A Trail of Ink hds-3

by Mel Starr

  "Will you seek aid of Sir Roger?" Wyclif asked. "He is no friend of Sir John, 'tis said."

  "He may be minded to help us, but I think today he will be visited by many supplicants. By evening he will be pleased to be rid of them, and will likely recall little of their petitions. Better to wait a day or two to call on him. Arthur and I will observe Oxford's streets, seeking a man with a reddish beard who fends off the cold with a green surcoat."

  Arthur was privy to this conversation. I gave him one of the cooling loaves and we discussed this new state of affairs while we broke our fast.

  Arthur munched thoughtfully for a moment, then said, "What if the fellow owns two surcoats? One for ridin', like, an' another for town?"

  Arthur may be no scholar, but neither is he a fool. "We will search for a red beard. We must hope the fellow has not both shaved and changed his coat. We will divide the town, I think. You walk about the castle, up to Rewley Abbey and the Carmelite Friars, then back to St Ebbe's. I will go about from St Frideswide's to the Canditch, then east to the Cherwell."

  "Best stop at Caxton's shop," Arthur grinned, and see that the fellow has not called there for ink or parchment."

  "I will do so," I laughed, and slapped Arthur across the back. We had been through much in the last fortnight and I was grown fond of the man.

  I walked with Arthur down St Frideswide's Lane, then left him at Fish Street, where he continued west on Pennyfarthing Street toward the castle. Folk were just beginning to venture out upon their business and shopkeepers were opening shutters. I saw more than one cast a frowning glance to the clouds. The occasional snowflake fell on upturned cheeks.

  Any man who could might wish to keep to his bed on such a morning. Certainly a young gentleman, did his father leave him sufficient funds, would look with disfavor upon any venture which called him out of doors early this day. I did not expect to see many young knights on the streets, wearing green surcoat or otherwise. I did not.

  I walked a circle, from the Northgate to Holywell Street, thence to Longwall Street and the Trinitarian Friars. From there I turned right and strolled west on St John's Street until I was once again before the gate to Canterbury Hall.

  The sacrist of St Frideswide's Priory rang the bell for terce as I stood before the gate, contemplating which way I might next go. There are streets and alleys in Oxford where searching for a gentleman would be like seeking salmon in a well. I set off for the High Street, then circled north on School Street and once again back to the Northgate. I found nothing but a blister upon my heel for the morning's stroll.

  Arthur was prompt for dinner. Some things in this life are unchangeable. After bowls of pottage, this day flavored with fragments of mutton do I not mistake me, we set off again to search for our quarry.

  But first I sought Kate. She was employed in the workroom when I entered the shop, and was eager to learn more of Sir John Trillowe's dismissal. I told her what I knew, which was little more than her father had already learned from gossip among the merchants who sought custom on the Holywell Street and Canditch.

  "A red-bearded gentleman wearing a green surcoat accompanied Sir Simon yesterday. A fellow much like that was pitched into the Thames when Arthur tossed the log a fortnight past."

  "I remember you speaking of the man and his swim," Caxton frowned. "He carries a grudge, I think."

  "So do I. Arthur and I are exploring the town this day to see can we find the fellow. He is in some service to Sir Simon, I think, but now that Sir John is dismissed he may wish to trim his sails to the new breeze."

  "You sought the gentleman this morning?" Kate asked.

  "Aye. Few gentlemen wearing any color were about."

  Caxton grimaced. "True enough; nor scholars. We saw little trade."

  "Custom seems unlikely to improve, father, so I will find my cloak and accompany Hugh. Four eyes will serve better than two." Where had I heard this before?

  That may be so, but if a thing is invisible to two eyes it will also be to four. The afternoon was not a total loss. No time spent in Kate's company could be so. Indeed, I found myself gazing upon her more than upon those we met on the streets. But I think I had yet enough wit about me that a green surcoat or red beard trimmed short would have arrested my attention.

  I delivered Kate to her father's shop as the grey day darkened to night. Snow no longer drifted from the sky, but the snow had brought cold with it. Or had the cold brought the snow? I decided to ignore the question. I had enough on my mind.

