He started to shiver and his face was stark with horror.
‘Alaric, you’re safe now. You can unburden yourself without fear. Look,’ she went over to the door and turned the key.
‘I fear locks are not enough to keep me from danger.’ He wilted and seemed to be on the point of collapse but then, seeing her expression, forced himself to straighten and say, ‘When Friar Hywel found out that the book had gone, all hell broke loose. After the heavens had opened to rescue me they opened again with his rage and I fear there’s no rescue this time.’
Hildegard put a hand on his arm. ‘Alaric, why do you say that?’
He gnawed his lips then muttered, ‘He was raging and ranting about the world being lost, about the end days, cursing and crying out in a strange language and muttering blasphemies that were somehow worse than the raging but all in some demonic tongue I know nothing of and throwing things,’ he added, rubbing one shoulder.
‘Did you catch anything of what he was saying?’
‘Only that he must have the book in order to continue his work. Then he said what was worse for me. “Whoever has stolen it will die in agony!” You can imagine how I feel after seeing Brother Martin contorted in death, knowing that’s the very book I stole. If I’d known I’d have left well alone, Mistress Beata or not.’
‘And now you need to give it back to Friar Hywel?’ She took him by the arm. ‘Have you thought of leaving it on the work bench where he’ll imagine his guardian angel has left it?...Why don’t you do that?’
‘Because of Mistress Beata.’
‘Yes?’
‘She set such store by getting it, as if her life depended on it, and I cannot let her down. I gave her my word...’ his lips paled. ‘I confess, I’m also afraid of Hywel. I believe he knows I have it and is waiting for me to reveal the fact so that he can – so he can – ’
‘Do you think he’ll punish you?’
‘I know he will. He’ll put a curse on me as he said he would.’ He began to shiver violently all the while trying to pretend is was simply the cold.
Hildegard moved further into the empty chamber and went to sit on the edge of the table. It wasn’t cold at present, in fact it was still stifling hot, airless and heavy, but she pretended not to notice his frenzied shaking.
‘So the problem is this, putting aside his curse for the moment, you want Mistress Beata to keep the book and do with it as she wishes but at the same time you want Brother Hywel to regain possession of what belongs rightfully to his abbot?’
‘And thus absolve myself of sin.’
‘I see.’
‘I’m in a fix, domina, as I told you. There is no way out.’
‘Won’t any other book do for Mistress Beata?’
He shook his head. Evidently he had already thought of that and rejected it. ‘She says it’s something precious that will lead to more gold than King Croesus ever dreamed of...And Brother Hywel also needs it to conclude his work.’
‘What is this work of his?’
Alaric frowned. ‘He will not say. It’s something so secret he dare not tell anyone. Jankin has no idea and has done all he can to find out. At first he thought it was to do with the mouse but then the friar seemed to become quite attached to the little fellow – although he still insists in talking about him as ‘it’ and refuses to visit the nest where his tiny family live.’ He added lamely, ‘We have no real idea what he’s engaged in but I fear the powers he may be able to summon up.’
‘I don’t belief in unearthly powers.’
‘I didn’t think I did until now...but you should have seen him rage...he was possessed...he seemed to summon devils in the air.’
‘Another copy may be available,’ Hildegard interrupted in a brisk manner. ‘Surely he’s thought of that? Might he ask the monks at Beaulieu if they have one in their collection?’
‘I dare not suggest it because then he would guess that I know more than I should. He is scrying out the name of the thief even as we speak.’
‘What? Now?’ Hildegard exclaimed getting to her feet. ‘Where is he?’
‘In his workshop.’
‘Then I must interrupt this nonsense. Come – ’
‘I’d rather not –’ He hung back then, in a sudden change of mood, he went to the door and barred her way. ‘I cannot allow you to face him alone, domina. I fear what he’ll do to me when he discovers that I was the one who purloined his book but I fear even more what he’ll do to you if he knows you’re my helper.’
