She thought about the Moon, always there in the night sky, far from the reach of earthly men, unchanged by shadows cast upon it. She thought of her mother up there with the Moon, guarding over her. It was a fancy but, with the smell of burning books in the air and the frightening sounds of cheers and whoops from the preacher’s men in the streets, Luna wanted to believe in her mother’s protection now more than ever. Her mind went back to the Mass when the preacher had demanded that Medici allies be killed. She prayed to her mother in the Moon to protect Papa too. Then she took up the Sacrobosco again and read on. She turned the information over in her mind, slowing at the section that detailed how one could use calculations from observing the Moon in eclipse to fix the position of other planets. This was challenging; though she could absorb a philosophical argument from one reading of a text, she found mathematical-based processes less easy. The sphere of heavens was beyond what any person could touch and see with clarity and she wondered how Sacrobosco so confidently determined what moved and what was fixed, when it was all so far above. Even though she understood the process of mapping the positions of planets as a way of showing movement, it seemed an arrogance of man. How could they really understand the sphere of perfect patterns that was the fifth essence?

She looked at the explanatory drawing of an eclipse, running her finger across the lines that linked the image of the Moon and the Sun and Earth in a conical frame on the page. One night she might be blessed with witnessing a lunar eclipse; they were uncommon and infrequent, but that only made the possibility more exciting. She read on. Sacrobosco’s measurements were accurate to a degree. It was a fool’s wish to think she could ever replicate anything like this level of accuracy but it would help her understanding if she could put the science into practice. She pictured standing with Papa in the courtyard at night, the book open on the wall of the pond, the Moon above moving slowly, relentlessly, into shadow and darkening before their eyes. They would take their time, carefully marking the positions and time of alignment of the Moon with the Sun and Earth, working together.

Another night of star gazing would allow her to show Papa how much she’d already learnt. She must find out when the next lunar eclipse was due. She prayed he’d be as excited as she was to watch it together, father and daughter, teacher and student, in perfect companionship.

Chapter Ten

CHAPTER TEN

July 1496