Chapter 10. Peace pipes

"Bows and arrows" said Br Peter, "Albert, you must give me your solemn word you will never aim these at another child."
Albert promised.
"Very well" said Br Peter, "I trust you. It's more difficult than you might imagine. We'll need yew saplings to achieve reasonable strength, which are expensive. Then the bow itself cannot simply be cut to shape, or it will break. The fibres of the wood have to be bent into the arch. However it should be easier than the lobster pot, if anything. We have a lathe, which can be used to turn your arrow heads."
Adam and Albert started work on the arrows, which could be made of any reasonably strong wood. Br Peter showed them how to beat out the metal for the heads to a rough shape, then sharpen it on the lathe.
"This is the real handcraft of the modern world" he told the boys, "cutting metal parts to shape for technology. Fortunately lathes have become much cheaper than they were, so we can have one even in a small school like this."
The yew eventually arrived on the boat, and Albert, with Adam helping, cut it into bows.
"This isn't going to work" complained Albert, "we can't get enough draw strength. An English archer could draw a hundred pounds or more. We can draw maybe fifteen. There's no way we're going to take down a deer."
"So what do we do?" asked Adam.
"The Indians used poison." said Albert.
"Where do you get poison from?" asked Adam.
"Tree frogs" said Albert. ` "Well that's a lot of use. We can't use poison. Besides, won't it poison the meat?"
"No" said Albert, "it breaks down when you cook it."
"So what's the alternative?"
"Put barbs on the arrows, so they stick in. Then you shoot the prey as many times as is necessary. But it's not an ideal way of doing it" said Albert.
"It's the only way" said Adam.
If Br Peter was surprised when Adam and Albert produced barbed arrow heads, he didn't show it.
"OK, stretch out your arms" said Albert.
He measured Adam's arms from fingertip to fingertip, subtracted fifteen inches, and divided by two.
"That's your draw length, Adam, the depth to which you can draw an arrow. The draw strength we'll have to guess until we get more experience, but it will be about fifteen pounds, less for the girls. Now measure mine." said Albert. "The problem is that your draw weight increases as you get better, and we can shave a bit off the wood but we can't put it back on, and yew is expensive."
"How long does it take to become an expert archer?" asked Adam.
"I don't know" said Albert, "we shall find out, shall we?"

The two Mary's had fallen out.
"Do you want to borrow my pencil, Mandy?" Abagail had asked, in Br Kieran's science lesson. Short Mary realised that the Coventry had broken down, and suspected that blonde Mary had something to do with it. However she couldn't bring herself to talk to Mandy herself.
"Who knows how a helicopter works?" Br Kieran had asked.
"Mary ought to know" said short Mary, "her mother has a helicopter."
"It's not exactly that expensive to hire one" said blonde Mary.
"Some of us care about the environment" said short Mary, "including Fr Abbot. Some don't."
"My mother raises funds for the rainforest alliance" said blonde Mary, "what do your folks do, Mary?"
"That's quite enough" said Br Kieran, "anyone know how a helicopter works?"
"One rotor to keep it up" said Albert, "and the little one for thrust."
"So what about a Chinook?" asked Br Kieran.
"Chinook?" asked Abagail.
"That's one of those helicopters with two big rotors" said Albert, "as used in Afghanistan."
"So which one is for lift, and which is for thrust?" asked Br Kieran.
Albert was stumped.
"That's a common misconception" said Br Kieran, "in fact the big rotor is both for lift and for thrust. A helicopter flies at an angle. Watch one closely next time one comes in to land. The big rotor pulls it forwards, and keeps it up. So what is the little rotor for?"
"Maneuvering?" suggested Adam.
"Not a bad guess" said Br Kieran, "but wrong. Mainly wrong, anyway."
"I know," said Albert, "it prevents it spinning round."
"You've finally got it, Albert" said Br Kieran, "why would a helicopter spin round."
"Dazzled by Mary's mother in it" said short Mary, and there was a bit of a laugh.
"Now you may not realise this" said Br Kieran, annoyed, "but this is probably the most important science lesson of all term. No more nonsense from you, Mary. Albert, Adam, why would a helicopter spin round?"
"Because the main rotor is spinning" said Adam.
"So which direction will it spin in?" asked Br Kieran.
Adam thought a minute. It was Albert who got it.
"The opposite direction" he said. "Very good" said Br Kieran, "know I know some of you are interested in archery. You will find, when you shoot an arrow, that the bow moves in your hand. For the action of the arrow, leaving the bow, there is an opposite reaction, the kick of the bow moving backwards. The same when you fire a gun. And it is the same with the helicopter. The small rotor has to be there to balance the opposite motion of the helicopter, as the main rotor spins. So now explain the Chinook."
"Both rotors are for lift and for thrust, but they spin in opposite directions" said Albert.
"Ok, enough from Adam and Albert" said Br Kieran, "whose got any other examples of action and reaction?"
"A hairdryer" said blonde Mary, "as it kind of twists in your hand?"
"An electric drill" said James.
"An egg whisk" said short Mary.
"What's a egg whisk?" asked Mandy.
"Like in the kitchen" said short Mary, "Oh, sorry, I forgot. You've never seen inside a kitchen."
"Nor have I" said blonde Mary, "only the middle classes use egg whisks."
"I suppose that makes us very middle class" said Abgail, "and Br Damian. Would you say he's middle class, Mary?"
"He's not in the world" said blonde Mary, "only the world has social class. It's who you are that matters, not what your parents are or do."
"Some people think they are superior because they have a chauffeur-driven Mercedes and a helicopter" said short Mary, "wouldn't you agree that's totally shallow, Mary?"
"That's enough" said Br Kieran, finally losing patience, "Mary" (he was addressing short Mary) "I'm putting you in detention. And I'll put the other Mary and Abagail in too in a moment, if you don't pay attention. Now for each force, there is an equal and opposite reaction, but how can we measure it?"
"We measure the speed of the moving object." said Adam.
"And its weight" said Albert. "You're both right" said Br Kieran, "momentum is weight times speed. The momentum of the action and the reaction must be equal. So we've got a boy, who weighs ten kilograms, standing on ice, and throwing a one kilogram ball. How fast must he throw the ball to move at one kilometer an hour in the opposite direction?"
"Ten kilometers per hour." The lesson proceeded without further interruption from the two Marys.
Short Mary did her detention bitterly and resentfully. Blonde Mary had been the aggressive one, accusing her of being middle class, and Br Kieran had done nothing about it. She, short Mary, was almost never in trouble.
"Stop scowling" said the prefect, a tall and handsome girl called Sally, "you'd think you'd been sent to the galleys. It's detention for us prefects too, who have to give up our evenings to supervise you, you realise."
"Don't you love us for it?" said another girl, a second year, "I'm in tomorrow as well. Talking in Br Dominic's class."
Sally smiled. "Enough cheek from you" she said, "Mary, chin up, and keep writing."

