Serlo lay on his back on the ground, with Godric’s knife embedded up to its hilt in his chest. “Your life, Serlo, instead of hers.” Godric walked to the reeve, gave the knife a twist and pulled it out. Serlo’s fingers plucked feebly at the air, then fell nervelessly to his side. He gave a faint groan and his body went limp.
Knowing that the danger was over, Janna rushed to Hamo. He was curled up in a ball. His eyes were wide with terror; his whole body was shaking. Not giving him any chance to retreat this time, she scooped him into her arms and held him close. For one long, agonizing moment, he fought her, but she held on. “Shh,” she murmured. “Serlo’s dead. You really are safe now.”
With a strangled yelp, Hamo burrowed into her and began to cry.
“It’s all right, Hamo,” she comforted him. “Serlo will never harm you again.” She glanced sideways as a faint drumming came to her ears. Horses! She caught a glimpse of torches.
“We’re here!” Godric shouted. “We’re down by the river!”
The drumming sounded louder. “Is the boy safe?” Janna recognized Hugh’s voice, and felt an overwhelming relief.
“Yes!” she shouted. “Your cousin Hugh has come to fetch you,” she said to Hamo more quietly. “He’ll take you back to the manor, Hamo. Your mother and father are there, waiting for you. They’ll be so glad to see you. So glad.” A sudden thought brought fear to Janna’s heart. “Don’t tell them my name,” she said urgently. “Please just call me ‘John.’”
“John,” Hamo echoed. There was a moment’s silence, and then came the question: “Where’s Bones?”
Janna didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. She hugged Hamo tighter. “Bones is safe too,” she said. “Urk has him, he’s looking after him for you. Urk saved Bones, Hamo, and he also saved us. He let us out of the cellar so we could chase after you and Serlo. You’re safe now, Hamo, I promise you. Everything’s going to be all right. Everything.”
The nightmare was over. The knowledge filled Janna’s mind and heart, and left her overflowing with joy and relief.
Chapter 15
The moment of peace and thanksgiving was quickly over as Hugh leaped off his destrier and hurried over to check for himself that Hamo was alive and safe. Not wasting any more time, he pulled Hamo up onto Arrow and galloped back to the manor house with him. Soon enough, a joyful pealing of bells told of their safe return. Meanwhile Hugh’s men fashioned a litter and carried Serlo’s body home, stashing it in a barn to await burial. He had escaped justice on earth, he’d cheated the gallows, but he would have to account for his actions in the highest court of all. Janna hoped that he would be condemned to hellfire and damnation forever.
Leaving Hamo in the tender care of his mother and father, Hugh summoned Janna and Godric to the solar. They sat in comfort, with a hot bowl of pottage and a meat pie to bring new warmth and life to their tired bodies, and a jug of ale to wash the food down. After Hugh expressed his thanks, as well as the gratitude of Dame Alice, he set to questioning them about the night’s events and all that had gone before. Between them, Janna and Godric gave him a full account of all that had led up to this moment. But Hugh had still more questions for them.
“What made you suspect Serlo in the first place?” He looked to Janna to answer his question.
Janna paused mid-chew. “Lots of little things,” she said indistinctly, and swallowed her mouthful. “When we first came here, when he saved Edwin and me from the forester, he talked about ‘my sheep.’”
“Saved you from the forester?” Hugh quirked an eyebrow.
“It’s a long story,” Janna said hastily. “I thought, from Master Serlo’s words, that the manor belonged to him.” She gazed up at Hugh, feeling a tide of color wash over her face and hating herself for it. “I didn’t know it belonged to you. I wouldn’t have stopped here if I’d known that.”
Hugh’s eyebrow rose higher.
“I also saw the way Serlo looked at Mistress Gytha, wanting her for his wife, although all she could think about was you.”
“Me?” Hugh spluttered. “But Gytha is a child still!”
“She’s old enough to wed—and she has a certain amount of ambition in your direction,” Janna commented dryly.
Hugh shook his head in wonder. “I had no idea her thoughts lay with me. Although I must confess I…er… noticed lately that she was…er…”
He could hardly have failed to notice what Gytha had been so determined to display. Janna hid a sly smile.
