Blood Runs Thicker by Sarah Hawkswood (best english books to read for beginners txt) ๐
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- Author: Sarah Hawkswood
Read book online ยซBlood Runs Thicker by Sarah Hawkswood (best english books to read for beginners txt) ๐ยป. Author - Sarah Hawkswood
The sheriffโs man was silent, thinking, then he asked a sober question. Alnothโs cheeriness diminished in the face of it.
โWhen did you discover the clothing had blood upon it and was cut?โ
โNot until I was with the old man. I had bundled everything together and not looked close.โ
โAnd it was not odd that almost all that might clothe a man was found together? You must have thought the reason unlawful.โ
โI have to live as best I can, Master Walkelin, and as I said before, there was none to whom I could give aid, nor report upon neither. What good would come of reporting not finding a body? Who would look for something that was not there?โ
In Walkelinโs mind the answer was instantly โSerjeant Catchpollโ, but he did not voice it.
โYou saw no body, but body there was, and up the path to the hill. The lord Osbern of Lench was taken by a knife and stripped.โ
โSweet Jesu, but โฆ I heard his horse.โ
โYou heard a horse, aye, but he was not upon its back. Now, let me see the marks upon the tunic.โ
The tunic was of soft leather, open down the front, designed to be held together with a belt and a clasp at the neck. Alnoth said he had seen no belt, but that such a thing might easily have been cast further and lost to view in the undergrowth. The jerkin was dark brown, and the stain where the knife had entered under the ribs was not as large as he expected, nor the slit wide. Walkelin measured it with his finger. There were no other cuts in the leather, so he surmised that either the lord of Lench had ridden with the tunic loose, because of the heat of the day, or it had been removed before the other wounds were made after death. He grunted.
โThe boots and tunic can stay with me?โ Alnoth was now being practical.
โThey are of no use to him. Both Abbot Reginald and the lady of Lench say the man was pious in his way, though of an evil temper. Best to think he would see such charity, even unintended, as aiding the passing of his soul, yes?โ
โThat be a good thought, master, and I shall be sure to say a prayer for his soul every night right until โฆโ Alnoth thought of a distant date, โthe Feast of St Luke.โ
โThat seems fair. You do that, and safe travels.โ
โI would say none steals from a man with nothing, but,โ the man laughed again, โI am now the proud owner of good boots. I take your good wishes, master. And may you find him as took the lord Osbernโs life.โ
โWe shall.โ Walkelin spoke confidently, as he thought Serjeant Catchpoll would answer, and then left Alnoth the Handless to his guarding duties.
Chapter Eight
Bradecote had no wish to speak with the villagers of Lench under the eye of the new lord, since they would undoubtedly be casting a wary eye to him and be more concerned about upsetting the lord of their manor than the lord Undersheriff of Worcestershire, who would be among them but briefly. Fortunately, it would be impractical to speak quietly with anyone with the threshing going on about them. Baldwin de Lench might not like it, but he decided to call the workers out in twos and threes, and send back swiftly all who looked blankly at him or shook their heads. This turned out to be the majority, though Catchpoll was watching them to see if any were overawed by rank and keeping their mouths shut on the principle that saying anything was dangerous. The boy who had espied his lord, and said as much to Baldwin,
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