Meanwhile the others took advantage of short Mary's absence to have another joint.
"I thought that was really pathetic" said Abagail, "Albert and Adam were really interested in helicopters, and all you and short Mary can do is squabble."
"Look, my mother just wanted to save a bit of time" said blonde Mary, "we don't own a fleet of helicopters. You hire one, and when you factor in the time saved and the hotel bill, it's probably cheaper than trying to do a journey by car. But Fr Abbot wouldn't give permission for it to land, and now I'll never hear the last of it. I wish I'd never mentioned that helicopter."
"It's short Mary being the sourpuss" said Cecilia, "it isn't Mary, it isn't really."
"And Adam and Albert" said blonde Mary, "more than you ever wanted to know about the aerodynamics of helicopters. Why are they so interested?"
"Because they are boys" said Cecilia, "the lesson was about the helicopter. Now respect that."
"I respect Sebastian" said blonde Mary, "he's not a technie."
"Then your Mum would be spinning round and round in her helicopter" said Abagail, "without engineers to keep it up."
"Well said Abagail" said Cecilia.
"Where there is pleasure in life" said blonde Mary, taking out the joint, "who cares about helicopters. Anyone care to join me in this?"

Adam and Albert were in the woodworking room trying to get the first bows ready. James had fought his way onto the games console and was deep in a combat game. Sebastian and Ibrahim, bored, went to find the ladies. They were nowhere in the Junior Calefactory.
"I know" said Ibrahim, and led Sebastian to the ruins. As he suspected, the girls were huddled for a smoke.
"Ibrahim, don't" said blonde Mary, "anyone could be following you."
"What is this noctural gathering?" asked Sebastian.
"Peace pipes" said Abagail, "we're making our peace with Mary and Mandy."
"The two Marys have fallen out bitterly" said Sebastian.
"And short Mary is in detention, which is what she deserves" said Abagail.
"Take this" said blonde Mary, offering him the joint.
"I'm really not sure it is gentlemanly." said Sebastian.
"You think I'd ask you to do something that wasn't gentlemanly" said blonde Mary, "what sort of girl do you think I am?"
"One like Mandy?" said Abagail.
Mandy hit her.
"Sebastian", said blonde Mary, "it's what everyone does, higher up the school. Believe me, with the pressures of work, you need to relax. That's what we're doing now. Of course if you don't want to join us, I respect that. Ibrahim?"
Ibrahim took the joint and took a puff.
"Oh, OK, just this once, you understand" said Sebastian, "I wouldn't like to do anything too streety."
"It's us" said blonde Mary, "not some weird group of people. Rupert, you know him, the fifth year, is the source of supply."
"Oh, I'm none too fond of Rupert" said Sebastian, "not someone to aspire to be like."
"But Rupert understands life" said blonde Mary.
"He knows the good things" agreed Sebastian.
Blonde Mary took the joint from Ibrahim and took a long draw. "Is it my lips, Sebastian?" she asked, "Do you not feel comfortable taking what I take?"
"No, of course not" said Sebastian, and took the joint from her.
"Just a gentle draw. Put it into your mouth but not into your lungs, and least not at first." blonde Mary told him.
Sebastian coughed. "Everyone does that first time" Mandy told him, "second time will be easier."
"And how much does this little entertainment cost?"
"Ten pounds a time, so it's two pounds each and surprisingly cheap" said blonde Mary, "but don't worry, we have sources."
"I thought the supply was courtesy of Rupert?" said Sebastian.
"Yes," said blonde Mary, "but don't worry. Rupert's not making any money on it. We've ways of ensuring that doesn't happen. Now not a word, Sebastian."
"My word is my bond" said Sebastian. They finished the joint, and walked back to the Junior calefactory, Sebastian feeling strange and dissociated from reality. He was glad to hit the dorm.
Blonde Mary had sold some of the perfume that her mother had given her at mid term. It netted her about a hundred pounds. She knew that next time, Mandy would have to pay for her supply, and was determined to have a float. The money meant comparatively little to her, though her mother had told her of the folly of trying to buy friends, and she was not going to subsidise the habits of an entire school. If they could turn a profit, she told herself, that would help Mandy.

