Janna Mysteries 1 & 2 Bindup (43 page)

Janna had a sudden feeling she and Godric were being enticed into a trap, but there was little they could do about it now. She dragged Bones over to Urk. ‘Will you look after Hamo’s dog for me please, Gabriel?’ she asked, including Mistress Wulfrun in her friendly smile.

‘Ooh, yes!’ The boy fell to his knees and began to pat Bones with great enthusiasm. The dog wagged its tail at him, but kept on barking.

‘I’m sorry, mistress. I don’t know what’s got into him,’ Janna apologised to Urk’s mother. ‘Do you think Gabriel could play with him for a bit, and keep him quiet?’

‘Gabriel has a way with animals, ’tis true,’ his fond mother agreed. She nodded. ‘Go on, then. We’ll keep an eye on the dog for you.’

‘Thank you.’ Janna wasn’t sure who would take priority where Mistress Wulfrun was concerned, Urk or the dog, but she knew she could trust the woman to do her best. Keeping close to Godric, Janna followed the villeins and Serlo into the forest.

‘I really am sorry about your mother, sorry that I wasn’t there to physic her,’ she apologised, thinking Godric must listen to her now after what had just passed between them. The memory brought a blush to her cheek, and she quickly looked away.

‘I’m sorry too,’ he said soberly. ‘It’s true what I told you before. No matter what some of the villagers might have said to you – and I know Mistress Hilde was one of them – they regret it now, and repent the action they took against you. Especially Mistress Hilde. There is no-one to make up the cream that your mother once provided, and her skin is red raw with scratching.’

Janna felt a moment of fierce satisfaction. ‘You know she killed my cat, don’t you? It was a warning to me, she said, not to lie with her husband. As if I
would
!’

‘She lives to regret her deed. She says now that your cat walks with her wherever she goes. She is in mortal fear that it will smother her new baby. But no-one else can see the cat. No-one believes her. Her fancies have turned her mind too far from the truth.’

‘You are so right!’ Janna said quickly. ‘’Tis Hilde’s guilt that torments her now, guilt for crucifying my cat!’

Godric’s face darkened in remembered anger. ‘I don’t know how you could have held me responsible for that, Janna, not even for a moment. You should know I would never do anything to harm you. Why, I …’ He clamped his lips together, and marched on.

‘I know that now.’ Janna hurried after him. ‘I’m sorry, Godric, truly. I haven’t been kind, or fair, to you at all, and I deeply regret it.’ She felt a weight ease off her heart. She’d treated Godric so badly; it had been a burden on her conscience. She’d thought she’d never see him again so it was a great relief to her, now, to have the chance to apologise. ‘Forgive me?’ She gave him a tentative smile. When he flashed a reluctant grin in return, her spirits soared. Then she remembered the task that lay before them, and her joy evaporated immediately. At once she looked towards Serlo. He was watching them. In fact, he seemed far more interested in keeping them in sight than in pretending to search for the missing boy.

Fear threaded through Janna and tightened into a knot of anxiety in her stomach. Serlo had already shown himself to be quick and resourceful, and utterly without mercy. Soon enough he would make a move against them. What was in his mind? One small thought brought Janna some consolation. While Serlo was watching them, he was unable to act against Hamo. She only hoped that, when the time came, she and Godric would be able to outwit the reeve and find Hamo in time to save the boy’s life.

T
HE BELL CONTINUED
to toll at intervals through the weary day, the sound growing fainter as they moved further away from the manor, until finally it ceased altogether. Knowing they were wasting time, Janna grew impatient, but they couldn’t start their own search under Serlo’s watchful eye. The sun burned fiercely, its heat penetrating even the dim forest, parching her mouth and throat. She wished she’d thought to bring something to drink, and something to eat too.

At Serlo’s signal, the villeins came together late in the afternoon to eat their dinner. Janna realised their steps had taken them close to the path again as she watched the villeins settle deep in the shade on either side of it, and unstopper leather bottles of ale to slake their thirst. She swallowed hard, trying to bring some moisture into her mouth. They must be moving back towards the manor, she realised, as she heard the faint tolling of the bell sound mournfully through the silent forest.

