by Clio Gray
They turned the corner of the Abbey and were immediately confronted by a barrage of stalls and noise. Lined up against the walls were wooden trestles protected by awnings of myriad colours and patterns, and piled high up on the trestles were bolts of cloth. Men stood close by doffing their hats as people passed, deafening them with shouts describing their wares and the remarkable bargains on offer for the first morning of the Cloth Market. Men leaned in, fingering the corners of the cloths, asking about colours and cotton contents; wives bustled, saying ‘Not this one, let’s try that one; this one has the warp all wrong, and look at that nap! And that colour! What are you thinking! Now that one over there . . .’
Their voices wove themselves together around the travellers, the cacophony rising in pitch as they closed upon a stall, fading again before they reached the next. On the other side of the street food-sellers were getting ready, frying potatoes and cutlets of lamb, setting chickens steaming on spits, strong smells rising from the rippenspeer – the smoky pork ribs people ate by the dozen dipped into this sauce or that, or smothered in salt and pepper. Brother Langer leapt down from the trap to take the lead, bringing them through a tall gate into the Abbey’s grounds, where immediately the noise dropped in volume as he closed the gate, the walls holding it from them like the arm of a dam. Once inside the Abbey’s courtyard they dismounted, the young monk ceasing his languorous pumping at the fountain and walking briskly towards them, smiling broadly.
‘Brother Langer! How good to see you!’
‘Brother Jaspis,’ Langer replied warmly, taking the proffered cannikin from him and handing it to Fatzke. ‘Still here then, I see.’
‘Still here,’ agreed Jaspis, ‘thanks be to God, and to you, Brother.’
Langer beamed at him. ‘I was helped as I helped you, as you will help another; thus the Light of God finds its way into the world.’
The monk in Brother Langer was re-emerging, and young Jaspis led him and his hangers-on to the guest-houses where they were to stay, apparently unconcerned by having to billet extra bodies besides the ones expected.
The Abbey had a calm about it despite the crowds outside, the stones seeming to sleep in the early morning light, murmuring gently as the bees came and went from between their nooks. Brother Langer departed with Brother Jaspis, and Kwert fell asleep the moment he laid himself out on a bed-roll. Kadia was eager to take a quick look at the cloth stalls and Fatzke took his pony and Gruftgang’s donkey to the stables to be fed and watered and allowed to practise their mathematics in peace. Then there was only Philbert and Gruftgang sitting quietly on a bench outside the lean-to building the Abbey had for guests. Spread out before them was the infirmary garden, a purple cloud of fumitory smoking up the shins of its ancient walls, pushing past the leaves of speedwell and herb-robert that grew self-seeded through the paving stones. Gruftgang leant his bone of a back against the warm stone, his pipped cheeks sucking in and out as he breathed deeply, eyes closed. Philbert watched two rove beetles meet between his feet, their long bodies arched into scorpion-shapes, circling each other, waving their tails, then agreeing to pass on.
‘The Schupo told me more, you know,’ Gruftgang suddenly came to life, though he stayed leaning against the wall, his eyes now open, gazing into the deepening blue of the sky. ‘Oh yes, he told me much more, that I haven’t repeated to anyone.’
He turned then, and gently lifted the hat from Philbert’s head, placing it down on Philbert’s knees. ‘He saw quite clearly the hand of his deliverer, felt the Flame of God pass through him as he swallowed that wine you gave him.’
Philbert shuddered, looked around him, was stopped from leaping up by Gruftgang’s hand steady upon his arm.
‘You’ve nothing to fear from me, lad, nor from him. The doctors say his visions are mere after-effects of the potassium-salts he ingested, but I know what he told me when he called me to him.’
Gruftgang looked at Philbert then, so hard Philbert couldn’t look away.
‘He told me,’ Gruftgang swallowed, had difficulty speaking the words, his gaze so intense it seemed almost to be burning somewhere deep inside Philbert’s head.
‘Ackersmann told me he had seen the Face of God.’
He leant back against the wall and Philbert took advantage to take hold of his hat, began to lift it, but Gruftgang stopped him, put his face close to Philbert’s as he leant down. His breath had not improved despite the renewal of his calling, but for the moment Philbert could not pull himself away.