Abagail was messing about on the internet, and came across a psychological experiment. The experimenters had placed adverts for a fictitious job, offering a grossly inflated salary for fairly mediocre skills. Their accomplices formed the interviewing panel. The subject was offered a cup of coffee. Whenever he had the coffee cup in his hand, the interviewers were pleasant and interested. When he put it down, they scowled and took notes. Then they became pleasant as he took the coffee up again. Pretty soon, the subjects were constantly drinking coffee. Then as the coffee began to run out they got more and more agitated, until offered another cup. Some drank ten to fifteen cups of coffee. However none of them ever realised what trick was being played on them.
Abagail wondered how this could be adapted. "We could do it on the side of the room" she thought. "As the monk moves to the left, we all become really attentive and interested. As he moves to the right, we all act bored."
"You'd have to get the whole class involved" said Adam, "but it sounds safe to me. If it goes wrong, no-one will ever know."
"I think everyone will be game, now we've made up with Mandy" said Abagail.
"Short Mary?" asked Adam.
"Oh, she's game for a laugh" said Abagail, "don't make that mistake."
"Who will you do it to?" asked Cecilia, when apprised of the plot.
"There can only be one person" said Abagail, "Br Jumbo."

The maths lesson was on logarithms. Br Jumbo wrote the numbers 10, 100, 1000, and 10000 on the board.
"How many zeroes?" he asked.
Not one hand went up. Blonde Mary was staring absently into space, James fidgetting.
"Now come on now, you people, how many zero?." said Br Jumbo, "Anyone know dis?"
Still silence.
"Now come on, who is the best mathematician? Albert? How many zeroes on dis board?"
"I am not sure, sir" said Albert, too nervous to do a convincing don't care.
"You do not know?" said Br Jumbo, walking towards him, and crossing to the left of the room.
"Sir, they're in arithmetically ascending order" said James.
"One, two, three, four" said Mandy, "clearly a series."
"But the numbers go up much faster" said Adam.
Brother Jumbo returned to the board, and wrote 1, 2, 3, 4 by the number he had written.
"Dis is all dat a logarithm is" he said, "the logarithm of ten is one, of a hundred is two, of a thousand is three." The children looked bored. "Maybe I am going too fast for you," he said, "anyone know what is a logarithm?"
"It's the sound a wooden instrument makes" said James, "like bongo drums."
Instantly he knew he had gone too far.
"Now don't you be cheeking me" said Br Jumbo, turning on him, "James, you be very cheeky boy." He stepped forward to James to tweak his ear. Abagail gestured desperately to the rest to keep down, and the class held their discipline.
"De bongo drums is cheeking of me. Now James, sensibly now, what is logarithm?" James looked sullenly at the ground.
"I do not understand this class today" said Br Jumbo, "now anyone, has anyone heard what is logarithm?"
He crossed again to the left of the classroom.
"That was just a stupid joke, Sir" said James, "the logarithm is the number of zeroes in a number."
"The number of places" said Adam, "the logarithm of 1001 would still be three."
"It wouldn't" said James, "I've got a calculator. Log 1001 is 3.00043"
"That's nearly three" said Adam.
"But it isn't the same" said James, "Sir, how do you work out the logarithm when it isn't a whole number?"
"We come to that soon" said Br Jumbo, going back to the blackboard. Instantly all the faces glazed over.
"10 = 10, 100 = 10 x 10. 1000 = 10 x 10 x 10. 10000 = 10 x 10 x 10 x 10" he wrote, "anyone see a pattern here?"
There was sullen silence. Mandy whispered something to blonde Mary.
"You not see the pattern?" Br Jumbo was almost pleading, "someone must see the pattern?"
Still silence.MBR> "Ten times ten is what?" asked Br Jumbo.
"A hundred" said blonde Mary.
Short Mary put her hands together to clap sarcastically, then thought the better of it.
"But what do we say?" Br Jumbo asked, "ten times ten is ten what?"
Silence. "Squared" he said said finally, and moved to the left of the blackboard to write ten with a little squared sign above it.
Instantly the class became alive.
"So a thousand is ten cubed" said Adam.
"And ten thousand ten what, there must be a term for it" said Sebastian. "Tesseract" said Albert, "ten tesseract is ten to the four."
Br Jumbo wrote them all down.
"So the logarithm is the number on top of the ten" said Adam.
Br Jumbo beamed, and moved over to the right of the board. Instantly the class clammed up.
"Now when we have 500, what is the logarithm of this? OK, maybe I go too fast for you." he moved back to the left.
"The logarithm of 500 would be a number between 2 and 3" said Cecilia, "I know. 2.5."
"About 2.69" said James, checking on his calculator.
"So ten to the power 2.69 is five hundred" said Adam, "but how do you work it out?"
"You do it on the calculator" said James.
"How does the calculator work it out, silly." said Adam.
"Maybe we are too advanced to work out the logarithm already" said Br Jumbo, "but Adam is right. Ten to the power 2.69 is five hundred, so 2.69 is the logarithm of five hundred."
He walked back to the right side of the room, and the class lost interest. "2 is the logarithm of 100, and 3 is the logarithm of 1000. Now I write 100 x 1000. I can also write this 10 x 10, that is my hundred, x 10 x 10 x 10, that is my thousand. How many tens?"
No reply.
"Maybe I go too fast for you. I make it easier. What is ten times ten?"
No reply.
"You know. What is ten times ten?"
"Twenty" said blonde Mary.
"That is the adding" said Br Jumbo, “You know, Mary, what is the ten times ten. You can do this sum.”
Blonde Mary got her calculator out and began tapping at the keys.
“Really I do not understand dis class” said Br Jumbo, perplexed, “Mary, you do not need the calculator for dis sum.”
He moved to the other side of the class, and suddenly blonde Mary increased in intelligence.
"One hundred or ten squared, or ten to the power 2", she said, “so the logarithm of a hundred is two”.
"So I can write the multiplication like this. 10 x 10 x 10 x 10 x 10. What is that?" said Br Jumbo.
"The multiplication is the sum of logs" said Albert.
"Very good" said Br Jumbo, "you can multiply numbers by adding the logarithm. This is what we used to do, in the days before the calculator. In book you looked up logs, added them, and looked up anti-logs. Adding much easier than the multiply. Now we have the calculator, but still you need to know about the logarithm."
"You can divide as well" said Mandy, "by subtraction".
"Ok, I explain that" said Br Jumbo, cleaning the board. His action took him for one last time into the right of the classroom.
"Don't see the stupid point" said James, "just use a calculator."
"Yeah, this is really old-fashioned" said blonde Mary, covering her hand with a yawn.
Br Jumbo moved to the left.
"But maybe there are other uses of logarithms" said James, "do tell us Br James, we are so interested in this."
Br Jumbo didn't move into the right hand half of the room all the rest of the lesson. Abagail and James clapped hands as they went out of the class.
"Practically crawling up the left wall" said James, "as soon as I enter this zone, I lose control of de class. What is going on here?" he imitated Br Jumbo's accent.
"I thought you'd had it when you mentioned bongo drums" said Abagail, "James, you've got a death wish. But we kept to the plan, and, thank goodness, he moved to the left."
Br Dominic wondered why his first year Latin class was a fit of giggles. Abagail called the first years together.
"OK, next time, it's still the left." she said, "But we make it stricter. We only behave when he's holding something in his hand, like a marker pen or an eraser"
"You should join in the fun" Adam said to Ibrahim that evening, "when he's on the left hand side of the room, show some enthusiasm. You never said anything once."
"Oh, I don't care" said Ibrahim, "I like to relax, have a good time."
"But you're not having a good time, Ibrahim." Adam looked wondering at him. Ibrahim had exactly been withdrawn so much as out of his league. When in a group he took the back seat, but when you got him on his own he could be quite forthcoming. But now he had gone back into himself. It was becoming increasingly difficult to get any conversation out of him.

