Edward Marston - The Elephants of Norwich

Skalp was fast and guileful, dodging round bushes and threading his way through trees, seeking new cover all the time to make pursuit more difficult. Ralph was impervious to pain. As a branch lashed his face or a shrub beat his leg, he simply carried resolutely on. When he drew level with Skalp, he struck him across the back of his neck with the flat of his sword and sent him spinning on the ground. Tumbling uncontrollably, Skalp let go of his cargo and the animal skin rolled down the bank of the stream. Ralph was standing over the man within seconds, breathing heavily and holding the point of his weapon at Skalp’s throat. The prisoner was undaunted.

‘Go on!’ he invited, spreading his arms. ‘Kill me!’

‘I’ll leave that job to the sheriff,’ said Ralph, sternly. ‘I’m arresting you for the murder of Hermer, steward of the lord Richard.’

‘He was an animal. He raped a girl of sixteen.’

‘We know all about that, Skalp,’ said Gervase, still astride his horse. ‘But it doesn’t excuse what you did.’

‘This is where I found her,’ howled the youth, indicating the stream. ‘Aelfeva drowned herself here. She couldn’t bear to live after what Hermer did to her.’

Vavasour’s yell made them all look in his direction. Having jumped from his horse, he had retrieved the object that had rolled down the bank. The animal skin was unrolled to reveal two small, shiny gold elephants.

‘They’re here!’ he said in triumph. ‘I’ve found them!’

Skalp was quick to take advantage of the diversion. Rolling away from the sword, he took out his dagger, rose quickly into a kneeling position and plunged the weapon into his own heart. His face contorted with agony and his body twitched for a few seconds until, without a sound, he dropped lifelessly to the grass.

Cursing himself for his inattention, Ralph sheathed his sword and bent over to examine the corpse. Skalp had found a way to elude justice. He was for ever beyond their reach now. Gervase dismounted and heaved a sigh of regret at what had happened. ‘It’s a pity that the lord Eustace isn’t here,’ he said.

‘Why?’

‘Falling on one’s sword. He would have appreciated that gesture.’

‘Would he?’

‘That’s the way that noble Romans took their own lives.’

Ralph was contemptuous. ‘There’s nothing noble about this man, Gervase. He was a ruthless killer. Skalp has cheated us. He got away.’

‘I don’t think that his grandmother will see it quite like that.’

‘He’s been caught,’ said Vavasour. ‘That’s the main thing. The hunt is finally over. And I fulfilled my pledge to the abbey,’ he continued, holding up the miniature elephants. ‘I’ve recovered their holy treasures. They must be returned immediately.’

‘We’ll ride with you,’ said Gervase.

‘No,’ replied the other firmly.

‘But it’s too dangerous to go alone.’

‘No harm will befall me. I’m on my own now. That’s the way I wish it to be. I’m grateful for your help but we must part here. I’m going back to my life as an anchorite.’ He pointed at the corpse. ‘Far away from this kind of thing.’

Concealing the gold elephants inside his tunic, he mounted his horse and rode off.

Ralph stood up and watched him go. He had mixed feelings about Jocelyn the Anchorite, but he did not begrudge the man the right to return the treasure he had once brought all the way from Rome. Then he remembered what Gervase had just said.

‘We’re going to the abbey as well?’ he asked.

‘We have to, Ralph.’

‘Why?’

‘For proof that it was Hermer who stole the elephants in the first place.’

‘Does that matter any more?’

‘Of course,’ said Gervase. ‘Otherwise, we let the lord Richard off the hook. He sees himself as a victim of crime but I’m certain that he instigated the theft from the abbey. We need evidence of that. Before we go there, however,’ he continued, looking sadly down at the dead man, ‘we’ll have to take Skalp back to his grandmother. I don’t relish the thought of having to explain everything to her.’

‘Even Olova can’t condone what this villain did, Gervase.’

‘Maybe not, but he was still her grandson. It’s the second suicide in the family. Olova will have to bury someone else in unconsecrated ground.’

Ralph motioned to two of his men. ‘Pull out his dagger and put the body across the back of my horse.’

Drogo was tingling with excitement. Having pushed their horses hard, Mauger Livarot and his men had caught a glimpse of the column ahead of them as it reached the circle of huts. Livarot took cover behind some trees with his soldiers and sent his steward to reconnoitre. Drogo was nervous, fearing that the gold elephants would be out of their reach and knowing how vindictive his master would be as result. Making his way along the bank of the stream, he had to dive out of sight when someone came running towards him with a group of riders in pursuit. Drogo saw and heard it all. He could not wait to pass on the good tidings to Livarot. When the dead body was taken away across the back of Ralph’s horse, the steward scurried back to his master, arriving out of breath but smirking happily.

‘Well?’ said Livarot.

‘I saw them,’ replied Drogo, gulping down air. ‘I saw the gold elephants.’

‘Who has them?’

‘The lord Jocelyn-though he no longer looks like the man we once knew by that name. And he no longer talks like him either.’

‘What did you see?’

Still panting, Drogo gave a rapid account of the scene he had witnessed.

Livarot grinned. ‘Jocelyn Vavasour is on his own?’

‘Yes, my lord. Riding to the abbey with the gold.’

‘One man against all of us?’ said the other. ‘He doesn’t stand a chance.’

‘He put the elephants inside his tunic.’

‘Then we’ll take them out of there. Mount up, Drogo.’

‘Yes, my lord.’

‘We’re going to get what we came for,’ said Livarot.

Olova was overwhelmed with sadness when the body of her grandson was returned to her. Gently and tactfully, Gervase explained what had happened, but even his soft words could not ease a grandmother’s pain. She asked them to lay Skalp inside the hut that he had been rebuilding. Though there was bitterness in her voice, there was also a note of resignation. She looked from Gervase to Ralph with tears welling in her eyes. There was no point in concealment. The truth came out of her between bursts of sobbing.

‘I knew that something was wrong,’ she said. ‘Skalp went away for a couple of days. He wouldn’t tell me where he’d been. Now I know.’

‘He went to kill Hermer,’ said Gervase.

‘He was very quiet when he got back. He threw himself into his work. But something had changed in him. I could sense it.’ She brushed away a tear with, the back of her hand. ‘How did you realise that it was him?’

‘We didn’t at first,’ admitted Ralph. ‘We were after a man called Starculf. When we caught him, he protested his innocence so strongly that we were inclined to believe him. That meant we had to look elsewhere. Gervase brought us here.’

‘It had to be Skalp,’ said Gervase, simply. ‘He never forgave Hermer for what he did to that young girl. You told me that it was Skalp who found her body. He took his own life close to the same place. In fact, I think he ran there deliberately.’

Ralph was rueful. ‘I blame myself for letting him stab himself.’

‘It wasn’t your fault.’

‘It was, Gervase. I caught him. I should have taken his dagger away.’

‘You were distracted. We all were.’

There was an awkward silence. Olova glanced towards the hut where Skalp lay. ‘He was here, Master Bret,’ she mumbled. ‘Who was?’