Company of Liars (40 page)

Rodrigo himself had not said a word to Jofre all the way home. The cold air and the long walk rapidly sobered the lad up and several times he glanced apprehensively at Rodrigo as if trying to read his mood, painfully aware that his master's silences were more dangerous than his rages. When we
reached the crypt, he turned to face Rodrigo, clearly expecting a confrontation, defiance written all over his face, but Rodrigo had simply said, ‘It is late, Jofre, get some sleep.’ Then he turned away to his own sleeping place and lay down without another word. Jofre stood dumbfounded for a moment, absently rubbing his backside, then he too lay down in his corner and buried his face in his cloak.

But whatever retribution Jofre feared, I sensed that this time Rodrigo was not angry. Jofre's drinking and gambling, refusing to practise, wasting his talent, these things made Rodrigo angry, but not this, he did not blame Jofre for this. He'd known for a long time it was inevitable and he was afraid for him.

Breakfast was a subdued affair. Everyone was tired from the disturbances of the previous night and to break our fast we only had a thin broth boiled from the previous night's carcasses. It was quickly drunk and wearily we began to prepare ourselves for another long day out in the cold in our search for something to put on the table.

Jofre had studiously avoided meeting anyone's eye all through breakfast and now, before anyone else was ready, he hastily gathered his bag and sling.

‘Going hunting,’ he muttered to the floor. ‘Be back before dark,’ he added with a nervous glance at Rodrigo. He made for the stairs leading up to the chapel, but he only got as far as the second step.

Zophiel, descending the stairs from the chapel above, pushed Jofre back down into the crypt so savagely that the boy stumbled and fell. He scrambled to his feet and tried to make for the stairs again, but Zophiel blocked his way.

‘Not so fast, my young friend. I want some answers first. Where did you go last night?’

Rodrigo stepped forward. ‘He is my pupil, Zophiel. It is no business of yours where he went.’

‘I think it's very much my business, Rodrigo, when it was my money he was spending.’

‘You gave him money?’

‘I did not
give
anything to him, Rodrigo. Jofre stole it.’

Taken aback, Rodrigo turned to look at Jofre who was staring wide-eyed at Zophiel. A dull red flush spread over the lad's face, though whether this signified anger or guilt was impossible to say.

‘I thought we knew all your pupil's vices - indolence, drunkenness, gambling,
sodomy.
’ He spat this last word out. ‘But now it seems we must add stealing to this ever-lengthening list. Well, boy, I'll ask you again, where did you go last night?’

‘I didn't steal anything,’ Jofre said, his jaw clenched in fury.

Zophiel moved a step closer. ‘So now we can add lying to the list as well, can we?’

‘Jofre does not steal,’ Rodrigo said firmly.

Zophiel kept his cold stare firmly fixed on Jofre's face. ‘I notice, Rodrigo, you wisely avoiding saying - he doesn't lie. Perhaps you don't know your pupil as well as you think. Did he ever tell you, for instance, that the first time we met, Jofre lost a purse full of money to me on a wager he insisted on making to show how clever he was? He was most anxious that you did not find out about that. Perhaps he thought he'd steal from me to even the score.’

Jofre raised his chin and glared at Zophiel. ‘You're the liar, Zophiel. I've never stolen any money from you.’

Zophiel smiled humourlessly. ‘No, but you stole something else, didn't you, something you could sell for money in that rat-hole of a town.’

He produced a small box from under his cloak. It was about the size of a lady's jewel casket, except that this was made of plain wood, banded with iron. The lock had been prised open. He tipped it forward. A heap of straw fell with a whisper on to the flags.

‘Empty, as you see. But yesterday morning it was not.’

He threw the box violently into the corner where it landed with a crash, making Adela cry out in alarm.

Zophiel ignored her and grasped Jofre by the front of his shirt, pushing his face into Jofre's. ‘Who did you sell it to, boy? Answer me.’

Rodrigo pushed Zophiel aside and grasped Jofre's upper arms, swinging him round to face him. ‘In the stew, you had money. Where did you get it from? You have earned nothing for weeks. Answer me, Jofre.’

Jofre, wincing, tried in vain to wriggle out of Rodrigo's iron grasp. ‘I'm not a thief. I swear I didn't take anything from Zophiel. I won the money gambling on dog-fighting. I didn't tell you because I knew you'd be angry. But I didn't steal it, I swear.’

