* * *
Josse was no more nor less interested in the phases of the moon than the next person. He had noticed, a couple of nights ago, that it had not been far off the full, but, since his observation had been fleeting, he could not have said whether the moon was waxing or waning.
As he rode towards Hawkenlye, catching up with Brother Saul so that they rode the last few miles in companionable conversation, Josse did not give the lunar cycle even a single thought.
But, whether Josse was aware of it or not, tonight the moon would be full.
And, even if Josse didn’t know, others did.
Chapter Fourteen
‘You propose we do what?’
Josse could hardly believe it. Was the Abbess Helewise sick? Had she suffered some strange aberration? He stared at her, trying to detect any sign of it, but she looked pretty much as usual. A slight frown seemed to have settled between the wide grey eyes, but, other than that, she appeared calm and in control.
‘I intend to go into the forest tonight,’ she said, ‘and, as I just suggested, I think it would be a good idea for you to accompany me.’ Her eyes rested on his and, briefly, she gave the shadow of a smile. ‘If, that is, you are prepared to, Sir Josse, given its recent violent history. I should, of course, quite understand if you refuse, and I-’
‘I haven’t refused!’ He thumped his fist against the wall of her room with suppressed anger. Great God, but she was leaping ahead of herself here! ‘Of course I won’t let you go alone, Abbess, but-’
‘Oh, good,’ she said mildly.
‘What’s good?’
She turned an innocent face up to his. ‘That you’ve agreed to come with me, of course!’
‘Abbess, just wait a moment!’ He tried to think rapidly, tried to work out how best to put his huge disapproval into words that might have a chance of stopping her in this folly.
Moving across the room and standing with his hands resting on her table, he said, ‘Abbess Helewise, there is great peril in the forest. Two men have been killed there, and, for all that Sheriff Pelham believes he has one murderer safely under lock and key, there is still the matter of the first death!’
‘I am aware of that,’ she said, with a new coolness in her voice. ‘However, I-’
‘And yet you’re telling me that, despite all that, the two of us are going to sally out into the forest tonight!’ he exploded. ‘For what purpose, pray? To have a good nose around and see how long it takes for us to get a spear in our backs?’
‘You did not listen when I used that same argument to try to prevent you from going into the forest a few weeks ago,’ she observed. ‘You said, if I recall, that, since you would be armed and on the look out, you would be perfectly safe.’
‘And I was!’ he replied heatedly.
‘So why will you not be as safe now?’ she demanded.
‘Because-’
He stopped. Yes, of course. This was the crux of it. And, having realised it already, this was, naturally, why she was being so belligerent.
‘I would be as safe,’ he said, after a pause. ‘But I am not prepared to risk your wellbeing.’
‘It is not up to you to make that decision,’ she said coolly. ‘As Abbess of Hawkenlye, I am in charge of my nuns and my lay servants. Two of my women are suffering, and suffering deeply, and it is my duty to do all that I can to alleviate their distress.’
‘By making some ill-prepared and reckless venture into the forest by night?’ he shouted.
‘Yes!’ she shouted back. ‘Do you not see, the forest holds the key to all this?’
He wasn’t at all sure that it did. And, even if she was right, he had to stop her in this wild idea. Good Lord, it was impossible! ‘It will not help your young women for you to be killed!’ he cried.
‘I have absolutely no intention of being killed,’ she said. ‘Why should anyone kill me, in any case?’
‘They killed Hamm Robinson.’ He could not help the righteousness in his voice.
She gave a sigh of exasperation. ‘Hamm Robinson was different!’
‘Why, pray?’
‘He-’ She stopped. Then, in a more placatory tone, ‘Come with me tonight, Sir Josse, and I will show you!’
Come with me! Dear God, but she was determined! If he wasn’t careful, he’d find himself left in the safety of Hawkenlye Abbey tonight while she went off by herself into the forest.
‘Is there nothing I can say that will dissuade you?’ he asked quietly.
‘Nothing.’
He ran his hands over his face. ‘Very well, then.’
‘You will come with me?’ She sounded as if she could hardly believe it.
He removed his hands and looked at her. ‘Aye.’
He wasn’t entirely sure, but he thought he saw her relax briefly in her relief.
* * *
Helewise had thought he would not give up without one last attempt to dissuade her, and she was right. He kept his peace as they ate the evening meal — her conscience hadn’t troubled her over ordering good portions of the braised hare with vegetables for Josse and herself, bearing in mind the night’s work that lay ahead for them — and, as they drank a fortifying cup of wine back in the privacy of her room, he had managed to restrict himself to the sort of remarks habitually made to one another by courteous strangers meeting on the road.
She excused herself and went across to the Abbey church for Compline, making a great effort to empty her mind of all thoughts of the forthcoming adventure. In the powerful atmosphere of the church in the late evening, she felt a sudden flow of courage come coursing through her; had she not already firmly made up her mind that what she was doing was the right thing, this sign of almighty approval would surely have convinced her.
‘In Thy wisdom, Thou hast put these troubled women in my care, oh, Lord,’ she prayed softly. ‘Dear Lord, let me not fail them now.’ After a moment’s pause, she added, ‘Let me not fail Thee.’
Returning to Josse some time later, she found he had come out into the cloister to wait for her. And, as she approached, he was already saying the words he must have been rehearsing: ‘Abbess, won’t you please reconsider?’
She let him make a brave start, then gently put up a hand to silence him. ‘Sir Josse,’ she said quietly, ‘this is pointless.’
‘But-’
He was glaring down at her, face close to hers. As if, at long last, he read her determination in her eyes, he gave a faint shrug. ‘Very well,’ he said with a sigh. ‘I wash my hands of you.’
‘Oh, no, Sir Josse,’ she replied. ‘That you certainly do not do.’ She added, aware that she was teasing him, ‘If you must add a homily, what about, on your own head be it?’
His only reply was a grunt.
* * *
He had, she observed, been busy while she had been at Compline. He had filled a pack with a couple of blankets, some bread and some water, and, down in the bottom of the pack, was a wrapped object that she thought looked very like a small weapon; a dagger, perhaps. She stared at it for a second or two. But now, she appreciated, was not the moment to remind him of the rule about not bringing arms into the Abbey.
‘You are warmly clad?’ he demanded as, with the darkness now absolute and the full moon just rising, at last they set out. ‘The air is still warm now, but the night will be cold later.’
‘I am indeed,’ she said. She had had the same thought, and had taken the time to visit her cubicle and put on a warm woollen chemise beneath her habit.
He nodded.
They left the Abbey by the main gate. The forest, into whose strange and mysterious depths they would soon be tentatively walking, loomed up ahead. Helewise noticed Josse slip into the Porteress’s lodge, now empty; when he returned, his heavy sword hung in its scabbard at his left side.
Even more than the dagger hidden in the pack, the sight of it gave her a shudder of fear.
* * *
He seemed to know the way.