Kate Sedley - The Wicked Winter

'So what's made you change your mind?' His pale eyes opened slowly to fix me with a long, silent stare.

'I don't know,' he confessed at last. 'Just an ache in the bones, a warning bell in the head. So,' he persisted, 'am I right, and have you discovered whatever it was you were seeking from me?'

'Yes. Thank you. I. . I shall see you again, I hope, before I leave.'

The bloodless lips sketched the ghost of a smile. 'That rather depends on you, I imagine. I shall be here, certainly. I have no plans, for the present, to go elsewhere.' And the eyes closed again, blotting me from his sight.

I hesitated for a moment, opened my mouth to say something more, then thought better of it. I shut the chamber door quietly behind me and descended the stairs. Fulk Disney was waiting for me at the bottom. Insolently, he looked me up and down.

'Ah! There you are! Well met! I've been searching for you everywhere. I was just about to seek you in the chapel.' 'I've been visiting Father Godyer,' I answered shortly.

'What is it you wish to say?'

'Father Godyer, eh?' His eyes flickered slightly. 'You know, I used to wonder about that man and our pious lady.' A prurient smile lifted the corners of his mouth.

'Why do you want me?' I insisted.

'Mmm, now why do I want you?' he mused. He disliked me and was trying to make me angry. When he found he could not succeed, he merely shrugged. 'Ah yes! I have a message for you from Brother Simeon.'

Fulk Disney continued, 'He has been searching for you for the past hour or more, but you seem to have been in hiding.'

'I've passed through the house on at least two occasions,' I answered, 'and made no attempt at concealment. If the friar had cared to bestir himself and leave the warmth of the kitchen fire, he might have found me easily enough. What is his message'?'

'That he has gone to the Saxon tower and wishes you to join him there with all speed.'

My heart gave a great lurch in my chest, but I managed to ask calmly, 'Did he offer any reason for his visit?'

Fulk's eyes were little slits of curiosity in his pallid face. 'When I inquired why he was going to the tower, he refused to tell me, mumbling something to the effect that you would understand.' He cocked his head to one side. 'Do you, Chapman? Do you understand?'

'Perhaps,' was my guarded reply, and I made to push past him.

Fulk barred my way. 'Not so fast. You and that friar have been poking your noses in where they're not wanted for the past two days, and now I hear from Martha Grindcobb that you think Lady Cederwell didn't die an accidental death.' He lowered his voice to an envenomed hiss. 'Get out of here, Chapman! Go at once, today! Don't wait for tomorrow, or you may live to regret it.'

I said quietly, Are you threatening me, Master Disney.

As always, that flicked him on the raw. 'D'lsigny. How many times do I have to tell you?' Then he recollected that there were more pressing matters in hand. 'Leave Cederwell this afternoon! And take that hedge priest with you!'

'What's going on here?' demanded Maurice Cederwell, as he emerged from the passage leading to the great hall and came towards us.

'Master Disney has ordered me to quit the manor immediately,' I said. 'But I take my marching orders only from Sir Hugh. Perhaps you will explain that to your friend.' I saw Maurice's eyelids flicker and he looked at me intently before switching his attention to Fulk. His arm jerked involuntarily, as if he longed to reach out and touch the other man, but he forced himself to refrain.

'What is the argument between you'?' he asked. 'Fulk? What is your quarrel with the chapman?'

Fulk said nothing for a moment, then shrugged. 'Only that he and Brother Simeon have been here too long. It's high time they departed, and the snow is melting sufficiently for them to go at once.'

Maurice's eyes swivelled round to fix themselves on my face. Then he said slowly, 'That is for my father to decide. He will not tolerate anyone else giving the orders. He is master here and we must accept it.'

'Then speak to him on the subject,' Fulk demanded peremptorily. 'Tell him that these two, the pedlar and the friar, are troublemakers. They know too much, and the sooner we are shot of them the better.'

'How dare you speak to me like that!' Maurice protested feebly, and solely, I suspected, for my benefit. He sent a warning glance in his friend's direction. Nevertheless, Fulk's last words had frightened him. 'My father's in the solar. I'll … I'll go and see what can be done.'

'You'll probably find Mistress Lynom with him. He won't thank you for being disturbed,' I advised his departing back, but he took no notice and hurried up the stairs. I turned to Fulk. 'Well, I must find Brother Simeon.'

But he had grown uneasy and moreover his curiosity remained unsatisfied. 'You stay here,' he spat, and again tried to prevent me from passing.

I sighed. I had not wanted to pit my strength against his, for there was no doubt as to the outcome, but his actions left me no choice. Before he had time to realise what was happening, I had picked him up bodily, swung him around and placed him behind me. Then I walked rapidly towards the back door. Fulk let out an infuriated howl and began to run after me, but I turned about and held up my fists.

'Let me be,' I warned, 'unless you want a bloody nose.' To his credit, my threat did not immediately deter him and he advanced several more paces before deciding that the game was not worth the candle.

'I know where you're going,' he shouted. 'I know where to find you and the friar. Don't forget that! Maurice and I will be after you as soon as Sir Hugh gives his permission to speed you hence.'

I smiled. 'I shall look forward to your company,' I promised, and meant it.

I went into the kitchen and picked up my cloak from the comer where I had dropped it, along with my cudgel and pack.

'The wanderer returns,' Martha commented sourly. 'You and that friar are like a couple of fleas on a griddle. Why can't you both sit still and give us the pleasure of your company while we're working, eh girls? Strangers here are a rare treat at any time of the year, but in the depths of winter..' She did not finish her sentence, leaving the rest of it to my imagination, but went on, 'Brother Simeon has gone to the tower and said that, if we saw you, we were to tell you to follow him.'

'I know. He left a similar message with Fulk Disney. Did he…? Did the friar happen to mention why he needed my presence there?'

The cook shook her head and began looking for something on her kitchen table, moving basins and pans, spoons and ladles in growing irritation.

'Not a word. He suddenly got the fidgets and went searching for you. When you were not to be found, he grew even more restless and said he was going to the tower. He charged us most earnestly to ask you to join him there as soon as we saw you again… Which of you hussies has taken my meat knife…? It sounds important,' she concluded, 'if he also told Fulk.'

Once more my stomach muscles knotted together in excitement. Or was it fear, because I knew that the summons from Friar Simeon meant that this particular mystery was nearing its solution? I put my cloak around my shoulders and stooped for my cudgel, but it was no longer there.

'Brother Simeon took it,' Jenny Tonge volunteered, noting my puzzled frown and guessing its reason. 'He said you wouldn't mind, and that as the snow is still deep in places, it would help keep him on his feet.'

'Ye-es,' I answered slowly, 'I suppose it might. And youth must give way to infirmity.'

'He's not that old,' Martha said tartly, the colour mounting her cheeks. Obviously, at some time, she had discovered the friar's age to be less than her own. But I had no inclination to tease her on the subject as I might have done, a day or so earlier. I had too much else to think about. I fastened my cloak at the throat and went out into the winter's aftemoon.