But no, he hadn’t been fortunate enough to achieve even that. He’d never been elected at the annual court which allocated responsibilities to the men in the vill, even though he had tried to make them understand he was quite capable. There was a clique of men who ran everything here, and he never got asked to help because they didn’t like his face or his manner or something. He didn’t understand why.
All he ever wanted was to be popular. That was why he got straight to the heart of any gathering, so that he could not only join in, but also let people see what sort of man he was, so that they would like him. He had learned early on in life that to remain shy and nervous would only lead to loneliness. Better by far to go to others and chat to them as an equal.
‘Well?’ Baldwin asked again.
He mumbled, ‘Um, all I know is that the lady was found, sir, and there’s been enough men wondering how she might have got there.’
‘Where exactly?’
That was the empty-eyed man. He looked as though he’d died, but no one had told him yet. David threw him a quick look, but it was only when the large woman nearby spoke that he realised he must respond. She had a rough, harsh voice.
‘Answer him, you fool. Do you think we all want to sit here watching you squirm for no reason? We all heard you, so it’s too late to regret saying villainous things about him, lord or not!’
He cast her a poisonous glance, but there was no denying the truth of her words. The ugly bitch had warts on her warts, and her foul face was lowered like an enraged boar’s, while her massive bosom rose and fell alarmingly. It attracted his unwilling and fearful attention, no matter how much he tried to look away.
‘Well? Or do you want my man here to take you outside and give you an incentive to talk?’ the knight said.
‘She was found in the bog on Sir Geoffrey’s lands, like I said,’ he said at last, defiantly holding his head a little higher.
‘And there is already gossip about who might have killed her?’ Baldwin pressed him.
‘Of course there is,’ David said, more quietly though, and glancing over his shoulder to see who else might be listening. ‘Who wouldn’t believe it of a man who worked for the Despensers? We know of them even here.’
‘You will take us to where this body was found,’ Baldwin stated.
David’s mouth fell open. ‘Me? But what will they do to me when they see that I’ve brought you to them?’
Baldwin eyed him with distaste. ‘You have a duty to take me and the bailiff to the scene of the crime, man, and you will do so. If there is danger for you in this, there is far more danger in not doing so, because then a dangerous murderer will remain at large in this area. So you should take us to the scene, no matter who the killer was, so that we can find him.’
‘And in the meantime,’ Edgar said, leaning forward, ‘what do you know about the family just over the way there?’
‘What, the foreigner and his woman?’ David asked, genuinely surprised. ‘What of them?’
‘You know that they were killed and their house burned down?’ Baldwin asked.
David glanced over his shoulder again, but Jankin, the only man within earshot, seemed to have developed a fascination with a bit of dirt on a drinking horn, and was spitting on it and rubbing it against his sleeve. David unwillingly turned back to the knight. ‘The coroner decided that they’d had an accident.’
‘An accident? It was rather an uncommon one, surely?’ Baldwin retorted.
‘That was what the coroner said, not me,’ David said reasonably.
Baldwin looked past him to the innkeeper. ‘Jankin — is this true?’
‘Yes. The coroner happened to be here because of the murder of another man, Ailward, the sergeant up at Sir Geoffrey’s manor.’
‘This same Sir Geoffrey who David says …’
‘I didn’t actually say he did anything!’
‘Very well, the same man on whose land the latest body has been found? This Ailward was his man?’
‘Yes. So the coroner was here for Ailward, and since he was in the area, he came here to view those bodies too.’
‘What did he find?’ Baldwin demanded.
‘That the hearth fire hadn’t been banked and the house caught light.’
‘Is that what you thought?’ Simon burst out. ‘Where is the man’s body?’
‘If I believed it, do you think I’d have been so open with you?’ Jankin said calmly.
Baldwin nodded. ‘So why have you been so frank?’
‘Because …’ Jankin looked away, out through the unshuttered window at the rolling grassland and trees in front of his inn. When he began to speak again, his voice was quiet and reflective. ‘Perhaps because I could see that you cared, and I thought others should care too. The coroner didn’t — he didn’t give a damn about them. He knew what answers he wanted, and he made sure he got them. All the while, Sir Geoffrey’s men were waiting nearby, watching and listening to all that was said. It wasn’t right, sir. That’s what I reckoned.’
Baldwin nodded slowly. ‘You are right, good keeper. You are right. But we shall make this right none the less. I shall see to it.’
Walter was leaning against a tree when he heard the sound of hooves.
It made his heart flutter, and he felt a sharp pain in his breast for a moment or two, while the sweat broke out on his forehead. He knew too well what hooves could mean. The picture of the woman’s dead face sprang into his mind, and he felt the bile rise in his throat, just as it had during the camp ball game when they had heard the men running towards them.
Even when the hoofbeats passed away, his anxiety remained. Ridiculous that the mere sound of hooves could have such an impact on him.
Christ’s pain, but that day had been terrifying. They’d thought they’d be safe up there. Ailward had said that no one would run out that way — everyone would be down at the main field. They always went that way. And then there had been the sudden roar from all those down on the plain and Walter saw the fixed, straining face of Perkin rushing up the hill towards him.
It was the work of a moment to spring on him, knock him down, and hurl the ball away. With all the other men behind him, it was impossible to try to do anything else. Ailward hid the dead woman, Walter threw the ball and shoved Perkin back down the hill after it. Then, when the men were all out of the way, they’d lifted the body again and carried on their way. They had to get rid of her before they did anything else. If they were found with her, they would be hanged for certain.
No one would protect them.
They had ridden up the road so quickly beforehand that Baldwin was pleased to have an opportunity to see how the land lay round about. He had not taken any notice on the way here.
The vill of Iddesleigh lay on the side of a low hill, the land dropping away gently to the south. From the road it was impossible to see much, for on the right was a stand of trees which obscured the whole view, while on the left there were fields for a short way, and then another section of woods. There was plenty of sound timber here, Baldwin reflected. It was good land, with plenty of space for cattle and sheep, pasture and arable. Perfect for a lord who wanted to make his holding pay its way.
Jeanne and Emma had stayed at the inn. There was little point in their coming with the men to view this young woman’s body. Better that they should remain safe, in case this knight Geoffrey should grow angry at the appearance of a Keeper of the King’s Peace. It would not be the first time that a man had taken offence at Baldwin’s arrival.
‘How far to this place?’ Baldwin asked David.
He trudged on disconsolately. ‘I don’t know. It takes me a short while to get there. It’s only over there. Maybe a mile or so more.’