Meanwhile Sebastian found James an eager consumer of cannabis.
"Try this, old fruit" he said.
"What is it?" said James.
"Dope" said Sebastian, "otherwise known as cannabis, or marijuana, or by vulgar names such as 'shit'".
"We really take this stuff?"
"We do. Just don't tell anyone. They can't expel anyone for it or they'd have to expel nearly the whole school. That's unless they have to, of course."
James tried a tentative puff and didn't like it, but didn't like to say so.
"It gets easier" said Sebastian, "I was like that the first one."
The next maths class the children soon had Br Jumbo standing in the left hand corner of the room, clinging desperately to his black marker pen. He ventured out to write 1, 0.1, 0.01, 0.001 on the board, and the class looked about vacantly. As soon as he retreated to his corner, they became alive.
"You're saying that ten to the minus one is 0.1?" said Adam.
"Yes," said Albert, "minus one is the logarithm of 0.1."
"So how does that work? How can you multiply a number by itself a negative number of times?" asked Adam.
"By dividing it," said Cecilia, "it all makes sense. 1 divided by ten is ten to the minus one, one divided by ten and divided by ten again is ten to the minus two, same thing for one thousandth, which is ten to the minus three."
"I still don't get it" said blonde Mary.
Br Jumbo moved to the board.
"Oh, on second thoughts, don't bother. I couldn't care."
"You couldn't care, Mary?" Br Jumbo instinctively moved back to the corner.
"No, I do care, Br James." said blonde Mary, transformed, "I just didn't want to hold up the others. Perhaps you'd be so kind as to explain to me Adam's question. How can you multiply a number by itself a negative number of times."
Abagail almost had fits of giggles as Br Jumbo tried to explain the concept, standing in the corner, holding his marker, but with no recourse to the board.
"I think the rest of us all get it" said short Mary, "it's perfectly simple, really, Mary."
The other girls drew in a gasp of breath.
"Perfectly simple for you" said blonde Mary, "but I'm just an airhead blonde. 'Math is hard' says Barbie."
"Mary, you must understand this" said Br Jumbo, "the reciprocal of a number, that is, one over the number, is the number to the power of minus one. Anyone else not understand this?"
Cecilia put her hand up, even though she understood it perfectly. Br Jumbo moved over to the board to explain it. James got ready to flick a paper pellet, but Abagail shook her head. The joke had collapsed.

