Hangman Blind

by Cassandra Clark

  ‘And my name is May. I’m wife to John of Hessle.’

  ‘And the baby?’ Hildegard prompted again. Silence. ‘I believe the baby is your own,’ she said gently.

  There was a flurry from the raft.

  ‘You’re safe with us. I imagine some strong inducement was offered to make you hand over your own son to them.’ She remembered how fiercely May had tended the child, like a mother defending her cub.

  May seemed to struggle with some knotted thought of her own but eventually in a low voice she said, ‘There’s something else.’ She paused, then added in a rush, ‘The name of my baby is Marianna.’

  Hildegard and Thomas took in the meaning of what she said.

  ‘And baby Roger, the son and heir of Sir Ralph and Lady Sibilla?’ ventured Thomas just to be sure.

  ‘Baby Roger!’ the woman scoffed. ‘How long did they expect to get away with that charade, the sot-brained idiots!’

  May told them she intended to get as far as the lock then persuade her cousin, the lock-keeper’s boy, to help her safely down to Frismersk, where her husband worked. ‘We know that marsh and its ways. I’ll be as safe as a princess in a stone tower once I get down there.’

  ‘But the baby,’ Hildegard pointed out, ‘it’s too tender to be dragged about the countryside at this time of year.’ Her fear was Escrick and his long reach into marsh dragon territory, but she did not wish to alarm the woman more than necessary.

  May was adamant. ‘I’m not going back to Meaux with Lady Sibilla there. She’ll kill me. And she’ll snatch my baby back. I’ll let her have her gold, what’s left of it. But I’m hanging on to my baby, like it or no.’ She would not be budged.

  ‘The priory at Swyne isn’t far. You could find sanctuary with the nuns,’ Hildegard urged. ‘They’ll be pleased to take care of you both. At least you’ll be safe.’ Sensing that May was unconvinced, she added, ‘I know Frismersk. It’s a wild, desolate place. When the river’s in spate you’ll be trapped. Some of the sheep-cotes were washed away at the last high tide, weren’t they?’

  ‘It’s home,’ said May, simply.

  ‘Don’t you want your baby to be safe?’ She could imagine Escrick doggedly hunting the pair across the salt marsh. When he caught them, as he would, there would be no law to prevent him doing whatever he wanted.

  May thought swiftly. ‘If we go to the lock we can borrow horses. Then I can ride to Swyne. The nuns might send a message to my man? I’ll do that if you think the prioress will take us in.’

  ‘It’s better than lingering in this ditch with Escrick on the prowl,’ urged Thomas.

  ‘Get into our boat, May. There’s no time to waste. Your baby’s sleeping now but when she wakes Master Escrick will be down like a shot.’

  Without further urging May allowed them to help her from the raft into the boat and, though cramped, Thomas managed to scull them quietly into midstream. ‘Keep an eye open,’ he said, ‘and when we get close to the lock be even more careful. Is there any way of getting up the bank before then, May?’

  ‘Not that I know of. I can’t say I make a habit of boating up and down the abbot’s ditch.’ She laughed. ‘It’s a good job I’m familiar with rafts and the like. I’d just crossed over and was going to set it adrift when it struck me I could get away on it and leave no trail. I heard them hounds coming out of the abbey, putting the fear of God into me, begging your pardon, sister, then I hit on this way of outwitting them.’

  Her spirits seemed restored by her unexpected rescue, and now she settled down to pet the little bundle wrapped inside her cloak. ‘As if they could’ve made out you’re a lad!’ she murmured.

  The baby slept and Hildegard wondered what sort of draught May had given her to make her so peaceful in the middle of the drama.

  While Thomas sculled silently towards the lock gates Hildegard asked her why she had allowed her child to be passed off as someone else’s. Sibilla had approached her after hearing she was pregnant, May explained, and, giving her a story about the sort of life she would bestow on the child by bringing it up as her own, had offered a dazzlingly large sum of money that could have set May and her husband up for life. The thought of their child living in luxury was too much to refuse. The deal was struck.

  ‘When I was near my time I was brought secretly to Castle Hutton to give birth. They weren’t half worried when you sprang from nowhere. Somebody had had the forethought to slip one of Lady Sibilla’s rings on my finger but they were in a right flummox, thinking you saw her as she left the birthing chamber by another door.’

