The Tournament of Blood aktm-11

by Michael Jecks

  ‘I’m sure my father and Sir Baldwin will catch the man soon,’ Edith said.

  ‘I hope you are right. I’ve seen enough death with Hal and Wymond. And it’s not good for Lord Hugh to have these things going on at his tournament.’

  ‘I wouldn’t like to have to pull about dead bodies like theirs,’ Edith said, curling her lip.

  Sir Peregine gave her a dry but indulgent smile. ‘I’m not surprised.’ It was true. She was a lovely young thing, and it would have been unthinkable to Sir Peregrine, who had no children, that such a fragile beauty should attend an inquest. Especially one with two such hideously ruined bodies. ‘You are suited to love and life,’ he added quietly, ‘not to mayhem and murder.’ He bade them a good morning and hastened away.

  She tossed her head spiritedly. ‘Love?’

  ‘Edith!’ her mother said warningly.

  ‘Oh, I can’t even talk to other men, now, Mother?’

  ‘Not if you are going to be rude, no.’

  ‘Rude? I see no–’

  ‘Enough! Edith, you will remain here in the castle until you learn to be civil.’

  Edith gaped at the injustice. ‘What? But then I’m miss all the jousting… You can’t mean it?’

  ‘I do mean it. You will remain here until you learn to be polite. I can’t trust you, not even when you are with me and Hugh. You proved that when you went off with that boy yesterday.’

  ‘Very well, Mother,’ Edith said, and bowed her head. ‘I shall go and walk on the walls, then. At least I can see a little from there.’

  She turned and was about to leave the room when she heard her mother command Hugh to accompany her. ‘Don’t you trust me?’ she flashed out.

  ‘No.’

  After asking another watchman near the castle’s gate, Baldwin, Simon and Coroner Roger were given directions to find a man called Fletcher, the watchman set to protect Hal on the night of his murder. He was sitting at a bench nursing a jug of ale.

  Coroner Roger stood squarely before him. ‘Are you Fletcher?’ On seeing the man nod, he continued, ‘And were you the man sent to guard Hal Sachevyll’s tent the night before last?’

  Baldwin watched as Fletcher set his mug down with a sigh and inclined his head again. The watchman was a lean, rangy man, probably in his late forties, from the look of him. His hair was bleached white from long days in the open, and his eyes had the dark intensity of a Celt, but he was a shrivelled man, worn and broken by too many disasters. He had the same appearance of desperation in his eyes that Baldwin had seen in the faces of peasants during the famine.

  Giving the Coroner a significant look, Baldwin was pleased to see Roger shrug and allow Baldwin to continue. Unsure how best to proceed, Baldwin took a seat beside the man, contemplating the dusty, baked soil at his feet. ‘You were chosen to protect Hal – why was that? There were many other watchmen about.’

  ‘It is because I live alone. The other men about here have wives and children to return to at night, but my family is dead.’

  ‘I am sorry. The famine?’

  ‘No, sir. I was working in my lord’s fields when my house caught fire. The thatch. My family was inside and they perished. I could hear them.’ He shivered, his eyes focused on something far away.

  Baldwin was silent a moment. The thought of losing a family in such a way was hideous. ‘So you are often selected for duties like this?’

  ‘Yes, sir.’

  ‘Did you see anyone that night?’

  ‘No, sir. I went there as soon as I was ordered. I had nothing better to do. I don’t sleep well. I… I can hear my wife’s screams when I dream, and I prefer not to. So when I was called, I rose immediately. I was there outside his tent a little after nightfall.’

  ‘And there was no one near?’

  ‘No. I saw the girl, Alice, but no one else. In fact, I was surprised that there was no sign of Hal himself. I assumed he must be asleep, for there was no sound from his tent, and when I scratched at a guy rope, there was no response. I just thought he was dead to the world, exhausted by all his work.’

  ‘What time did you leave?’

  ‘It was daylight. I was very tired by then.’

  ‘I can imagine. After staying up all night.’

  Fletcher turned his gaze upon Baldwin. ‘I haven’t slept properly for two years or more, Sir Baldwin. It’s nothing new.’