"We had him" said short Mary, after the lesson. "He was about to think that that marker pen was magic."
"You can't insult people like that" said Abagail.
"Mary? She's thick. Probably her mother bought her way into this school. She shouldn't be holding the rest of us back." said short Mary.
"You don't judge people by their intelligence" said Cecilia.
"Then what do you judge them by" said short Mary, "their looks?"
"You don't judge them at all" said Cecilia.
"Oh Cecilia, so righteous" said short Mary, and stormed out.

"She is proving tiresome" said blonde Mary to Mandy, "how's business?"
"One hundred and forty pounds" said Mandy.
"Well just remember one word from short Mary could scupper it" said blonde Mary, "we'll have to treat her with kid gloves. Don't overcharge Abagail and Cecilia, either, we'll need them on board."

Adam, as he often did, took a lonely walk around the island. He could stare for hours into the sea. It imprisoned them, but it also represented freedom. No bells or dorm rules could penetrate beneath those waves. No man had yet succeeded in cultivating the sea bottom. It was totally wild, unbounded existence, and it was just six inches away from his feet.
"The sea is His, for He made it" thought Adam, "Was that really true?" he wondered, and dipped his hands into the tiny wave lapping up on the shore. If God loved him, would he have allowed him to go to St Tom's? Would he not have made him into a fish, or a great whale, who made their way through the waters? Or into a South Sea islander, for whom every day was a seaside holiday.
"Show me that you are there" he prayed, "be present to be, be not far from me."
The waves lapped in reply. Adam waited, lost in contemplation, until the distant bell went for Compline.

Meanwhile Ibrahim, James and Sebastian were smoking in the dorm. Sebastian put a couple of joss sticks in a toothbrush beaker on his locker, and lit them.
"If anyone comes in, we say the smell is joss-sticks" he explained, "grossly against dorm fire regulations, of course, but not as grossly against as the sweet herb of paradise."
"Where's Adam and Albert?" said James.
"Albert's doing something in the woodwork room. I don't know about Adam." said Sebastian, "this is surely more relaxing than fighting for the Playstation. More civilised too."
"I wish I was at a civilised school" said Ibrahim.
"You've got it wrong" said Sebastian, "the richer the school, the tougher and the rougher it is. Civilisation is just a veneer. St Tom's is nothing compared to the big public schools. We have it harder than private day schools, whilst the chaps who go to comprehensives study in comparative luxury. New desks, no bullying, the worst punishment is detention. The only problem is, they don't come out with the same qualifications as we do."
; "And no dope?" said James.
"They start it at an older age." said Sebastian.
"Like who made you an expert on comprehensive schools?" asked James.
"Hush", said Sebastian, "here's someone."
He darted into the toilet to flush the incriminating, smoking tube of tobacco-filled paper away, but there was no need. It was Albert.
"I've made the first one and I'm ready to start measuring you up" said Albert.
"Albert" said James, "just relax."
Albert sniffed the air. "What are you doing?"
"It's the weed." said Ibrahim.
"What are you burning weeds for? I thought that was a joss-stick. Is this a Satanic rite or something?"
"Nope, dope" said James.
"Doesn't it do your head in?" asked Albert.
"No" said James, "that's a bit of an exaggeration. Don't believe everything you hear. It's a totally natural way of relaxing. Just a herb."
"Natural substances can be extremely dangerous" said Albert.
"It's been used for centuries" said James, "in all that time, no-one has died as a result of the weed. Plenty of people have died from alcohol and tobacco, and they're totally legal. Try it, it feels good."
Albert was a bit reluctant, but there were three of them and only one of him, and he didn't want to be the odd one out. So he took a measured, clinical puff.
"I can't feel anything, except my throat."
"You often don't, the first time" James told him, "I didn't, my first time. But on the second and the third one you really start to notice the effects. Try a bit more."
They smoked for a while, then the bell went for Compline.
"Oh drat" said Sebastian.
Reluctantly, the boys hauled themselves out of the dorm, and joined the corridor swarming with St Tom's pupils on their way to prayer.
"There's Adam" drawled James.

"Oh God come to our aid" sang the children.
"Oh Lord make haste to help us".

"Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit. As it was, is now, and every shall be. To the end of the ages. Amen."
"That's where it's at" whispered James to Sebastian.
Indeed it seemed that they sang like they had never sung before. The great cauldron of the universe was opened up before them, the rows of children in the stalls of the chapel peering into it as they contemplated the infinite mysteries therein, the black clad monks in attendance like witches.

Now that the daylight dies away, By all thy grace and love, Thee, Maker of the world, we pray To watch our bed above.

"Wow, man" said Ibrahim, until a glance from Br Bernard caught his eye, and he kept quiet.

The Psalm began

Out of the depths I have cried to you, Lord:
Lord, hear my voice.
Let your ears listen out
for the voice of my pleading.

If you took notice of our transgressions, Lord–
Lord, who would be left?
But with you is forgiveness,
and for this we revere you.

