It was written hastily but from stories long known, strung together by means of the road itself, and of that I knew a good bit. I wrote the night through and by the first light of dawn I had completed my story.
With a faint light already at the window, I lay upon the bed and slept, content that I was done, yet not knowing whether what I had written was good or ill.
There was unease in my mind that went beyond the writing, and when scarcely an hour had passed in sleep, I was awake, brushing my hair and considering where I might deliver my story in hope of payment. The unease lay not in the story or the writing, but in the secret of this inn, and of the man Jacob Binns.
Where was he now? Was he sleeping? Or was he at large upon the town on some secret business, for he seemed to have no other?
Descending the stair to the common room, I found Tosti Padget there. He noticed at once the roll of manuscript.
“Ah? You have been at it.” He looked at the roll again. “It is a lot.”
“I worked all the night. Do you wish to read it?”
“No,” he replied frankly, “and mind you show it to no one but he who might buy. The others do not matter. Most people are not fit to judge a thing until it is in print, and only a few of them then. If they want more, it is good, and if they talk about it among themselves, it is better. I had rather have one story talked about in an inn or over a campfire than a dozen on the dusty shelves of the academies.
“You may well ask, if I know so much, why I am not writing successfully…well, I know what should be done, and I can talk well of it. But,” and his tone was suddenly bitter, “I have not the will to persist. I tell myself I shall change, but I do not. I try to hold myself to a schedule, but I am diverted by the flights of fancy in my own mind. I dream of it, want it, talk of it, think of it, but I do not do it. Writing is a lonely business and must be forever so, and I am a social being. I want and need others about me and the loneliness of my room is a hateful thing.”
“One can be alone anywhere,” I suggested. “The quality of solitude is in the mind. If you wish people about you then write here, or in some other tavern, or in many of them, but sit among people only isolated by your mind.”
“I have tried that,” said Tosti Padget. “But my friends gather about me, they wish me to join them at games or walking after the girls, or they wish me to come along to another tavern where they gather with their friends.” He paused, then shrugged. “They scoff. They say I should come along and write another time.”
“They drink in taverns,” I said, “and twenty years hence they will still be drinking in taverns, no longer so bright and cheerful, no longer so friendly, only grown morose and sour with years and disappointments. As for their scoffing, the Arabs have a saying: ‘The dogs bark, but the caravan passes on.’ ”
Tosti stared gloomily into his glass, perhaps because it was empty. I ordered another round and wondered how long I should be able to do so. Yet I liked him. To me he was a window upon a world of which I knew too little.
We talked then of people about London, of those who came and went, of possible sponsors to whom a writer might dedicate a book with some hope of pension or remuneration.
“To whom,” he asked me suddenly, “will you dedicate this? And what will you write next?”
Who, indeed? I knew nothing of those in London, and it went against the grain to curry the favor of some great man, yet all did it, and it seemed the only way to modest success. Nonetheless, my nature rebelled against it. At the same time an answer came to the second question.
Rafe Leckenbie!
To gather what was known about him and his activities would be simple enough, and then to expose him for what he was. He had come into London and like a great leech had fastened himself upon it and now was sucking it dry. True, he was as yet only one of many others, but superior in intelligence and with connections in high places, he was rapidly advancing to a position of control.
But first I must sell what I had already written.
With morning I donned my best and went forth, to seek out Richard Field or some other printer, carrying with me the roll of foolscap on which I had written The Merry Damber.
Field was young. He had but lately married the widow of the man to whom he had been apprenticed and was ambitious as well as shrewd. If I failed with him, there were others. All belonged, as indeed they must, to the Stationers’ Company, incorporated in 1557, and none was allowed to practice the art of printing unless he was of that organization. Each publication must be licensed by the government, and strict control was maintained over what was published.
Field’s shop was in Blackfriars and I made the best of my way there. He was opening the door when I arrived. Young though I knew he was, I was startled by the fact that he was scarce older than I. He looked quickly at me and then glanced at the roll of manuscript under my arm. “You are early about,” he said, not unpleasantly.
“Some call upon heaven when they arise,” I replied cheerfully, “I call upon Field.”
“What is it then?”
“An account of cozenage and chicanery along the highroads,” I said.
He opened the door and waved me inside. “And have you knowledge of such things? You look the gentleman.”
“I have some experience of swords,” I said, “and one teacher was a gypsy. He told many a tale. Others come from people along the way.”
“Sit you.” He glanced at me. “Will you have a glass?” Then shrewdly he said, “You are Irish?”
“I am lately from the Hebrides,” I said. “I am sometimes taken for Welsh.”
“No matter,” he said pleasantly. He picked up my manuscript and glanced at it. “Well, you waste no time. Into the story at once.”
He read on, and I offered no comment, and did not interrupt. “Perhaps,” he said, after a bit, “perhaps.” He looked up at me, suddenly, sharply. “Who directed you to me?”
“I believe it was Robin Greene…or perhaps Tosti Padget.”
