An Earthly Knight

by Janet Mcnaughton

  “No, Papa, no,” Jenny said. “No knight about your hall did this.”

  Eudo spoke. “Then tell us who, Jenny, so we may find the man and put the shame behind us.”

  Jenny bowed her head. “I cannot.”

  “You cannot mean to keep this secret! How can you wish to spare the man who left you so?”

  “Father, please, I am not even certain that he lives.”

  “What nonsense is this?”

  Brother Bertrand spoke. “Vicomte. Earl William may be gone but there are still guests in your hall who have travelled far. They must be fed, and you are their host. Let us see to them now and give your daughter time to reflect on her duty to you.” Jenny’s father seemed grateful to follow the priest’s suggestion. They left without another word.

  As soon as they were gone, the three women turned silently to Eudo. In spite of everything, he laughed. “I know. I am not welcome to stay and listen. But, Jenny, hear me before I go. You got yourself out of that betrothal in the worst way possible, but I am glad to see the back of William de Warenne. I have not slept well in weeks, thinking he would be your husband.”

  “Eudo, why did you not tell me everything?”

  “I thought it would be wrong to ruin your chance to wed such a powerful man. Besides, you heard what Brother Bertrand said. The king knew and so did the Church. Many men sow wild oats before they marry and no one thinks it a great sin. If you took exception to the match, I was not sure anyone would listen. I would have ruined your happiness to no avail.” Eudo blushed. “I questioned Mary myself, when she was left alone between beatings. She was not,” he hesitated, looked down, then plunged on, “she was not taken willingly.” He looked directly into Jenny’s eyes. “He was not the man for you.”

  Jenny smiled because her brother had unknowingly echoed Tam’s words. She kissed his cheek. “Thank you, Eudo. I will never forget what you did for me this day.”

  “Before I go, you should know I plan to stay home now. I have lost my taste for Sir Robert’s household, and you and Isabel have struggled without me for too long. I should have come home in the spring.”

  When he was gone, Isabel finally spoke.

  “Jenny, how could I have been so blind?” Her eyes were red from crying.

  It tore Jenny’s heart to see Isabel like this because of her. “Hush, Isabel. I thought it wrong to send you into your confession with such a secret. Can you forgive me?” As Isabel nodded, Jenny remembered what that confession meant. “What did Brother Bertrand say about going to the priory?” Jenny was suddenly afraid Isabel might be taken from her at once.

  “I begged him to let me stay until after Christmas and he agreed. I will not leave you yet.”

  Jenny hugged her sister. “Oh, I am pleased.”

  Past Isabel, Jenny looked at Galiene. She had expected sympathy, but the old nurse looked surprisingly stern.

  “Lady Isabel,” Galiene said, “could I ask you to go to the chapel and pray for the soul of your sister? I think she was right to keep her secrets from you, for they are grave indeed. I need to understand the depth of her troubles before we can sort them out.”

  Jenny nodded. As much as she dreaded this talk with Galiene, she knew it was necessary.

  “If you are certain,” Isabel said. She was reluctant to leave, but Galiene’s manner was compelling.

  When they were alone, Galiene wasted no time.

  “If your sister has been blind, I must have had eyes of wood this summer. I knew your fate was linked to his, but I was foolish enough to think you would fight over that piece of land. I let you go traipsing off into the woods whenever you pleased.” It was hard to tell if she was more angry with herself or with Jenny. “What manner of charm did he cast to bring you to this?” Jenny noticed Galiene did not speak Tam’s name. She looked wretched.

  “Galiene, the only magic was that of our honest love for one another. Of that I am certain. He gave me a dress to take to Roxburg that was charmed, but I did not know when I took it. He worked a charm to see me safely home the night of the full moon. That was when I slipped away to see him last. But that was all. That charm was necessary, and the dress was, well, a mistake. He tries not to use his magic. He wishes himself free of it.”

  “Then there is hope. If he wishes to be freed from the magic, he might yet be.”

  “But how? I asked you once, remember? While I worked on Alric’s hair. You said you did not know.”