I rely on you, Lord,
my spirit relies on your promise;
my soul hopes in the Lord,
more than the watchman for daybreak.

More than the watchman for daybreak,
let Israel hope in the Lord:

They had said that Psalm many times, but now seemed to have a meaning it had never held before.
"It's a Psalm of peace" thought Sebastian, "peace to all nations. Yes peace, peace was where it was at. They were going to unite all humanity."

Then there was the dismissal.

Now, Master, let your servant go in peace.
For you have fulfilled your promise according to your word. For mine eyes have seen the salvation,
which you have prepared in the sight of the nations.
A light to enlighten the Gentiles;
and the glory of your people Israel.

"That was really something" thought Albert, the newness and strangeness of the drug had overwhelmed him. He was finding it hard to keep steady on his feet, let alone sing. He steadied himself with a hand on the stall, and felt slightly sick. However it was wonderful just to be there.

"May the almighty Lord grant us a quiet night and a perfect end."
Concluded Br Eugene, who was leading. The children said a brief private prayer, rose, and filed out.

"Adam" drawled James, "you have really missed something. That was fantastic. The way to go."
"I like Compline, yes" said Adam, surprised.
"But really fantastic. Man, that's where it's at."
Repelled, Adam would have left him, but he couldn't because he was a dorm mate. All the others were the same.
"Let's try another joint" said James, "that was great, just great."
"It was like the world just opened up" said Albert.
"Sure, that's it" said Sebastian, "the way to go."
"No thanks" said Adam, as the joint was passed round the dorm.
"Just try it" said James.
"No, I don't smoke and I don't take drugs" said Adam, with a note of harshness in his voice.
"Man, relax" said James.
"I don't take drugs, I can respect that" said Sebastian. Adam relaxed for a moment, "peace" said Sebastian.

The next day the four woke up with sore throats and slight headaches. Matins and Mass seemed interminable. They were also ravenously hungry.
"You like porridge then?" said Cecilia, as James wolfed down a second bowl.
"That was stupid" said Abagail, "you were so obviously stoned. Funny, but stupid. James, Sebastian, you can't sing when you are high. Br Bernard was getting suspicious."
"It was great" said James, "high Compline. We'll do a High Mass next. You should try it."
"Too dangerous" said Abagail, "seriously, I'm warning you. At least don't smoke enough to make it obvious what you are doing. As for Albert, Albert, acting is not your forte. I thought you were about to throw up."
"It's no way" said Adam.
"Listen, Adam" said James, "you take alcohol. So what's the difference with the weed? It's less addictive".
"It's illegal" said Adam.
"So's wine, at our age. So that's no kind of argument." said James.
"Wine is the very blood of our dying Lord. He is Lord of drunkenness as well as of the harvest. But not of dope. That has no sanction." said Adam.
"That's a stupid thing to say, and you know it" said James, "admit that you have no rational reason for not smoking, Adam."
"OK, I will" said Adam, "ultimately instinct is better than reason, and my instinct tells me that cannabis is no way to go."
"That's where you're wrong" said James, "it's a herb, and it helps people. It helps us, because we are over-worked and sometimes you just need to relax. All the best schools do it."
"The better the school, the more serious its drugs problem" said Sebastian.
"Do I have to watch out for you?" said Abagail, "Boys, this is the breakfast table. In case you hadn't noticed we're in the same hall as prefects and as monks. I'm watching all the time whilst you are talking, and do you take a blind bit of notice who might be listening?"
They hurried to finish before the first lesson.

"Adam has refused to take any cannabis" Mandy told blonde Mary.
"I heard, oh damn" said the daughter of the actress, concerned, "do you think there's any danger?"
"He's an oddball." said Mandy, "but not a sneak."
"I'm not so sure" said blonde Mary, "he went to Fr Abbot about Rupert."
"You can't sneak on yourself" said Mandy.
"Are you so sure?" asked blonde Mary, "seriously, I think he's weird enough for anything. We'll have to keep our identity from him."
"The problem is I think Abbey already knows it's me" said Mandy.
"Oh damn", said blonde Mary, "I forgot he had a twin sister."
"If she's normal why can't he just be normal?" said Mandy.
"Search me. But Mandy, sweetest, we have more pressing problems. The sour bitch. We much catch her with honey, and with frankincense and myrrh, sweet things, if you understand."
"I thought myrrh was bitter" said Mandy.
"And so it is." said blonde Mary, "it will be a cup of bitterness for her. But at the time it must seem like honey. So you've got to forget all your instincts, Mandy. Catch short Mary like the fly that she is. Otherwise this business goes down the pan and you and me are out of this school. Understand me?"

"We don't need to be in the chapel to pray" said Sebastian, "Abbey was right. It's safer to get stoned after lights out."
"You're going to pray whilst smoking?" said Ibrahim, doubtfully.
"That's right. It was fantastic at Compline, and its going to be fantastic tonight. We're going to say Vigils." said Sebastian.
"Even the monks don't say Vigils" said Ibrahim.
"But we will"

They lit the joint and joss-sticks, and allowed the dorm to fill with heavy, scented smoke. Sebastian shone his torch on his breviary.

