A Holy Vengeance

by Maureen Ash

  Her companion was Constance Turner, a perfumer in the town, who had agreed to walk with her friend the scant two miles to St. Dunstan’s shrine, which lay along a track that branched off Ermine Street and led to the village of Burton. Once there, Emma intended to implore the saint to cure her barrenness.

  “I am certain that St. Dunstan will heed your prayer, Emma,” Constance said as they turned onto the path that led to the shrine. “He is the patron saint of armourers, after all, and has been known to look with favour on all who ply the trade.”

  “Yes, I should have gone to him before,” Emma replied. “Month after month I have kept hoping I would find myself with child, but it has been almost two years now since Wiger and I were wed, and still there is no sign of a babe.”

  She turned towards her companion, her green eyes sparkling with hopeful anticipation. “It was my father who suggested that I seek St. Dunstan’s aid. He said my mother often came here in the early days of their marriage, just after he had inherited the armoury from my grandsire and was full of doubts about his competency to run it. It was because of her pleas, he said, that he prospered and made such a success of the business, and he thought that with Wiger soon to finish his apprenticeship and become an armourer, too, the saint may look upon me with the same kindness he showed my dam . . .”

  She broke off, saddened by the absence of her long-dead mother. “Oh, Constance, how I wish that she was with me still. I have never missed her more than I do now. What shall I do if St. Dunstan will not help me?”

  Her friend laid a hand consolingly on Emma’s arm. “You must not be downhearted, Emma; you are still young and there is plenty of time.”

  Constance sent up a prayer of her own that the saint would hear Emma’s plea. They had been friends for over two years, since just before Emma’s marriage to Wiger. A silly quarrel a few months ago had left them estranged for a while, and the perfumer had been gratified and truly honoured when Emma had turned up at her house a few days ago and asked if she would come with her to the shrine.

  “I have no female relatives left alive,” she had said to Constance, “and it is only fitting that a woman accompanies me. We were good friends once—can we be so again? I would dearly welcome your presence.” The perfumer had readily given her assent, and it had been arranged that Emma would go yesterday to Constance’s home—which was situated much closer to Newport Arch than the armoury—and stay the night so they could leave early this morning.

  As they followed the track that led to the little dell where the shrine was located, the noise of the wheeled carts on the main thoroughfare slowly faded, replaced by birdsong and the rustling of small animals in the undergrowth. It was a pleasant walk, and Constance could feel Emma’s tension ease as they approached the sanctuary.

  The shrine was a small one, built decades before by a grateful blacksmith who, it was said, had been saved from death by the saint on this very spot. The story went that the blacksmith had been on his way home to Burton in the midst of a howling snowstorm when he realised he was being stalked by a pair of wolves. In a desperate effort to increase his pace, he had not noticed a tree root buried under the snow and, tripping over it, had fallen to the ground and wrenched his ankle so badly that he could not stand. The wolves, sensing his weakness, began to circle, preparing to launch their attack. The only weapon the blacksmith possessed had been his hammer, which he had been carrying with other small tools in a sack slung on his back. Calling upon his patron saint to help him, he retrieved the hammer and used it to defend himself when the wolves leapt upon him. Within moments the blacksmith found, to his astonishment, that his weapon had rung true and both animals were lying dead at his feet, their skulls crushed by the desperate blows he had rained upon them. His heart full of grateful thanks for his delivery, he vowed to use the bounty he would receive for the wolves’ heads to build a shrine dedicated to his protector in the little dell where he had been so miraculously saved.

  The stones on which the blacksmith had built the small altar were now weathered and pitted with age, but the small metal figure of the saint that the blacksmith had crafted and placed on top of the stones remained bright through regular polishing by the inhabitants of Burton. A wooden shelter, which the villagers also refurbished every year, protected the figure. St. Dunstan’s face was serene in aspect and, as the two women approached, it seemed as though his blank eyes regarded them with kindness.

  Looking up at the tiny chapel, Emma and Constance could see that horseshoes had been affixed to the edges of the shelter. St. Dunstan, who had been an abbot, twice a bishop, and finally archbishop of Canterbury in his long lifetime, had once, so it was said, nailed a horseshoe to the Devil’s hoof as a reprisal for trying to tempt him, and so horseshoes were considered to be his talisman. A variety of wildflowers—vetches, bellflowers, eglantine and foxgloves—raised their faces to the sky around the edge of the little dell and the air was full of the spicy smell of gilliflowers, which grew in profusion near the shrine.

  As the two women walked into the pool of sunshine that flooded the spot, they heard a croaking sound from the branches of a nearby tree and looked up to see a large raven staring down at them. On a branch above was another one, presumably its mate. Close to the bole of the tree was their nest, built of sticks and twigs, and the heads and beaks of two or three of their offspring, not yet fledglings, could be seen just above the rim.

  “That’s a good sign, Emma,” Constance said, pointing to the hatchlings. “The ravens have had babbies; perhaps it is an omen that you will too.”