“Ah, Tosti,” he shook his head, “much talent but no perseverance, and that is the truth of it. He writes well but finishes very little. He chops and changes.” He looked up at me. “My old master, George Bishop, used to say that writing was not only talent, but it was character, the character of the writer. Many are called, he would say, but few are chosen, and it is character that chooses them. In the last analysis it is persistence that matters.”
He put down the manuscript. “There is something here we can use. It is light, gay, witty, and it smacks of the road.” He looked at me sharply. “You say you know the road?”
“Somewhat.”
“Ah? Yes, I suppose so. I am myself from Stratford. I often watched the gypsies there, and the peddlers.” He tapped my manuscript. “This rings true.”
“You will buy it then?”
“A moment! Do not hasten too swiftly. You need money?”
I shrugged. “I do not need money, not at the moment. I do want money. Much money.”
He smiled. “There is not much in this. Writers about London are a starveling lot. A good playwright such as Master Robert Greene, whom you mentioned, he will get but five or six pounds for a good play. And he, along with Kyd, is at the top of them.”
“I was not thinking of continuing a writer, yet I have some other things. Do you know Rafe Leckenbie?”
He sat back and stared hard at me. “Aye, and who does not who knows aught of the streets? I know him not, but of him…yes.”
“I know him. What would you say to a complete revelation of his activities? All the plots and machinations of the man.”
“You know whom you deal with? Leckenbie is no catch-penny rogue but a thoroughgoing rascal. He’s into river piracy and the lot.”
“And a devil of a fine swordsman, too.”
“Ah? I have heard of that, but doubted it. There is a rumor that he killed a gentleman in a duel shortly after he first appeared in London, and another one in Kent.”
“I know not
hing of that, but he is a superlative swordsman.”
“You speak from experience?”
“I do.”
“Yet you live?”
“That was long ago, and in another place than this. I was not as skillful then as I now am…yet I narrowly escaped.”
“I see…yet you would dare this? He would set his men upon you. Not upon me, for I am of the company and no man would be such a fool. Yet I fear for you.”
“Let that be my worry.”
Field tapped his fingers on the manuscript. “Very well then. Two pounds for this, four pounds for the Leckenbie story—if it is true or nearly so. But do not think I shall pay so much again, for there are not many stories of the likes of Rafe Leckenbie.”
“I understand.”
He paid me two pounds and I took it gratefully. It was a goodly sum for the time, and evidence that he thought well of what I had written. Yet I was not misled, for the stories I had written down had been told and retold by generations of Irishmen and belonged to all who heard them. They had stood the test of time. Yet never had they been in print, for the Irish were not permitted to publish. They were tales told in taverns. I might do another as well, for there were many such stories, but that would probably be the end of it unless I could enrich my knowledge by talking to road people and gypsies.
Where was Kory? I wondered. I could use him now, and could pay him, too.
Tucking away the two pounds with my small store, I went back to the inn, loitering along the way. I saw nothing of anyone I knew, yet I did see a rogue or two who seemed to be following me.
Were they Cutting Ball’s men? Those of Leckenbie? Or both?
For a week I loitered about the White Hart, the Red Lion, the Mermaid, the Three Tuns, the Golden Lion, King Harry Head, as well as the Bear and the Ragged Staff. I went from one tavern to the next, buying a glass here, or just sitting and watching, sharing a drink with some wandering rascal. But I was listening all the while.
Usually, I just listened. If the soil seemed fertile I might drop the seed of Leckenbie’s name, and then sit back to hear what might be said. It was a way to learn, and I learned much.
Soon I learned that Leckenbie directed the affairs of three stalling kens, or places where stolen goods might be sold, each in a different quarter of London. He also had several stables where horses might be let to pads, as highwaymen were called. He had a fist into everything, and he was making enemies all over London. Cutting Ball was not alone in disliking Leckenbie or his ways. It was simple to see that he was a master scoundrel.
Swiftly then, I wrote. It was not the whole story, certainly, but it was enough. I entitled it Rafe Leckenbie, Thieves’ Master and Master Thief. Then I hastened to Blackfriars and put it into the hands of Master Field.
He looked at it, swore a little, and pressed on to read further. “I will take it,” he said at last, “but do you look to yourself, Tatton Chantry. Once this is on the street your life will be worth next to nothing.” He snapped his fingers. “Not that!”
“Four pounds,” I said, “and I’ll wear a loose blade.”
“You will have it,” he said, “but I fear for you.”
And in truth, I feared for myself.
CHAPTER 20
NOW THAT I had come upon a means of earning a bit I did not neglect the pen, but my next two attempts failed of acceptance. These had neither the wit nor the novelty of my first successes. Yet it was about this time that the Leckenbie piece was published abroad.
In a day it became the talk of the town. When I went to the tavern below, the place was a-buzz with it, and not knowing who might be the author, they were of one mind: that he had but a short life left to him, once Leckenbie saw the piece.
Cutting Ball came hurriedly to the tavern. “What, Tatton Chantry! Is it you who have done this thing? You have destroyed him!”
“That was my purpose, but we do not know yet what may happen. We can but wait and see.”
“All London will be about his ears,” Ball insisted. “And to think that you have done this! A mere lad! And with a pen, too, and with no sword or mob or soldiers!”
