After quite some time, he felt her begin to relax. He encouraged Horace to move a little faster; she did not seem to protest. And, as the first rays of the early sun appeared behind them and to their left, they made their slow way up to Saxonbury.
The relatively short journey took a long time. Josse found it hard at times to restrain his impatience; as they rode on, he felt a growing sense of urgency, a feeling that he must get Aurelia to Saxonbury — and the whole group on their way to the coast — before. . Before what? He did not know. He simply felt, with a sense of gloom that was quite unlike him, that something bad was going to happen.
Aurelia did not speak to him other than to reply to his infrequent questions about whether she was all right. Each time she said, ‘Yes’, and each time, he was quite sure, she probably felt like saying ‘No’. Other than those brief exchanges, he was left to his own thoughts.
He went over in his mind again and again just what could go wrong. He and Aurelia would soon be at Saxonbury, she would be reunited with the others and Josse would take them down to the sea. He knew the area well enough to take them to the coast along little-used ways and he was not worried about his ability to guide them. Even if he managed to get them all lost, it was a relatively simple matter to reach the coast from Saxonbury: all you had to do was to travel due south and you could not help but hit the sea sooner or later. And there were several fishing ports along the south coast from where he ought to be able to find a craft to take the group back across the Channel.
He was not worried, either, about his ability to protect the six Cathars. He would have preferred to have Gervase de Gifford with him in case they met with trouble; he did not reckon much on the ability of Arnulf, Alexius or Guiscard to help him out if it came to a fight, although Benedetto might be useful. But it now looked as if Josse would have to do without the Sheriff ’s company. He could have waited for de Gifford to turn up for their morning meeting at Hawkenlye. But the opportunity to slip away with Aurelia before anybody else was about had been just too good to pass up. Aye, Josse reflected, I reckon I’ll manage all right alone.
He tried to decide whether or not it was a threat from the Church that was bothering him. It was highly likely that the Hawkenlye community would be assigned a replacement for Father Micah and, if this priest shared the convictions of his immediate predecessor, then he might well set out on the Cathars’ trail.
If, that was, he came to know about them.
Would he?
Would the Abbess Helewise follow her head and obey her vow of obedience? If she did, then this new priest would have to do something. It was possible that the Abbess would convince him that they had nursed Aurelia in ignorance of who and what she was, and so escape retribution for herself and her nuns. But the priest could not but make at least an attempt to track the party down and impose whatever further punishment he deemed necessary.
If the Abbess followed her heart, however, Josse was quite sure that no threat pursued the group from the Church.
What would she do?
As they began on the last long climb up to Saxonbury, Josse half-turned and told Aurelia that they were nearly there. She said nothing, but her pained smile spoke many words.
Again, the guard must have seen their approach. Drawing aside the gate, he welcomed them in with an uncharacteristically cheerful expression. ‘They’re all waiting,’ he muttered to Josse. ‘They seemed to know you’d be by afore long.’
Josse dismounted and led Horace into the courtyard. And, as the guard had said, there they all were, lined up in a row with Utta in the middle, Arnulf and Alexius to her right, Guiscard and Benedetto on her left. Behind the Cathars stood the Lord of the High Weald and his son Morcar, with two other men of similar appearance beside them. As Josse led Horace and his rider into view, they all broke out into a cheer.
It was Guiscard who first broke ranks. He came running up to Horace and, reaching up, took his wife tenderly in his arms. Watching them as Aurelia carefully dismounted and fell into Guiscard’s embrace, Josse reflected briefly that they might have taken this vow of perfect chastity but, all the same, it did not seem to have diminished their very evident love for each other. Quite the contrary.
Now the others were hurrying forward, crowding round Aurelia, patting her gently with loving hands and asking anxious questions. Coming face to face with Utta, Aurelia gave a sudden exclamation and put her fingers lightly to Utta’s forehead. She asked a swift question and Utta, laughing, answered her, fishing in a pocket inside her robe and producing a small pot. She held it up to Aurelia and then, opening it, very tenderly smeared a small amount of the contents on to Aurelia’s wound.
Now I would be prepared to wager, Josse thought, smiling, that Utta has there some magical remedy given to her by the forest folk. She has been treated with it, which is why her wound has healed so well. And now she is going to share it with her friend.
Aye. No matter how skilled the Abbey nuns were, the forest folk still had a few ancient secrets that nobody else knew.
After a few moments, the Lord caught Josse’s eye and beckoned to him. Leaving the group to savour the joy of their reunion, Josse followed him inside the hall.
The Lord stomped over to the fire, rubbing his hands together and then opening his palms to the flames. ‘The Sun is bright but he does not yet bring much warmth to those who stand still out of doors,’ he observed. Then: ‘Sir Josse, we have been giving thought to the Cathars’ journey to the coast and we feel it is best to go immediately. Will you take them? My son Morcar has offered to accompany you, and I will lend you horses.’
‘Aye, that I will, and I shall welcome Morcar’s company.’ Josse had assessed the Lord’s big son as a useful man to have around. ‘But there is a problem.’
‘Yes?’ The Lord’s blue eyes were instantly alert.
‘Aye. The woman Aurelia is still very weak and suffers much pain, for all that she bears it bravely and does not complain. I fear for her if we leave straight away.’
The Lord, to Josse’s surprise, was smiling. ‘Now, Sir Josse, you must not misunderstand what I am about to say.’ He leaned towards Josse and slapped a large hand on to his shoulder. ‘I know that you have a high opinion of the skill of Hawkenlye’s infirmarer and that the lady has done her best for Aurelia. But Utta has a pain-killing draught that I believe is stronger than anything within the holy confines of the Abbey. She will give some to Aurelia and thus make her more able to tolerate the journey.’
‘I see.’ I was right, Josse thought, about Utta having been taken under the wing of the forest folk. ‘Er — did Utta say where she obtained the draught?’
The Lord did not answer for a moment. Then he said, ‘Sir Josse, I have lived cheek by jowl with the Great Forest for all of my life. I have learned that, when someone comes out of the wildwood and is reluctant to speak of their experiences there, the wise do not ask questions.’
‘Let us merely be thankful, then,’ Josse said, ‘that Utta found the right company.’
‘Let us be thankful indeed,’ the Lord murmured. Then, striding towards the door, he said, ‘Now we must prepare our guests for the road.’
Mounts were found for the group. Guiscard and Aurelia chose to ride together; she was a small woman and the stout cob that the Lord had provided would make no great burden of bearing husband and wife together. Looking at her, Josse guessed that she had already been given some of the pain-killing draught, for the pupils of her eyes were wide and she had a vague, sleepy expression. Guiscard placed her in front of him on the cob so that she could lean against him; he had carefully wrapped her up in a thick cloak for warmth and to pad out her back. It was to be hoped, Josse thought, that she might pass much of the journey in sleep.