  ‘The perfume! So that’s what it was. I knew there was something strange but I couldn’t put my finger on it.’ How our senses reveal the truth, Hildegard thought – and betray us too.

  ‘Everything went according to plan after that. Marianna was born, perfect in every way, except one, according to Lady Sibilla.’

  ‘But then the plot started to unravel?’

  May nodded. ‘Lord Roger was struck by the pestilence and died. That was the first thing. Then Ada was found with her belly slit open and her mouth laced up in that horrible way. We all knew it was a warning to keep our traps shut. I began to live in mortal fear, I can tell you.’ She gave a shudder. ‘I didn’t know what to do. Sir Ralph was raving, he hadn’t reckoned on leaving Castle Hutton so soon, and Lady Sibilla’s a very strong-minded woman. Talk about a shouting match! Sir Ralph was all for telling them she was unfit to travel so they should stay there but she wouldn’t hear of it. “We need to be seen,” she said, “or that bloody brother-in-law of yours will be having himself announced heir in front of everybody.” “All the more reason for staying put, here in the castle,” said Sir Ralph. “Let him try and take it with us in it.” But the Lady Sibilla would not give way. “Tactics, Ralph,” she said. “You know all about those.” And that was that.’

  The horsemen had been left far behind, beating vainly at the empty reed beds, apparently unaware that their quarry had gone to earth. Soon the lock appeared against the gradually lightening sky. Dawn would soon be upon them. It was lucky, Hildegard was thinking, that they had almost reached their destination before the canal turned into a ribbon of light. She began to breathe a sigh of relief.

  But then they heard a grinding sound like a wheel being turned on a wooden spindle. Their boat was now slipping between the artificial banks where the canal had been most heavily engineered on the approaches to the lock.

  ‘There must be a craft of some sort inside,’ Hildegard said in alarm as she imagined Escrick pursuing them in a boat he had found.

  The sky became lighter by the minute. Then they saw the lock gates ahead of them begin to open. To their horror a man appeared high up on top of the beam above the gate.

  It was Escrick Fitzjohn.

  He was running towards the second capstan, which opened the upper gates. When he reached it they saw him strain to set it in motion. Behind the gates was a wall of water that would normally empty into the basin thirty feet below where it would be confined by the second gate in order to allow craft to descend to the lower level. With those gates open, a wall of water would surge down the channel in a great wave, carrying everything before it.

  ‘You can see what he’s doing! We’ve got to get off the water!’ Thomas exclaimed.

  Glancing at the banks on both sides they knew there was no escape that way. Horrified, the three of them watched as Escrick exerted his whole strength against the capstan and it began to grind slowly round until it started the process that would allow the upper gates to open and release the pressure.

  The sun was emitting its first rays and in the increasing light they could see a trickle of water begin to seep through the wooden gates as they inched open. Then it began to spout in an increasing spate between the gap.

  May clutched her baby to her breast, her eyes widening in horror. ‘This is the end! What can we do? O Lord, help us, I beseech you, O Lord, help!’

  Chapter Nineteen

  HILDEGARD REACTED SWIFTLY. ‘T
ake your child, May. You must climb the bank. We’ll help from below.’ They might be able to hoist May on to their shoulders so she could get a foothold higher up. Even if she didn’t reach the top she and the baby might be safe enough above the worst of the surge.

  Thomas gasped. They turned to see a man in yellow running alongside the lock from the direction of the keeper’s cottage. The sun, brighter by the moment, began to light the scene in all its detail. When he reached Escrick he grabbed him and tried to drag him away from the capstan. Escrick staggered but did not fall.

  ‘That’s the lock-keeper!’ exclaimed May.

  Thomas dug hard into the water with the paddle and propelled the boat as fast as he could towards the lock itself. ‘If we can only reach the gates in time,’ he said through gritted teeth, ‘we can climb the ladder beside them.’

  As they neared the lock Hildegard could just make out the rungs of a rickety wooden ladder fixed to the wall below the keeper’s cottage. It must have been there since the gates were first built, she thought. Heart in her mouth, she urged Thomas on as he propelled the craft forward with the strength of desperation.

