This is how it went everyday, from the morning until the sun began to set. Whenever someone in the chain became tired, they would simply call out for a replacement and step out to the side. The next in line in the chain moved forward to close the gap, and then whoever received the hammer from the person who fell out took his place at the back of the line. Without missing a beat, they became lost to the power of the hammer, and immediately joined in the drumming of steel on granite.
The pace only stopped if the lead fell out, and that never happened. Every day, without fail, once the drumming at Mt. Loyola started it didn’t stop, because without fail Pall held the lead position from beginning to end. When his muscles burned from the constant motion he would make slight adjustments in angle, sometimes swinging from the side, sometimes even striking as low as his shins, but always shifting to trick his muscles into thinking they were getting a reprieve.
“High!” his chain began calling with him.
“Ho!” they followed, and again the foundation of Loyola was rocked. It went on and on, the same way everyday until sunset.
Although the chant always morphed into a song long before that.
Copyright & Acknowledgments
"Blue Diamonds"
Copyright 2014 R.E. Murphy
Cover art and design by R.E. Murphy
Rembooks.com
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means including information storage and retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the author. The only exception is by a reviewer, who may quote short excerpts in a review.
This book is a work of fiction.
Names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the author's imagination, or are used fictitiously. For instance, a few characters share the names of persons I've known through my life (and one cat), and while they are each awesome people in their own right (even the cat), they are in no way, shape, or form, related to the characters in this novel (maybe a bit with the cat). Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales, is entirely coincidental.
Acknowledgments
Everyone who puts up with me deserves thanks, but I must give a special thank you to my awesome beta readers. Justin, my first draft soldier and reminder that I do this for the sake of fun and adventure, Carla, who doesn't hold back the blades of truth, and Brendan, my ever-positive book buff and tech support line. There is nothing more important to a writer than feedback, and I am forever grateful for yours. Hopefully I will have a few new members in our troop for the next book in the series.
Blue Diamonds (Book One of The Blue Diamonds Saga) Page 29