The Chatter of the Maidens

Chapter Seven

Brother Firmin was very reluctant to spare Saul, one of his hardest workers, to accompany the Abbess to Ely, so she had to turn a polite request into an order. The old monk made one or two comments under his breath, which Helewise pretended not to hear. Then, when she was back in her room fuming silently about silly old men who had forgotten there was any other world save the cloister, he confounded her by tapping softly on her door and presenting her, with the sweetest of smiles, with a small phial of the holy water ‘to keep Our Lady with you on your travels’.

Brother Saul, on being informed of his unusual mission, was filled with a very obvious delight. His normally sombre face split into a wide grin, over which he appeared to have little control; he wore the same expression constantly for the next few hours, until the first delight wore off.

Helewise went to find him in the stables; he had rounded up the cob — who, for some long-forgotten reason, answered to the name of Baldwin — and was grooming him within an inch of his life.

‘Brother Saul, may I interrupt you?’ she asked, coming up behind him.

Instantly he stopped what he was doing and gave her a bow. ‘I am at your disposal, Abbess. What can I do for you?’

Touched at the devotion in his face, she said, ‘Saul, Sir Josse advises me to take two of the brothers with me. Now, this raises a couple of questions; one, who do you think would be suitable, and two, would this suitable man be up to riding Sir Josse’s horse? That is,’ she added, fearing that she had not been very diplomatic, ‘unless you would like to ride it?’

Brother Saul was shaking his head emphatically at the very thought. ‘Not me, Abbess, thank you all the same. Great hairy thing,’ he muttered. Helewise thought, suppressing a smile, that it was just as well she knew he was referring to the horse. ‘No, I like old Baldwin here,’ he said, giving the cob a friendly slap. His face took on a frown of concentration. Then, clearing again, he exclaimed, ‘Brother Augustine! He’s the boy we want, Abbess!’

‘Brother Augustine?’ she repeated. ‘I don’t believe I know the name. .’ What an admission, she berated herself. I am Abbess here; I should know everyone in my community!

Brother Saul must have read her consternation. ‘You might not know the name, Abbess, but I’ll warrant you know the boy. Dark hair, dark eyes, foreign look about him, legs from his feet to his armpits, natural touch with animals and crotchety children?’

‘That is Brother Augustine?’ Of course she knew him! Why, she had remarked to Brother Firmin only last week what a help the lad must be when there were babies and toddlers needing to be watched while their parents were at prayer! ‘But I thought he was called something else. . Gus, that was it.’

Saul grinned. ‘Aye, we mostly call him Gus. He seems to prefer it.’

She said, ‘Tell me about Brother Augustine, Saul, if you will.’

Brother Saul leaned an arm over the cob’s back, and, in that relaxed position, began. ‘He’s been with us six months or thereabouts. Family are tinkers — fairground entertainers, that sort of thing — and Gus, he’d been hearing Our Lord’s call for a year or more when they fetched up here. His mother took sick — had a baby that died, and it took it out of her — and they came to the Vale to take the healing waters. Now young Gus loves his mother, anyone with eyes can see that, and he was that thankful when she recovered and began to smile again that he reckoned this was the moment to answer God’s call.’

‘If he’s been here six months,’ Helewise said doubtfully, ‘then doesn’t that mean his novitiate is over, and he’s about to take the first of his vows?’ It was not a moment to take a novice monk away from the Abbey, she thought.

‘He’s not a novice,’ Saul said. ‘Not yet, anyway. He’s a lay brother.’

‘But-’ Helewise began. If the boy had heard God’s call so clearly, then why had he not asked to join the professed monks? It is not for me to ask, she told herself sternly. It is between God and Brother Augustine. Instead, turning her mind to practicalities, she said, ‘He rides well, this Gus? Well enough to get Sir Josse’s horse safely to Ely and back?’

‘Aye, God willing,’ Saul replied. ‘See, he’s got no fear, Abbess. He’ll be happy enough sitting up there on old Horace’s back, even though the animal’s as high as a house. Been in the saddle since he were a little tacker, I’ll warrant. Travelling folks, you see.’