  The lock-keeper was getting the worst of an exchange of blows but then a sudden swing of his club caught Escrick on the side of the head. He gave a roar of rage and fell back, then he snarled something and drew his sword. The lock-keeper dodged past him and ran out on to the wooden beam that formed the top of the lock gate. Having lured Escrick away from the capstan, he jumped the gap through which the water was beginning to spurt, then turned to face him.

  It was an uneven contest. Escrick was a trained fighting man. He was armed with steel. He even wore a hauberk. By contrast the lock-keeper was in a loose tunic and woollen breeches and held only a piece of wood.

  With a shout of anger Escrick simply took one stride across the gap and ran his sword straight through the keeper’s chest. But it was not over. Such was the force of his attack he was unable to withdraw the blade. Although he must have been in agony, the lock-keeper grabbed hold of the blade close to the hilt and, aware that he was already a dead man, deliberately plunged backwards over the gate into the lock basin, twenty feet below, dragging Escrick with him.

  There was a long silence as the two men fell. Then they hit the water with a crack and broke through as through a pane of glass.

  Tearing their eyes away, the three in the boat switched their attention to saving themselves. Already the partly open gates were bulging with the force of the water behind them. At such an angle, inched partly open, they would not be able to resist the pressure for long. As soon as Thomas brought the boat within reach of the ladder, Hildegard leaned out and grasped hold of the nearest rung. ‘Quickly, May, climb up!’

  The nursemaid didn’t argue. With her baby tucked firmly in her cloak, she began to climb the ladder. Hildegard followed and the novice came scrambling after. When they were high enough to be out of danger they looked back to see Escrick struggling on the surface of the water and the lock-keeper’s body in a stain of blood sinking and rising, and sinking again. His hands were still clamped round the sword that had killed him.

  There was a shout and a boy’s face appeared over the top of the bank. It was as white as a swan’s feather. His mouth worked but no sound emerged.

  ‘It’s me, Oswin! Give us a help up.’ May had recognised her young cousin. With the baby beginning to whimper, she held a hand out for assistance and was dragged on to the path in front of the cottage to safety.

  Back in the canal Escrick, weighted by his armour, struggled wildly to stay afloat. He lost his sword when the lock-keeper sank below the surface for the last time. Still clinging to the ladder, Hildegard and Thomas watched in astonishment as he struggled to cast aside his heavy leather belt and, ignoring the threatened deluge, desperately fought his way out of his hauberk. Then they saw him draw in his breath before diving under the water in pursuit of his sword.

  At that moment the great wooden gates, that had resisted the pressure of the water on the other side for so long, burst open with a massive splintering of shattered oak. There was a roar as the pent waters surged through the narrow gap. Shards of wood flew in all directions. Hildegard and Thomas scrambled rapidly the rest of the way up the ladder and reached the bank as the wave surfed past. They could do nothing but watch as it continued to smash down in a deadly blaze of white foam on the spot where Escrick had been. Their own small craft was turned to matchwood in an instant and vanished beneath the flood. After a few moments the water began to find its own level and soon all that remained was the swaying and rustling of grasses at the bottom of the bank as the water streamed past.

  Oswin, the lock-keeper’s boy, was in a state of shock. It was May who seemed the calmer of the two. She took him back inside the cottage and kicked the embers in the fire-pit into a blaze. There was already a pot set there with a mess of day-old pottage in it, and she stirred the contents and told him to sit down and stop his teeth chattering as the sound was getting on her nerves. She said further that there was nothing to be achieved by moaning and he should sup up and do as he was told. A flagon of small beer was thrust into his hands.

  ‘But that was my master,’ he kept saying. ‘Run through with a sword. Then drowned. My dear master, doing no harm to anybody all his life long.’ He began to sob quietly until May put the baby into his arms. ‘He saved this one,’ she said. ‘He didn’t die in vain at all.’

  Aware that her hounds were loose on the other side of the canal and that there was no easy way of getting over to them, Hildegard gave Thomas a rueful glance. ‘Our short walk has turned into quite a journey.’

