Justice for the Damned

Chapter Thirty-Eight

Brother Infirmarian cursed the clouds that had just covered the moon. His phrasing was most secular.

"Brother Thomas has not called for help, and the light has been extinguished in the library." A lay brother pointed to the now dark window.

"The agreement was to do nothing until our brother gave the signal," the infirmarian whispered back. "We must wait a while longer before going inside." He fell silent and stared with evident unease at the gloomy building. "I dare not spring the trap too soon, but I do not wish harm to come to our brave monk either."

"Wait!" another exclaimed softly. "I heard a man's voice. That must be the sign!"

Brother Infirmarian rose and called for the group of lay brothers to follow him. As he did, the clouds mercifully parted like a fortress gate and the moon shone forth just enough to outline two figures emerging onto the scaffolding high above the band of monastic rescuers.

The first shadow leapt onto the roof, scrambling loudly up the steep incline. The second stumbled, caught himself, and awkwardly crawled after him.

Brother Infirmarian ordered his men to halt.

"Is one Brother Thomas?" a lay brother asked him.

A cloud drifted back across the moon, dimming the light.

"I think not, but I cannot be sure. They could both be the Devil's imps." Brother Infirmarian quickly ordered several of the lay brothers to assail the library but gestured for one to remain behind with him. The two men slipped closer to the walls and stared upward, raising their crosses to frighten any demon that might lurk there.

The grey forms on the roof looked like sooty ghosts against the darker roofing. The apparition higher up laughed with wicked merriment.

The men below clutched their crosses to their hearts. "Has the Devil released his minions to befoul God's priory with obscene antics?" the lay brother whispered.

The moon once again escaped its cloud, and the men on the ground could see one apparent mortal stand and wave something over his head.

"Give me that!" the other shadow shouted.

Brother Infirmarian looked at his companion. "Do you recognize that voice?"

The lay brother said nothing, his eyes wide-open with terror.

"Catch me if you can," the first one sang and climbed farther upward.

"Devil's spawn!"

"How fond you are of slandering others! I may be a rogue, but I would never defame the innocent. Now that you are on God's ground, surely you must confess that you lied about Eda. She never committed adultery, did she? Shout the truth to God, and I may give you this Psalter."

"She never forsook virtue," Herbert roared. "Give me the manuscript!" He pulled himself closer to the desired object.

The leaner shadow waved it over his head once again. "And a woman who so loved God would never have committed self-murder, would she? Even you could not claim otherwise, although you let others condemn her. Come," he said, holding the Psalter just out of reach. "Tell me how she died, and I shall release this."

"I held her head under the water until she drowned." The vintner grabbed at the Psalter, then slipped. As he slid down the roof, he screamed, but he landed safely on the scaffolding.

"On this holy ground, will you not ask His forgiveness?"

"Give me that Psalter! Dare you call me a sinner when you are Satan's own bedmate?"

"Now you have hurt my feelings."

To the right, two more men could be seen pulling themselves through a window onto the narrow wooden walkway.

The figure high on the roof lifted the Psalter over his head. "Beg for this." Suddenly he lost his footing. "Here! Catch it!" the man cried out, tossing the manuscript out into the darkness as he tumbled downward.

Master Herbert bent backwards to seize the manuscript as it flew over his head. The thin railing at his back snapped.

Brother Infirmarian, ignoring the screams above him, raced to the man who had just hit the ground.

"The hangman has been thwarted," he said softly.

The vintner's neck was broken in two.