‘You can follow this track after you’ve eaten your dinner,’ Serlo told the villeins. He turned to Janna and Godric. ‘You will continue the search with me.’

‘What’s he playing at?’ Janna whispered as Godric came over to her.

He shrugged, and produced his own leather bottle, which he offered to Janna. She took it gratefully, and swallowed several mouthfuls of ale. It was warm from the heat of the day, and tasted somewhat of leather, but it ran down her parched throat like liquid gold.

‘Thank you.’ She handed the bottle back, and accepted a piece of bread and cheese from Godric. ‘You’re saving my life here.’

‘Again.’ His smile took the sting from the word. With a weary sigh, Janna sat down, her back propped against a tree. Godric collapsed beside her, and they sipped and chewed together in companionable silence for a time.

Looking around, Janna read the despair on everyone’s faces. They had given up hope of finding Hamo, and were only going through the motions of searching for him now. In fact, they’d given up altogether, she realised, as Serlo directed them off down the path towards home.

‘Come!’ He beckoned them up to follow him. Janna knew that the trap was baited and ready for them. She knew also that she was the one Serlo wanted, not Godric. His life would not be in danger if he went with the reeve.

‘Get after him,’ Janna hissed, thinking to seek safety with the departing villeins. ‘I’ll go to his cottage and look for Hamo.’

‘It’s you he’s interested in, not me, so he won’t go anywhere unless you’re there too.’ Godric grasped her arm and hauled her along with him after the reeve. ‘If Hamo is hidden somewhere in the forest, you can protect him while I take care of Serlo. We can search the cottage later.’

Janna recognised the wisdom of Godric’s reasoning and stopped resisting him. In single file, they tramped after Serlo, moving from light to deep shadow, and never in a straight line. ‘Did he do it? Did he do it?’ a song thrush called, answering its own question: ‘Come out! Come out!’ There was a rustle and flutter of wings as it flew off. Serlo stood quietly for a moment to make sure they were still following him, then began to push his way through the forest once more.

‘I wonder where he thinks he’s going?’ Godric sounded puzzled as he padded after the reeve. Janna shook her head. She wondered if either of them knew, for she herself was lost, had been lost for most of the day.

‘He’s already been this way once before,’ Godric stopped and looked at Janna. ‘He’s taking us around in circles.’

‘He obviously doesn’t realise you know the forest better than he does!’

Godric shrugged, and set off after Serlo once more, keeping a careful lookout for any sign of Hamo. Janna marvelled how silently he walked. ‘Aargh!’ She gave a muffled scream as a sticky spider web suddenly wrapped around her face. Frantically, she clawed it off, sure that she could feel the tickle of spider legs threading through her hair, down her neck, against her skin inside her smock. She beat at herself with both hands, hoping to squash the insect dead. Distracted by the spider, not looking where she was going, her foot sank into a hole, giving her ankle a painful wrench. She stifled a cry, but tears came into her eyes with the pain of it. She limped towards Godric, who was waiting for her. Serlo had vanished.

‘It’s as I thought,’ Godric said, as she came up to him. ‘Serlo’s been leading us around in circles, and now he thinks we’re lost. He’s done it on purpose.’

‘What about Hamo? Where is he?’

‘Nowhere Serlo’s leading us, that’s for sure.’

‘Serlo must have him hidden in his cottage after all.’

Godric lifted his shoulders and spread his hands in a helpless gesture.

‘We must find Hamo. We
must
!’ Janna was frantic. ‘Let’s go back and look, Godric. Quickly, while Serlo is still in the forest.’ A horrible thought stopped her. ‘Do you know where we are? Can you find your way out of here?’

To her relief, Godric nodded. ‘Let’s play Serlo at his own game first and buy us some time. Follow me, Janna, close as you can, and walk quietly.’

To Janna’s immense surprise Godric cut away at an angle from where they’d come, and silently began to make his way through a dense grove of trees. At once, she went after him. She could only hope he knew what he was doing.

Without warning, he jumped onto a fallen branch. The sudden crack sent her heart leaping in fear. She frowned, puzzled by his antics. ‘What …?’ He pressed his finger against her lips. They waited a few moments.

