The proceedings were finished by dinner-time, with the sheriff sending three men to be hanged for thefts of items worth more than twelve pence and another for clipping coinage, a felony classed as treason and always punishable by death. Though the efforts of the Chief Justiciar to wean major cases from the local manor, hundred and county courts into the royal courts was slowly succeeding, the old Saxon system was proving hard to eradicate. One problem was that the visits of the king's justices to hear cases at the Eyres were so infrequent that the population preferred the quicker summary justice of the local courts. It was true that to speed up the process, more frequent visits of lesser judges, the Commissioners of Gaol Delivery, had been established, but still the old ways proved most popular with the people.
De Wolfe discussed some of this with Henry de Furnellis when they met that afternoon in the keep, but the main business was to harden up their plans to sail the decoy ship to try to attract the pirates. The coroner had learnt from his partner Hugh de Relaga that the St Radegund was due to be back in Topsham within the next week, weather permitting.
'Her master, Roger Watts, is then due for a voyage off, to spend time at home, so we can use Angerus de Wile for our purposes,' said John.
'Assuming he's willing to put his life at risk,' reminded Ralph Morin, who was also present. 'You had better go and talk to him and explain what's required.'
John readily agreed, very conscious that the shipmaster lived in Dawlish.
'We had better arrange for this collection of the fake treasure boxes from Taunton,' declared the sheriff. 'You and Gabriel had better go up with the empty ones and fill them full of stones yourselves. The fewer people who know the truth of this, the better.'
The castle constable agreed and added: 'The return journey to Exeter with an escort of men-at-arms needs to be as public as possible. We can store the boxes here in Rougemont until they are due to be taken down to Topsham.'
The finer details were thrashed out until all that remained was for John to get the cooperation of the St Radegund's master. The crew need not be told anything until the contingent of soldiers arrived to be hidden below deck.
'Amongst whom will be myself!' boomed Ralph.
'As will be I and Gwyn of Polruan,' added John grimly. 'Though I think I'll leave my little clerk at home for this particular adventure!'
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Angerus de Wile lived in a low cottage facing the beach in Dawlish, one of an irregular row of small huts and bigger crofts that housed sailors and fishermen as well as a few traders and craftsmen. As a shipmaster sharing in the profits of each voyage, he was richer than most of his neighbours, but his dwelling was still very modest. The walls were oak frames filled in with cob plastered over wattle panels, and the roof was made of thick stone tiles, as thatch or wooden shingles would not stand the winds that constantly threatened the shore.
His wife had died in childbirth four years earlier, and his eldest daughter, now aged nine, looked after the other two children and kept house while their father was away at sea. John de Wolfe thought that the girl did a good job, as when he came to see Angerus a few days after the conference in Rougemont, he found the little house warm and comfortable. There were clean rushes on the floor and a savoury smell came from a small cauldron hanging on a trivet over the fire pit. Unusually for Devon, there was a crude box-bed against the wall, a cave-like cupboard where Angerus slept when he was home, the three children sleeping on hay bags laid on its roof.
De Wolfe, who today had left both Thomas and Gwyn behind in Exeter, accepted some hot broth that the daughter ladled from the pot, followed by a cup of good wine that Angerus had brought from his last trip to Bordeaux. Seated on stools around the fire, he explained the situation and asked the shipmaster if he was willing to take the St Radegund out, given the possible risks. Though the man was virtually his servant, in that he now worked for the partnership, John made it clear that he was asking for a volunteer and that he was free to refuse if he so wished.
The shipmaster sat for a while, staring into the small glowing fire. His lower jaw, which stuck out so that his teeth markedly overlapped the upper set, made him look like an angry dog about to attack a tethered bull or bear.
'I'll take the ship and be glad to do so, Sir John!' he said eventually. 'It was sodding pirates of some sort who so cruelly slew Thorgils, my master and friend! It would be some measure of revenge if I could help you.'
John looked at his daughter and then at the two younger children, sitting wide-eyed watching them from the bed.
'You have a family to think of, Angerus — but with a dozen armed men on board, as well as myself, the constable and doughty Gwyn, there should be no great risk to you or your crew.'
De Wile looked across at his children, who were obviously well loved and well cared for. 'They have been brave since their mother died, Christ bless her soul! I'm sure if the worst happened, Mistress Hilda would see them cared for, as she has done for the families of Thorgils' crew.'
They talked for a while longer about the details of the proposed voyage and agreed that Angerus would sail the cog out of Topsham in ten days' time.
'It may well be that we'll see no sign of any attackers,' warned de Wolfe. 'Or it's just possible that some other privateers will take the bait, like those said to be working out of Lyme.'
Angerus shrugged. 'The sea's a big place, 'Crowner! You could hide a thousand ships just in the Channel, so the chances of them coming across us once out of sight of land are very slim, unless they know exactly when we left harbour.'
'That's just what we have been trying to achieve, and will do so again in the next few days, now that we have a date. You can tell your men that you have a cargo of silver coin for the king's troops, but for God's sake don't mention the soldiers until they actually turn up at the moment you're ready to cast off your mooring ropes.'
When he rose to leave, John made a point of going to each of the children to press a penny into each hand, as he ruffled their hair affectionately. Though he was not used to children, he sometimes had a yearning for some of his own when he saw a contented family like Angerus's. As he walked back along the strand to the tavern where he had left Odin to be fed and watered, he wondered if things would have been different if he had sired a few on Matilda, though she had never expressed the slightest interest in motherhood, preferring the sisterhood of the Church and apparently yearning only to be a bride of Christ. He was now forty-one years of age and life was slipping by at an astonishing rate, but he knew he still had the potential to be a father — all he needed was the mother!
The thought quickened his steps until he told himself sternly not to be such a damned fool, as an image of Nesta floated into his mind. Doggedly, he walked on and after checking at the alehouse to see that his stallion had been properly cared for, he turned up the side street and loped towards Hilda's grand house, its stone walls and two front pillars marking it out from every other dwelling in the village.
As he approached the heavy door, he felt excited at what had almost happened the last time he came here. He rubbed at his chin to see how much stubble had grown and even ran his fingers through his thick black hair in an attempt to tame it. Flinging the sides of his riding cloak over each shoulder, he tightened his broad leather belt another notch and adjusted the sheath of his short sword at his side. Then he pounded on the door with his fist and waited impatiently for Alice to open it and let him stalk up the stairs to the blonde beauty in her solar.