  ‘And Escrick’s men might make it even longer if they find a way over to this side.’ He frowned. ‘I can’t think what Brother Gregory’s going to say when he finds me missing from my studies.’

  ‘It might be a good idea to get May and Marianna into safe territory first and then consider the problem of getting you back for your lessons.’

  May butted in. ‘Oswin will lend me the lock-keeper’s old nag. Then he’s going to accompany me to this priory you mentioned. There’s nothing you could say, sister, that I can’t just as well say for myself,’ she was quick to point out.

  ‘We’ll return to Meaux, then.’

  When Oswin had recovered his wits he went out to saddle the mare. Hildegard took the baby on to her lap, while May herself made short work of a bowl of pottage. She was full of vigour despite having given birth so recently and as soon as she had eaten she took the baby to suckle. Now seemed as good a time as any in which to find out more about the plot hatched by Sir Ralph and Lady Sibilla.

  ‘How did they feel about Ada’s murder?’ Hildegard began. ‘When I broke the news to Sibilla she pretended not to know who she was.’

  ‘The liar!’ exclaimed May. She’s been with Lady Sibilla since she was a child. That’s why she was chosen to attend the birth. They trusted her. They were forced to let several in on their stupid plan. Escrick because he did all their dirty work, the midwife, naturally, Sibilla’s personal maid who attended the birth, for what use she was, dabbing away at me with a little perfumed cloth, and Ada, of course, who at least had some idea what to do.’

  ‘So what went wrong?’ asked Hildegard.

  ‘Maybe Ada was less easily bribed than the rest of us.’ May looked somewhat shamefaced for a moment, then explained. ‘We were happy enough to go along with things, money in our pockets, debts paid, but I think Lady Sibilla grew worried Ada was about to talk. Escrick must have taken things into his own hands as usual. Vicious bastard.’

  ‘What do you mean?’

  ‘You know.’ May looked down. ‘What I said, him doing what he did.’

  ‘It was Escrick, then, who murdered Ada? Is that what you’re saying?’ Hildegard felt she must have it unequivocally from the girl’s own lips.

  May nodded. In a low voice she said, ‘I was terrified at what he did to her. Of course, we all heard about the stitching up of her lips. It was clear enough what he
was trying to tell us, those of us in the know, that is. The midwife couldn’t get out fast enough.’

  ‘And did someone order him to do that?’

  ‘Not when I was around. But I did hear Lady Sibilla say to him: ‘Have you impressed on Ada the need for secrecy as I asked?’ and he said: ‘I have, my lady.’ We didn’t know till later what he meant. When they heard she was dead Sir Ralph knew straight away what he’d done.

  ‘It must have been very frightening,’ said Hildegard gently.

  ‘It was! But it got worse after I made that confession to the monk.’ May gave a shudder. ‘I went to confession as soon as we got to Meaux. Even though I’ve never had much time for the Church I started having visions of hellfire.’

  ‘Guilt is a powerful thing,’ said Thomas nodding.

  ‘It was when I was coming out of the church, Escrick just sprang out at me from behind one of them pillars and he says, ‘You’ve been in there a long time, mistress.’ I say, ‘I’ve had a lot to get off my chest.’ I never thought he’d think twice about me telling a monk. But he says, ‘You seem to have forgotten what happened to Ada and her big gob.’ Then he gives me a black look and walks off. I’m thinking, I’d better keep my head below the battlements now all right. Then I hear that rumpus in the middle of the night when I’m standing out with Marianna in the garth and there’s talk of the monk being killed and I think, oh God, he’s going to do me in next, I’d better get out quick. So I gathered my stuff and ran.’

  Oswin came in and told them he’d got the cart ready for his cousin and the baby to ride in. Hildegard and Thomas watched them leave with relief. The two men on the other bank would be taken up with the fate that had befallen their master and would have little time to continue the pursuit. All they themselves had to do now was find a way back to the abbey.

  As they stooped under the lintel to go out they could hear Escrick’s hounds on the other side, whining with disappointment. It was a pitiful sound that came and went, now near, now far, as they coursed up and down through the wet reeds. Of the horsemen there was no sign. Brother Thomas noticed her glance sweep the opposite bank. ‘Your own two beasts will be safe. Rest assured.’