Rodrigo searched the boy's face for a few moments, then released his grip, shaking his head as though he no longer knew what to believe. Jofre backed away, rubbing the bruises on his arms.

‘So you won it gambling, did you, Jofre?’ said Zophiel, his tone icy now. ‘I congratulate you. Your luck must have changed; you've never won at gambling before. You're as useless at that as you are at lying. So, tell me, boy, where did you get the stake money? Were your new friends so generous they let you play for free, or was the wager the contents of that box? Is that what you put up as your stake, boy, my property?’

‘I never touched your fucking boxes.’

‘Is that so? You know,’ said Zophiel thoughtfully, ‘it is Childermas today, is it not?’

Jofre looked bewildered.

‘When I was a child,’ Zophiel continued, ‘our teacher whipped every boy in the school on Childermas to remind them of the suffering of the Holy Innocents. It's a pity to let these old customs die out.’ Without warning he twisted Jofre's arm behind his back and began pushing him towards the stairs. ‘I have the horse-whip upstairs. Perhaps that will loosen your tongue.’

Jofre, unable to break free, turned frantically towards Rodrigo. ‘Rodrigo, please, stop him. I didn't do it, I swear!’

Rodrigo stood with his head bowed and his arms folded, unable even to look at him.

Cygnus started forward. ‘Wait, Zophiel. It was me, my fault.’

Zophiel swung round, but did not relax his grip on Jofre. ‘You stole from me?’

Cygnus shook his head. ‘No, no, on my oath I did not, but I did leave the door to the chapel unbarred yesterday in the afternoon. I was distracted. I forgot to bar the door behind Rodrigo when he went out, then I went downstairs to talk to Adela, leaving the chapel empty. I was telling her a story to amuse her and it wasn't until Camelot came back that I realized how long we had been talking.’

‘You were alone with Cygnus?’ Osmond said sharply, rounding on Adela.

‘Why shouldn't I be? Osmond, you know this is foolish nonsense. Cygnus wouldn't…’ She broke off gasping, clutching at one of the trestles for support.

‘Adela, are you ill?’ I asked.

But Adela shook her head. ‘It's nothing. A little touch of gripe, that's all.’

Zophiel cut in. ‘Camelot, is this true?’

I turned back to him and nodded. ‘The door was unbarred when I returned and Cygnus and Adela were down here. I'm afraid anyone could have come in and taken whatever it is that has been stolen. What is it that has been taken, Zophiel?’

He ignored the question. ‘You didn't think to mention this?’

I shrugged. ‘So few people pass this way and I couldn't see anything that was obviously missing when I looked about. From the dust in the floor it appeared that a few of the boxes had been moved, but you frequently check the contents yourself, Zophiel, as you did this morning, so I assumed you'd moved them yourself before you went out.’

Jofre wriggled in Zophiel's grasp. ‘You see? Anyone could have taken one of your precious boxes and I wasn't even near the chantry yesterday afternoon. I was in the town. So let me go!’

He gave another violent squirm and succeeded this time in twisting himself free. He turned and glowered at Zophiel.

‘Apologize, Zophiel, apologize for calling me a thief.’

‘Not so fast, my young friend. Camelot is right, so few people pass this way, and if it had been a chance thief, why take the contents of a box that was under several others? Why not take the first thing he could grab, or take it all, and why bother to put everything back exactly as before? That takes time and he'd want to be out and away as fast as he could before he was discovered. No, my young friend, I think you slunk back here and finding the door unbarred and the room deserted, you took your chance, knowing that if one of us returned unexpectedly no one would question your presence. You put everything back just as it was, in the hope that I wouldn't notice the theft straight away, so I
wouldn't link it to you. And I would not have done, if Narigorm had not come to tell me she'd read in the runes that something had been taken from me.’

I turned to look at Narigorm who was crouching as still as a spider in the corner. She glanced up wide-eyed from under her white lashes, but her face was without expression.

‘No, my young friend,’ Zophiel continued, ‘what Cygnus tells me does not exonerate you; it merely explains how you did it.’

He grabbed Jofre again and pushed him up against the wall, pinning him to the wall by his throat.

‘I could take you to the town bailiff and hand you over to be hanged, but I'm a merciful man. I'm not going to hand you over. I'm going to take you upstairs and I'm going to flog you, boy, until you admit the truth, even if I have to flay your back to the bone. Let's see if your cocksucking boyfriends still find you as pretty then, shall we?’