“…but I thought, when the time came, that Gytha might make a match of it with Serlo,” Hugh stammered on.
Janna interrupted his musing. “And Serlo was desperate to have her. But he understood her ambition only too well. He knew he had to improve his station if he was to have a chance with her, and it was to be done at your expense.”
“Hence the spate of so-called ‘accidents?’” Hugh ventured.
Janna nodded. “But it went further than that. He’s been stockpiling goods to sell at St Edith’s fair at Wiltune, or perhaps even at Winchestre. Mistress Tova told me he takes several cartloads to the fair every year, your produce as well as his own. You’ll find a great quantity of chests, barrels and fleeces in his cellar. There’s far more than he could have come by through honest toil.”
“I certainly knew nothing about them,” Hugh said grimly, “but I should have suspected something, and questioned Serlo earlier. Although we’ve had fair seasons for some time now, the manor farm has not been as productive as I’d expected. I had no idea Serlo was robbing me blind.” His expression was thunderous as he contemplated his reeve’s dishonesty.
No wonder you were so keen to visit your aunt and make yourself agreeable, Janna thought. She wondered if the dame had questioned Hugh’s management, if she’d been having second thoughts about leaving him in charge of what should be a profitable manor.
“It’s a hard lesson to learn, but I will be less trusting, and I’ll take more of the reeve’s duties on my shoulders in the future,” Hugh continued.
“The woolen cloth and the silver goblets Serlo accused us of stealing are also down in the cellar,” Janna added, anxious to clear both her and Edwin’s names. “My guess is that Serlo planned to sell them as well, while using them as a device to rid himself of both of us. I’d become a threat to his safety, you see. He knew that I didn’t believe the incidents were accidents; he might have thought I knew the truth even earlier than I did.”
“I can see how his mind worked,” said Hugh. “With Hamo gone and me discredited, my aunt would have been anxious to cast off this manor with all its unhappy memories and he would have had the means to make her a generous offer.”
Janna nodded in agreement. “Serlo couldn’t have known that Hamo would visit you, but once Hamo vanished the first time he saw how a second disappearance might work in his favor. I think he snatched Hamo with the intention of drowning him, but he was unable to carry out the deed because Mistress Cecily was so quick to raise the alarm. With so many villeins out searching, he knew he’d be noticed. Instead, he had to keep Hamo alive for a little while longer. My guess is that he planned to take him away in one of the carts with all his goods for sale, and drown him somewhere along the journey, past where anyone might have searched the river for him before. Once Hamo’s body was found, he could then approach my lady with his offer.”
Hugh’s lips tightened. He muttered a savage oath against his once-trusted reeve.
“I’m sorry Serlo is dead and that you cannot bring him to an accounting for his deeds,” Godric ventured. “I would not have thrown my knife at him by choice, but I knew that if I let him get away with Janna, he would have killed her rather than let her go free to speak the truth about him. I have never killed a man before, but if I had to, I would make that choice again.”
“You made the right decision. I am glad that you were there,” Hugh reassured him. “I only wish it had never come to this. If I’d read the signs right from the start, all this might have been avoided.” He looked at Janna. “Why d
id Serlo leave rue at the scenes of his crimes? What was he thinking?”
“I didn’t understand, until the cook told me how Serlo’s family had once owned this manor. It seems they were forced into servitude after the Conquest. The rue was both his curse and his private message to your family to repent that theft.” Janna didn’t add that she felt a sneaking sympathy with the reeve’s grievance, although she could never condone what he’d done in revenge.
Hugh nodded thoughtfully. “You have all my gratitude for finding Hamo and opening my eyes to Serlo’s true nature.”
“Don’t forget Gabriel—Urk,” Janna said. “But for him, we would have died in that cellar. If he hadn’t come in search of Bones, and then faithfully conveyed Godric’s message to you…” She shuddered, marveling at how narrowly they had all escaped death.
“Urk will be rewarded, as will his family. But for my part, I am indebted to you for rescuing Hamo not once but twice, and bringing him home alive.” His warm smile encompassed both Janna and Godric. “Please be assured that you have a home here for as long as you like, and forever if you wish it.”