‘But in that case, unless he’s especially skilled at scrying or you or Mistress Beata tell him my name, he’ll not know, will he?’
Alaric gaped at her in alarm and then a tentative smile crossed his face. ‘If it’s a case of choosing between two magi’s I’ll choose you, domina, the magi of common-sense.’
Together they went across the moonlit garth towards the corner of the cloister where Hywel had his workshop. A candle was burning to show he was inside.
‘Keep out of sight. In fact, go to your bed and get some rest.’ She waited until he entered the porch of the lay-brothers’ house.
The door to Hywel’s workshop was ajar on such a hot night, enough to let in some cooler air from outside.
‘At work, brother?’ Hildegard greeted after a perfunctory knock. ‘I’ve come to find out if your book from off the St Marie has turned up?’
Hywel jerked to his feet letting a chart fall at his feet. As he bent to pick it up she saw that it was covered in a multitude of figures criss-crossed by a geometry of triangles and squares. Hastily putting it on the work bench behind him and covering it with a cloth he came forward with his wolfish smile. ‘You made me start. I imagined I was quite alone. Everyone asleep. No sound of footsteps...Well?’ his eyes inched over her face. ‘You look anxious.’
‘I am, of course, anxious about my lord abbot for one. He frets at his confinement.’
‘But he must know that it is for the perfection of his soul that it was given to him to endure this misfortune.’
‘Perfection is ever our goal, quite so.’
They eyed each other for a moment.
‘Now we have established that to our satisfaction,’ he said smoothly, ‘do you want to get down to business?’
‘Business?’ She covered her confusion as best she could.
‘The business,’ he smiled, ‘that brought you here in the middle of the night.’
Feeling wrong-footed Hildegard put her head on one side. ‘This book stolen from you – ’
‘Is that really why you’re here?’
‘I was wondering it if was available at Beaulieu? Is it worth sending someone over there to find out?’
He smiled. ‘I feel grateful for your concern, but no, they will not have it.’
‘How can you be sure?’
‘Domina – Hildegard,’ he corrected. ‘It is more than a book. It is unique. It cannot be repeated. That’s enough!’ His eyes narrowed. ‘Did anyone send you to sound me out?’
There was no sign that he had been scrying, no bowl of pure water, no cards or any other sign of the instruments of prophecy apart from his hastily concealed chart with its strange symbols and diagrams.
When she looked up he was staring deeply into her eyes with a look of intense concentration. She felt he was smiling at her with a deep and compelling warmth that enveloped her entire being and she could not look away because her attention was fixed on his eyes, drawn to the deep world that lay within them. He began to speak in a slow and gentle voice about the night, how long it was, how tiring to keep the midnight Office, how she might sit down for a moment in a comfortable chair and sleep awhile...
She had no idea what else he was saying because something, a bright dart of energy from within made her fortify herself against him as she felt his power surge towards her and threaten to overwhelm her in a wave of heat and light. She resisted and put up a shield against it, against him, and it was like a battle between them, his strength against hers until the force th
reatening her waned, and he retreated.
Slightly dazed she watched him go to sit on a stool at the work bench. He was smiling to himself.
When he spoke it was in the friendly tones of the previous day and he begged forgiveness if he had been abrupt when she asked about the stolen book. ‘If you know where it is and who stole it, Hildegard, it would be a most kind gesture to get them to return it to me. I will pay. Remember to tell them that. Forget what Abbot Philip might offer. I myself will find the means to buy it. I will pay whatever it costs.’
When he glanced up his eyes had lost the compelling power that had tried to impose his will over hers. He was a supplicant now, desperation visible in every gesture of his clenched hands and haunted look.
‘Will you believe me, Hywel, if I say I don’t know where it is? I will do what I can to find it if you wish.’ And solve this mystery, she added silently.
‘If anyone can find it I’m sure it will be you,’ he returned in a guarded tone.