  Simon interrupted with some impatience. ‘Your life is sad, no doubt, man, but we need to know who was out and about that night. There was someone lying in the grass next morning pretending to be pissed out of his mind. Did you see him?’

  ‘No.’

  ‘Think! There must have been something,’ Simon pressed him irascibly. ‘In Christ’s name, you must have seen or heard somebody!’

  Baldwin glanced at his friend. Simon sounded as though he was close to the end of his tether. The last two days, especially with that fat fool Tyler accusing him of murder, had taken their toll. Now the Bailiff was out of patience, and his attitude was putting Fletcher on edge.

  ‘Fletcher, look at me,’ Baldwin said softly, holding up a hand to silence Simon. ‘Now, think back. When you were standing there outside the tent, was there any noise, any disturbance at all?’

  Fletcher sipped at his ale thoughtfully, then he remembered: ‘Yes, there was something. I reckoned it was a badger or a fox – the buggers are all over the place at night. But it stopped and I thought it must have gone.’

  ‘Where was this?’

  ‘In the bushes near the river.’

  ‘You know where Hal was found?’ Baldwin asked.

  ‘Yes – and it would have been about there.’

  Simon would have spoken but Baldwin shot him a look, then said, ‘It strikes you as strange now, does it? Why?’

  ‘I heard something in there, rustling, but it stopped.’

  Coroner Roger couldn’t hold himself back. ‘That’s not unusual. Noises happen all night.’

  ‘Yes, Sir Roger,’ Baldwin explained mildly, ‘but a fox or badger would have made more noise in running away again as soon as it smelled a man.’

  ‘That’s right.’ Fletcher was frowning now. ‘It never ran.’

  ‘That’s because our murderer saw no need to. He wanted to dump his body – but you prevented him,’ Baldwin said.

  ‘Why’d he want to put Hal back in the tent?’ Simon demanded. ‘You thought Wymond was there as a message – perhaps to Hal. Well, it looks like you could have been right, but why leave Hal there?’

  ‘It would show that the two murders were connected,’ Baldwin hazarded. ‘Perhaps there was a message in that?’

  Coroner Roger frowned at him. ‘You mean this killer could be planning to murder again?’

  Baldwin was silent a moment. When he spoke he had been thinking aloud, he hadn’t considered the consequences of his words – but now he slowly moved his head in agreement. ‘I am afraid so,’ he said heavily.

  ‘And that means there may be another body out there waiting for us,’ the Coroner grunted. ‘Jesus! What a disaster!’

  Baldwin turned back to the watchman. He spoke soothingly. ‘You see how important all this is? Fletcher, you said that you saw Alice. Where was she, and how late was this?’

  ‘It was at the darkest hour. I saw her walking among the trees at the bank of the river.’

  ‘Was this before or after the rustling?’

  ‘Oh, some time before.’

  ‘Then we can ignore her,’ Baldwin said. ‘If she was seen by you, she would have seen you as well. A murderer wouldn’t bring a body to a place where a witness stood. It is only people you saw after the rustling with whom we need concern ourselves.’

  ‘The drunk in the field wasn’t a woman, either,’ Simon said.

  ‘The drunk could have been an innocent,’ Baldwin said. ‘We do not know for sure that he was involved.’

  ‘The only man I saw was late,’ Fletcher said, frowning. ‘It was as dawn was breaking and the camp was coming alive. All the folks we
re waking and I saw the squire.’

  ‘Which?’ Baldwin asked.

  ‘The one with that knight from Gloucester. Sir Edmund.’

  ‘Squire Andrew?’ Simon said.

  ‘That’s the one. He had been in the trees and as the light came I saw him walking back from the stands. He’d been there a while, I reckon.’

  They asked more questions but Fletcher either wouldn’t or couldn’t help them, and soon he rose, saying he had duties. Baldwin waved him away.

  ‘This is mad!’ Coroner Roger declared. ‘We hear that the man was likely in the bushes with his dead victim, and now we hear that another man was walking about the place.’

  ‘Andrew, yes,’ Baldwin said. He was watching Fletcher as he walked away. ‘What was the girl doing out at that time of night?’

  ‘And this Andrew,’ Simon pointed out.

