The Pillars of the Earth

by Ken Follett

  She hurried to untie the other horse. Her cold fingers fumbled with the knot. The thought of William waking up had made her lose her nerve. He would open his eyes, sit up, look around him, remember where he was, and wonder why his horse had called. He was sure to come. She felt she could not face him again. The shameful, brutal, agonizing thing he had done to her came back in all its horror.

  Richard said urgently: "Come on, Allie!" His horse was jittery and impatient now. He was working hard to make it stay still. He needed to gallop it for a mile or two, to tire it; then it would be more tractable. It neighed again, and started moving sideways.

  At last Aliena got the knot undone. She was tempted to drop the rope, but then she would have had no way to tie the horse up again, so she coiled it hastily and messily and tied it to a saddle strap. She needed to adjust the stirrups: they were the right length for William's groom, who was several inches taller than she was, so they would be too low for her to reach when she was in the saddle. But she could picture William coming down the stairs, crossing the hall, coming out into the air--

  "I can't hold this horse much longer," Richard said in a strained voice.

  Aliena was as jittery as the war-horse. She swung herself up on the stallion. Sitting on the saddle hurt her, inside, and it was all she could do to stay on. Richard moved his horse toward the gate, and Aliena's horse followed without any prompting from her. The stirrups were out of reach, as she had expected, and she had to grip with her knees. As they moved off she heard a shout from somewhere behind her, and she groaned aloud: "Oh, no." She saw Richard kick his horse. The huge beast lumbered into a trot. Her own followed suit. She was grateful that it always did what the war-horse did, for she was in no state to control it herself. Richard kicked the war-horse again and it picked up speed as they passed under the arch of the gatehouse. Aliena heard another shout, much closer. She looked over her shoulder to see William and his groom pounding across the compound after her.

  Richard's horse was nervous, and as soon as it saw open fields in front of it, it put its head down and broke into a gallop. They thundered across the wooden drawbridge. Aliena felt something tug at her thigh, and saw, out of the corner of her eye, a man's hand reaching for her saddle straps; but an instant later it was gone, and she knew they had escaped. Relief flooded her; but then she felt the pain again. As the horse galloped across the field she felt stabbed inside, as she had when the foul William had penetrated her; and there was a warm trickle on her thigh. She gave the horse its head and shut her eyes tight against the pain. But the horror of the night before came back to her, and she saw it all behind her closed eyelids. As they raced across the field she chanted in time with the horse's hoofbeats: "I can't remember I can't remember I can't I can't I can't."

  Her horse angled to the right and she sensed that it was going up a slight slope. She opened her eyes and saw that Richard had turned off the mud path and was taking a long route to the woods. She thought he probably wanted to make sure the war-horse was good and tired before letting it slow down. Both beasts would be easier to manage after being ridden hard. Soon she felt her own mount starting to flag. She sat back in the saddle. The horse slowed to a canter, then a trot, then a walk. Richard's horse still had energy to burn, and it pulled away.

  Aliena looked back across the fields. The castle was a mile away, and she was not sure whether or not she could see two figures standing on the drawbridge looking toward her. They would have to walk a long way to find replacement horses, she thought. She felt safe for a while.

  Her hands and feet tingled as they warmed up. Heat rose from the horse as from a fire, and wrapped her in a hot-air cocoon. Richard let his horse slow down at last, and turned back toward her, his horse walking and blowing hard. They turned into the trees. They both knew these woods well, for they had lived here most of their lives.

  "Where are we going?" asked Richard.

  Aliena frowned. Where were they going? What were they going to do? They had no food, nothing to drink, and no money. She had no clothes except for the cloak she was wearing--no tunic, no undershirt, no hat, no shoes. She intended to take care of her brother--but how?

  She could see now that for the past three months she had been living in a dream. She had known, in the back of her mind, that the old life was over, but she had refused to face it. William Hamleigh had woken her up. She had no doubt that his story was true, and King Stephen had made Percy Hamleigh the earl of Shiring; but perhaps there was more to it. Perhaps the king had made some provision for her and Richard. If not, he should have, and they could certainly petition him. Either way, they had to go to Winchester. There they could at least find out what had happened to their father.

