still extended. “She was a holy martyr who died for the Faith. The bishop said so in his sermon, remember?” He could not resist parroting her.
    “Why was she martyred?”
    Matthew sighed. “She defied the Emperor Maxentius and fifty of his wisest men by proving, through logical debate, the falseness of paganism. For this she was punished. Now come, little sister, give me the book.”
    “How old was she when she did this?”
    What odd questions the child asked! “I don’t want to discuss it any further,” Matthew said, exasperated. “Just give me the book!”
    She backed away, keeping tight hold of it. “She was old when she went to Alexandria to debate the Emperor’s wise men, wasn’t she?”
    Matthew wondered if he should wrest the book from her. No, better not. The fragile binding might come loose. Then they would both be in more trouble than he cared to think