  ‘Yes,’ Baldwin agreed. Fletcher was swallowed up by the crowds, but Baldwin remained staring after him a while. The watchman’s story had touched him. Fletcher’s life had lost meaning and sense, that was clear, and yet he continued to perform his duties like any honourable vassal. Baldwin wasn’t sure that he would have been able to carry on so stoically if he had heard his own wife and daughter dying in a fire. The thought was enough to make him feel faintly queasy.

  Andrew had been near the stands. Why? Then another thought struck him and he drew in his breath sharply.

  ‘What, Sir Baldwin?’ the Coroner asked.

  ‘We have heard of the stands collapsing during a tournament. What if a man saw his family die there? Wouldn’t he want revenge against those who killed them?’

  ‘Perhaps. You suggested that earlier.’

  ‘It would be justification for killing the men who profited by using rotten wood. There were three of them: the banker, Benjamin, the carpenter, Wymond, and the architect, Hal.’

  ‘I see what you mean.’

  ‘No – I must be wrong,’ Baldwin said. ‘If Hal’s body was going to be put into the tent as a message, surely the killer sought another victim?’

  ‘If he wanted to leave a message. But the placement could have been merely symbolic, to show that the killer had murdered again for a purpose, for revenge,’ Coroner Roger said.

  Just then they heard the scream and all three men rose simultaneously. ‘What in God’s name… ’ Coroner Roger began.

  Simon had paled. ‘God’s bones! Please, not another murder!’

  ‘Come on, Hugh! Just a quick wander down into the arena. It can’t hurt.’

  ‘Your mother said no. She said to stay here in the castle.’

  ‘That’s so unfair! Why should she tell me what I can and can’t do? I’m not a silly little girl.’

  ‘Stamping your feet won’t make me change my mind. Your mother gave me orders and I won’t disobey her. Especially after the look of those men in the ber frois. It’s too dangerous.’

  ‘That was yesterday!’ she said scathingly. ‘Just because that man was found dead. We’ll be all right today. They’ve had time to sleep on it.’

  ‘You think an English mob forgets after one night’s sleep?’

  ‘Hugh, don’t be sarcastic! No, but most of them don’t know who I am anyway. It won’t matter to them having a young girl walking in their midst.’

  ‘Mistress Edith, if only one of them takes it into his head that you are the daughter of the Bailiff, you could be in danger. It’s not right.’

  ‘I want to see my friend. He’s just been knighted – knighted! Can you understand what that means to me? I want to congratulate him.’

  ‘When Master Simon says so.’

  ‘I love him, Hugh.’

  ‘You only think you do.’

  ‘Don’t patronise me!’

  ‘Eh?’

  ‘I love him as surely as you love your wife.’

  ‘That’s different!’

  ‘You can deny it as hotly as you wish, Hugh, but I do.’

  ‘How can you tell?’

  ‘By the beating of my heart; by the lightheadedness when I see him; by the certainty that the sun is brighter when he is near; by the sense that I am languishing every moment that I am not with him.’

  ‘You’ve got poetic.’

  ‘I feel poetic at the thought of him. Is it so wrong that I should love him? He would be a good husband, Hugh, a knight.’

  ‘Yes, well, I’ve known knights.’

  ‘But William is different. He’s strong and kindly and generous and honourable and courteous and… ’

  ‘That’s what you think.’

  ‘Don’t be so short, Hugh. I still love you, too – I always will. You were my closest friend when I was young, but I am an adult now.’

  ‘Not what your mother says.’

  ‘She’s a crabbed old woman and jealous of me!’

  ‘You think so?’

  ‘Of course she is. She’s forgotten what it’s like to be in love.’

  ‘She loves your father.’

  ‘Oh, that’s different. That’s old love. It’s not young and fresh and full of life like mine. She’s too old to appreciate my sort of love. I feel I should burn if my love were to touch me, Hugh. Do you think my mother feels that when Father touches her? Of course not! I would burst into flames if William should come too close to me, though. The sight of him makes me tremble from head to foot. The thought of kissing him is… is… ’

  ‘Your mother said no,’ Hugh said flatly.

