Michael JECKS - The Oath

Which was why the discovery of the little dagger inset with rubies had been so thrilling. It represented a sudden change in his fortunes. Every so often Saul had been able to ‘rescue’ some item from a corpse – a pilgrim badge, a cross, or perhaps a silver pin – but each was trivial and hardly worth the bother. Were his theft to be recognised, of course, the consequences would be catastrophic. The rector of St Peter’s was ever-vigilant for misdemeanours, and Saul would lose his post for ever.

But this dagger made all the other items pale into insignificance beside its gleaming gilt and precious stones. And Saul knew just the man who would be prepared to pay for such a trinket, too.

Guy le Dubber was a short, thickset man in his early forties. He had a flowing grey beard that entirely concealed his throat, and covered the whole of his face from the cheeks down. A perpetual scowl almost hid his eyes, and what was visible glittered with a shrewd speculation. Any man meeting him for the first time had the impression that his value was assessed in the first moments, and generally the result was unfavourable, if le Dubber’s expression was anything to go by.

Saul had known le Dubber for many years now, and he entered the little chamber with a swagger. ‘You’ll like this,’ he said confidently.

Le Dubber was sitting at his fireside, and stared at the little fosser with his habitual frown. He had a spoon in his hand, which he placed down, then wiped his moustache with the back of a hand. He rose from his stool, pushing aside a pair of hams hanging from a rafter, and said, ‘I’m eating.’

‘I’ve something you’ll want,’ Saul said without moving.

The broker hawked and spat onto his floor, then scratched his buttock and jerked his head to beckon his visitor closer. He walked around the hearth to the board under the window and waited.

Saul passed him the parcel, and the broker pulled at the twine holding it. He undid the wrappings, then Saul saw his brows rise with surprise at the sight within.

‘Nice, eh? It’d made anyone happy, that would,’ Saul said.

‘Shut up.’

Saul subsided, watching. He had seen the gleam of interest in le Dubber’s eyes as soon as the first ruby appeared from its wrappings, and knew that the broker would be able to make a lot of money out of it. He would start bargaining at five shillings, Saul told himself, and allow Guy to gradually knock him back to three. Three shillings! It was more money than he had ever possessed in one time. Thirty-six pennies!

‘No. Not interested.’

Saul stared at le Dubber as the broker pushed the knife back towards him.

‘What do you mean, no?’

‘It’s too dangerous. I don’t want it.’

He’s playing hard to knock me down, Saul thought to himself. ‘If you don’t want it, there’re plenty who will.’

‘Yes. I expect there are,’ le Dubber said, and walked back to his stool.

Now Saul was feeling desperate. ‘But, master, you can sell it for a lot of money! It’s worth at least eight shillings, isn’t it? I’ll sell to you for five. Five shillings, that’s all.’

‘No.’

‘Four, then – I can’t say fairer than that, can I? It’s worth double, and you’ll make all the money.’

‘You aren’t listening. I don’t want it. It’s worthless to me. It’s too valuable for me to have in my pantry, and I don’t know where you got it from. Looks to me like someone’s been murdered with it. You think I want people believing I killed someone for his knife?’

‘No, but you can make a good profit out of it.’

‘The kind of profit that gets you hauled off in front of the Justice of Gaol Delivery isn’t good. No .’

‘Three shillings.’

Saul watched as Guy picked up his bowl again and began to noisily suck at the pottage on his spoon.

‘Two shillings?’

There was no response. Saul stared at his broker, then back at the dagger still sitting on the board.

It broke his heart. He breathed quietly, ‘One shilling.’

‘Not one penny. You don’t listen very well, Fosser, do you? I said no. I wasn’t dickering with you. I don’t want it.’

‘What shall I do with it, then?’

‘Try a smith. He may be able to get the rubies out and melt down the dagger. It’s the only way you’ll get rid of it.’

‘Melt it?’ Saul said, appalled.

Le Dubber looked up at him. ‘You want something back for it? Right. That’s what you do, then. Now, take it away from here. I don’t want anything to do with it.’

Welsh bank of the River Severn

The ship reached its little dock with a soft scraping as the rope fenders rubbed on the wood, and the shipmaster ran to the ropes, flinging them to the waiting boy, who slipped them over upright posts so the seamen could haul the ship tight and steady.

It took a little while to get some of the horses from the ferry, and then the crew helped Sir Ralph and his friends to the shore.

Baldwin’s horse was one of the first off, and he joined the rounsey on the decking, leading him away, off the hollow-sounding wooden planking and up to the grassy banks. From here, he could see all along the south and he felt a pang as he gazed down towards Devon and his home. If only he had gone straight to his wife instead of stopping and then agreeing to help Redcliffe… But then it was foolish to think that way. He had made a decision which had seemed logical and right at the time.

‘Sir Baldwin,’ Jack said quietly.

Baldwin glanced at the boy. He was standing with his hands tightly gripping his own mount’s reins, and wore an anxious expression.

Seeing the knight nod, Jack blurted out, ‘I think I must be a coward, Sir Baldwin!’

‘Why is that, lad?’ Baldwin asked kindly.

‘When those men rode at us, I wanted to hide! I didn’t want to be killed, and I ran.’

‘Jack, that is natural. You are a brave boy, I know – you saved my life in France, didn’t you?’

‘Yes, but that was different. There wasn’t time to think. Here, I didn’t even want to protect the lady, but hid out with the baggage instead.’

‘Well, you aren’t a trained fighter, boy. It’s not surprising.’

‘But all of the rest of you went to protect the place.’

‘We are older, and we have been taught our arms.’

‘I had wanted to fight for the King. I wanted to take a sword and help defend him, but now…’ There were tears of shame in his eyes.

‘It is no bad thing to want to help defend your King,’ Baldwin said, ‘but it is a better thing by far to hate war. And I have seen enough men die to know that there is nothing good about it.’ In his mind’s eye he saw the fellow from Winchester, his stump of an arm waving as he screamed his horror at the realisation that he would never be able to use the arm again; his shock blinding him to the fact that Baldwin’s sword was about to remove his head.

The boy gulped.

‘Do you think I could learn to be brave?’

‘Of course. Later, perhaps you will learn your weapons, and then you can decide whether to fight or not.’ Baldwin gave him a kindly pat on the back, and the lad was comforted.

The knight’s thoughts went to Thomas Redcliffe. The merchant did not have the training or skill to fight against men who had both. He must have been an easy target for the bearded man’s dagger.

Baldwin wondered fleetingly if there had been more to Redcliffe than he had realised. Perhaps he had been carrying a message, and the bearded man had found it. Baldwin should have searched his body too.

It was curious to think that Redcliffe was dead. The men with him were all experienced, from Sir Ralph to Alexander and Pagan: they should have protected the man and his wife without difficulty. The idea of Jack throwing himself into the fray was ridiculous. He was much better suited to the delivery of messages – like Redcliffe, Baldwin thought to himself, remembering the purse.