An Unholy Alliance mb-2

by Susanna GREGORY

  Bartholomew saw the figure reach out to open the door. He thought of Frances de Belem and the others with their throats cut by a maniac, and made his decision: the person must not be allowed to escape! He abandoned his hiding place and made for the gate at a run. "The figure glanced round in shock, and began urgently to heave at the gate. It flung open just as Bartholomew reached the intruder and grabbed him. "The figure span round with a cry of horror and drew a knife. Bartholomew knocked it from his hand, struggling to wrench the hood from the intruder's face.

  At that moment the door was thrown inwards with such force that Cynric, who was closing it to prevent the intruder's escape, was knocked off his feet. At the same time, it burst into flames and a gigantic figure swathed in black leapt through it with an unearthly howl.

  Bartholomew was aware of yellow teeth and glittering eyes as the huge shape swept towards where he still held the first intruder. His hands were wrenched from his captive as the enormous shape pounced on him, swinging him round so that he lost his footing and went sprawling onto the ground. He saw the first intruder disappear through the door, and tried to scramble after him, his feet slipping and sliding on the wet grass. He felt himself grabbed, and a great weight dropped onto his chest as massive hands clawed for his throat. "The burning door crackled and blazed, and Bartholomew saw, in the light from the flames, that his attacker wore a red hood with holes for eyes and mouth.

  As the huge hands tightened around his throat, Bartholomew was seized by panic. He tried to ram the heel of his hand under the man's nose and was horrified to feel teeth take a grip on his fingers and bite down hard. He jerked upwards with his knees as hard as he could and heard the man grunt with pain, but his teeth were still firmly clamped on Bartholomew's hand.

  He was vaguely aware of Cynric leaping onto the man's back and thought he heard urgent shouting from the lane. "The man shook Cynric away and headed towards the gate. Bartholomew struggled to his feet, hoping at least for a glimpse of the first intruder's face. Seeing him follow, the huge man turned to fight. Bartholomew picked up a handful of dusty soil and flung it into the man's face. "The giant bellowed with rage and turned to stumble blindly towards the lane. Bartholomew followed, but the big man turned and thrust him away with such force that Bartholomew went tumbling head over heels backwards into the raspberry canes.

  By the time Bartholomew's head had stopped spinning, the breeze in the trees and a small crackle from the burned gate were the only sounds to be heard.

  Bartholomew tensed as he saw a dark shape moving towards him, and then relaxed again as he saw it was Cynric.

  'Are you hurt?' he whispered. Cynric shook his head and went to look out of the still-smouldering gateway. After a few moments, he came back to sit with Bartholomew, who was trying to flex the fingers of his bitten hand.

  '"There is no one there, attacker or otherwise,' said Cynric unsteadily. 'What happened, exactly?' "I am not sure,' Bartholomew replied, equally shaken.

  'What were you doing in the orchard?'

  'Coming to unbar the door for you. Then I heard you trampling like a herd of pigs along by the bakery and that figure in the orchard.'

  Bartholomew ignored the unflattering reference to his attempt at stealth and Cynric continued. 'What was that thing that we fought? Did you see its face? It was bright red, like the Devil's.' He gripped Bartholomew's arm suddenly. 'Do you think it was the killer of Frances de Belem? She said the person who attacked her was not a man! Do you think it was the Devil?'

  'Devil!' snorted Bartholomew. 'If that were the Devil, he would not have needed a gate to enter. That was a person, Cynric, wearing a red hood.'

  'But how did a person make the gate burst into flames?'

  'We will look tomorrow,' said Bartholomew, climbing wearily to his feet. 'It is too dark now. What shall we do about the gate?' "I will slip out and inform the Proctor, and ask him to post a guard on the door.' Cynric looked at Bartholomew's hand. 'Did he bite you? Normal men do not bite, lad.That was no man. That was a fiend from hell itself!'

  4

  When Bartholomew awoke from a dream-filled sleep early the next morning, he was not surprised to find he was stiff and sore. As he was shaving and noting with annoyance a rip in a second shirt, Michael burst in.