  “And I do not, but he would. Did you ever ask him?”

  Every word of their conversations was engraved on Jenny’s memory. She thought back. “I did,” she said at last. “He said, ‘Nothing I would ask of another.’”

  “Then it will be dangerous, but you may be able to free him. Would you risk it?”

  Jenny did not hesitate for a heartbeat. “Galiene, I would risk anything for him.”

  “Then you must go back to Carter Hall to find out how. But it will not be easy to get you out of here, and the time may not come soon. Will you trust me?”

  “With my life.”

  Galiene allowed herself one grim smile. “We must hope it will not come to that.”

  Chapter Twenty

  Over the next few weeks, Galiene, Isabel and Eudo tried to keep Jenny and her father apart as much as possible. The penance Brother Bertrand had imposed required Jenny to spend long hours in the chapel after Mass each morning. She had never been so happy to pray. Rare game animals were suddenly sighted all over their father’s land, and Eudo organized hunting parties that left early and returned late several times a week. Galiene insisted Jenny take long naps every afternoon. Even so, her father harangued her whenever she was in his sight, trying to discover the father of her child. She suspected Brother Bertrand had said something to her father to temper his rage before leaving Langknowes, and to Brother Turgis too, because neither were as harsh as they might have been. Even so, Jenny had cause to remember Brother Bertrand’s words about placing her on a bed of thorns. Her father and Brother Turgis left her alone only if she said nothing. So she learned to hold her tongue, buying their silence with her own.

  Autumn claimed the land. The fields were all shorn of their crops. When the nights were clear and still, they woke in the mornings to find a fine white rime covering everything with diamonds that vanished like fairy glamour in the sun. If she ventured as far as the bailey gate, Jenny could see the forest in the distance, the ash trees yellowing and the great oaks turning the brown of fine leather. Was Tam still at Carter Hall, or was he gone forever, leaving it as empty as her life would be without him? She wondered constantly, but she knew she must wait for Galiene to tell her when she could go. In this way, finally, Jenny learned patience.

  One warm afternoon in late October, Jenny woke to find Isabel sitting on the edge of their bed.

  “They are hackling flax today, down by the retting pond. Cospatric and I thought we would sing to help the work along.” She held out her hand. “Come with us.”

  Jenny stretched and yawned. The naps were more than just a way of keeping her from her father. She found she could sleep endlessly. It was hard to throw off the weight of dreams and return to life.

  Outside, the sun was warm and strong. Cospatric was waiting by the gate with Alric. “Look who I found to help with the songs,” the harper said. He made it sound as though he met the boy by chance, but Jenny suspected he sought Alric out. Cospatric was kind to everyone.

  The retting pond was just a clean ditch below the bailey where rain collected. Weeks ago, after the flax had been hand pulled and allowed to dry in the fields, it had been brought here to partially rot in the stagnant water. Then it had been dried again and broken with flails to remove the flax fibres from the woody core of the plant. Now, servants threw the fibres over long iron hackles to comb out the tow that would finally be spun into linen yarn. As the last step in this long, messy, back-breaking process, hackling was cause for celebration. Jenny heard a wave of laughter from the retting pond as they walked toward it.


  Isabel and Cospatric stood upwind to avoid chaff from the hackling. Isabel began one of the silly, rhythmic songs suited to this work, a song that simply counted down the number of apples in an attic or mills in France, from ten to one, then blended seamlessly into the next, similarly senseless song.

  Cospatric took up the song at the end of each two-line verse, repeating Isabel’s lines so that the music was unbroken. Jenny marvelled at how his French had improved. His voice blended perfectly with Isabel’s. The servants fell into the rhythm of the songs until their work seemed like a dance, everyone throwing the tow and pulling in time. On the sun-warmed grass beside Alric, Jenny let go of her worries and lay back, letting the mood of the day soak into her soul with the sunshine.