As there was little point in staying any longer and, in fact, still feeling weakened by the powerful grip he had exerted over her will, even if momentarily, she bade him goodnight, seeking nothing now but the safety of her chamber and the blessed solace of sleep. But as soon as she turned a corner of the building Alaric emerged from the shadows.
‘I told you to go to bed.’ Her words must have shocked him with their coldness because he fell back a pace.
‘I wanted to make sure you were unharmed,’ he muttered.
‘Of course I am. I beg forgiveness, Alaric. I didn’t mean to bark at you.’ She shook off the feeling of ice that must have been a remnant of Hywel’s power over her and took him by the arm. ‘Come, walk a little way with me. Hywel has made it clear to me that he wants nothing more than to find his book. He does not know you have taken it. You have no need to fear him. But tell me, please, if you will, where did you hide it?’
‘It was the quickest and most obvious place,’ he began as they stood outside the guest quarters. ‘When I came back off the ship and Mistress Beata told me to hide it everybody was rushing down to the waterside to help the sailors. The kitchens were empty. I grabbed a skillet from a hook as a weight and protection, placed the book inside, then wrapped the whole lot in some of that waterproof cloth the baker uses for his loaves. I slapped more pig fat round it to make sure it was well protected and then I hid it behind the fish trap. You know where that is? It’s a little door in the stream running by the side of the kitchen. It’s easily reached. I thought it would be undetected there. Then of course there came this terrible calamity – ’
‘The blockage? But was that not caused by yourself?’
He shook his head. ‘It’s further upstream where the water enters under the abbey buildings. It’s blocking the stream that flows into the trap and I was afraid that after it ran dry they might push the little door and find the package so I went to where the water should flow in but there’s something lodged inside the culvert. It’s wide at the start so I went to the other end and tried ducking my head underneath and feeling along it but it narrows towards the outlet into the kitchen. Even holding my breath and diving under I could not reach whatever was blocking it.’
‘I heard you visited Mistress Beata dripping wet and she scolded you for it.’
‘She was like a mother, I expect. That’s what they do, I’m told.’ He half-smiled as if he longed for some maternal scolding. Hildegard remembered that he was an orphan, like so many children after the recent return of the Plague.
‘So where is the book now? You haven’t left it behind the fish door, have you?’
‘Of course not. I took it to Mistress Beata and she said she would deal with it.’
‘She’s found a hiding place for it?’ Hildegard did not keep the surprise out of her voice.
‘She’s a very willful and resourceful old lady.’
‘So do you yourself know where it is now?’
‘No. So I’m afraid I cannot tell you, domina. Nor can I tell Brother Hywel.’
‘Will you find out and then return it to him?’
‘I can never return it, not without Mistress Beata’s consent. I know how much it means to her to have some power over her husband.’
‘Brother Hywel has offered money to match any that anyone else may offer her.’
‘He has?’ Alaric looked astonished. ‘But he’s as impoverished as I am. Surely, his Order forbids personal wealth?’
‘That was his promise.’
‘Am I to believe him then? Words are cheap.’
‘Does he lie?’
Alaric gave a sigh. ‘He appears not to – but then,’ he added slyly, ‘isn’t that the mark of a good liar?’
‘I only know what he said to me, Alaric. Go to Mistress Beata. Ask her how much she wants for it and then come back to me with her answer.’
‘I’ll go now.’
‘And wake her?’
‘She never sleeps at night. That’s how we became friends.I got into the habit of sitting with her through the night to help her through her coughing fits.’
‘Go then. Let’s get this matter resolved. But Alaric – ’
‘Yes, domina?’
‘Do not wake her on my account. I shall be in the refectory.’
He made a small obeisance and in the moonlight she could see him smile. It revealed the beginning of hope that all could be put right.
Chapter Eight
A sleepy lay-brother was sitting with his head in his hands at one of the trestles and when she went inside he wearily lifted his head to see who it was. ‘Domina, you’re sleepless too, I see.’
