‘Since you know the abbey so well,’ said Gervase, taking Hubert gently by the arm, ‘perhaps you could track down those two novices, Kenelm and Elaf. We will talk with them anon.’
‘Am I not needed here?’ said Hubert.
‘No!’ Ralph was blunt.
‘But I could be of assistance.’
‘Do as Gervase bids and you will be.’
Hubert’s pride was hurt. Gathering his paunch in both hands, he plodded off on his errand without a backward glance.
Ralph looked around the church to see what other exits it possessed, then he turned his attention to the ladder which led up to the loft, testing it for strength and reliability. Satisfied that it was robust enough, he turned to Gervase and took a firm grip on him.
‘What are you doing, Ralph?’ protested the other.
‘Proving something to myself.’
‘Does it involve assaulting me?’
‘Relax and have faith in your friend.’
Having secured a hold, Ralph suddenly hoisted Gervase over his shoulder and held him there with one hand as he began to climb the ladder. It was a slow and perilous ascent, leaving Gervase to stare down at a slowly receding stone floor while having no control over his limbs. The rungs of the ladder creaked ominously under the combined weight and it bent and swayed from time to time, but Ralph went purposefully on, making light of the problems. When he reached the top, he eased Gervase carefully on to his back on the wooden platform then clambered up to join him.
‘There!’ he said triumphantly. ‘I knew it. It was possible for the killer to carry his victim up here.’
‘Only if he was as strong and wilful as you, Ralph,’ said Gervase, head still pounding from the ordeal. ‘I’ll tell you this. You are certainly not going to carry me down again.’
‘It will not be necessary. I’ve proved my point.’
‘What about the dripping blood?’
‘Easily stemmed by wrapping a cloth around the victim’s neck.’
‘I remain to be convinced.’
‘Then let’s look around.’
There was not much room for two adults in the confined area.
The huge iron bell took up most of the available space, hanging silent and lifeless now but capable of rousing the whole city when rung in earnest. Light was poor but they could see far more than the two novices who had used the place as a nighttime refuge. Several bloodstains were visible on the timber and they examined them with care, noting their position and texture. For the rest, there was nothing else in the loft apart from a coil of rope, which would, in time, replace the existing bell rope, and a new stay, hewn out of ash and, judging by the one already in position to prevent the bell from turning full circle when it was rung, soon to be brought into use instead of its battered predecessor.
‘It’s far too dark up here,’ said Ralph. ‘We should have thought to bring a candle with us.’
‘We have at least established one thing,’ observed Gervase.
‘Yes, you don’t like to be carried up ladders.’
‘That, too, I grant you. No, sit down and you will see what I mean.’ Ralph lowered himself into a seated position beside Gervase. ‘It is a perfect hiding place. Even during the day it is impossible to see anyone up here if they are crouched down.’
‘Or lying full-length in their own blood.’
‘Quite.’
‘The killer knew exactly where to stow the body. Had it not been for those two boys, it might have lain undetected for much longer.’
‘Until the stink became too unbearable!’
Ralph got up and kept a steadying hand on the bell as he manoeuvred his way around to the other side of it. Even more shadow obscured his view there so he relied on touch rather than sight, feeling his way gently along each timber. The oaken beams were thick and well-seasoned and he admired the skill with which they had been chiselled into shape and shorn of their roughness. When he came to the largest beam of all, he used both hands to explore it, finding nothing untoward until he slipped them under the timber to feel the other side. His fingers met something which caused him to stop in surprise.
‘Now that’s interesting,’ he said, identifying his find.
‘What is it, Ralph?’
‘Something I didn’t expect on the back of this beam.’
‘A bird’s nest or a couple of bats?’
‘No, Gervase, these were put here by the hand of man, but for what possible purpose I can’t rightly say. Nobody would fix them on the wrong side of the beam like this.’
‘Why? What is it that you’ve found?’
‘Hooks,’ said Ralph, still fingering his discovery. ‘Two large hooks.’
Chapter Four
Travelling with Ralph Delchard on royal business brought setbacks as well as benefits for Golde. Although she could enjoy the pleasure of her husband’s company, she also endured the discomfort of watching him plunge regularly into situations that were fraught with danger. Nor had her journeys been entirely free from personal slights and humiliations. On her first outing with Ralph, to York, she had lacked the wedding ring that made her his legitimate bride and she was, accordingly, treated as his mistress by the disapproving wife of their host.
It had caused Golde intense embarrassment and there were other places where her presence had not been wholly welcome.
After her initial meeting with the critical lady Maud, her hostess, she feared that Gloucester might be another venue where her Saxon origins aroused muted hostility or covert derision.
Golde was pleased, therefore, when Maud approached her with the offer of a guided tour of the city that afternoon. Maud was polite rather than friendly, and there was the faint sense of an effort being made, but that did not detract from the nature of the invitation. Golde willingly accepted. It would give her an opportunity both to re-acquaint herself with a city she had once visited with her father and to win over her hostess. When the two met in the bailey, horses had already been saddled for them, ostlers waited to help them mount and four soldiers were in attendance to escort them.
‘You have been here before, you say?’ recalled Maud.
‘Yes, my lady. Many years ago.’
‘You may notice some changes since then.’
‘This castle is one of them,’ said Golde without rancour. ‘When King Edward sat on the throne, he held his Witenagemot — his Great Council — at the Palace of Kingsholm.’
‘Those days are over.’
‘So it seems.’
‘This castle is now the most important building in the county.’
She gave a smile. ‘The abbot would dispute that, of course, and rightly so, but this is where affairs of state are decided. A castle can never be an ideal home for a woman but one has to make the best of it. I suspect that the lord Ralph’s manor house is a far more comfortable place to live.’
‘It is, my lady.’
‘Where are his estates?’
‘In Hampshire. A beautiful county.’
‘Gloucestershire, too, has its charms.’
Maud’s manner was pleasant and Golde detected none of the resentment she had felt during the meal on the previous evening.
What impressed her hostess was Golde’s easy mastery of Norman French, a language which she had learned from her husband while simultaneously instructing him in her own. Neither Durand the Sheriff nor his wife made the slightest effort to understand the native tongue of their citizens, still less their culture and customs.
Assisted into the saddle, the two ladies were about to ride off when the sheriff came striding across to bid them farewell.
Durand’s grin was restored along with the flirtatious glint in his eye.
‘Are you deserting me?’ he asked with mock distress.
‘We are going to see the sights,’ said his wife.
‘Am I myself not one of them?’
‘Do not fish for compliments, Durand.’
‘How else will I get them?’
‘They are yours by right, my lord,’ said Golde.