Cathedral of the Sea

He did not have much opportunity to find out. If it was not Eulalia who got in his way, he came up against Gasto’s few remaining blackened teeth; and if neither of them was in the house, Simo mounted guard over his two sisters. For days, Arnau had to be content with casting glances at them out of the corner of his eye. Occasionally he could get a good look at their faces: they had delicate features, with strong chins and prominent cheekbones. Their noses looked Roman, and both had shining white teeth and those amazing brown eyes. On other occasions, when the sun shone in through the windows, Arnau felt he could almost touch the blue sheen on the silky locks of their jet-black hair. Once or twice, when he felt really safe, he allowed his gaze to travel downward from the elder sister, Aledis’s, face to her chest, where her breasts could be glimpsed even through the coarse cloth of her smock. The sight made his body quiver. And when he was sure no one was watching him, he even dared to look lower still, at the curves of her body and legs.

Gasto Segura had lost everything during the months of hunger. This had made him even more bitter than he already was by nature. His son, Simo, worked with him as an apprentice, but his greatest concern was his two daughters, whom he could not provide with dowries in order to secure good husbands. Yet their beauty was in their favor, and Gasto was sure they would make good matches. If they did, that would be two fewer mouths to feed.

For that reason, he was desperate for them to remain untouched, so that no one in Barcelona could have the slightest doubt about their decency. This was the only way, he told Eulalia and Simo, that Aledis and Alesta could make good marriages. Father, mother, and eldest brother had all taken this task upon themselves, but whereas Gasto and Eulalia thought there would be no problem fulfilling it, Simo was more worried about them living any length of time in the same house as Arnau and Joan.

Joan had become the outstanding pupil at the cathedral school. He had mastered Latin in no time at all, and his teachers were delighted at this thoughtful, sensitive pupil who in addition was so deeply devout. He was so gifted that nearly all of them foresaw a great future ahead of him in the Church. Joan gradually won Gasto and Eulalia’s respect, and the two of them would often sit with Pere and Mariona and listen in rapt attention to the way the young lad explained the holy scriptures. As a rule it was only the priests who could read those books written in Latin, and yet now, in this humble house by the sea, the four of them could enjoy the sacred teachings, the ancient parables, and other messages from the Lord that they had previously heard only from the pulpit.

If Joan had won the respect of all those around him, Arnau could say the same: even Simo regarded him with great admiration: a bastaix! Almost everyone in La Ribera knew of the efforts Arnau made to carry stone for the Virgin. “They say that the great Berenguer de Montagut got on his knees to help him,” another apprentice had told Simo, hands spread wide in astonishment. Simo imagined the great master, respected by noblemen and bishops, kneeling at Arnau’s feet. When the master spoke, everyone, including his father, kept silent, and when he shouted ... when he shouted, everyone trembled. Simo watched Arnau when he came home at night. He was always the last to arrive. He looked tired and sweaty, carrying the leather headpiece in his hand, and yet... he was smiling! When had Simo ever come home from work smiling? On several occasions, he had crossed Arnau’s path as he was carrying stones down to Santa Maria: his legs, arms, and chest seemed made of iron. Simo stared at the block of stone and then at Arnau’s straining face: how could he possibly have seen him smile?

All this explained why, despite being older than them, when Simo had to look after his sisters and Arnau or Joan appeared, he kept in the background and the two girls could enjoy the freedom they were denied when their parents were there.

“Let’s go for a walk on the beach!” Alesta suggested one day.

Simo wanted to refuse. Walking along the beach: what would his father say if he saw them ... ?

“All right,” said Arnau.

“It will do us good,” Joan agreed.

Simo said nothing. So the five of them went out into the sunshine: Aledis with Arnau, Alesta alongside Joan, and Simo bringing up the rear. Both the girls let the sea breeze play with their hair and mold their loose smocks against their bodies so that their breasts, stomachs, and thighs stood out.

They walked along in silence, looking out to sea or kicking at the sand, until they came across a group of bastaixos relaxing on the beach. Arnau waved at them.

“Would you like me to introduce you to them?” he asked Aledis.

She glanced over at the group of men. They were all staring at her. What could they be looking at? The breeze pressed her smock up against her breasts and nipples. Dear God! It seemed as though they were trying to burst out of the material. Aledis blushed and shook her head, although Arnau was already going over to the men. She turned on her heel, and Arnau was left standing there.

“Run and catch her, Arnau,” he heard one of his colleagues shout.

“Don’t let her get away,” another one said.

“She’s a pretty one!” a third man added.

Arnau ran until he had caught up with Aledis.

“What’s wrong?”

She did not answer. She turned her face away and held her arms folded across her chest, but did not insist they return home. So they walked on along the beach, with only the sound of waves for company.

20

THAT SAME NIGHT, as they were eating by the hearth, Aledis rewarded Arnau with an extra second’s attention, a second when she kept those enormous brown eyes of hers fixed on him.

It was a second when Arnau once more heard the waves on the shore, and felt his feet sinking into the sand. He glanced round to see if anyone else had noticed, but Gasto was still talking to Pere, and nobody else seemed to have seen a thing. No one seemed to hear the waves.

When he dared look at her again, Aledis had lowered her gaze and was pushing her food around the bowl.

“Eat, child!” Gasto the tanner ordered, seeing her toying with the food rather than raising it to her mouth. “Food isn’t for playing with.”

Gasto’s words brought Arnau back down to earth. For the rest of the meal, not only did Aledis avoid looking at him again, but she made a deliberate show of ignoring him.