‘That will have to go,’ Athelstan commented. ‘Otherwise civil war will break out on the parish council.’
He crouched down, his back to the wall. Gaunt had said everything was neatly tied up but was it? He thought of all those souls thrust unprepared into eternity: the hapless prostitute hanged at the Golden Cresset, and those Frenchmen who never would see their families or homes again. Did Mercurius have a family? Did anyone grieve for Vulpina? Or those shaven-headed assassins?
‘A long list of dead!’ Athelstan whispered. Tomorrow he would say Mass for all of them, that Christ would have mercy on their souls.
The door swung open and Godbless came in, Thaddeus trotting behind him.
‘God bless you, Father. All is well?’
‘Aye,’ Athelstan replied.
Godbless knelt before him, one arm round Thaddeus.
‘What am I to do, Father?’ he pleaded. ‘I have got no home to go to.’
Athelstan dug into his purse and brought out one of the coins Gaunt had given him. He flicked this at Godbless, who deftly caught it.
‘This is your home, Godbless. By the power given to me by Holy Mother Church,’ he raised his hand in blessing, ‘not to mention the provisions of Canon Law, I forget which clauses, I now make you custos, guardian, of God’s acre, of our cemetery here at St Erconwald’s. Your official residence will be the death house. I’ll get those two reprobates Watkin and Pike to build a new one near the wall.’ Athelstan rubbed his hands. ‘Aye, the dead will be able to sleep in peace now. Your task, Godbless, and Thaddeus, will be to guard that cemetery with your life.’
The beggar chortled with glee, hugged Thaddeus and kissed the goat between its ears. Athelstan glimpsed a furry movement down near the porch, lithe and quick.
‘Oh, and go tell Ranulf,’ he said, I think I know where his ferret is hiding!’
CONCLUSION
The Abrin seed is not a figment of the writer’s imagination. It contains a very toxic protein which causes nausea and very serious, and rapid, damage to vital organs. The seeds have a very hard coating and only become poisonous when they are chewed. This property was used in the past for trial by ordeal, particularly in Venice. The suspected persons were given paternoster peas to swallow: those whom the authorities wanted to escape were secretly warned not to chew them!