Edward Marston - The Owls of Gloucester

Ralph Delchard looked down at the bandaged leg.

‘How serious was your wound?’ he asked.

‘Very serious, my lord. I all but lost my leg.’

‘Where did you come by it?’

‘A hunting accident.’

‘Were you hunting your lost hides, by any chance?’

‘No,’ said Querengar. ‘Wild boar. I have limited hunting privileges in the forest and try to make the most of them. My horse was startled by something and threw me. I fell awkwardly.’

‘You are not the only person to appear before us with a wound.

Strang the Dane stripped his sleeve to show us a battle scar from a visit to the Westbury Hundred. According to him, it was inflicted by men in the service of Hamelin of Lisieux.’

‘They were not involved in my accident, my lord.’

‘Are you sure?’

‘Unless they lay in the bushes to frighten my horse.’

‘Strang thought your claim worthless,’ said Gervase, trying to gauge his opinion of the Dane. ‘He shrugged it off completely.’

‘He is entitled to do so.’

‘It does not annoy you?’

‘No, Master Bret. Nor does it goad me into angry words about him. I am conscious that Strang did have a legitimate right to those hides at one time. What he forgot to tell you was that they were subsequently taken from him and granted to me.’

‘Hamelin of Lisieux makes an identical claim.’

‘Have you no abuse to unload on him?’ said Ralph.

Querengar smiled wryly. ‘None that could compare with what Strang will already have offered. He has a sharper tongue and a hotter temper than me. Let them rail at each other. I refuse to engage in a war of words with either of them.’

‘What about Abraham the Priest?’ asked Gervase.

A long pause. ‘Is he involved here?’

‘Did you not realise that?’

‘No, Master Bret.’

‘Hamelin of Lisieux did.’

‘He has friends in high places. Nigel the Reeve is one of them.’

‘You seem surprised to hear the archdeacon’s name.’

‘I am.’

‘Could he have a genuine claim to the land?’

‘Only he can tell you that.’

‘But you are sceptical?’

‘The only claim which concerns me is my own, Master Bret. As for the Archdeacon of Gwent,’ he said thoughtfully, ‘he will certainly fight tooth and nail for what he believes may be his.’

‘Not another bellicose Welshman!’ groaned Ralph.

‘A civilised fellow. You will like him, my lord.’

‘I doubt that.’

‘What of you?’ said Gervase. ‘Do you like Abraham the Priest?’

The wry smile. ‘It is difficult not to, Master Bret. Even when you lose an argument with him, and I have lost a few in my time.

He is a gentle soul with a gift for persuasion. It is impossible to take offence against the man.’

‘Wait until I meet him!’ warned Ralph.

‘We are straying from the point,’ said Hubert, examining the charter which the Breton had brought for their perusal. ‘This document is similar to the one offered by Hamelin of Lisieux yet they cannot both be authentic. Which takes priority? Before we can decide that, we will need to study both charters in detail.

Each bears the royal signature.’ He sighed. ‘It is a pity that the King is not here himself to tell us why he gave away the same land twice.’

Ralph shot Gervase a covert look, unnoticed by the others.

‘If that is what he did, Canon Hubert,’ said Querengar.

‘Can you offer another explanation?’

‘No, but having met you and seen what upright men you clearly are, I am sure that you will find that explanation.’ There was no hint of flattery in his comment. ‘What else do you wish to ask me?’

‘Nothing at this point,’ said Ralph, ‘but we will need to call you before us again. I take it that you are remaining in the city?’

‘Yes, my lord. Nigel the Reeve knows where I stay.’

‘Then we can thank you for your testimony and bid you good day.’

During a flurry of farewells, Querengar the Breton struggled to his feet and used the crutches to propel himself towards the door. Gervase had to control the urge to offer his help. He admired the man, not least because of his own Breton ancestry, but he felt there was something missing from Querengar’s deposition.

Strang the Dane and Hamelin of Lisieux had said far too much.

Their rival was more economical with his words and less grandiose in his claims. It remained to be seen how the Archdeacon of Gwent measured against the others, but that treat, it soon transpired, would have to be postponed.

Nigel the Reeve made one of his ostentatious entrances.

‘I fear that I bring bad news,’ he announced, striding towards them. ‘Abraham the Priest has been unaccountably delayed and will not be here before nightfall.’

‘We are ready to examine him now,’ said Ralph.

‘That will not be feasible, my lord.’

‘Did you not summon him in time?’

‘Of course. He had ample warning.’

‘Yet he fails to present himself on the appointed day. What are we to make of this?’ he asked, turning to his colleagues. ‘Is this a deliberate attempt to flout our authority or is the Archdeacon of Gwent so absent-minded that he forgot that he was due in Gloucester today?’

‘You will have to ask him,’ suggested Nigel.

‘Not if it means sitting on our arses in here until it grows dark,’ said Ralph sourly, rising to his feet. ‘We will have to delay the ambiguous pleasure of making his acquaintance until tomorrow.’ He glared at Nigel. ‘See that he presents himself here when the abbey bell rings for Prime.’

‘Yes, my lord.’

‘If he does not, he will not be heard at all.’

‘I will emphasise that to him,’ said Nigel, turning to leave.

‘One moment,’ called Ralph, checking his departure. ‘Hamelin of Lisieux was here earlier and seemed to know that Abraham the Priest was now included in this dispute, a fact of which the other two claimants were noticeably ignorant.’

‘What point are you trying to make, my lord?’

‘That you disclosed privileged information to Hamelin.’

A curled lip. ‘Did I?’

‘He probably knew about the archdeacon before we did.’

Nigel was unruffled. ‘Does that matter?’

‘Yes,’ said Ralph angrily. ‘You are there to serve us, not to show favour towards someone who is due to appear before the commission. Impartiality is our touchstone and it should be yours as well.’

‘It always is, my lord.’

‘Not in this case. What else did you tell Hamelin of Lisieux?

What other unfair advantage did you give him over his rivals?

Are all your dealings based on whispered warnings to your friends?’

‘I deny that I have done anything wrong,’ said Nigel haughtily.

‘Please excuse me while I attend to more pressing matters.’

‘I’ll give him pressing matters!’ growled Ralph as the reeve went out of the door. ‘I’ll press that stupid head between my hands until his eyes pop out! I’ll wager he told Hamelin who sat on the commission and how best he could win us over.’

‘By dangling his pretty wife in front of you,’ said Hubert sharply.

‘Come, Brother Simon,’ he added before Ralph could reply, ‘we must take advantage of this early end to our deliberations. If we hurry back to the abbey, we may be in time to attend the funeral of Brother Nicholas.’

Gathering up their belongings, they exchanged farewells with their two colleagues and bustled out of the hall. Ralph was still fuming in silence. Gervase searched in his satchel.

‘Canon Hubert is right,’ he said, taking out a small parchment.

‘We must put aside our own concerns and think of Brother Nicholas instead. Here is the list of tenants you requested from Abbot Serlo,’ he continued, holding it up. ‘Why do we not make best use of this unexpected freedom and ride out to the holding last visited by Brother Nicholas?’