Janna’s mouth went dry. She couldn’t find the words to answer him. But Godric spoke up. “I thank you, my lord. Indeed I would like to stay here and serve you.” He shot a quick glance at Janna, and continued hurriedly, “But I am tied to Dame Alice’s manor. I cannot leave without her permission.”
“You can leave my aunt to me,” Hugh said confidently. “I have lost my most trusted reeve and must replace him. Although the villagers will elect a new man, I’d like to have an honest man by my side, if you’ll agree to it, Godric?” A mischievous smile tugged at the corners of his mouth. “I venture to suggest that you would be far more to young Gytha’s taste than Master Serlo ever was.”
Speechless, Godric and Janna exchanged glances. Godric found his voice first. “I have my own cot and land at Babestoche, sire,” he said. “If I came to you—”
“You would not lose by it.” Hugh cut him off. “Master Serlo’s cottage and lands lie vacant now. They are yours, as my reward to you for saving Hamo’s life.”
“That…that is very generous of you, my lord.” As Godric absorbed the full extent of Hugh’s generosity, his face blazed alight with hope. He turned to Janna, but before he could say anything, Hugh addressed her directly.
“And Edwin?” he queried. “What has become of him? Has he had a hand in any of this business with Serlo?”
“No, sire! He planned to stay in hiding until your visitors left the manor and it was safe for him to come out again. But if you wish to speak to him, you’ll find him sheltering with Bertha, the carpenter’s daughter.”
Hugh tilted his head to study Janna. “And will he want to stay here with you, do you think?”
“Not with me, my lord. He wants to stay here with Bertha.”
“And so he shall.” Hugh’s mouth curved into a wide grin. “But what about you, Johanna? How can I reward you for your deeds this day?”
Janna gazed up at him, at a loss for words. A reward? It was something she hadn’t looked for, didn’t want. Unless Hugh could help her find her father? Could she ask him to do that?
“I must confess, I would like you to stay on at the manor, but in a lady’s attire if you please,” Hugh continued. “I cannot get used to you in the guise of a man.” His gaze narrowed slightly as he looked more closely at Janna’s smock and breeches. “Where did you find those clothes you wear?”
Janna was thrown by the unexpected question. She blushed as she wrestled with her conscience. “I–I stole them, sire,” she confessed.
“From the barn that burned down so suddenly on my aunt’s demesne?”
Janna pondered what to say. It had been an act of defiance, intended to pay back Robert of Babestoche for his evil deeds, and also to hide her theft of the garments. She could explain some of it to Hugh, but would he understand? Worse, would he tell his aunt? If she was charged in a manorial court for her misdeed, the penalty would be heavy indeed.
She was saved from having to answer as the door from Hugh’s bedchamber was flung open. Dame Alice bustled into the solar, closely followed by her husband. At the sight of Robert, Janna quickly turned aside. She bowed her head as she hastily rose to make her obeisance.
“Please, sit down and finish your supper.” In spite of her red eyes and obvious exhaustion, Dame Alice’s face was radiant with relief. She took a handful of silver coins from her purse and set them down on the table in front of Janna and Godric. “This is your reward for bringing my son home safely,” she said, her voice trembling with emotion. “But no silver, or words, or anything I can do or say, can ever convey to you my most heartfelt gratitude.” She took Janna’s and Godric’s hands in her own, and held them tight. “Thank you,” she said huskily.
“It was a pleasure to serve you, my lady.” Godric spoke for both of them, while Janna desperately tried to come up with an excuse to flee the room. Had Hamo spoken her name? Did they already know who she was, or had Hamo remembered to keep her secret?
“I know you, of course, Godric, but I don’t know your companion. John, is it?” Unexpectedly, the dame reached out and took Janna’s chin, raising her face toward the soft candlelight that bathed the solar. Janna had no choice but to look at her, and also at Robert, who was standing behind his wife.
The dame sucked in her breath in a sudden hiss. “Could it be…?” she asked, in a tone of wonder.
“His name’s John,” Hugh interrupted, suddenly awake to the danger Janna faced. “And if you’ve finished your supper, John, you can go now.”
But Hugh’s words had come too late to save Janna. As she’d looked up, she’d seen recognition flash across Robert’s face: a moment of fear, followed by an expression of fierce resolve that told Janna he would not be thwarted; that he would kill her rather than risk his affair with Cecily and his role in her own mother’s death being found out. Once more she was in mortal danger.