  “Oh, how I hope so,” Emma replied. “My father told me that the ravens are the guardians of the shrine and that there has been a pair nesting here ever since it was built.” After giving Constance’s fingers an excited squeeze, she took a step towards the shrine and removed a small silver horseshoe from the pocket in her gown. Her father had forged it himself and had it blessed by the parish priest for her to give as an offering to the saint. Placing it at the foot of the altar, she knelt down and bowed her head in prayer, hands with palms together in front of her. To give her privacy, Constance moved back a few paces to stand by the gilliflowers.

  As she waited while her friend murmured her fervent plea, the perfumer noticed that the little dell had suddenly fallen silent. The rustlings of small animals had ceased, as had the birdsong. She glanced up and saw that both of the ravens, heads turned to one side, were staring intently into the woods on the other side of the clearing with their beady black eyes. Nervously she began to move back towards the shrine, glancing in that direction as she did so.

  The dell seemed unnaturally still and she felt a tingle up her spine. As she opened her mouth to call out an alarm to Emma, there was a sudden eruption of movement from the trees and a figure clad in a rough cloak leapt from the greenwood and ran towards the shrine. The intruder’s mantle had a cowl which was fastened tightly over his head so his features could not be seen and in his hand the blade of a knife glittered. He made no sound as he rushed towards Emma, the weapon held aloft. Before Constance could utter a scream of warning, the knife was thrust into her friend’s back and blood spurted. As Emma fell forward onto her face, her attacker struck at her once more and then, with a swift movement, darted towards Constance. She turned to run, but he grabbed her arm, and even though she pulled and twisted with all her might, she was unable to wrench herself free. Suddenly, as he raised the knife to strike her, the air was filled with a whirring sound and the two ravens, croaking harshly, dived at her assailant’s head. He let out a fearful scream of pain as their sharp beaks struck his pate, and he dropped the knife as he frantically tried to beat them off with his hands. But the birds were relentless, continuing to swerve and dart around him until he was forced to flee back into the forest. The ravens did not cease their pursuit, however. Flying above the tops of the trees, they followed his progress, croaking loudly all the while.

  Constance watched fearfully until the
ravens’ cries grew faint with distance and then hastened to the fallen figure of her friend.

  The blood from the wounds in Emma’s back had stopped flowing, a bad sign, Constance knew, for it meant that her heart had stopped beating. Dropping to her knees, she gently turned the body over and pushed back the coif that bound her friend’s pale brown hair. No sign of breath came from Emma’s nose or mouth, and her lovely eyes were open and vacant, staring unseeing at the roof of the shrine.

  Constance began to cry, tears dropping unbidden as she tried to take in what had happened, until a small sound nearby caused her to spin around in renewed alarm. But it was only the ravens gliding softly back into the dell, flying up to their perch on the branch of the tree where they had their nest. Both sat silent and unmoving, regarding her solemnly.

  Comforted by their presence, and feeling protected, Constance turned back to her friend. With heartfelt sobs, she clasped one of Emma’s limp hands to her bosom and begged the saint to watch over her passage to heaven.

  Chapter 2

  Her prayer finished, Constance rose shakily and tried to steady her racing heart. Normally levelheaded, and priding herself on her ability for rational thought, she now found that panic was threatening to overwhelm her. Taking deep breaths, she looked around the dell. The encircling trees were still and there was no sign of movement anywhere. She glanced up at the ravens perched above her; both seemed to be on guard, turning their heads from side to side as they scanned the perimeter of the open space. She must get help, she knew, and the village of Burton was not as far a distance as going back to Ermine Street. But she was fearful of going alone in either direction—what if Emma’s assailant was lurking in the greenwood?

  Undecided, she stood for a few moments and then noticed the glimmer of metal in the grass. It was the dagger the murderer had dropped. With repugnance, she went over and picked it up. Her friend’s blood was smeared on the blade and she almost dropped it when her fingers touched the gore. She did not know how to use such a weapon but felt she would be safer if she had it, and so, with resolution, she grasped the handle of the knife firmly, took a deep breath and then ran as fast as she could down the track that led to Burton.

  * * *

  It was past midday by the time Constance finally arrived back in Lincoln with Emma’s body. When she had reached the village, heart beating wildly, she had run through the open gate in the wooden palisade that enclosed the compound. The hamlet was of moderate size, comprising over a dozen small thatched cots, a barn, a cowshed and a tiny church. Several women were inside, some plying spindles, others just gossiping, and a few small children were playing near the well that sat in the middle of the open space. Beyond the palisade, men were at work in fields of wheat and barley. Constance had run towards the woman closest to her, a young matron testing the dampness of rags that had been laid out to dry on top of a few red currant bushes, and blurted out what had happened.

  “My friend has been killed and the murderer may still be nearby. Please help me; I am in fear for my life.”

  She had not stopped to think of the spectacle she presented—a bloody knife in her hand, her coif all askew and her pale blue kirtle stained with dirt where she had knelt on the ground beside Emma. The young woman, startled, had taken one look at her and begun to scream, and all the other women had come running. Belatedly realising the cause of the young goodwife’s fear, Constance had thrown the knife away from her. “I am not come to harm you, but for help,” she pleaded. “My friend, she is dead . . . dead . . . and I do not know what to do.”