"Oh Lord, open thou my lips"
"And my mouth shall show forth thy praise."
Adam sat on the bed. He couldn't join in, and he couldn't get away either. Sleep was impossible.
"Oh God come to our aid"
"Oh Lord make haste to help us"
"That's where it's at, man"
"Let me have that joint"
"That pattern."

Eventually it was over, and sleep overtook them, including Adam. Next morning they were woken by the bell.
"That was fantastic, Adam" said James, "you should join in"
"I can pray without cannabis." said Adam.
"But it opens a path to God, or to your inner self. Adam, how can you know anything about it if you haven't tried it?"
"Adam", said Albert, "we spoke of such things, wonderful things, that I thought I would never be privileged to hear."
"Yes, that was great" said James, "it opens your mind, Adam."
"But what were these wonderful things?" asked Adam.
"Like we were all part of a unity, greater then ourselves" said James, "and how petty all this focus of exam results and personal disputes is. It's a real drug of peace. But I can't remember all the details, it was too profound."
"We could set up a recorder" said Albert, "so we have a memory of it afterwards".
"Let's do that" said James.

Short Mary was not so out of the loop that she had not realised that Mandy and her blonde namesake were dealing drugs. No one had told her, but she had gradually picked up the truth, from what Abagail and Cecilia had said in unguarded moments, and from the fact that they were hanging around with Jade and Olivia, known drug-users.
"I all I have to do" she thought, "is tell on them and they will be expelled. But the other girls will regard me as a sneak if I do. Mandy and blonde Mary won't matter, of course, because they'll be gone. But Abagail and Cecilia, they may take a dim view of it, and they are my friends. Then I've got no proof. Can I really go to Fr Abbot with an unsubstantiated allegation?"
The crunch came in Br Kieran's lesson. It was a dissection of a mouse. Br Kieran got them to divide up into pairs, so blonde Mary automatically went with Mandy, Abagail with Cecilia. Albert and Adam paired up and James and Sebastian were happy to form a couple. So that left short Mary and Ibrahim. Humiliation stung short Mary's cheek. Imagine being paired with that idiot.
"You have two mice" Br Kieran explained, "this is an exercise in observation and in drawing. Use the first mouse for exploration, so you know what you are looking at. Then I want you to dissect the second one as carefully as you can, and describe what you see. Don't worry if you don't know the names of all the internal organs. It's the accurate drawing that I am looking for."
"Yuck" said Abagail, "the smell of these mice makes me want to throw up."
"That's the formaldehyde we use to preserve them" said Br Kieran.
"This is oh so gross" said blonde Mary.
"It's science" said James.
Ibrahim cut at the first mouse in a desultory way. Short Mary peered at it seriously, over her glasses. "You're spoiling it, Ibrahim" she said.
"Oh, who cares" said Ibrahim, "cut the other one up, if you're so fussed."
"I care, Ibrahim" said short Mary, "that one's for after the exploratory work."
"Look at ours, Mary" said blonde Mary, "leave Ibrahim to his own devices."
Mandy had indeed dissected the first mouse very nicely, pulling a rectangular flap of skin from its abdomen.
"These tubes are the gut" she said, "look how they spill out. Not quite sure what that yellowy bit is. Make notes, Mary."
Feeling humiliated, short Mary copied Mandy's notes into her science notebook. Meanwhile Ibrahim and James had started throwing bits of mouse at each other.
"OK, quit that" said Br Kieran, sharply, as soon as he saw it. "Mary, I thought I told you to work with Ibrahim, what are you doing talking to the other Mary?"
"Mary told me to take notes from her dissection." said short Mary. "And why did she do that?" Br Kieran demanded.
"Because I can't be expected to work with Ibrahim" said short Mary.`
"Did you say that?" asked Br Kieran, of blonde Mary. Blonde Mary was forced to admit that she had.
"Listen, Mary" said Br Kieran, to blonde Mary, "if I tell you to work in pairs you work in pairs, and I will not have you or anyone else overruling my arrangements. The only reason I won't put you in detention is that that would trivialise things. Now do you understand?"
Blonde Mary turned white. "Yes, Sir" she stammered.

Abagail made a rude gesture to short Mary behind Br Kieran's back. Short Mary was forced to return to Ibrahim, who looked sullen. The class worked in silence for a while, and Br Kieran eventually risked a short trip out of the lab, to get some cleaning equipment from a cupboard. Abagail said something to Cecilia, and Cecilia left their desk to talk to short Mary.
"You should really make it up with Mary" she said.
"What have I done?" said short Mary.
Abagail swapped Ibrahim and short Mary's good mouse for her hacked exploratory one, then quickly went back to studious dissection.
Short Mary realised instantly what had happened, but by that time Br Kieran had returned from the cupboard.
"Good, good, good" said Br Kieran, pleased to see that the bad behaviour had been quashed. "You should be starting on your second mouse by now. Cut carefully, draw what you see, and discuss it in your pair."
Short Mary suspected blonde Mary. "How do these mice die, Sir?" she asked Br Kieran.
"In a gas chamber" said Br Kieran, "they are surplus from research laboratory experiments. They kill the mice they have finished with by putting them in chamber with poison gas in it, and we use them here."
"Do they give them any sort of drug to relax them first?" asked short Mary, disingenouously.
"No, there's no need. It's very quick and the mice don't suffer." "Because the one that was on my desk - it's on Mary and Mandy's now - looked very spaced out, as if it had died of a drug overdose?" said short Mary.
"No, they don't give the mice any drugs." said Br Kieran.
"Someone else must have given it drugs then. Thank you, sir, for clearing that up."
"My God, this is so gross, I'm going to throw up" said blonde Mary, and ran out of the room.