  "I was in the kitchen for something to eat before Lauds, and Cynric told me what happened last night!' he said excitedly. 'Why did you not come to wake me up? How will you explain what you were doing to the Master? How is your hand?'

  Bartholomew went to the light of the window and inspected his hand where the man in the orchard had bitten him. "There were clear teeth-marks but, oddly, while one row of teeth had scarcely made an impression, the others had made deep puncture marks surrounded by dark bruises.

  'Do you think the man in the orchard was the murderer of Frances?' Michael asked. 'What about the man who bit you — Cynric's devil? Do you think he was the killer?'

  'Why else would anyone be at the scene of a murder at that time of night with a candle?' Bartholomew asked with a shrug. 'Perhaps two people, rather than one, are responsible for the murders. It seemed to me that the smaller one was looking for something while the larger one kept watch outside. I saw and heard someone in the lane before I climbed over the wall. He came to his accomplice's rescue when I was on the very brink of pulling his mask away and revealing his face.'

  'But what could they have been looking for?' asked Michael, frowning thoughtfully.

  Bartholomew leaned back against the window-frame.

  'Perhaps Frances struggled and tore something from his clothing that he only missed later.'

  '"That must be so,' said Michael, chewing on his lip.

  'Why else would someone risk visiting the scene of a murder when, if he were caught, he would have much explaining to do? Do you think he found what they were looking for?'

  Bartholomew thought carefully, tapping on the window-sill with his fingers. 'No. But I also think that what he was looking for was not there. Cynric and I did not frighten him into leaving: he had finished his search and was leaving anyway. I think he knew he would not find what he was looking for.'

  Michael sat on Bartholomew's bed, his weight making the wood creak ominously. 'What was he like?' he asked.

  'Was there anything familiar about him?'

  Bartholomew shook his head. 'Nothing. He was swathed in a hooded gown. I think he was smaller than me, and he gave quite a yell when I seized him.'

  'Could it have been a woman?' asked Michael.

  'It sounded like a man's voice,' said Bartholomew.

  '"The large man was really enormous, but I could not see his face because of a red mask.'

  'Well, someone of those dimensions should be easy to pick out in a crowd,' said Michael. 'What was the mask like?'

  'Nothing more than a red hood, like an executioner's mask. Cynric thought he may have been what Frances saw when she said her killer was not a man.'

  'He could well be right,' said Michael. "I wish you had caught them, Matt. Now we have more information, but nothing tangible to lead us to the killer.'

  Bartholomew looked around for his bag and remembered it had gone. 'Damn!'

  'Father Aidan has a bag he never uses,' said Michael, guessing the cause of Bartholomew's annoyance. He glanced out of the window as he rose from the bed.' Plenty of time before church,' he muttered. 'Come on.'

  Bartholomew followed him across the yard, towards the orchard. "The servants were already busy hauling water from the well, and starting fires in the kitchen.

  Bartholomew and Michael walked over the dew-laden grass to the back gate, and Michael whistled.

  'Lord above,' he said. 'What a mess!'

  Bartholomew pulled the door open so he could inspect it out of the shadows. He tugged at something and it gave way in his hand. He held it up to show Michael, who eyed it uncomprehendingly.

  '"The remains of a fire arrow,' Bartholomew explained.

  He rubbed his hand over the door and examined it closely. '"Th
e Devil must be failing if he needs alchemy for his pyrotechnics.' "I do not understand,' said Michael, taking the arrow from Bartholomew and examining it carefully. 'What alchemy?'

  '"The door was smeared with animal fat, soot, and something sticky. Some fats, when fermented, become volatile. I imagine it would not be safe to stand too close to ignite it, but an arrow dipped in pitch would burn. When the fire arrow hit the gate…' He raised his hands. 'Alchemy.'

  'But why bother with all this?' asked Michael, scratching at the charred door with his fingernail.

  'What was the point? They could have come and gone without us ever knowing they were there if they had not had the misfortune to run into you.'

  'Perhaps it was intended for use at a later date, or perhaps it was meant as a warning to someone,' said Bartholomew. He sighed, exasperated. 'You are right, Michael. "The more information we gain, the less it all makes sense.'