Nothing happened. Janna listened intently, but she couldn’t hear anything, nor was there any sign of the reeve. Godric picked up the fallen branch and hit it against a tree. The dull thud echoed through the forest. ‘Janna! Come see what I’ve found,’ he called. ‘I doubt Serlo will be able to explain this away!’ Again, he cautioned her to silence.

Above their heads, birds began to twitter and sing, serenading the closing of the day. But Janna knew Godric wasn’t listening for birds. She strained her ears to hear if his ruse had worked, and became aware of a furtive rustling. Animal or human? Evidently Godric knew the difference for he grabbed her hand and swept her away and around a patch of holly, then pushed through a thicket of hazel, snapping twigs and swishing branches as he passed. He was making more noise than a charging boar. Putting his finger to his lips once more, he stopped and looked behind, waiting.

This time Janna could hear the faint swish of Serlo’s boots on dry leaves. Satisfied that he’d taken the bait, Godric drew Janna off in a different direction, cutting silently through a long stand of tall beeches and oaks then scooting across a patch of open grassland. He gave another raucous call. ‘Janna! Where are you?’

Janna was right beside him, but she’d worked out now what he was up to, and she grinned up at him. She couldn’t see the reeve, but she could hear him. He was still coming their way. Godric set off again, this time moving deep into a grove of yew, an impenetrable maze of knitted branches and leaves. ‘Call my name,’ he whispered, and Janna did as she was bid. The note of desperation in her voice wasn’t all fake. She was frightened, as much for Hamo’s sake as their own, by this deadly game of hide and seek in the forest. Serlo knew, now, that they were on to him, and that they would betray him if they could. He couldn’t afford to let them leave the forest alive.

‘Call again,’ Godric prompted, and Janna did. She listened, heart thumping hard in her breast. There was a smothered cough, and then the faint sound of Serlo’s panting breath as he came after them.

Godric nodded his head, satisfied. ‘Come,’ he whispered. ‘Quiet as you can.’ He took her hand and led the way, slipping silently through the dense growth. Once out of the copse, he kept on moving in a straight line through trees and weedy clearings, picking up speed all the way. To Janna’s amazement, they suddenly emerged from the forest almost directly in line with Serlo’s cottage.

‘Hurry!’ Godric urged, and began to race down towards the water meadows. But Janna had noticed the shed where once she and Edwin had sheltered. If it came to defending themselves against the reeve, a weapon would be handy. She hastened inside to retrieve the sword, feeling a great relief to find it still in its hiding place. Ignoring the dull ache of her wrenched ankle, she sped after Godric, following him down through the water meadows and across the river.

The door of the reeve’s cottage was locked and barred against them. ‘The devil take him,’ Janna cursed, even as she acknowledged that this spoke of Serlo’s having something to hide. ‘Hamo!’ she called, and beat on the door with her fist. ‘Are you in there?’

Silence. Godric was peering through a shuttered window, trying to see inside the cottage. ‘Hamo!’ he bellowed, not caring now who might see or hear them. ‘Hamo!’ They both stopped and listened. Nothing moved. There was no sound in answer to their calls. Janna knew a bleak despair. If Hamo was in there, he had been silenced – perhaps permanently.

Godric pulled out his hunting knife. Large and very sharp, it was the knife he used for protection when walking through the forest. Not caring about the noise he was making or the damage to Serlo’s property, he hacked into the wooden shutters, tearing and splintering them. Wordlessly, Janna handed him the sword, and he wasted no time in using it to slice through the shutter, making a large enough space for Janna to crawl through. At once she put her foot into Godric’s cupped hands and launched herself through and into the cottage.

‘Hamo!’ she yelled, as she hit the ground. She rolled over and sprang to her feet. In spite of the heat, a fire smouldered in the hearth, and Janna waited a moment for her eyes to adjust to the dim light. There was no sign of anyone. With dragging steps, she went to the door and unbolted it. Sadly, she shook her head in answer to Godric’s unspoken question. She stepped aside to let him enter.