  Jenny heard footsteps and opened her eyes to find Eudo standing above her. He knelt and spoke softly. “Galiene said I should tell you that we are going hawking tomorrow, toward Broomfield.” Jenny sat up, suddenly alert. Carter Hall lay in the opposite direction. “We will be gone all day. Gilchrist will be happy to spend the day with us, and we are taking all the able-bodied boys to flush out game birds. Galiene says Alric knows how to ready your mare.” He smiled. “Whatever you are hunting, Jenny, I hope you find it.”

  That night, a troupe of travelling musicians arrived. Jenny paid them little mind, except to note they were not half so skilled as Cospatric, but she was glad they kept her father occupied after supper. She barely slept that night. In the morning, she heard her father and Eudo rise before dawn. Without the hounds, the hunting party left more quietly than usual, but Jenny heard them go. She rose and dressed.

  Galiene had milk and bread ready for her. “You must wait until the sun is high. Only the day belongs to earthly folk.”

  A few weeks before, such waiting would have driven Jenny mad. Now, she simply sat and ate. Finally, when the sun was fully risen, Galiene opened the door.

  “What will you say to Isabel?” Jenny whispered as they left the bower.

  “As little as I can, just as I did with Eudo. She will understand. I packed some bags with food to leave at Carter Hall. It will be best for him to eat our food whenever he can.” She placed a silver coin in Jenny’s hand. “Do not let go of this as you ride, and promise me, if you see a stranger, no word will pass your lips.”

  Jenny threw her arms around Galiene’s neck and hugged her.

  Alric was already in the stable, beside the bags of food. “Galiene said to wait until you came before I saddled your mare, my lady,” he said.

  “Will the others be out of sight by now?”

  “Aye. Sir Eudo said he would lead them straight through Langknowes and keep to the road a good ways after. You need not worry about being seen from the other side of the bailey.”

  Jenny allowed Alric to help her onto La Rose.

  Her body had barely begun to change, but the girl who could leap into the saddle was already gone. La Rose seemed to sense this for she trotted no faster than a man could walk. Jenny allowed her mare to set the pace, even though she felt exposed and wary on the open road, like a mouse waiting for a hawk to snatch it away.

  Under the canopy of the forest, she began to breathe easier. The topmost branches of the great trees were already stripped by the wind. Sunbeams penetrated deep into the woods, giving it an open, airy feeling Jenny had not known since spring. Dry leaves rustled like parchment under La Rose’s hooves, giving off a spicy fragrance that Jenny took deep into her lungs. Only the holly trees retained their freshness, the glossy dark leaves glowing with the promise that spring would return.

  As Jenny came to Carter Hall, she remembered the last time she had seen this place in broad daylight, when she had found it empty and cried on the floor. I will not do that this time, she told herself. If he is gone, I will turn La Rose around and try to face the rest of my life without tears. She braced herself for disappointment.

  But she saw him as soon as she came to the well, standing in an open field with his back to her. The sight of him brought an almost overwhelming surge of joy. Jenny knew she would do anything to protect this man from harm.

  Before she could call to him, he raised something in his hand and began to twirl it on a rope. Jenny barely had time to recognize the lure before a young falcon swept down from a nearby tree, her small body aimed like an arrow at the bait. Just as the bird brought her talons forward to grasp it, Tam swung himself around, pulling the lure away so that the falcon was forced to fly past, wheel around and try again. Jenny loved to watch the way he moved. On the second pass, he looked beyond the field and saw Jenny at the well. He was already smiling, but his smile widened. He let the falcon take the lure and left her.

  Without a word, he came to Jenny, swept her off La Rose and held her tightly.

  “I thought you might be gone,” Jenny said after a long moment. “I was so afraid.” Until that moment, she had not admitted to herself just how frightened she had been.

  “I told you not to come, but I waited for you, every day.”

  Jenny pulled back to look at him. She laughed from pure happiness. “You have the falcon! My father’s falconer watched her all spring. We thought she was dead.”

  “I took her for company. Training her helps to pass the time. And for food. I try to use my magic as little as possible now. With a hawk, I might at least eat a pigeon or two now and then. I keep her near to me, always. She was here the night you came, sleeping in the hall.”