  One of the other women, older and more sensible than the rest, went over to a small bell attached to a nearby post and rang it firmly, and then approached Constance. Reaching down slowly, and keeping her eyes on the strange woman who had burst into their midst, she picked up the bloody dagger and, swiftly wrapping it in one of the clean rags from her neighbour’s washing, tucked it in the pocket of her kirtle.

  “The alarum will bring the men in from the fields, mistress,” she said quietly. “Until then, come and tell our priest what has happened.”

  Things had moved quickly after that. The priest, an elderly cleric, had taken her into the small village church, sat her on a stool and given her a glass of watered ale and then listened without speaking while she told her tale. Soon another man had come in; he was of middle years, said his name was Rudd and that he was reeve, the headman, of the village. The priest repeated her story and Rudd went out again to send a few of the younger and more stalwart men of the village to search the greenwood for Emma’s attacker.

  By the time he returned to tell her there was no sign of any stranger nearby, Constance had regained her composure, and had listened calmly as Rudd told her that Emma’s body had been brought to the village and that he and one of his sons would take it in a cart to Lincoln.

  “You had best come with us, mistress,” he added, with a suspicious glance at her, “and accompany me while I report this crime to the sheriff. There is only your witness to account for how your friend came to die.”

  The journey did not take long, but it was a rough one, and they went by a route that was different from the one she and Emma had taken. Instead of going south to the shrine, the reeve had guided the cart to the north-east on a track that was little more than a footpath. It had debouched onto Ermine Street much farther north from Lincoln than was necessary, but Constance made no demur for she was still too shocked to wonder at the significance. Nor did she consider the reason that the village priest had blessed the ox and cart with holy water before they left Burton, deeming it merely a ritual designed to comfort the soul of her dead friend. Later, she was to remember both incidents with horror, but for the moment, she did not pay them much heed.

  The ox that was drawing the wain was an elderly beast with a lumbering gait, and as she sat in the back of the cart cradling Emma’s head in her lap it had bumped and swerved alarmingly. Rudd’s son sat beside her as they lurched along, watching her every movement while keeping the knife the murderer had used, still wrapped in a rag, firmly clasped in his hand. With dismay, she realised that the reeve, and all the other villagers, suspected that it might have been she who killed Emma. Throughout the short journey, she prayed constantly that she would be able to prove her innocence.

  When the reeve drove the cart through Newport Arch, the town lay spread out below, for Lincoln was built on a knoll, with the castle and the Minster sharing the height of the apex. As the reeve guided the wain the short distance to the castle gate, Constance was reminded how little time had elapsed since she and Emma had passed by the fortress that morning on their way to the shrine. They had set out on their short journey with hope and in high spirits, and now, just a few hours later, Emma was dead. It was hard not to believe it had all been a nightmare from which she would soon awake.

  The castle gateward, when Rudd told him the reason they had come, quickly waved them through and called for his serjeant, a grizzled veteran named Ernulf.

  After directing the gateward to take the cart bearing Emma’s body to a sheltered spot beside the stables, the serjeant told Rudd that the sheriff, Gerard Camville, was away from Lincoln and that his wife, Nicolaa de la Haye, the hereditary castellan of Lincoln castle, was deputising for her husband until he returned.

  “I’ll go and tell Lady Nicolaa what has passed,” Ernulf said to the reeve. “Wait here until I return.”

  * * *

  A short time later, Constance and Rudd were standing in the hall of the keep before the castellan. A woman of small stature and slightly plump, and one who was much revered by the townsfolk of Lincoln for her fairness and compassion, Lady Nicolaa was sitting at the table on the dais when they entered. Beside her was a lad of about sixteen years of age with a pen in his hand and a few pieces of parchment laid in front of him. Constance had seen the castellan before, but only from a distance, and she recognized the clerk as the mute Sicilian youngster named Gianni wh
o was employed in the castle scriptorium, and well-known in the town.

  Servants were bustling to and fro, some sweeping rushes, others trimming candles and one pair carrying a keg of ale to the back of the hall as Constance and the reeve approached the dais. All of them cast curious glances in their direction as they went to stand in front of Lady Nicolaa.

  When the castellan asked about the body of the young woman that had been brought to the castle, Rudd, in halting tones, said that she had been murdered, slain in the dell close to his village where St. Dunstan’s shrine was located. He then added that he had been told by the woman he had brought with him, Mistress Turner, that the victim’s name was Emma Ferroner, and that she was the daughter of a prominent armourer in the town.

  “Stabbed in the back twice, she was, lady, and, according to Mistress Turner here”—the reeve gestured in Constance’s direction—“the deed were done while she was praying. Then Mistress Turner ran to our village for help and I sent some men to scour the woods for the murderer, but we didn’t find him. Then me and my son brought the poor young woman’s body here along with Mistress Turner. This here’s the knife what was used to kill her,” he added, brandishing it aloft. “Mistress Turner was holding it when she came to our village.”