  She suddenly thought: Oh, Father, where did it all go wrong?

  Ever since her mother had died, her father had taken special care of her. She knew he paid more attention to her than other fathers did to their daughters. He felt bad that he had not married again, to give her a new mother; and he had explained that he was happier with the memory of his wife than he ever could be with a substitute. Aliena had never wanted another mother anyway. Her father had looked after her, and she had looked after Richard, and that way no harm could ever come to any of them.

  Those days were gone forever.

  "Where are we going?" Richard said again.

  "To Winchester," she said. "We'll go and see the king."

  Richard was enthusiastic. "Yes! And when we report what William and his groom did last night, the king will surely--"

  In a flash, Aliena was possessed by uncontrollable rage. "Shut your mouth!" she screamed. The horses started nervously. She pulled viciously on her reins. "Don't ever say that!" She was choking with fury and could hardly spit out the words. "We're not going to tell anyone what they did--not anyone! Never! Never! Never!"

  The groom's saddlebags contained a large lump of hard cheese, some dregs of wine in a leather bottle, a flint and some kindling, and a pound or two of mixed grains which Aliena imagined were for the horses. She and Richard ate the cheese and drank the wine at noon, while the horses grazed the sparse grass and evergreen shrubs and drank from a clear stream. She had stopped bleeding and the lower half of her torso felt numb.

  They had seen some other travelers, but Aliena had told Richard to speak to no one. To the casual observer they appeared a formidable couple, Richard in particular, on his huge horse, with his sword; but a few moments' conversation would reveal them to be a pair of kids with no one to take care of them, and then they might be vulnerable. So they steered clear of other people.

  As the day began to fade they looked for somewhere to spend the night. They found a clearing near a stream a hundred yards or so from the road. Aliena gave the horses some grain while Richard made a fire. If they had had a cooking pot they could have made porridge with the horse grain. As it was, they would just have to chew the grains raw, unless they could find some sweet chestnuts and roast them.

  While she was pondering that, and Richard was out of sight gathering firewood, she was scared by a deep voice close to her. "And who would you be, my lass?"

  She screamed. The horse backed away, frightened. Aliena turned and saw a dirty, bearded man all dressed in brown leather. He took a step toward her. "Keep away from me!" she shrieked.

  "No need to be afraid," he said.

  Out of the corner of her eye she saw Richard step into the clearing behind the stranger, his arms full of wood. He stood looking at the two of them. Draw your sword! thought Aliena, but he looked too scared and uncertain to do anything. She stepped back, trying to get the horse between herself and the stranger. "We've got no money," she said. "We've got nothing."

  "I'm the king's verderer," he said.

  Aliena almost collapsed with relief. A verderer was a royal servant paid to enforce the forest laws. "Why didn't you say so, you foolish man?" she said, angry at having been scared. "I took you for an outlaw!"

  He looked startled, and rather offended, as if she had said someth
ing impolite; but all he said was: "You'll be a high-born lady, then."

  "I am the daughter of the earl of Shiring."

  "And the boy will be his son," said the verderer, although he had not seemed to see Richard.

  Richard now stepped forward and dropped his firewood. "That's right," he said. "What's your name?"

  "Brian. Are you planning to spend the night here?"

  "Yes."

  "All alone?"

  "Yes." Aliena knew he was wondering why they had no escort, but she was not going to tell him.

  "And you've no money, you say."

  Aliena frowned at him. "Do you doubt me?"

  "Oh, no. I can tell you're nobility, by your manners." Was there a hint of irony in his voice? "If you're alone and penniless, perhaps you'd prefer to spend the night at my house. It's not far."

  Aliena had no intention of putting herself at the mercy of this rough character. She was about to refuse when he spoke again.