  He wandered out into the lane, where one of the Proctor's beadles lounged against the wall, picking his teeth with a knife. He stood up straight when he saw Bartholomew and Michael, and pulled his greasy jerkin down over his shirt. Bartholomew heard him telling Michael that he had been at the door since instructed to be so by the Proctor the night before.

  Opposite the gate, Bartholomew kicked around in the weeds at the side of the lane where he had seen the shadow, and stooped to pick up another arrow that had apparently been lit, but not used. He rolled it between his fingers and looked thoughtfully at Michael.

  'Do you realise what this means?' he asked. Michael looked blankly at him. '"The gate burst into flames at almost the precise moment that the large man came through it, while I still had the smaller man in my grasp. "There must have been three of them, Brother, not two: the large man, the smaller one, and the one who fired the arrow.'

  Michael shook his head slowly. 'There men to kill a woman? Lord save us, Matt! What is going on?'

  As they emerged from the church after Prime, one of Stanmore's apprentices was waiting with a message for Bartholomew to meet his master at Milne Street.

  Michael, uninvited, went too, knowing that breakfast at Stanmore's house was likely to be far better than breakfast at Michaelhouse.

  "The streets were beginning to come to life, with apprentices hurrying to prepare for the day's trading at the Fair. "The great gates of Stanmore's business premises were still locked, and Bartholomew hammered until someone came to let him in. Inside, the yard was a hive of activity. Huge vats of oatmeal were being carried steaming from the kitchens to the hall, and apprentices darted around trying to complete their chores before breakfast. Two horses were being harnessed in carts ready to carry bales of cloth to the Fair, and a cook was busy chasing a squawking chicken around the yard for Stanmore's dinner.

  Stanmore was waiting for them, and escorted them from the frenetic activity in the yard to the pleasant solar on the upper floor. Bartholomew had always liked this room. Its walls were hung with thick tapestries, and the floor was strewn with an assortment of rugs of varying quality, age, and colours. Several comfortable chairs were ranged around the stone fireplace, and bales of cloth were stacked along one wall. Although the house on Milne Street was luxurious, especially compared to Michaelhouse, Stanmore preferred to live with his wife, Bartholomew's sister, at his manor in Trumpington, a village two miles distant.

  Stanmore had arranged for breakfast to be brought to them, and several pans were being kept warm by the fire. Before Bartholomew could stop him, Michael had grabbed a loaf of freshly baked bread and a pan of sizzling bacon, and had settled himself comfortably in Stanmore's favourite chair to enjoy his booty. Stanmore looked askance at the greedy monk and sat opposite him, while Bartholomew sipped at a cup of watered ale.

  "I went to work on those questions you asked about witchcraft,' said Stanmore.

  Bartholomew understood that his brother-in-law had contacts in the most unusual places, but knew better than to ask questions.

  'Your old monk was right,' continued the merchant, reaching across to take a slice of bacon before Michael could eat it all. '"The churches of All Saints' and St John Zachary are used for purposes not altogether religious.

  "There are two active, but separate, covens in Cambridge, each illicitly based at one of the churches. I am told that although both covens worship fallen angels, there is rivalry between them and they do not like each other.

  I am also told that at least one of the groups is known to be connected to a guild, although I do not know which one. It is not mine,' he added hastily.

  "There were many guilds in Cambridge. Some, like Stanmore's Guild of Drapers, were formed to ensure a solidarity between traders and to establish good standards and training for apprentices. Other guilds were formed for charitable or religious purposes.

  Bartholomew remembered the complaints when Sir Richard Tulyet, the Sheriffs father, was elected Mayor of Cambridge. He had been a member of the Guild of the Annunciation and he had seen that members of his Guild were elected as bailiffs, burgesses, and to other prestigious positions. "The current Mayor, Robert Brigham, was a clerk, and members of his Guild of St Peter and St Paul seemed to be doing well, although not as flagrantly as had Tulyet's friends.