‘It is a wondrous thing, Philbert, when a child spreads his innocence abroad like seed strewn on a field of tares. A wondrous thing indeed, no matter how it came about. The ancients tell us that angels are all around us, and take many forms . . .’
Philbert heard the words but was no happier about them than Kwert would have been. Certainly he was glad that Schupo Ackersmann was alive, but the fact remained that his two companions had not been so lucky, and the authorities were not about to let the whole thing drop just because Ackersmann had found his God, and all this talk of angels was only going to keep the story alive and kicking. Philbert went to stand but Gruftgang moved his hand to the boy’s shoulder and forced him down again. Philbert looked around wildly for some mechanism of escape; all he could come up with was a worthless question about what type of flower it was growing in a hummock by their feet, which at least had the effect of pausing Gruftgang in his speech, making him frown, lean forward obligingly. For a few moments he peered hard at the small green and white flowers, then threw back his head, knocking it so hard against the wall it made a thump as it hit, and then there was a sound in his throat like someone trying to pull on a leather boot that has been abandoned for years on a step in the rain.
‘Oh Lord!’ Gruftgang wheezed, wiping his eyes with his finger-knuckles, Philbert wincing, wondering what he had set in motion.
‘Oh my Lord, my precious God!’ Gruftgang was gasping for breath, but at last he managed to squeeze out an answer. ‘Those, Philbert, are only open when the sun is shining. They call them Stars of Bethlehem, which, just like you, have led us back to God.’
Philbert’s turn to frown, frightened by the man’s belief; the first time he’d come into contact with so fervent a convert who would assert black was white and white black if he thought he’d received a sign that told him so. Philbert was a murderer, but to this man he was a miracle and there was nothing Philbert could do or say to make him change his mind. The responsibility of this realisation was enormous, and for the rest of the day Philbert stayed within the confines of the Abbey, hoping Kwert would wake up, hoping that he could get him out of here before anything else – miraculous or otherwise – had a chance to take root, take a life all its own; hoping, more than anything, that Amt Gruftgang, when he finally left, would not come back.
27
Into the Shadows
It was evening, and all were sat on logs outside the guest rooms, the fire jumping over lumps of spitted lamb and beef, eaten down to the bone. The smell of charcoaled meat wafted over them as they burned fingers and tongues on blackened chestnuts just scraped from the glowing ashes. Fatzke had invested in a few pouches of exotic aromatic tobaccos and the plug he was smoking gave a pleasant hint of aniseed to the air. It was still light, but only just, the sounds of the thinning crowds milling about the town rising and falling with the opening and closing of tavern doors. Monks could be heard singing the psalms of compline:
In pace in idipsum dormiam et requiescam . . .
In peace will I sleep and rest, for Thou, O Lord, have established me in hope . . .
They’d stuffed themselves with roasted meats, pickles, turnips and wine. Kadia was leaning against the wheel of Fatzke’s cart that had been brought into the yard to pile on the linens, grograms and wools she’d bought for her sewing back in Lengerrborn. In amongst those soft piles were Fatzke’s sacks of useful implements – as he called them – acquir
ed in exchange for some of his ring-dials and mouse-traps and whatever else he’d brought along for the purpose. For them another night and day awaited in the Cloth Market, but Philbert was adamant that in the morning he and Kwert would be away.
He’d figured out how to intercept Maulwerf’s Fair of Wonders, assuming they followed their usual route. It wouldn’t be immediate, but it was possible, and this much he’d told Kwert earlier that afternoon, after which Philbert had taken a brief foray out into the fringes of the Market to pick up any news, avoiding the one or two he thought might recognise him from previous fairs, but eager for news of Maulwerf.
‘So what did you enjoy most, Philbert?’ asked Brother Langer, his belly wobbling as he practised his dancing puppets on his toes. Philbert considered.
‘I saw a man who stuck pins and needles in his body without crying out,’ he replied. ‘And an enormous brindled cat in a cage who growled and roared when people poked at him with sticks. And there was a black man sticking his hands in molten lead, burning all his skin away before curing himself. I know it’s a trick, but I can’t figure out how he did it.’