‘Indeed I do.’ Helewise nodded gravely. ‘Well, then, Saul, I suggest that, when you’ve finished polishing Baldwin, you take Brother Augustine over to New Winnowlands and bring Sir Josse’s horse back here.’

Saul looked doubtful. ‘Will they let me?’ he asked nervously.

‘Of course they will,’ she said. ‘They know you, Saul, don’t they, Sir Josse’s manservant and his woman?’

‘Aye, but-’

Touched by his modesty — did he not know he had the most honest face of any man? — she said bracingly, ‘No buts, Brother Saul. Go and see Sir Josse, explain your mission, and he will tell you what to say.’ She turned to go. ‘Oh, and Saul. .?’

‘Abbess?’

‘When you return, would you please groom the chestnut mare, too?’

Saul grinned. Beckoning her, he led her the few paces along to the end stall. Looking over the half-door, Helewise saw Joanna’s mare. Her pale coat had been groomed until it gleamed. ‘Oh!’ Helewise exclaimed, instinctively holding out her hand, ‘I had forgotten how beautiful you are!’

The mare came up to her, nuzzling a soft nose in her outstretched palm. The dark eyes studied her, and then the mare tossed her dainty head and gave a gentle whicker.

‘Hello to you, too,’ Helewise murmured. I am going to ride this lovely horse, she thought, a thrill of excitement coursing through her. For a very good reason, I am going on a long journey through springtime England. I know that the fact of my being so delighted at the prospect suggests that I should not be doing it, but really, I have no choice.

The mare had extended her head over the door, and Helewise leaned her face against the warm, smooth-haired flesh of the mare’s gracefully ached neck. Forgive me, Lord, she prayed, if I am eager to go out into Your world. It does not mean that I love Hawkenlye any the less, nor that I am weary of my service to You in this place. But I must go.

As she walked back across the courtyard to her room, she resolved to tell Father Gilbert of her joy at the prospect of her journey. No doubt he would find a way to help her cope with it.

Her elation was, however, swiftly tempered by the realisation that she must decide what to do about Alba; the woman could hardly be left in the punishment cell indefinitely, and only the Abbess could release her.

She knelt in her room, asking for guidance.

And, after a while, she recalled an occasion when somebody else had had to be penned up at Hawkenlye Abbey. Not a monk, nor a nun, but a sad, mentally sick young man who had committed an unlikely murder. They had put him in an end chamber of the infirmary undercroft, in a dark little room with a lock on the door. Oh, Helewise thought, but, apart from being larger, was that any better than the punishment cell?

There are other rooms down there, she thought, there must be. Getting up, she hurried off to look.

She found what she needed. Not the end chamber, at the dark far end of the undercroft, but a larger one near to the entrance. It had a sizeable grille in its stout door; anybody imprisoned within would have at least some daylight.

She went in search of Brother Erse. He was a carpenter and could, she was sure, fit a bolt to the door in the time it took to arrange the chamber for its new prisoner.

When the room was ready, equipped with a straw pallet, covers, a jug of water and a drinking cup, Helewise asked Brother Erse to fetch Brother Saul and, with Sister Martha for support, the four went to let Alba out of the punishment cell and take her to her new accommodation.

A night in the tiny, dark cell had calmed Alba. Blinking in the daylight, she walked obediently between her escorts across to the infirmary; ushered down into her new quarters, she gave a faint smile.

‘You will be taken out for a walk in the fresh air twice a day,’ Helewise told her, ‘provided you behave. Your meals will be brought to you down here. You may have all reasonable comforts and, if you give no trouble, we will allow you a lantern at night.’

Alba would not meet her eyes.

Help me, dear Lord, to reach her! Helewise prayed silently. ‘Alba?’ she said gently. ‘Is there anything you wish to say?’

Alba raised her head. Resentment was evident in her face, but also a grudging appreciation. She opened her mouth and, for a moment, Helewise thought she might be about to speak. But then, with a slight shake of her head, Alba turned away.