  Arthur was at the guest chamber before me. "Lots of folk about the castle forecourt this day," he said by way of greeting. "None of 'em with red beard or green surcoat."

  "If the fellow we seek is a companion of Sir Simon, as seems so, he'll not venture where he no longer has friends."

  "So I should pay no heed to doin's at the castle tomorrow?"

  "Do not ignore the place, but spend your time in the town and across the Castle Mill Stream. I think we must do more than watch. Visit some taverns. Give the landlord a ha'penny and ask has he a customer who resembles this wayward knight."

  I did not linger over a supper of warmed pottage but sought my bed. I fell to sleep with thoughts of Kate. I was become accustomed to Arthur's snores, and visions of Kate can drive other cares far from me.

  Kate had bid me call for her next day so she might seek our green-clad prey with me. I crawled from my bed as a bell rang for matins from the tower of St Frideswide's Priory. This was not a thing I was eager to do. This day was colder than the day before. But no snowflakes appeared to remind me of the chill.

  Kate was not pleased when I told her she might not accompany me this morning. I intended to visit taverns and did not want Kate either to stand on the street before such places or to enter and suffer the ogling and comments her appearance was sure to produce.

  So I circled Oxford from Northgate and Fish Streets east to Longwall Street, and spent three pence at five taverns and an inn. All for naught. Perhaps the fellow wore another cloak when he sought wine. I was eager for dinner, to learn if Arthur had been more successful than me. He had.

  I saw Arthur striding around the corner of St Fridewide's Lane as I approached Canterbury Hall. I knew from forty paces he had found success. There was joy in his step and in the grin which split his face when he saw me.

  "What news?" I asked when he drew near.

  "Our friend frequents an inn across the Castle Mill Stream, on a lane just off the road to Oseney Abbey. We have passed it by often. 'Tis called the Fox's Lair."

  I knew the place; I had spent some nights there in years past. Its guests ranked above those who frequented the Stag and Hounds. When I became bailiff for Lord Gilbert I thought my new station entitled me to a softer bed and better wine when duties called me to Oxford. But the inn was not so conveniently located as the Stag and Hounds.

  "Did you learn a name?"

  "Aye; Sir Jocelin Hawkwode."

  I had not before heard of this knight. "Did you discover where he lives?"

  "Nay. Innkeeper knew not. Thought the man new to Oxford. Only been a customer since Lammas Day or thereabouts."

  Sir John Trillowe had taken office in July. Sir Simon might have gathered friends about him soon after. I wondered if Sir Jocelin might soon leave Oxford if Sir Simon's position — now dissolved — was the reason he had come. If so, it was important to find the fellow soon.

  We ate our pottage and maslin loaf hastily and set out for the Castle Mill Stream Bridge. It was my plan that Arthur and I would alternate visiting the Fox's Lair and circling about the place. I was some worried that Sir Jocelin might recognize us, so told Arthur that when he entered the inn he should take his wine to some dark corner of the place where a new patron, his eyes accustomed to daylight, would not see him.

  The precaution was unnecessary. Hawkwode did not appear at the inn. I was annoyed at the failure, but Arthur seemed pleased that we might perform the same duty on the morrow. He spoke several times of the quality of the claret while we m
ade our return to Canterbury Hall.

  I was surprised to see Robert Caxton standing before the gatehouse. When he saw us appear he immediately hurried to meet us.

  "Good evening," I greeted my future father-in-law. "What news?" It was clear from his pace and expression that he had tidings to relate.

  "The man you seek… Kate has found him."

  "Kate?"

  "Aye. You did not return after dinner, so Kate thought to venture out and watch for the fellow you seek."

  "She found him? The red-bearded knight wearing a green surcoat?"

  "Aye, she did."

  "Where?"

  "You sought the man in taverns and inns. Kate thought of another place a young gentleman might frequent."

  My wit was slow. Caxton saw and when I made no reply he continued. "She went off to the Church of St Mary the Virgin, an' sat where she might see those who pass up an' down Grope Lane."

  Then I understood. Kate had risked her reputation to aid my search. Most of the whores of Oxford reside in and work their trade on Grope Lane.