Kwert laughed feebly, his thumb going automatically to the gap in his gums, which still bled a little, and spilled the beans.
‘It’s all to do with expectation and sales pitch. The basin is painted to look red hot over its fire, but has an insulated base to keep out the heat. And it’s not lead inside but quicksilver, and the man has a capsule of vermilion hidden between his fingers. He puts his hands into the bowl, screams, splits the capsule as he lifts his bleeding hands to the crowd. Then out comes the magic potion, which is nothing more than rubbing alcohol to remove the dye, and hey presto he’s cured and everyone clamours to buy his secret elixir. Old as the hills,’ Kwert finished. ‘Old as the hills, and no miracle but by the Grace of God’s great world.’
Philbert nodded, filing the information away, pleased to have the mystery solved, interrupted by Fatzke who started prattling about a new kind of jug he’d bought with its spout halfway down the side so it poured the milk before the cream, the gravy before the fat, thinking it was a grand idea until it was pointed out to him that the inventor had got the thing the wrong way round, because everyone knew the best part of the milk was the cream, and the best part of the gravy was the dripping. Fatzke sulked, shoved in another plug of tobacco and set it to light, sending the smell of burning cherries into the oncoming night. Philbert was sorry for Fatzke. He liked the man and owed him a great deal, so decided to distract the little crowd by reading a couple more of the fliers they’d been given when they’d first arrived.
‘Let’s see what’s on tomorrow,’ he said, for only he and Kwert knew they’d be leaving at dawn. ‘There’s the counting horse, the talking dogs, the acrobats and jugglers, the funambulist on his high-wire, four identical girls playing four identical tunes on four identical mandolins . . .’ Shuffling through the flyers he came across a couple he’d not seen before. ‘There’s this cow of the desert that’s called a camel,’ he began again. ‘It’s got a hump on its back like an oversized saddle and can apparently go for three months without drinking any water . . .’
Fatzke spat and Brother Langer smiled.
‘Go on,’ Kwert encouraged. ‘Your reading is getting really good, Philbert.’
Philbert beamed, picking up the last sheet, which looked the dullest and the most covered in writing. He cleared his throat in the manner of a town crier, but didn’t get too far.
‘Decree from the Militia of the Crown Prince of . . .’ He stopped, having come across several words he couldn’t pronounce, skipped over them and went on, ‘. . . announcing that in view of . . .’ He paused again, more words he didn’t recognise, curiosity goaded by the picture below that showed a man in a cage hoisted from a pole sticking out from one side of a building, looking ruefully at Kwert who smiled and took the flier from him.
‘I know, I know,’ Kwert began, ‘I should never have tempted fate by – ’ Kwert’s eyes scanned the contents of the page. ‘But, my God,’ he said quietly. ‘I can’t believe such barbarity in our own country. Why would men do such things?’ The others turned as Kwert held out the piece of paper to no one in particular.
‘Does anyone know anything about this?’ Kwert asked, a hint of his old strength back in his voice. ‘Fatzke? You always seem to know what’s going on – have you heard about this?’
Fatzke took the paper and looked at it upside down, eyes skittering over it as he shook his head. ‘I can’t make out the letters,’ he blustered, unwilling to admit he couldn’t read. ‘It’s getting dark and the writing’s very small . . .’ Brother Langer took pity and fetched the paper from him, tilting it to catch the light from the fire.
‘Decree from the militia . . . yes, yes, a-hum . . . shall be dangled in the cage for the three days of the Market and then . . . may the Lord have mercy . . .’ Langer’s voice was very quiet and he crossed himself. ‘I do believe they mean to kill the poor man.’
‘After they’ve tortured him,’ Kwert said hotly, trying in vain to push himself to his feet, hands flailing for his sticks, ‘and no doubt he can tell them nothing. The poor soul probably had nothing to do with the Westphal Club.’
‘But Kwert,’ Brother Langer nodded his head towards Philbert, who was sitting very still before the fire, Ullendorf hat low on his brow. ‘What if he was there? What if he knows? You can’t expect him not to say anything. Why, he may have told them everything already.’
Fatzke puffed impatiently at his pipe.
