‘Oh, Beowulf.’ Pike seemed relieved at the change in direction the questioning had taken. Sounds from the passageway drifted in. Cranston went outside to have words with Blanchard, who was hurriedly trying to comply with Athelstan’s earlier demands on behalf of the prisoners. Athelstan waited until he returned.
‘Well?’ he continued. ‘How did Beowulf inform you? In God’s name,’ Athelstan’s voice turned hard, ‘I am trying to save you from being strangled over Tyburn stream or the cattle market at Smithfield.’
‘Letters were left,’ Pike confessed. He glanced at Watkin. ‘What does it matter? Scraps of parchment,’ he continued, ‘pushed under my door and that of Watkin’s. They were written in a clerkly hand like yours, Father.’
‘Liar!’ Athelstan accused. ‘Neither you nor Watkin can truly read. But the Hangman of Rochester can.’
‘As does Mauger the bell clerk,’ Pike added a little too hastily, eager to spread the doubt about who had read the letters for them.
‘Giles of Sempringham,’ Athelstan declared, ‘also known as the Hangman of Rochester, is a trained scribe. Let us say he read both messages for you.’
‘Very simple,’ Pike screwed his eyes up, ‘the message was something like this: “Marsen’s treasure is still held deep, protected by the candle’s flame.” Pike opened his red-rimmed eyes and scratched at the suppurating ulcer on his arm. ‘We know what it meant, Father. That is all I can and will tell you.’
‘But why that particular evening?’ Cranston asked. ‘First, let me tell you something, gentlemen. Beowulf must have kept you under close watch. He was waiting for you to take action. He would see you leave your houses and deduce that you and your confederates were assembling. Once convinced, he sent a second message to Thibault at the Guildhall. Hence the delay in Gaunt’s troops arriving-’ Cranston broke off at the protests of denial from the two prisoners.
‘No, no, listen,’ Athelstan intervened. ‘Beowulf did not betray you. He just used you. He wanted to lure Thibault and Lascelles out of the fastness of the Guildhall. He created the opportunity for both to emerge as clear targets for his crossbow. This time he was successfuclass="underline" Lascelles was killed.’
‘May the Devil welcome him into Hell,’ Pike retorted.
‘For that both of you might hang,’ Cranston rasped.
‘Enough of that!’ Athelstan did not want Sir John to be so harsh. He needed such information as he slowly edged his way through this maze of murder. He was determined to discover something so that he could barter with the Crown for the lives of these two parishioners.
‘I am your priest.’ Athelstan pulled the stool closer. ‘I walk those needle-thin runnels and no one accosts me. True?’ He didn’t wait for an answer. ‘Footpads, felons and foists swarm there as plentiful as the rats. They keep a sharp eye on any likely prey as Ranulf’s ferrets do vermin. And, of course, there is the Upright Men, who have their legion of watchmen, isn’t that what you call them?’ Pike grunted his agreement. ‘And yet you say this Beowulf was an educated, prosperous man, certainly a stranger to St Erconwald’s? So how could he slip along Hogpen Alley to you, Pike, or Muffin Lane to you, Watkin, without being noticed, because that is what he did.’
‘The messages were delivered after dark,’ Watkin grumbled. ‘We took them down to The Piebald.’
‘Oh, I am sure you did,’ Athelstan snapped.
‘But the problem still remains.’ Despite the deep shadows which cloaked the prisoners as well as their own guarded concern, Athelstan sensed both men were as baffled as he was.
‘How were you captured?’ Cranston asked.
‘We stopped at an alehouse,’ Pike replied, ‘and became separated from the rest. Father, we are sorry. Sorry for you, sorry for our families …’
‘The parish will do what it can. I, we, will do what we can.’
‘I have moved a writ in the courts,’ Cranston leaned down to study both prisoners, ‘you will not be arraigned before the justices immediately. I just hope,’ he added menacingly, ‘your comrades amongst the Upright Men do not attempt a rescue. Believe me, this time you might not escape unscathed.’
Athelstan gave a few final words of comfort, blessed both prisoners and stepped outside. Cranston emphasized with the turnkeys that the prisoners were to be well treated. They left the cell, Pike and Watkin’s good wishes ringing clear, followed by more song, which faded as Cranston and Athelstan walked back up that long, gloomy tunnel. They reached the open chamber where Sparwell was being prepared for his gruesome death. The sheriff’s men, garbed in the city livery of blue and murrey, had stripped the prisoner and were now pulling a piece of coarse sacking over him to use as a tunic. On the ground lay a long hurdle with leather straps on each of the four jutting poles. Sparwell, crying and protesting, was forced to lie down face up. When the hurdle was dragged across the frozen, rutted streets his back would only be protected by the leather sheet covering the main body of the hurdle. The prisoner struggled and kicked until a reign of blows forced him to comply. He was stretched out, wrists and ankles being tightly clasped in the leather straps. Sparwell begged for a drink and one of the sheriff’s men unloosened the points of his hose, preparing to urinate on the condemned man’s face. Athelstan, horrified, sprang forward. He knocked the man away. The would-be tormentor stumbled and fell and, ugly face snarling, he drew both sword and dagger and lurched forward, only to be sent spinning by Cranston’s punch to the face. Uproar ensued. Athelstan staggered to kneel over the prisoner. Swords and daggers were drawn in a clatter of steel. Cranston, cloak thrown back, unsheathed both his weapons; he stood at a half-crouch, turning to the left and right. The sheriff’s men edged closer.
‘Think, my lovelies!’ the coroner bellowed. ‘I am Jack Cranston, Lord High Coroner. You have assaulted a priest, a cleric and now me. This man,’ Cranston pointed his sword at Sparwell, ‘has been sentenced to die according to due process. He is not to be used as a pisspot. So be good lads and reflect on what I have said. Lower your swords and, when we reach The Candle-Flame, it will be a blackjack of ale for each and every one of you, courtesy of Jack Cranston.’ The coroner’s words sounded like a bell around that yawning chamber where the flames leapt, shadows danced and Sparwell’s groans mixed with the laboured breathing of the sheriff’s comitatus. Athelstan struggled to his feet.
‘In God’s name,’ he shouted, ‘we are men, not animals!’ One of the sheriff’s men sheathed his weapon and the rest followed. Cranston did the same before moving amongst the escort, clapping shoulders in infectious bonhomie. Harmony was restored, although the macabre ritual of execution continued. Athelstan, crouching by the hurdle, mopped Sparwell’s face with a rag and fed him sips of water. The executioners arrived. The principal Carnifex and four apprentices, their faces covered with grotesque demon masks painted red and black with twisting yellow horns. All of them were garbed in black sleeveless jerkins and thick leather hoses, their boots soled in layers as protection against the flames and hot ash. They brought with them all the dreadful necessaries for Sparwell’s burning: a barrel with its top and bottom removed, to be looped over the great pole and Sparwell placed in it. Bundles of kindling, faggots and brushwood were being fastened to long sledges which would be pulled by the Carnifex and his assistants. Athelstan tried to distract the prisoner by offering to shrive him and administer the last rites.
‘Father,’ Sparwell gasped, ‘I am condemned because I refused in the bishop’s court to accept the power of the Pope, his priests and their sacraments. I believe solely in the scripture – that is God’s word. Everything else is of human fashioning.’ He licked cracked lips. ‘What I ask of you, Father, is that you accompany me, pray with me and for me, nothing more. No priest, no cleric will do it, that’s why I am begging you.’
‘I will go with you, but wait.’ Athelstan rose, walked over to Cranston and informed him of his decision. The coroner, who had been in deep conversation with the Carnifex, gripped Athelstan’s shoulder and led him away.