  They were standing on the wall above the chapel, Edith leaning out to try to catch a glimpse of the jousting field, but failing, Hugh standing, glowering, nearby. His voice, usually so full of sullenness, was today filled with melancholy to Edith’s ear. Somehow she was sure that he was the unwilling servant of Margaret’s wishes. He himself had found love late in his life and detested being gaoler to his favourite charge.

  She sighed once more, giving up on the view (it was impossible to see through the trees and round the hill to the stands) and fixing him with her doleful expression. ‘So I am to be restrained by you?’

  ‘I can’t ignore my Lady Margaret’s instructions,’ he said shiftily.

  Edith screwed up all her determination, bringing to mind her favourite pony, who had been killed three months ago when he fell in a rabbit hole and broke his leg. Simon had taken one look and had fetched a huge axe, taking off the pony’s head with one blow. The memory of the gout of blood brought a genuine tear to her eyes. Speaking huskily, she said, ‘So that is that, then.’

  He nodded glumly, but turned away to avoid catching her eye as the tears began to fall.

  Instantly she whirled around and pelted across the wall to the door. Before Hugh fully appreciated what she was doing, she was through it, had hauled it shut, laughing quietly, and fled down the stairs to the main yard. There was no one to stop her, and while the dismayed Hugh watched from above, she ran to the gates and out.

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  At the castle’s foot where the tented camp lay, knights were standing and swinging arms encased in bright steel, ensuring that their armour allowed full movement.

  Edith had to slow her steps at the sight. It looked as though there were hundreds of men there, the knights in armour, their chainmail showing beneath their gypons, and plates of armour of all sizes and colours gleaming in the sun. Some were grim, grey metals, but others were bright peacock-blue or silver; some even had dazzling, swirling patterns.

  She recovered herself and hurried on along the road, lifting her skirts as she heard Hugh shout from the castle’s gate.

  Filled with elation, knowing that she would be in severe trouble when the reckoning came, yet rashly not caring, she darted between men, women and animals. One old wife cursed her loudly, but a man called, ‘Shut up, you old whore. She’s a lady, and don’t forget it!’

  The thought that she would see her man was overwhelming. Edith had never felt like this before about anyone, but the way William smiled at her made her knees go wobbly; the way his nose moved as he laughed made her wan
t to kiss it. And his lips were a temptation in their own right. She longed for him to put his arms about her again, as he had yesterday after he rescued her at the stands. Not that it was much of a rescue, really. Some fellow had made a coarse comment as she came down the steps, and William had told him sharply to be quiet. Then they had walked and chatted, through the long grasses at the other side of the river. That was all. All innocent.

  Not that Edith wanted that state of affairs to continue. She was done with innocence.

  She had passed almost all the way through the market now, and came up against the gate to the jousting field. Risking a quick glance over her shoulder, she saw Hugh hurrying red-faced towards her. With a small squeak of alarm at his speed, she took off towards the river, hoping to evade him.

  There was a line of trees at the river’s edge, and she must avoid the thicker bushes of gorse and bramble which lay beneath, for they would catch at her and slow her down (and make a mess of her clothes, which she could ill afford moments before seeing her lover). She saw a gap in the bushes and pelted towards it, even as she heard a man call out, asking whether she was in danger. Another voice took up the cry and as Edith jumped over a small bank and landed on the shingle, she realised that Hugh was being accused of trying to molest her. Peeping up over a tuft of grass, she saw him arguing with a group of belligerent-looking squires.

  Edith had no wish to see Hugh in trouble, but this was her chance to escape. She had but two choices: go to Hugh’s aid, in which case he would no doubt take her straight back to the castle and her mother, or disappear from this place as quickly as possible.

  She made her choice. The river gave her an escape, but she must be careful and avoid getting her feet wet. If she were to turn westwards, she would follow the loop of the river around the back of the jousting field away from most prying eyes, but surely that was the direction Hugh would expect her to take. No, she would go eastwards, back towards the market area.

  Resolved, she lifted her skirts and went to the water’s edge. She removed her shoes and stepped reluctantly into the water. ‘Oh!’ It felt freezing. A few short feet away there was a small island in the midst of the river, and she made for it, then crossed to the other side, where she put on her shoes once more and hurried from tree to tree, feeling more and more like a felon avoiding the reeve’s men.