  Jenny remembered the sound of wings rustling beneath the eaves. “Show me your falcon,” she said. She knew they should talk of more serious things, but she wanted to prolong this moment of unclouded happiness.

  The falcon was contentedly ripping the bait, a dead bird of some kind, to shreds. Tam knelt and offered his gloved hand and she stepped up, docile as a dove. Jenny shrank back, afraid the bird might lunge, but Tam drew her closer. “She is gentle as a lamb, for all her fierce looks. I named her L’Avenel, after you. You need not fear her, Jenny.”

  Jenny saw this was true. The falcon sat calmly on Tam’s wrist, looking around with intelligent, yellow eyes. Her bright yellow feet seemed impossibly big.

  “She was to be my betrothal gift,” Jenny said. The smile dropped from Tam’s face. “And are you now betrothed?”

  “No.” The relief in his eyes made Jenny laugh with pleasure. “I am free as a bird.” For the moment, it seemed true. Her troubles had vanished, as they always did when she was with him, as if there were no world beyond to bother her. “You were right, Tam. William would have made me miserable. He has already fathered children on any number of women.” She stopped, appalled by her recklessness, but he did not notice.

  “That sounds like William. Sit and tell me the whole story.” He let the falcon roost on a hawthorn tree and pulled off his glove. At the stone bench, he took both her hands as they sat.

  Jenny had fixed all her energy on getting to Carter Hall, bracing herself for the likelihood that he would be gone. Until that moment, she had given no thought to what she would tell Tam or how. She decided to begin at the end. “I need to know how I can free you from the charms that hold you here, Tam. Tell me. Please.”

  He rose and stood with his back to her, not speaking for the longest time. “There are things no one can ask of another,” he said at last, in a quiet voice.

  “But you must!” She took a breath to calm herself. “For the sake of your child.” The secret was out. As at the betrothal ceremony, her announcement was greeted by silence. He turned slowly, and as he did, she realized she did not know how he was going to take this news. Not at all.

  “There will be a child?” He looked dazed.

  She lifted her chin to show him she was not ashamed, but only nodded. She could not speak. She waited for what seemed like a century while he pieced things together.

  “And William would not marry you for that? This is wonderful. I have been sick with worry that you would not be able to escape him, and you are safe because of me.” He seemed only to care that the betrothal was broken. Jenny
remembered how he responded when she tried to speak to him about the enchanted dress. Brother Bertrand’s words came back to her: “You have bound yourself to a madman.” Was it true?

  “Tam, try to remember the earthly world. What will happen to me if I cannot . . .” Shame stuck in her throat. She swallowed it. “If I cannot find a father for my child.”

  He looked away into the distance. “They will take the child away and place you in the priory,” he said. The words chilled her because she could not tell if he was looking into his knowledge of the past or her future. “But,” he continued, “you would still have your life.”

  “My life means nothing without our child and you.” She threw her last shred of pride to the wind. “Would you marry me if you were free?”

  He smiled. “You know I would. I told you so, the night you came to me. Jenny, I would be gone by now if not for that night. What you gave of yourself anchored me to this world. I thought it was you, holding me here. Perhaps the child plays a role as well.”

  “Then tell me, Tam, how I may free you. I beg you.” She was near to tears.

  He came back to the bench and sat beside her.

  He brushed her hair from her face. She saw him hesitate. “If I tell you everything, you may think less of me.”

  “I could think a great deal less of you, and still love you more than life itself. Please.”

  He rubbed his hands over his face, as if trying to rid himself of something that clung to it. Then he began. “Every seven years, the fairies pay a tiend to Hell, just as your father’s folk pay a portion of their crops to him, and he pays a tiend to the king.” Jenny noticed he had used the word fairies for the first time. “The tiend is to be paid in a week, on Hallowe’en.” He paused.

  “Does this mean something to you?”

  “Aye, Jenny. They pay not in crops or in gold as earthly folk do, but in flesh. They must give someone to the Father of Evil. I fear it will be me.”