‘You may be more educated than I,’ he grumbled, ‘and the light may be a little dark for my eyes, but there’s no need for you to speak in riddles. What does the dratted thing say?’
Brother Langer dropped his arm, his puppets falling over, forgotten in the dust.
‘Ah Fatzke, it’s yet more of this thing from Lengerrborn.’
Brother Langer glanced at Kwert and Philbert. They’d told him the broad outline of their misfortunes before the island, but none of them comprehended the true consequences of what had happened to Ackersmann and his men. He’d only just learned it himself from Jaspis. He’d meant to broach the subject this evening, but it had all been so peaceful, and Philbert had left the Abbey only for a half hour or so, so where had been the harm? He grimaced, then filled them in.
‘Brother Jaspis told me that the soldiers took some of the Westphal prisoners with them for interrogation to the fort over the hill there, most still interred. The monks give them food and water through the bars, but they’re badly treated, some chained to the walls upside down. And now, well, I don’t disbelieve it after this,’ he indicated the piece of paper, sighing deeply before going on. ‘This is a decree, stating that one of the prisoners is being kept in a cage in town, strung at just the right height so people can throw stones and spit at him and the like in support of their country. He’s to stay there for the Market’s duration when – assuming he’s not already dead – they’ll string him up like a sausage on the last night, for the general entertainment of the crowds.’
Fatzke sucked at his pipe and nodded his head as if it happened every day; Gruftgang tutted loudly and Kadia went white as a newly washed sheet.
‘There is a proviso, of course,’ Langer went on, ‘and that is to compound lies with treachery. They want to know who murdered the policemen in Lengerrborn, and they mean to make this man tell of the conspiracy or hang.’
Kwert hoisted himself up ineffectually on his sticks. ‘We cannot let this happen. I must give myself up. Tell them it was my doing. You can get Philbert away . . .’
Brother Langer laid his hand on Kwert’s arm and although the pressure of it was light, Kwert collapsed like a pile of kindling.
‘That would be madness, Kwert, and you must know it. The man will die one way or another. You cannot believe they’ll actually allow him to go free, and giving them another mouse to play with will serve no purp
ose at all. But there will be quite a few folk here from Lengerrborn and if they know him, well, they may see things differently. Philbert has been out and about,’ he held up his hand as Philbert tried to interrupt. ‘Oh, only for a short while, I know that, lad, but you don’t exactly blend into the crowd, and there are plenty folk for whom swapping the life of a man they know for a stranger’s, even if that stranger is only a boy they’ve glimpsed once, wouldn’t seem so bad.’
Philbert sat rigid, as did Kwert.
‘Pah!’ said Fatzke unexpectedly. ‘Nobody except us knows what the Schupo said, apart from a couple of doctor quacks, and they all have their heads up their own arses.’
‘But the soldiers,’ Gruftgang said slowly, sucking painful gasps of cold air over his diseased gums, ‘they’ll know. They left a man, remember? After they’d taken the others away?’ He sounded defeated, hollow as his crypts.
Brother Langer shuffled his toes in the ash then rubbed his big hands together. ‘We’ll get you away in the morning, first light,’ he said. ‘I’ll take you over the canal. Jaspis will help.’
‘We couldn’t possibly . . .’ Kwert began, but Philbert interrupted and leant forward to clutch Langer’s hand in his own.
‘Thank you,’ he said. ‘We were going to leave then anyway, but we would surely be glad of your help.’
And that was the evening gone, fizzled out with the fire, nothing left to say. Brother Langer helped Kwert back to his bed; Fatzke and Gruftgang went to check they had tied their loads properly to the cart. Kadia sat with Philbert a small moment.
‘You,’ she said, and put a small hand out to his cheek. ‘I think you look after Raspel and Allah will look after you.’
And then she and her faded bluebell posy were gone too. Only Philbert sitting there by the fire. He picked up the flier and stared at it hard, cursing himself for not having been able to recognise the words, the import, everything they meant. Then he shoved the paper into his pocket, jammed his hat hard down on his head and took off into the shadows, taking the trace of path that headed from the infirmary garden up to the small guard-house by the midden tip.