  "The man I seek is Sir Jocelin Hawkwode," I replied. "Arthur learned his name this day, and we watched for him this afternoon at an inn he is known to frequent."

  "He sought his pleasures elsewhere this day," Caxton chuckled. "Kate saw the man you seek leave a house on Grope Lane just before the ninth hour. She followed him."

  "To a house? Was she seen?"

  "Yes… and no, she thinks not."

  "She can take me to the house where Hawkwode resides?"

  "Aye. You are to call in the morning and she will take you there. 'Tis a grand house on Great Bailey Street."

  I ate my pottage that evening in silence, pondering how best to approach a man who had tried twice to do me harm. Would he seek a third opportunity did he know I pursued him? Master John noted my pensive demeanor and when the meal was done invited me to his chamber.

  "Have you sought Sir Roger yet?" he asked.

  "Not yet. I have been seeking a man who has some part in the matter."

  "The knight of the green surcoat?"

  "Aye. His name is Sir Jocelin Hawkwode. He lives, I am told, in a house on Great Bailey Street."

  "Hawkwode?"

  "Aye. You know the name?"

  "There was a youth by that name some years past at Queen's College. I think it was Jocelin. I have told students that when I see them some years in the future, if I remember them well, they may assume 'tis because they were excellent scholars, or poor ones. I will allow them to decide which they might have been. The mediocrities I am unlikely to remember many years hence."

  When I called upon him two years past Master John remembered me well, or said he did. I did not wish to pursue the matter further.

  "You have little memory of a Jocelin Hawkwode?"

  "The name is familiar, but nothing more."

  "I wonder what interest the fellow can have in your books?"

  "Perhaps none," Wyclif mused. "He is a companion of Sir Simon. You saw them together on the road. 'Tis Sir Simon's interest in books and your search which must be the key to this mystery."

  "I think time has come to seek Sir Roger's mind on this business," I said. "It was Kate who found where Hawkwode resides. She has promised to show me the place on the morrow. I will leave Arthur to watch the house while I seek the sheriff. I would like to know more of Sir Jocelin Hawkwode. Perhaps Sir Roger knows him well enough to know how he might respond when pressed."

  Next morning was not so cold, for which small blessing I remembered to thank the Lord Christ before Arthur and I set out for Holywell Street. I was eager to learn of Sir Jocelin Hawkwode and his residence. Robert Caxton had not opened his shop for business when we arrived, but Kate was prompt at the door when I knocked upon it.

  "Father told you of the house on Great Bailey Street where… what is his name?"

  "Hawkwode… Sir Jocelin Hawkwode. Arthur learned his name yesterday and you found his abode."

  "Shall I take you there?"

  "Aye. 'Tis early, but we may catch the fellow before he goes about for the day."

  Terce had not yet rung and the streets were near empty, so nothing impeded our progress to Great Bailey Street. The house Kate pointed out was a substantial dwelling, typical of an Oxford town house of a prosperous gentleman. It was two stories tall, and four chimneys indicated plenty of warmth available for cold winter days. A few tendrils of smoke rose from one chimney. Perhaps the cook was out of bed and at the day's business, but few others were, it seemed.

  I wished to confront Sir Jocelin on the street, where he might be alone, rather than in his lair. The house was large enough to accommodate a dozen knights and squires. It would be folly to impeach the man where he might call companions for aid.

  I required of Arthur that he escort Kate back to her father. She was not pleased. The banns were read and we might soon be wed, if I did not raise her choler too often. I was uneasy, for it seemed in the past days I had chosen to displease Kate more than once.

  Across Great Bailey Street from Sir Jocelin's residence was the ancient moat and the castle. Shops around the corner on Pennyfarthing Lane were yet closed, so no customers walked the muddy streets. A man may lose himself in a crowd. Alone he cannot. I did not see a face peer from a window, but someone surely did. They saw me saunter up and down the road and plotted, while I awaited Arthur's return.

  Perhaps the third time I traveled the street the door burst open as I passed the place and three young men charged silently from the house. They stumbled over each other briefly, then came running straight for me. One wore a green surcoat and a short red beard sprouted from his chin.