Together they opened the remaining shutters to let in the light, then began a systematic search through the cottage. Janna’s eyes narrowed. Two wooden trenchers lay on a table, as if waiting for food to be placed on them for the evening meal. Two trenchers? Janna felt a sudden surge of hope. ‘Hamo?’ she yelled. ‘It’s Janna, and Godric. There’s nothing to be afraid of, we’re here to help you escape.’ She listened intently, felt her heart double thump as she heard a noise, but then realised it was the faint yapping of a barking dog.

‘I’m sure Hamo’s about somewhere,’ she told Godric, ‘and I’m sure he’s alive!’ She pointed at the second trencher. ‘Look! Where do you think Serlo’s got him hidden?’

Godric shrugged, looking baffled. Once more they searched through several unlocked chests and around the meagre pieces of furniture within the cottage, including the coverings and frame of a rather fine wooden bed which stood hidden behind soft drapes in a small alcove off the main room. With increasing desperation, they searched even those places far too small to hide a little boy, just in case there was some clue to Hamo’s presence, anything at all.

The sound of barking grew louder. A dog was coming this way. Bones? Suddenly there was a furious scratching at the door, accompanied by a series of short, sharp yips. Desperate to stop the noise before it attracted any more attention, Janna hurried to open it.

Bones shot in. Janna could swear that the dog was surprised to see her. He wagged his tail but kept on moving, sniffing at the ground until he suddenly stopped and sat, almost as if he was keeping guard. The beaten earth of the floor was covered with rushes. By the look of them, they’d been down for some time and needed changing. Janna frowned and looked more closely. The rushes near Bones seemed unevenly distributed, as if they’d been recently disturbed. Bones was still barking, but not so ferociously now. He looked up at Janna with bright eyes. Janna thought he was trying to tell her something. ‘You were here before, weren’t you, Bones?’ she said softly. ‘Where is Hamo? Do you know?’

The dog whined, and scratched at the rushes, scattering them. Janna looked at Godric. ‘There’s something buried down there.’ She felt sick as an image of Hamo’s small body interred in the earth came into her mind. ‘Careful!’ She flung out a hand as Godric’s knife flashed out and he knelt to dig. ‘You don’t know what’s down there,’ she breathed.

Janna knelt beside him and they began to dig into the soft earth with their bare hands. The earth shifted easily, testament to the fact that it was the gateway to something below. With a feeling of dread, Janna plunged her hands deeper into the soil. She frowned as her fingers jabbed against something hard. Cautiously, she began to throw handfuls of earth to one side, fearing what might be revealed. A small wooden panel came into view. Janna frowned at it. ‘Why would anyone want to bury this?’ She lifted it, and the answer was instantly revealed in the dark hole beneath.

‘It’s a trapdoor.’ Godric crawled forward and peered down the hole. ‘Hamo?’ he called softly.

Janna listened intently. She thought she could hear something, but even as she strained to identify the sound, it ceased. She must have imagined it, she thought reluctantly. ‘I guess this must be a storeroom?’ She craned over to peer down into the darkness.

‘I’ll go and have a look,’ Godric offered.

‘No.’ Janna was grateful that he’d put himself forward, but she took hold of him to push him aside. ‘I’ll go,’ she said steadily. She looked about the room for something to light her way. Her eyes widened as she noticed a fat beeswax candle rather than the rush light she would have expected to find. A fine bed. A beeswax candle. Serlo must be saving them to impress Gytha – if only he could lure her to his cottage as he must have lured Hamo. The thought stiffened her resolution to find the missing child. ‘Will you light that candle so I can see what’s down here?’ she asked Godric.

He shook his head. ‘Let me go. You don’t know what you might find.’

An image of Hamo’s dead body came into Janna’s mind. No! She wouldn’t, she couldn’t think the worst. ‘If Hamo’s down there, and alive, he might think you’re Serlo,’ she said, her voice wobbling slightly with the effort to be brave. ‘He’ll be much less frightened if he sees me.’

Acknowledging the truth of her words, Godric gave a reluctant nod. As he stood up to light the candle from the fire in the hearth, Bones jumped down the hole in front of Janna. He started barking once more, short furious yips that echoed the urgency they all shared. Wasting no more time, Janna grabbed the candle from Godric, picked up the sword and dropped down after the dog, ducking her head under the low ceiling.