Jofre brought his knee up sharply and caught Zophiel hard in the balls. The man staggered backwards and doubled over, groaning. Jofre darted towards the stairs, as Zophiel hissed through gritted teeth, ‘You'll pay for that, you lying little pervert.’

Jofre turned, tears of rage standing out in his eyes.

‘Don't you touch me, Zophiel. Don't you ever touch me again. I know all about you. I know what's in those precious boxes of yours. And I bet there are others who'd love to know what you've got hidden. I don't need to steal anything from you, Zophiel; I can just sell what I know, that should be worth quite a bit, don't you think?’

Zophiel froze, the colour suddenly drained from his face. Jofre ran lightly up the stairs. We heard his feet on the floor above and then we heard the outer door slam shut. The sound seemed to startle Zophiel out of his trance and he
staggered to the stairs and heaved himself up, gripping hard on the stone handrail. Again the door above us crashed shut.

Before any of us could follow there was a sharp cry behind us. Adela was leaning against the wall, clutching her belly. There was a splashing sound and a puddle of water trickled out from under her skirts. I hurried towards her.

‘Here, help her to sit down,’ I yelled at the dumbfounded faces around me.

Adela pushed our hands away. ‘No, no.’

‘Come now, Adela,’ I said soothingly. ‘You should be pleased the baby is at last on its way.’

‘Not today. It can't be born on Childermas. The child will be cursed.’

‘Your waters have broken, Adela, it's coming whether you like it or not. The best you can hope for is a long labour, so that it is not born until after midnight, but that, my girl, I would not wish on anybody.’

I turned to the others who stood around staring, immobilized. ‘Osmond, you had best stay with your wife. Narigorm, we'll need water when the baby comes. You'd better fetch it now; I'll have other errands for you later. Cygnus, Rodrigo, there is nothing you can do here. You'll be more usefully employed in finding us some food. However long this takes we'll need to eat, and I don't think we can expect much help from Jofre or Zophiel today.’

I went to my pack and took out a small package wrapped in a scrap of soft leather. I led Rodrigo and Cygnus upstairs where I unwrapped the small bundle in front of them. Inside lay a shrivelled, blackened finger. The stump where the finger had been severed was covered in a cap of engraved silver, set with tiny fragments of turquoise and garnet. I wrapped it again and thrust it into Rodrigo's hand.

‘Take this to the town and try to sell it.’

‘But this must be valuable. I cannot do it justice.’

‘You've watched me sell a saint's bones often enough to know how it's done. Besides, Cygnus will be able to spin a good tale about it even if you can't. That serving girl at the Red Dragon will know who might be interested. The money will buy the services of a midwife, there must be some woman in the town who has the skill. Then use what's left to buy anything that will fill our bellies. There's still food to be had in that town somewhere, judging by the spread in that stew, and we'll want more than a few starlings today. If there's money enough, then bring some good sweet wine too, for Adela will be needing it before the day is out.’

‘I must also look for Jofre,’ Rodrigo said. ‘If Zophiel finds him first, he will kill him.’

Cygnus grinned broadly. ‘No chance of that. Jofre is half Zophiel's age and he had a head start. Besides, that was some wallop Jofre gave him. That ought to slow him down for a bit.’ His expression changed to one of concern. ‘Do you think Jofre really knows what Zophiel keeps in those boxes, or was he just saying the first thing that came into his head as a way of getting back at Zophiel?’

I looked at Rodrigo and we both shook our heads.

‘Either way, it hit the mark,’ I said. ‘But, Cygnus, don't you know what's in them? Back at the ford you started to tell us you'd seen something.’

‘Not exactly seen. When I was hiding in the wagon during that day on the road, I dared not move in case any of you heard me, and that night, when I was alone and you were all inside the cottage, it was much too dark to see anything. I confess I did try to open some of the boxes, but only because I was looking for something to eat. I was starving. Mostly the ones I tried were locked. There was one that
wasn't, but that just had what felt like a small plate inside, and Pleasance came out then, so I didn't have a chance to try the other boxes. It was only afterwards, when I saw how anxious Zophiel was about them, that it struck me as odd. The mermaid I can understand, but who bothers about a little plate? I doubt even a beggar would trouble to steal that.’