  "My wife would be glad to give you supper. And I've a warm outhouse where you could sleep, if you prefer to sleep alone."

  The wife made a difference. Accepting the hospitality of a respectable family should be safe enough. Still Aliena hesitated. Then she thought of a fireplace, a bowl of hot pottage, a cup of wine, and a bed of straw with a roof over it. "We'd be grateful," she said. "We've nothing to give you--I told the truth about having no money--but we'll come back and reward you one day."

  "Good enough," said the verderer. He went over to the fire and kicked it out.

  Aliena and Richard mounted--they had not yet unsaddled the horses. The verderer came over and said: "Give me the reins." Not sure what he wanted to do, Aliena gave him the reins, and Richard did likewise. The man set off through the forest, leading the horses. Aliena would have preferred to hold the reins herself, but she decided to let him have his way.

  It was farther than he had indicated. They had traveled three or four miles, and it was dark, by the time they reached a small wood house with a thatched roof on the edge of a field. But there was light shining through the shutters and a smell of cooking, and Aliena dismounted gratefully.

  The verderer's wife heard the horses and came to the door. The man said to her: "A young lord and lady, alone in the forest. Give them something to drink." He turned to Aliena. "In you go. I'll see to the horses."

  Aliena did not like his peremptory tone--she would have preferred it if she were the one giving instructions--but she had no wish to unsaddle her own horse, so she went inside. Richard followed. The house was smoky and smelly, but warm. There was a cow tethered in one corner. Aliena was glad the man had mentioned an outhouse: she had never slept with cattle. A pot bubbled on the fire. They sat on a bench, and the wife gave them each a bowl of soup from the pot. It tasted gamey. When she saw Richard's face in the light she was shocked. "What happened to you?" she said.

  Richard opened his mouth to reply but Aliena forestalled him. "We've had a series of misfortunes," she said. "We're on our way to see the king."

  "I see," said the wife. She was a small, brown-skinned woman with a guarded look. She did not persist in her questioning.

  Aliena ate her soup quickly and wanted more. She held out her bowl. The woman looked away. Aliena was puzzled. Did she not know what Aliena wanted? Or did she not have any more? Aliena was about to speak to her sharply when the verderer came in. "I'll show you the barn, where you can sleep," he said. He took a lamp from a hook by the door. "Come with me."

  Aliena and Richard stood up. Aliena said to the wife: "There is one thing more I need. Can you give me an old dress? I've got nothing on under this cloak."

  The woman looked annoyed for some reason. "I'll see what I can find," she muttered.

  Aliena went to the door. The verderer was giving her a strange look, staring at her cloak as if he might be able to see through it if he looked hard enough. "Lead the way!" she said sharply. He turned and went through the door.

  He led them around to the back of the house and through a vegetable patch. The shifting light of the lamp revealed a small wooden building, more of a shed than a barn. He opened the door. It banged against a water butt that collected the rain from the roof. "Take a look," he said. "See if it suits you."

  Richard went in first. "Bring the light, Allie," he said. Aliena turned to take the lamp from the verderer. As she did so, he gave her a powerful shove. She fell sideways, through the doorway and into the barn, cannoning off her brother. They both ended up in a tangle on the floor. It went dark and the door banged shut. There was a peculiar noise outside, as of something heavy being moved in front of the door.

  Aliena could not believe this was happening.

  "What's going on, Allie?" Richard cried.

  She sat up. Was the man really a verderer, or was he an outlaw? He could not be an outlaw--his house was too substantial. But if he really was a verderer, why had he locked them up? Had they broken a law? Did he guess that the horses were not theirs? Or did he have some dishonest motive?

  "Allie, why did he do that?" Richard said.

  "I don't know," she said wearily. She had no energy left to be upset or angry. She got up and pushed at the door. It would not move. She guessed that the verderer had put the water butt up against it. In the dark, she felt the walls of the barn. She could reach the lower slopes of the roof, too. The building was made of close-set timbers. It had been carefully constructed. It was the verderer's jail, where he kept offenders before taking them to the sheriff. "We can't get out," she said.