With a heavy heart, Helewise returned to her room and sent for Berthe.

The girl came quickly, and Helewise was touched to see the clear signs that she had been crying.

‘Berthe,’ Helewise said, ‘I am going on a journey. I must talk to the superior of the convent where Alba was before she came here. Can you tell me where it was?’

There was fear in the girl’s face. She shook her head.

‘Are you quite sure?’ Helewise persisted.

‘Yes, Abbess! Honestly, I really can’t tell you that, I don’t know it. She never said, and when I asked Father where she had gone and if we could visit her, he said she was dead to us and we must forget her.’

You poor child, Helewise thought, watching as Berthe struggled with renewed tears. ‘Never mind,’ she said — and how inadequate the words sounded, in the face of the girl’s distress — ‘it’s all right, Berthe, I believe you.’

Berthe was watching her with a strange expression. She looked almost guilty, Helewise thought. Then, after some inner struggle that was painted clearly on her face, the girl said, ‘We lived at Medely. That’s where my father’s farm was.’

‘Medely?’ Helewise repeated. The name meant nothing.

‘Yes! It’s quite a small place. And we — ’ But then she folded her lips tight shut.

‘Berthe?’

‘I can’t!’ she cried. ‘Oh, Abbess Helewise, you’ve been so nice to me and I want to help, but I just can’t!’

You are afraid, Helewise thought compassionately. If I pressed you a little harder, I think you might break down and tell me what I need so badly to know. But what would that do to you, child?

No, she thought, I shall just have to do it the hard way.

She dismissed Berthe with a swift blessing — the poor child was surely in sore need of the Lord’s blessing — and then summoned Brother Michael, giving him orders to ride down to Tonbridge and report the death of the pilgrim to Sheriff Pelham.

Thinking that at least she wouldn’t have to deal with him, since, by the time the Sheriff got himself up to Hawkenlye, she would be on her way to Ely, her enthusiasm for her journey began to creep back.

The Abbess was not the only one eager to be on the road. In the infirmary, Josse lay aching for the party to be gone; only then, or so he hoped, would he be able to have any peace.

He kept envisaging them on the road; the Abbess, her faithful Brother Saul and this lad, Gus. The one who was going to ride Horace. Would they know what to do if anything unexpected happened? Supposing one of the horses pulled up lame, supposing someone took a bad fall, supposing they found the road flooded, or a river crossing place impassable, would they know how to make a detour?

Had any of them the first idea of how to get to Ely?

The Abbess had visited him frequently over the past two days, serenely answering every objection. But she doesn’t really know what it’s going to be like, Josse fumed to himself; when did she ever go off into the blue with only a lay brother and a boy to protect her?

Then, early in the morning of the day that the party was to set out, he had a visit from Brother Augustine.

The boy stood in front of him, a friendly expression on his face. He looked, Josse thought, neither nervous nor overawed at this important mission for which he had been selected.

‘I thought I should come to see you,’ he said without preamble, ‘being as how you’ve been kind enough to let me ride your horse.’

‘Good of you,’ Josse muttered.

The boy noticed the irony — Josse could tell by the swift response in the dark eyes — but instead of taking offence, he said, ‘I know how you feel. You set a store by the Abbess, and you would give anything to be riding off instead of me. But you can’t, because nobody here will risk you opening up that cut again. They nearly lost you last time. I just wanted to tell you, Sir Josse d’Acquin, that I know exactly what I’m being entrusted with, and I understand the honour and the responsibility of being asked to go in your place.’ The dark eyes were fixed to Josse’s, and Josse found the boy’s gaze oddly compelling. The boy added softly, ‘I would die before I let any harm come to her.’

Strangely, Josse was convinced by the quiet intensity with which the melodramatic words were spoken; he found that he entirely believed the boy’s sincerity.

‘I hope and pray that it will not come to that,’ he said, careful to make his own words sound equally sincere. ‘And thank you for coming to see me. I appreciate it.’

‘Do you feel better now?’ Brother Augustine asked.

Josse knew he was not referring to his physical state. He thought about it. Did he?