  This was not the plan I had envisioned when I considered a confrontation with Sir Jocelin. Some day, when I greet the Lord Christ in heaven, I must ask why my schemes so seldom unfold as contrived.

  My fur coat is warm, but not suited to flight. The heavy garment caught at my legs as I turned from my pursuers and ran. I am not sturdily made. In a fight with one of these knights I would be hard pressed. Against three I would find myself pummeled into the mud of the street, or worse. But an advantage of a slender form is a good turn of speed when I take to my heels. And most men find unknown reserves when pursued by those who intend them harm. My flapping coat slowed me but little.

  The castle gate stood open little more than two hundred paces from me. Was Sir John Trillowe yet sheriff I would have passed the castle and fled toward Canterbury Hall. Was Sir Simon yet in residence the castle would have provided no refuge.

  A few men about business in the castle walked to and fro through the gatehouse. Some heard my feet pounding through the mud and glanced up from their passage to see what provoked such haste. I threaded my way past these fellows and glanced over my shoulder to see what distance I had put between myself and my pursuers. I was pleased to see them skidding to a halt in the castle forecourt, unwilling to continue the chase and surely startled that I would seek refuge in the castle. I slowed my pace, turned to Hawkwode, bowed, and swept my arm in invitation to follow. He glared, shook his fist, and turned away.

  13

  I had intended to call upon the new sheriff, mention my employer, and learn could Lord Gilbert's name bring me Sir Roger's aid. Sir Jocelin Hawkwode and his companions hastened this visit. Perhaps God chose to contrive my call upon Sir Roger this day, and devised this method to get me to the castle. If so be, it succeeded remarkably well.

  This was my third visit to the castle. I was learning my way about the place. I knew well where to find the sheriff's chamber and set off for the hall with resolute steps. None challenged my passage. I gave appearance of knowing where I was going and seemed to have reason for going there. And a man wearing a fur coat on a cold day is thought to be of some means and therefore worthy of a warder's deference.

  The anteroom before Sir Roger's chamber was already crowded with supplicants. I heard the hum of conversation while I was yet in the passage leading to the chamber. A dozen or more men and two wome
n crowded the room. Many held documents in hand or rolled under an arm. A clerk, unknown to me, looked up from a table which guarded the door to the sheriff's chamber. His visage spoke; words were unnecessary: "Another who seeks a post or favor from Sir Roger."

  The place before the clerk's table was empty. Those in the hall had presented their petitions and now awaited Sir Roger's will. The wait, I thought, might be long. I decided to see what Lord Gilbert Talbot's name might do to speed my appeal.

  "I am Hugh de Singleton, bailiff to Lord Gilbert Talbot at his manor of Bampton. Lord Gilbert and Sir Roger fought side by side at Poitiers."

  This information did not seem to impress the clerk. He shifted his gaze to admire his fingernails.

  "Lord Gilbert has sent me to Oxford on a matter of some urgency," I continued. This was not exactly true, but was not untrue, either. "Lord Gilbert would be much pleased should Sir Roger find occasion to assist in the difficulty. Perhaps you might inform Sir Roger of my presence and Lord Gilbert's request."

  The clerk rolled his eyes but did as I asked. As bailiff to Lord Gilbert I have much authority in Bampton, and some even in Oxford. Though it is true in Oxford I must occasionally flee from miscreants who respect neither me nor my employer.

  The clerk pushed open the heavy oaken door and I heard voices through the aperture. Sir Roger had a guest already. The clerk stood in the doorway and repeated my words nearly as I had spoken them. The fellow was practiced at relaying messages to his master.

  When the clerk was silent I heard a chair scrape across the flags and a heartbeat later a round, florid face appeared beyond the clerk, peering at me through the open door from under a pair of the shaggiest eyebrows I have ever seen. On a bright day Sir Roger carries with him his own shade.

  "Bailiff for Lord Gilbert, eh," Sir Roger exclaimed, and pressed past his clerk through the doorway. "How does he? Is well, I hope. Enter… enter. How may I assist him?"

  I did not hesitate. As I passed into the inner chamber I caught sight of envious glances from those who were before me seeking audience with Sir Roger. I felt guilty, but the emotion soon passed.