‘You look as if you’re ready for your bed. You must have had a long day.’
When he brought the aquifer over with a clean beaker he could scarcely keep his eyes open. ‘It’s this blockage effecting the sluice. It means I’ve scarcely had a minute. Without water the fish can’t swim down to the trap in the kitchens so we can’t take fish out when we need to. Somebody’s going to have to go in the water upstream above the blockage to catch them before they get flooded all over the upper meadow and we have to pick them like daisies out of the grass.’
He wiped his hands on his apron. ‘In this weather the poor little devils won’t last long. They’ll be half-cooked by the time we gather them in, out of the sun.’
She wondered if he thought they were poor little devils when they died in the fish trap as well. Apparently not because he went on to bewail the unnaturalness of the weather and how it was causing all kinds of strange things to happen, like a shower of frogs over Southampton way, and the sheep that gave birth to a calf, and other unlikely stories, and how it was due to a curse put out by somebody, if only they could find them and have them exorcised, but it was not to be because the sins of those at present staying in the abbey were not yet expiated. As soon as a ship could take them away on their pilgrimages the curse would be lifted.
Hildegard let his ramblings wash over her and took the opportunity to send her thoughts drifting to Hubert and why she had not gone with Alaric to the infirmary where at least she might have had a chance of a word with Hubert if he was still awake. He would be fine-tuned to the hours and with Matins coming up very soon he would probably be awake in preparation even if he could not physically attend the service.
She imagined Abbot Philip and found it hard to see him getting out in the middle of the night to officiate when he had that cold-eyed prior to attend to matters for him. Or the bustling sub-prior.
It led her to wonder what Abbot Philip felt about the death of one of his monks and how guilty he might feel at sending the poor man out to the ship for what amounted to mere profit. He was worried, of course, by the threat from his protectors.
And then she began to wonder who the man behind all this was, bleeding the abbey dry for his own gain, because surely he must know that the monks could not afford to keep on paying. And if he continued with his exactions, then what? Would he be happy to see them living in utter poverty?
>
How far would he bleed them before he understood that he was ruining his own chance of profit?
And how could anyone think like this anyway? What would their thoughts be when they reached the point of death?
How would they face the Day of Judgement? Would they feel it was a life well spent, to have lived only to fill their coffers with gold?
Then she thought of Meaux. How different it was. How peaceful, how contented everyone was under the benign rule of Abbot de Courcy.
And then she wished she had gone with Alaric just to set eyes on the abbot as he slept. If he did sleep. And then she was back again at the problem of the book.
And she thought of Hywel and his strange power and how uncomfortable she felt when he looked at her as if he knew everything about her and how something like fire had stood between them, a column of flame, a clash of wills visible on some other plane, and how nearly she had succumbed.
Then she wondered what if Beata refused to barter for the book. Was it really money she wanted or was it more to do with besting her unloving husband? No good would ever come of any of this.
Still Alaric did not return.
Yawning and noticing that the lay-brother was resting his head on his arms on the trestle and was snoring lightly, she rose to her feet and trod softly to the door.
Alaric appeared just then as if summoned. ‘She will sell to him if his price is right!’ he told her in excitement.
With another yawn Hildegard replied, ‘I shall have to go and tell Hywel then. Maybe it can wait until morning?’
Alaric looked disappointed. ‘Can’t we can go by and see if his light is still on?’
Taking him by the arm she led him to the door. ‘I can’t imagine what took you so long. I’m sure he’ll have been asleep this last hour.’
So convinced was she that after making his wishes known Hywel would have turned in – at least until Matins – that she was already telling him that she would see him there when she noticed the light still burning in his window.
‘Keep out of this, Alaric. As yet he does not know who has his blessed book.’
The Alchemist of Netley Abbey: Eighth in the Hildegard of Meaux medieval mystery series Page 23