Br Kieran collected the drawings, and marked them there and then. James and Sebastian had done the best, with Adam and Albert just one mark behind. Cecilia and Abagail, and blonde Mary and Mandy, all got reasonable marks.
"You see James, you can do it, now a bit less messing around please." said Br Kieran. Short Mary and Ibrahim had done the worst. Not just the worst, but disastrously.
"Some problems there" said Br Kieran, "you just haven't understood the exercise. Mary, your written work is generally very good. But science can't just come from textbooks. Everything you read in the textbook has to come from observation, which is what we're trying to get you to do. On the whole, though, a very successful exercise. Class dismiss."

"You screwed me up" said short Mary, rounding on blonde Mary and Mandy furiously.
"You screwed us up" said blonde Mary, "someone must have passed the mouse a drug."
"So you are passing dope then." said short Mary, "I should have guessed."
"No, we tried some. Once." said blonde Mary, " And if you hint at that to a monk again I'll ..."
"You'll?" Blonde Mary was silent.
"Get Mandy to beat me up?" said short Mary, "She's a vicious little thing, your friend Mandy."
"Come on, quit this" said Abagail, "I swapped your mouse over, Mary, because you were being such a bitch to blonde Mary."

It was time for dinner, which was held in silence, with one of the prefects reading from the rule of St Benedict.

Prep was torture for short Mary, because a major part of it was "Discuss your dissection of the mouse. How accurately do you think you can depict internal organs, using only standard pins and scalpels?"
In free time, the other four girls disappeared, leaving short Mary on her own. She realised that blonde Mary was a very different prospect to Mandy. Whilst the others had ganged up on Mandy, Abagail and Cecilia had defected to blonde Mary's side. Leaving her alone. At least the games console was relatively free. She played on her own, nursing boredom and bitterness.

It was the same story for Adam in the boys' calefactory. The others had disappeared. Compline wasn't quite compulsory. You were permitted to wander away from the monastery in free time, and if you couldn't make the chapel in reasonable time from hearing the bell, you were excused the office. However there was no shelter anywhere else on the island, so unless you were an unusually keen walker, this hardly ever came into play. Prefects did periodic sweeps of the environs to trawl up dodgers. However none of the first years were in Compline, with the exception of Adam and short Mary. It was very noticeable. Adam reported to Br Dominic for bed early. The others came in a bit later.
"Where've you been?" he asked.
"Can't tell you" said James.
"Can't tell me?" asked Adam.
"Listen Adam," said Sebastian, "we don't say you're a bad person. Quite the opposite, really. You're a good chap, Adam, a real good guy. We like you ."
The voice was a bit over-familiar, not Sebastian at all. Adam realised it was drugs.

Short Mary was surprised to find Abagail and Cecilia waiting for her in the girls' calefactory.
"We've come to make peace" said Abagail. "Look," said Cecilia, "we think this thing between you and blonde Mary has gone far enough, and blonde Mary thinks so too. She's quite upset about it actually. And it's all about nothing. Blonde Mary asked us to bring you."
Not knowing what to make of this, short Mary followed them to the ruins. Mandy, blonde Mary, Jade and Olivia were sitting there, looking serious. A twinge of fear ran through short Mary.
"Mary," said blonde Mary, "why have we fallen out?" "I don't know" said short Mary.
"It's because of our mothers, isn't it?" said blonde Mary.
"Your mother insulted mine." said short Mary.
"And you played a mean trick on my mother." said blonde Mary, "Mary, I am not blind. I am ashamed of my mother sometimes. I know that she is fussy and over-arrogant, a typical Hollywood woman, and I know how much other people dislike it. But for all that, she is my mother, and I love her dearly. Do you blame me for that, Mary?"
"No, I don't blame you, Mary."
"And I'm sure you love your mother too." said blonde Mary, "just as much much as I love mine. So what do we have to argue about?"
"My mother asked me not to speak to you?" said short Mary.
"We have to live together in the same dorm" said blonde Mary, "and we can do it as friends or as enemies. I suppose that we do it as friends. If our parents have argued, that shouldn't affect us? Don't you agree that the quarrel was rather silly?"
"It was about my mothers place in the queue and a Mercedes car" said short Mary.
"Rather silly, even we wouldn't argue about that, would we?" said blonde Mary. Cecilia and Abagail nodded in agreement.
"Take the pipe of peace, Mary" said Abagail, "be one of us."
"The pipe of peace?" asked short Mary.
"This" said Jade, and brought out a joint. She lit it, drawing the first puss to get it going. "You first", handing it to blonde Mary.
"Now you", and she took the joint from blonde Mary and handed it to short Mary. Short Mary nervously took a tentative little puff.
"Just relax" said Jade.
"Mary" said blonde Mary, and hugged her.
The two girls kissed.
"Now we're all friends" said Cecilia, "and let's never fall out again."
"Take a bigger puff this time, Mary" said Jade, "Peace."
Mandy gave a silent thumbs up, behind short Mary's back.