Michael Jecks - The Outlaws of Ennor

Walerand stared at him. ‘Keen? It’s only a beach.’

He saw Simon’s quick look of disgust, and felt close to clenching his fist and hitting the fool. This Bailiff was no better than some pimp. He wandered about the place so carefully in case he got his tunic dirty, the pus-filled windbag. Ooh! Mustn’t get my boots mucky; mustn’t have any sand on my tunic; mustn’t slip into that water … It made Walerand feel sick just to watch.

‘Which island is nearest?’

Walerand looked at him, then out to sea. ‘The nearest is St Nicholas, I reckon.’

‘I hear he had a woman out there.’

Walerand felt a sneaking respect for him. ‘Where’d you hear that?’

‘It doesn’t matter. Is it true?’

‘Might be.’

‘Because if it is true, this could all be a jealous boyfriend or angry father or vengeful brother.’ As he scuffed the sand, Simon walked about the dip in the ground, then wandered back to the dunes. ‘You didn’t carry the body back this way?’

‘In Christ’s name, no! What would be the point of that, when there’s a perfectly good roadway just over there? That’s why we came that way!’

‘Correct. And no one else has been over these dunes since the storm?’

‘Why should they?’

Simon grunted. He walked over eastwards, staring still at the ground. ‘And no one seems to have walked over this way, either. What of the sword? Where was it?’ And where was Robert’s own, he added to himself thoughtfully.

‘So now you think it might have something to do with his death after all?’ Walerand smiled nastily as he led Simon up another sand dune. ‘It was here.’

Simon glanced from the dune back towards the sea. ‘This is not on the way to the road and it is a long way from the water.’

‘So?’

‘Wake up, man! If a killer was here, where did he go after the murder? Did he go back, like your men, towards La Val, or did he head in a different direction completely?’

‘I don’t know.’

‘Yet the people here believe that Robert had a woman on St Nicholas — the isle which is so near. Was there a boat nearby?’

‘Not when I got here.’

‘So perhaps someone stole it, or took back a boat that he was borrowing,’ Simon guessed. ‘Anyway, what was your gather-reeve doing up here? There was no money to collect, was there? If there was, from whom? Was he here to collect money from someone who promised to bring it here to him, and who then decided to execute him?’

‘I don’t know.’

‘You know very little, don’t you? What was he doing up here?’

‘Rumours …’

‘What sort of rumours?’

Walerand replied, ‘Like you said: that he fancied some woman.’

‘On St Nicholas.’

‘Yes. But Thomas had something against him prodding her.’

‘Maybe Thomas didn’t like his men-at-arms taking advantage of women on the islands?’

Walerand laughed sarcastically. ‘He doesn’t mind that, no.’

‘But you said Thomas didn’t like Robert meeting this woman?’

‘He certainly had something against Robert just recently. I assume it was her. Maybe Thomas was jealous.’

‘Perhaps we should find out who it was?’

‘She was only a piece of-’

‘Whatever you think she was,’ Simon interrupted, ‘Robert thought she was worth visiting and Thomas had something against Robert, which means he might have held some desire for her too. Jealousy can be a strange temper.’

‘You think to accuse Thomas of killing him?’ Walerand sniggered. ‘You’re mad!’

‘Perhaps.’

‘And you reckon you can find out all about it?’

‘I can probably do better than others,’ Simon said with a confidence he didn’t feel.

Only a little over a mile away, on St Nicholas, Brosia was at the well when she saw the tall figure walking towards her with the slighter shape of Tedia at his side. The sight of the two striding towards her with what looked like a degree of purposefulness made her stand up straight, wiping her hands on the belly of her tunic. She knew that doing so would emphasise her breasts, and she was pleased to wonder how they would impress this stranger knight. Looking at Tedia, she was sure that she, Brosia, would be better able to ensnare him. She had the build, and no one had ever complained about her looks. Nor had she ever failed to make a lover rise for her.

‘This is her,’ Tedia said, her tone dismissive.

‘You are Brosia? Good.’

‘Sir Knight, I am so pleased,’ Brosia said in her best, most breathy, voice, ‘to see you’re all better now. I’d reckoned you’d be laid up in bed for an age, you were so badly harmed. Tell me, are you feeling quite right? I have a small cot in the house, if you wish to settle a while, and maybe I could bring you something while you lie there?’

Baldwin guessed at the sort of ‘thing’ she would bring. ‘No, but I thank you. You have heard that a man was killed on the night of the storm? Do you know anything about this?’

‘Me? What could I know?’ she asked. With a sweet smile, she glanced at Tedia. ‘Have you something you want to say to me?’

‘You know about it, don’t you, slut?’ Tedia snarled, and would have leaped forward had Baldwin not grasped her shoulder and forearm.

‘You call me a slut?’ Brosia demanded, outraged. ‘I wasn’t seeking to bury Robert’s tarse in my-’

‘Be silent! I would prefer not to witness a fight,’ Baldwin said. ‘I simply want to learn what happened, not report two women to the Prior. Brosia, what do you know about this? What are you implying?’

‘It’s common enough knowledge,’ Brosia said, and tossed her head. ‘Most folks on St Nicholas are fully aware of Tedia’s little infatuation with Robert. Not many of us were very impressed, though. If you have to fall in love with a man, Tedia, you should have picked a better one. Look at you! First you find a man who can’t service you, and then you find a man who is so devoted to money, he collects the customs for the Lord of Ennor. Someone who is reviled by everyone on the islands. It’s no surprise he’s dead now,’ she said spitefully. ‘David told me something like this might happen.’

‘So your husband knew about Tedia and Robert?’ Baldwin demanded.

‘Of course! My husband is a competent officer! He knows everything that goes on over all the islands; he told me only a few days ago that Tedia was throwing herself at the gather-reeve.’

Baldwin did not like this woman, and her snide comments about Tedia were setting his teeth on edge. It was useful to listen, though. He noted that Brosia’s words implied that David himself could have had a motive to kill the gather-reeve; like all the others, he would dislike paying too much in customs or fees. Also, David had surely said that he didn’t know about Tedia’s affair when Baldwin had asked. Now his wife was contradicting him.

‘How did David learn about Robert? Did you tell him about Tedia’s affair?’ Baldwin asked harshly.

‘Do you expect me to keep secrets from my husband?’ Brosia asked sweetly.

She had already realised that this fellow was not interested in her: he was already smitten by Tedia. Christ’s wounds, it was weird to think that any man could prefer that little harlot to herself, but some men had peculiar tastes. If he was the sort to be taken in by a little strumpet with less sense than a rabbit, that was his look-out. It was a shame, because this Sir Baldwin had a glint in his eye that would be fun to investigate; he looked the sort of man who would be a demanding but active and enthusiastic lover. A bit like a more experienced Robert, in fact.

Robert was a prat in the end, though. When Brosia had flaunted her hips and tits at him, he’d gone all embarrassed and anxious, like he thought her husband would be back any moment, and hadn’t dared do anything to — or with — her. And then Brosia heard from one of the men at La Val that he had formed a passionate association with Tedia. Or it would have been passionate, had either of them dared. Brosia could have spat. She’d have had him in her house naked and ready in moments, if she’d had a chance. All she’d needed was the right weather so that David and the men would all have been out at sea, and then Robert would have had to look out for himself!