“Come, John. Come with me.” Hugh grasped Janna’s arm and marched her out of the solar and into the hall. Godric snatched up the silver coins and followed them.
“I’m so sorry,” Hugh said, once they were safely out of hearing. “I didn’t tell them you were here. I thought they would stay in my bedchamber with Hamo.”
“Lord Robert knows who I am. He recognized me,” Janna whispered. She was shaking with fright. She had never before encountered such vicious hatred. Now that Robert knew she was alive, he would have to act to silence her. She was filled with dread.
“They’ll be going home soon, and probably taking Hamo with them,” Hugh said thoughtfully. “They’ll be no danger to you after that, Johanna. In the meantime, Godric and I will keep you safe.”
Godric stiffened. “I can look after Janna perfectly well on my own, sire,” he muttered.
“But I don’t want to be looked after by anyone!” Janna retorted angrily. “How can I live any sort of life if I’m constantly watching over my shoulder in case the lord Robert returns on a visit?”
“You would be safe with me if we were wed,” Godric said eagerly. “I have a cottage and land of my own here now. I have more than enough to support a wife.”
Hugh’s glance swiveled quickly from Janna to Godric. He seemed suddenly unsure of himself.
Janna took a moment to consider. She’d hurt Godric’s feelings once before on this matter; she must not do so again. Marrying him would not answer her problem, but how could she explain that to him? How could she explain to both of them the idea that had been forming in her mind ever since Hugh had told her of the abbess’s knowledge of her mother, the idea that now seemed absolutely perfect? It would keep her safe from Robert’s wrath. It was the answer to everything.
“You asked how you could reward me, my lord,” she addressed Hugh. “You can reward me by letting me go.” She turned to Godric, and took his hand. “While I live, I am a threat to the lord Robert, and he knows it. I had thought to keep myself safe by pretending my death and changing my iden
tity, but my strategy has come to naught. All that’s left for me now is to find refuge, a place of safety where no-one can touch me. And so I have decided to seek shelter at the abbey at Wiltune.”
“You’re planning to take the veil?” Hugh exclaimed, thunderstruck.
Godric said nothing, but Janna saw his face crumple. He looked absolutely shattered.
“No! No, but I will stay there for a time, and give everyone a chance to forget about me.” Janna raised her hand to touch the purse at her waist, felt the outline of the precious parchment, the letter from her father. She needed to talk to the abbess, but she also had another reason for going to the abbey. She smiled at the thought of it. If she was allowed, she would stay there long enough to learn to read and write. If she could only read her father’s letter, she was sure it would help her find him; help her solve the secrets of the past. Her heart felt lighter; new courage flowed through her as at last she saw the way ahead.
“I thank you for your offer, my lord, and for yours too, Godric.” Impulsively, she reached for his hand and kissed it. “You are very dear to me, but my mind is made up,” she told him. “I shall leave tonight.”
“No!” Godric exclaimed. “Janna, please—”
“This is something I have to do.” Janna looked into his eyes, begging for his understanding.
Godric was silenced. Finally, he spoke. “With your leave, sire, may I escort Janna to Wiltune?”
“Of course.” Hugh looked every bit as unhappy as Godric about Janna’s sudden decision. “But are you quite sure?”
“Yes, my lord,” Janna said. “I am quite, quite sure.”
*
The iron gates of the abbey clanged shut behind Janna. She looked at Godric, and a great wave of desolation swept over her.
“Goodbye, Janna,” he said quietly. “God go with you.”
“And with you, Godric.” On impulse, Janna stretched her hand through the gate and drew him closer. She puckered up her lips to blow him a final kiss, then smiled ruefully as she heard the tut-tutting disapproval of the nun waiting behind her to take her to the abbess. She would miss Godric dreadfully; she would miss them all. After living alone with her mother for so long, she’d found a home within the small community of Hugh’s manor. It had given her new confidence to know that she was liked and valued there, and that she could make a life for herself even without her mother’s guidance. It was hard, now, to walk away from everyone she had come to know. It was especially hard to walk away from Godric—and from Hugh.
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