Caino's Alphabet, K

    Knowing they would soon reach 
the Abbey, Aaron judged the trio to be 
in dire need of a wash.  
    As chance would have it, 
they came across a forest spring 
cascading down a series of slick boulders 
into a deep natural cistern.  
While Gail and Aaron washed their clothes, 
Caino found that the slippery rocks provided 
a fast and thrilling slide into the cold water below. 
    When the sun set, 
Aaron used those same slick stones 
to give his knife an edge keen enough 
to trim Gail and Caino’s hair, 
as well as his own shaggy beard.  
By the time they went to sleep, 
the three of them were almost presentable, 
and when they broke their camp the next morning they could have passed for churchgoers, 
or townsfolk on their way to a market fair.     
Before they left, Aaron took Caino to one side 
and produced a small metal box.
    “I would like you to keep this safe for me,” 
Aaron said, handing the box to Caino, 
“I think you know what it is.  
It is a powerful thing and could be dangerous 
in the wrong hands…  
It would be best if you kept it hidden for a spell.”
    Caino nodded and took the box, 
secreting it amongst the oversized monkish robes he had inherited from Bartholomew.
—
    An hour later they crested a high ridge 
and Caino got his first glimpse of the Abbey.  
It was not at all what he had expected. 
To begin with, there were no structures at all 
to be seen on the site.  
Instead, a scattering of caves, 
connected by well-worn paths, 
climbed a strikingly symmetrical hill.  
Surrounding this, crops and orchards 
ascended the hill on one side 
and faded into forest on the other, 
devoid of any fencing or a clearly defined border.  
    Aaron was strangely silent 
during their walk toward the Abbey.  
He had replaced Gail’s bonds 
and led her on a short leash 
attached to a rope about her waist.
    As often happened, 
Caino soon found himself ahead of the three, ducking through thickets and branches 
as only a wild boy can. 
With his companions out of sight behind him, 
Darius appeared, running along by his side…
and then he was gone.
    Caino stopped, knowing from his friend’s 
disappearance that he was no longer alone.  
He turned back, expecting Aaron and Gail, 
but the snapping of a twig 
spun him back around 
toward the direction of the Abbey.  
    Four men emerged from the forest before him, all clothed in robes similar to Aaron’s.  
Three, holding bows with arrows notched, 
stopped and crouched warily, 
their eyes scanning the forest 
behind Caino in trepidation.  
A fourth man approached Caino 
armed only with a forced and awkward smile. 
    “Young man, are you alone?” 
asked the monk in a firm voice 
that stood in contrast to his smile 
and nervous comrades alike.  
    “My friends are behind me,” replied Caino, “Aaron is one of your own and Gail…” 
he trailed off, not sure 
how Aaron would want him to describe 
her role in their story, 
given their softening relationship.  
“Our friend Gail,” he concluded.
    “I see,’ said the monk, 
“Brother Aaron is expected;  
we will wait for him with you.  You may call me Hall, these are brothers Isak, John, and Karl.  
Please forgive their vigilance, 
these are perilous times.” 
    So they waited.  When an hour had passed 
and Aaron and Gail failed to appear, 
Hall asked Caino to lead the four monks back 
along the path from which he had come.
    Reaching the top of the ridge 
from where Caino had first spotted the Abbey, Aaron and Gail were still nowhere to be seen, 
but hanging in plain sight from the branch of a tree was Bartholomew’s satchel,   
complete with the sheaf of manuscripts 
he had taken such care to keep dry.     
    Hall took the documents from the satchel, handed them to Isak, 
and emptied the rest of the bag’s contents 
onto the ground.  There was flint and tinder, 
a large spoon, and a sewing kit.  
None of this was of interest to Hall, 
so he left it all where it had fallen and, 
turning his attention 
to the first page from the sheaf, he began to read.
    “Ah,” said Hall “Aaron has left us a note.”  
Caino arched his neck to read, 
but he was unpracticed in letters and 
Aaron’s script was as illegible as it was elaborate.  Hall read the note in silence.
    “It seems Aaron has absconded 
for the time being,” Hall said, frowning at the note.  “He has requested a meeting with the Abbot 
on your behalf; he says you have a… 
friend we will find of interest?  
He also added that you might be
 taken on as a novice.  Is this your desire as well?”
    “It is,” answered Caino.
    “Come then, I will take you to the Abbot.  
He will want to see these manuscripts, 
and you can tell him of this‘friend’ Aaron writes of.”
So Caino fell in with Hall and his troupe, 
and they headed off toward the Abbey.     
“Many of us have taken a vow of silence,” 
said Hall as they approached the foot of the hill, 
“the quiet can be a great help in our work.”              

As they climbed up toward the caves, 
Caino was unnerved by the stillness 
that hung about the place.  
To his wild ears, 
its seemed that the silence of the Abbey 
had replaced the hum of the forest 
with a cold and unnatural void.