  "The three men talked for a while, discussing which guilds might be a front for a coven, but were unable to come up with any convincing proof. Michael thought a group of pardoners might be responsible, but Bartholomew knew that Michael loathed pardoners and their trade, which took advantage of the gullible and the desperate. Stanmore thought the Guild of Dyers might be a coven in disguise, but Stanmore had always hated the dyers, at whose mercy he was if he wanted to sell coloured cloths. Bartholomew considered suggesting the Franciscans, for he thought there was something diabolical in their refusal to accept some of his teaching for reasons that were founded in ignorance.

  Seeing they had merely reached a stage where they were fuelling each other's personal bigotries, Bartholomew stood, stretched, and suggested they should be about their business.

  As Stanmore stood with them at the gate, a breathless messenger staggered towards him, mud-splattered, his eyes red-rimmed from weariness.

  'It has all gone!' he wailed.

  'What has gone?' said Stanmore, nonplussed. 'Pull yourself together, man!' "The messenger took a gulping breath. '"The yellow silk from London. We were ambushed 'What?' snapped Stanmore. 'That cannot be. that cart was part of a huge convoy.'

  '"The silk has gone!' insisted the messenger. 'It happened as we were making a camp for the night. We chose a spot near the middle of the convoy, as you said we should, and we were cooking our supper. Men armed with great long bows sprung from nowhere. Will Potter was shot as he reached for his sword, and so were two men who were guarding Master Morice's wines. The wolvesheads smashed the wine bottles, set fire to the silk, stole cheeses and dried meats, and escaped. Some of us gave chase, but the forests are dense, and what could we have done if we had caught them?'

  'Damn!' said Stanmore, his lips pursed tightly together.

  He reached out and took the man by the shoulder. 'What of Will? Is he badly hurt?'

  'He is dead,' said the messenger, shuffling his feet in the dust.

  Stanmore paled. 'And the others? Where are they now? Are they injured?' "The messenger jerked his head back along Milne Street to where a dishevelled group of men shuffled towards them.

  'Had you seen these outlaws before? Would you recognise them again?' Stanmore asked, taking a more secure hold on the man's arm as he reeled.

  "The messenger shook his head wearily, and Stanmore relented. 'Tell the others to get something to eat from the kitchens, and then come to my office,' he said. When the messenger had gone, Stanmore ordered an apprentice to take a message to the Castle, and sent for his steward to see to Will's body. He leaned against the door, and Bartholomew saw his hands were shaking. Bartholomew knew it was not only the loss of the valuable silk that distressed his brother-in-law; Stanmore was fond of the people who worked for him, and Will had been
in his service for many years.

  Michael looked grave. '"The roads are unsafe for decent people,' he said. 'We were even afraid to walk along Barnwell Causeway from the Fair the night before last, and you can virtually see the town from there.'

  'But why bother to attack if not to steal?' asked Bartholomew.

  'They stole,' said Stanmore tightly. 'They took cheese and meat, and food is a valuable commodity when there is so little of it about'

  'But attacking is dangerous,' persisted Bartholomew.

  'Why take the time to burn your cart and to smash the wine bottles, when it would be better to seize the food, and flee as quickly as possible?'

  Stanmore sighed impatiently. 'Only a scholar would reason like that,' he said dismissively. 'These are louts, Matt, who gain pleasure from the crimes they commit.

  They probably enjoyed the damage they caused.

  You credit them with more thought than they are capable of.'

  'Well, I am sorry for your loss,' said Bartholomew.

  'For Will, too.'

  'Oh, damn all this!' Stanmore exclaimed. "I had already promised that silk to a merchant in Norwich. De Belem's prices for dyeing silk have become ridiculous, and I would pay more to him for dyeing than I would be able to charge for it. His wife's death during the plague must have damaged his mind. His prices will have to come down, or he will ruin us all. And if we fall, so will he.'

  He turned as his men came through the gates, limping and travel-stained. Stanmore ran towards them, counting them like a mother hen. Bartholomew went to help, and spent the next hour bandaging and dispensing salves for grazes and bruises. He and Michael took their leave as Stanmore's steward arrived bearing the body of Will Potter.

  '"The friar is to be buried today,' said Bartholomew as they walked away. 'We do not even know his name. De Wetherset will want to know what we have done, and we have done nothing. Tomorrow we had better exhume the body of his clerk. We should invite him to be present to make sure we have the right corpse.'