Michael Jecks - The Outlaws of Ennor

Hamo stared at him, his eyes wide with fear. ‘Sir, I’m telling you because they may try to harm you too. You have to know what sort of men you are living with.’

‘I am aware,’ Simon said. ‘Hamo, you aren’t as experienced in the ways of the world as I am. Take my word: the lord here is as good a lord as you could hope for and he indicated to me yesterday that our friends would soon be free!’

‘Sir, please!’

Hamo was going to speak again, but a man at the far end of the room called out, and the boy ran over to him.

Simon watched him go. It was typical of the lad that he should be jumping at shadows. Hamo had been a nervous sailor, and now he was on dry land, he was still seeing dangers at every turn. Simon actually felt a little attached to him. There was a warm, paternal smile on his face when Hamo hurried past him.

‘Don’t worry so much, Hamo,’ he counselled. ‘Leave things to me.’

‘That man just told me not to talk to you,’ Hamo whispered, looking round, and then, in a rush, ‘ Please , Bailiff! You must try to save Sir Charles! Speak to William — see what he says!’

Simon chewed more slowly. What if Hamo was right? Then Simon recalled the look which passed between Thomas and Ranulph, and suddenly he was less sure. He instinctively liked William, but could he trust him? The man might be a pirate himself or in league with pirates.

Hamo gave him an agonised look and said, before scampering away, ‘William saved our lives, Bailiff. We can trust him.’

It was true that the cabin-boy had been saved by the priest, but that was no proof that he was better than any other man. Anyone finding a body on the beach would have done all they could to save that person. Ranulph could be a vicious brute as an enemy, he had no doubt, but Simon had a responsibility to the law. He was a Bailiff of Abbot Robert, and that meant he must be careful of his actions.

Not that Simon was convinced that William was guilty of the offence which Ranulph and Thomas ascribed to him. The moving from one chapel to another was a case of mere chance, nothing else; there was no need to think him guilty of spying for felons. Simon had heard the tale from another man the previous night, after Ranulph had dismissed him. William had been quite happy on his little island, a place called St Elidius, which had a small chapel and not much else, because William wanted peace, but he was asked to move to the main island when the previous chaplain was recalled to the Bishop’s Palace. The chaplain had been guilty of bringing a woman with him, and living with her in imitation of matrimony, although as a priest he was bound to his vows of chastity.

Priest’s mares were no rarity, and Simon was surprised that his friend Bishop Walter could bother himself with such a matter. He had plenty of other issues to concern him, after all, since he was regularly involved in affairs of the state. In any event, apparently Walter had recalled William’s predecessor; and that was why William had been called to St Mary’s Church. Someone else had taken over at St Elidius.

That being so, it seemed unlikely that William could be guilty of acting the spy. He had probably been the unwitting victim of tittle-tattle. Simon thought it would be a good idea to speak to William and warn him …

Mariota smiled but shook her head. ‘You’re talking nonsense.’

‘You saw them as clearly as I did, you old fool!’

‘Brosia, if I want insults, I can think of enough of my own without listening to your viperous tongue!’

Brosia tried a more placatory tone. ‘What was she doing sitting in the knight’s lap with her arms about him then, her lips on his, if she wasn’t making love to him?’

‘They were both clothed, so they weren’t-’

‘Oh, come on! So they weren’t rutting! They weren’t rolling on the grass with no clothes and little other than their smiles to cover them, but they were at it, and you know it, you old baggage! They were at it while her husband was away.’

‘Where is Isok?’

‘No idea. His boat isn’t in the harbour or on the sands.’

‘So you’ve been to look already, have you?’

Brosia flushed. ‘I happened to notice! Wives often go to look for their husbands’ boats, don’t they?’

‘Your man was away last night?’

‘No, he was with me. As a husband should be.’

‘So you weren’t looking for his vessel.’

‘I was watching to see it was safe … that’s got nothing to do with it! Mariota, your niece is an adulteress.’

‘You have no proof of that.’

‘What more proof do you need than the evidence of your own eyes, woman?’

‘I saw nothing, Brosia.’

‘You saw the same as I did!’

Mariota’s voice sharpened. ‘But I didn’t want to make any assumptions like you.’

‘That’s unfair!’

‘Is it?’

‘You won’t believe it? Very well. I shall take it to my husband.’

‘You can’t! If you do that, you know what will happen.’

Brosia drew away from Mariota’s grabbing hand. ‘Keep off me! You won’t help me, and that’s fine, but I won’t hide this from my husband. I have a duty to him, as a wife and as a member of the vill.’

‘Very good, but Brosia, remember this, Isok is going to have to submit to investigation no matter what happens. If Tedia has sought a little pleasure, it’s no surprise. She’s a woman — just as you are.’

‘What’s that supposed to mean?’

‘I think you spend so much time worrying about her, because you wanted her lover for yourself.’

‘It’s my duty to report-’

‘And it’s my duty to report how you flaunted yourself before this stranger. Perhaps I ought to tell how you pulled your tunic up to tempt him?’

‘That’s a lie!’

‘Just as your tales of Tedia teasing this shipwreck are lies.’

‘It’s true!’

‘I deny it.’

‘You can deny it all you like, old woman. I’ll make sure that everyone knows what she’s been up to!’

Brosia stomped off, angrily kicking up small clouds of sand as she went, and Mariota stood for a long while, staring after her. Then, with an air of resignation, she turned about and started toiling back up the hill towards Tedia’s house.

It was a good day, a beautiful day. No such day had been so good in all his life. Good wasn’t the word. It was brilliant. Excellent. Walerand was on top of the world.

He walked down the road to the harbour with a whistle on his lips. Seeing a servant from the castle glance at him in surprise, Walerand sneered at him. The fool didn’t matter. Walerand was higher than him. He’d arrived. He was the new gather-reeve.

Thomas had drawn him aside early this morning to let him know. He said that he needed a man he could trust, and that he’d like to have someone like Walerand take over after Robert. The latter had been too nice , too gentle and kindly. What the islands needed was a someone who would squeeze the peasants until they shrieked. And Walerand was that man, Thomas said. He and Ranulph had been watching him, and Walerand was just the man for the job.

He reached the harbour and stared out at the ship. There was little left of the hogged vessel which had limped into port so recently. The upperworks had already been snatched away. Ranulph was happy with the immense beam which was going to form the bressemer of his new fireplace, and other pieces of wood were allocated to shipwrights and builders throughout the islands, provided they could afford to pay for them.

Thomas was Walerand’s role model. A man who had made himself into the person he wanted to become, without any help from another soul. He had arrived here when Ranulph had won his licence to crenellate the castle, and from that day forth had not looked back, from what Walerand had heard. A powerful man in his own right, Thomas was happy to serve someone like Ranulph, because it meant that his own authority was increased. And Walerand had been chosen by him to be his right-hand man! That made Walerand one of the most important men on the islands.