‘Aye,’ he said eventually. He gave the boy a grin; it was the first time he had felt like smiling for some time. ‘I already knew that she — the Abbess — had a good and faithful companion in Brother Saul. Now that I have met you, Brother Augustine, I know that she will have two men with her with whom she’ll be as safe as if I myself were going with her to Ely.’ One of the boy’s dark eyebrows went up in faint enquiry. ‘Well, almost.’

The boy smiled. His teeth, Josse noticed, were white and strong looking; combined with the boy’s tall, well-muscled frame, it seemed to suggest that his childhood on the road had been a healthy one. ‘We shall look after her,’ he said.

Josse nodded. ‘Aye.’ He sensed that the boy wanted to be off, but he could not resist a final enquiry. ‘Now you do know the way? You’re quite sure? Because I can’t imagine that either the Abbess or Brother Saul could even guide themselves as far as London, or, even if once they could, they’ll have forgotten, and-’

‘I know the way,’ the boy interrupted. He did not offer anything to back up his statement, but, watching him, Josse didn’t think he needed to. The lad gave off an air of quiet confidence that was more impressive than a wealth of breathless assurances.

‘Then it remains only for me to wish you God’s speed, and a safe return,’ Josse said.

‘Thank you. We are to attend a special service in the Abbey church, then we set out.’ A flash of excitement lit the young face. ‘Abbess Helewise says to tell you she will come and say goodbye before we go.’

Josse watched him walk away, long legs covering the ground in smooth strides. The he closed his eyes to add his own plea to the Lord to take care of the little party and bring them safely home again.

For the first few miles on the road, Helewise’s pleasure in the sunny morning and the smooth gait of the chestnut mare were overshadowed by her memory of Josse as he said goodbye.

She had almost cried out, ‘Oh, very well, we’ll postpone the trip for a fortnight, a month, however long it takes you to be fit again! Anything, but don’t look at me like that!’

Of course, she had kept her peace. But it had cost her a lot.

Brother Augustine was riding ahead, turning round from time to time to make sure that Horace’s sprightly pace was not too fast for the mare and the cob and their riders. Helewise could hear Brother Saul behind her, keeping up a constant flow of softly spoken chatter to the old cob. Both men, she realised with relief, were showing the tact to leave her to her thoughts.

She decided to adopt Saul’s tactics, and began talking to the mare; even more important for me to do so than for Saul, she thought, since he and Baldwin are old friends, whereas this lovely mare and I are new to one another.

She began, tentatively and self-consciously at first, to introduce herself to her mount. Honey’s ears twitched interestedly. Pleased to have a response, Helewise found it easier to find the words to say and, by the time they were descending the long slope down to Tonbridge and the river Medway crossing, she was chatting to Honey as if they had known one another for years.

According to Brother Augustine’s reckoning, they covered not far short of twenty miles the first day. But then, he added, the horses were fresh and well rested, the weather was fine and warm, and the road good and firm under their feet. When he proposed that it was time to think about where they were going to stop for the night, Helewise almost urged him to go a little further; however, when she slid off Honey’s back to stretch her legs for the final mile or so, she was very glad she hadn’t.

It was many years since she had ridden any distance. And, although the mare’s saddle was expensively made and comfortable, Helewise’s legs and thighs had stiffened up badly. Muscles she had forgotten she had seemed to squeal their protest, and she longed for the chance to rub on some of Sister Euphemia’s special mixture. Yes, it would burn like fury, but it worked. .

‘All right, Abbess?’ Brother Augustine called back to her.

‘Fine!’ she said, gritting her teeth and forcing a smile.

‘Not far now,’ the boy went on. ‘There’s a small convent I know of, up the road a way. They’re generous to travellers, and they know me. They’ll be honoured to receive the Abbess of Hawkenlye,’ he added gravely.

Oh, dear, Helewise thought. Yes, I must present a suitably dignified demeanour. They have every right to expect that, from an Abbess.

But it wasn’t going to be easy to be dignified, when the only way that she could walk was with her legs bowed out wide enough to circle a beer barrel.