Yet that day went slowly by and nothing happened, nor were any of Leckenbie’s men seen about, nor on the second day. There was no move against him by the Queen’s men: there was only talk. On the third day, well armed and with Ball’s men about, I ventured into the street.
This time I was bound for Blackfriars with another tale of The Merry Damber, which had proved successful. I sold the piece to Master Field for a pound, and turned about, planning to go at once to my own tavern.
Suddenly I found myself face to face with Leckenbie!
He stopped upon the street before me. My hand went to my sword. “If it is to be, let it be here,” I said.
He laughed. “You mean then to fight me?” he roared, laughing the while. “Do not be a fool! You have done me only the greatest service! Why, had I ordered the piece written it could not have been better!”
He was chuckling and cheerful. I stared at him incredulously. “Take your hand from your sword!” he said. “I shall certainly kill you one day, be sure of that. But not today, when you have just done for me what I could not do for myself!”
“What do you mean?”
He chuckled again. “Come! I’ll split a bottle with you, and a haunch of beef as well! Don’t you see? You have made me sound so powerful, so evil, so revengeful that my enemies are trembling! A dozen thieves have come to my stalling kens whom I never laid eyes on before, although I knew them well by reputation. Suddenly I have gained respect in quarters where there was little before! At one fell swoop you have made me the strongest man in London! And to think that was all it needed! I am a fool, Chantry, a double-dyed fool! Now I have no need to destroy enemies who believed themselves o’ermatched and have come to me, pleading the wish to join me! What I could not have done in months, you have done in an instant! It is magic!”
We sat down across the table from each other. The confusion in my thoughts cleared. In believing I was destroying a monster, I had created a worse one. In speaking of his strength, I had made him seem more fearful than he was, and frightened all who would oppose him.
He bought good wine and filled a glass for me, and the beef we had was the best, the tenderest cut of all. He served me from his own blade and laughed, his face flushed from wine and laughter.
“Oh, you have done it, Chantry! There’s a string of bawdy houses that I’ve long wanted. Ill-kept places, but fat with profits. Now they have asked my protection, and they shall have it. Oh, they’ll have it, all right, and a fat payment through the nose for it, too!
“Come! Drink up, Chantry! And be rid of those men of Cutting Ball’s! You’ll not need them more. And as for him, this will destroy him, too, or nearly so!”
As we ate he ticked off the things the unwonted publicity had brought to him. There were some men he had threatened who had not been convinced of his strength, yet before he needed to prove it, my piece had appeared and done the task even better.
“Much thanks, Chantry! By the Lord Harry, I am glad I did not kill you!” He reached into his sash and tossed a sack of gold upon the table. “There! Have that! It is little enough for what you have done!”
“Keep it,” I replied shortly. “I’ll have none of it, for I meant to destroy you.”
He laughed again, his eyes bright with malice. “Of course you did! Think you I do not know that? But bother the reason! It is the effect that matters, and the payment there is small enough for what you have done.”
There was nothing to do but put a good face on it and think of what I should do next. Cheerful as he was, I could only doubt what he believed, for whatever effect this might have upon evildoers, it was sure to result in some sort of action by those in authority. Unless, of course, they were too occupied with Ireland and worried about Spain to bother with the evil at their doors?
“I have also read The Merry Damber!” Leckenbie said. “It is a good piece,
too! You had some tricks there even I had not thought of! Stay about London, Chantry, do! For you will only make things the better.”
He gnawed on a bone, then put it aside. “Look you, Chantry, I am no fool. I know this dodge will not last forever, but by the time it has worn itself out I shall be rich. Yes, rich! And I shall have those about who need me but who are themselves in power. I will buy an estate, I will hire some such a one as you to say that all your words are balderdash, and will show myself a respectable gentleman. I will keep a carriage—for such will soon be the fashion, believe me—and I shall ride to the hounds and be knighted. You will see! My poor father was a country squire, and a good man, most of the time, but he was never knighted or noticed by anyone.
“And two years hence, Tatton Chantry, I will no longer be heard of as such I now am. Two years I shall lie quiet while all this is managed by others. Then I shall reappear, hang a few of those who still oppose me, and within the third year I shall be received at court.
“I have plotted well the route I shall take, and a better one can’t be found. I tell you this now so you can see it begin to happen. Unfortunately,” he smiled, “you’ll not be about to witness the climax. Although I shall miss you. I shall, indeed.”
“You will never do it, Leckenbie,” I said quietly. “Before then I will show you up for the villain you are.”
He chuckled. “Do what you will, the result will not be changed. Not one whit. Besides, what can it get you? A few shillings here, a few shillings there. Trifling sums, and the poorest of livings. Whilst I shall be rolling in wealth.”
He leaned over the table toward me. “Already I have friends! I have power! There are those who sit high in the land who will pull strings for me! Do you think I can be taken? That I shall ever end in Newgate or Tyburn? I am too much needed. When they need something done, I see that it is done, whether here or across the water.
Fair Blows the Wind (Louis L'Amour's Lost Treasures) Page 16