  She sat down. The floor was dry and covered with straw. "We're stuck here until he lets us out," she said resignedly. Richard sat beside her. After a while they lay down back to back. Aliena felt she was too battered and frightened and tense to go to sleep, but she was also exhausted, and within a few moments she fell into a healing slumber.

  She woke up when the door opened and daylight fell on her face. She sat up immediately, feeling frightened, not knowing where she was or why she was sleeping on the hard ground. Then she remembered, and was still more frightened: what was the verderer going to do to them? However, it was not the verderer who came in but his small brown wife; and although her face was as set and closed as it had been last night, she was carrying a hunk of bread and two cups.

  Richard sat up too. They both eyed the woman warily. She said nothing, but handed them each a cup, then broke the bread in two and gave half to each of them. Aliena suddenly realized she was starving. She dipped her bread in her beer and began to eat.

  The woman stood in the doorway, watching them, while they finished off the bread and beer. Then she handed Aliena what looked like a length of worn, yellowing linen, folded up. Aliena unfolded it. It was an old dress.

  The woman said: "Put that on and get out of here."

  Aliena was mystified by the combination of kindness and hard words, but she did not hesitate to take the dress. She turned her back, dropped her cloak, pulled the dress over her head quickly, and put the cloak back on.

  She felt better.

  The woman handed her a pair of worn wooden clogs, too big.

  Aliena said: "I can't ride with clogs on."

  The woman laughed harshly. "You won't be riding."

  "Why not?"

  "He's taken your horses."

  Aliena's heart sank. It was too unfair that they should suffer more bad luck. "Where's he taken them?"

  "He doesn't tell me these things, but I'd guess he's gone to Shiring. He'll sell the beasts, then find out who you are, and whether there's anything more to be made out of you than the price of your horseflesh."

  "So why are you letting us go?"

  The woman looked Aliena up and down. "Because I didn't like the way he looked at you when you told him you were naked under your cloak. You may not understand that now, but you will when you're a wife."

  Aliena understood it already, but she did not say so.

  Richard said: "Won't he kill you when he finds you've let us go?"

  She gave a cynical smi
le. "He doesn't scare me as much as he scares others. Now be off."

  They went out. Aliena understood that this woman had learned how to live with a brutal and heartless man, and had even managed to preserve a minimum of decency and compassion. "Thank you for the dress," she said awkwardly.

  The woman did not want her thanks. She pointed down the path and said: "Winchester is that way."

  They walked away and did not look back.

  Aliena had never worn clogs--people of her class always had leather boots or sandals--and she found them clumsy and uncomfortable. However, they were better than nothing when the ground was cold.

  When they were out of sight of the verderer's house, Richard said: "Allie, why are these things happening to us?"

  The question demoralized Aliena. Everyone was cruel to them. People were allowed to beat them and rob them as if they were horses or dogs. There was nobody to protect them. We've been too trusting, she thought. They had lived for three months in the castle without ever barring the doors. She resolved to trust nobody in the future. Never again would she let someone else take the reins of her horse, even if she had to be rude to prevent it. Never again would she let someone get behind her the way the verderer had last night, when he pushed her into the shed. She would never accept the hospitality of a stranger, never leave her door unlocked at night, never take kindness at face value.

  "Let's walk faster," she said to Richard. "Perhaps we can reach Winchester by nightfall."

  They followed the path to the clearing where they had met the verderer. The remains of their fire were still there. From there they easily found the road to Winchester. They had been to Winchester before, many times, and they knew the way. Once they were on the road they could move faster. Frost had hardened the mud since the storm two nights ago.

  Richard's face was returning to normal. He had washed it yesterday, in a cold brook in the woods, and most of the dried blood had gone. There was an ugly scab where his right earlobe had been. His lips were still swollen but the puffiness had gone from the rest of his face. However, he was still badly bruised, and the angry color of the bruises gave him a rather frightening appearance. Still, that would do no harm.