‘Then I will manage without it,’ said Geoffrey, suspecting there would be an ongoing set of provisos if he did not take a stand.
Roger glared. ‘You will find that difficult.’
‘But not impossible. There will be some merchant or pilgrim who will accept me as a guide or protector. It is a long and dangerous journey, and I have made it several times. Someone will pay my passage in return for my skills.’
‘Unlikely,’ said Juhel with one of his cheery grins. ‘You look far too disreputable. We all know what kind of men went on the Crusade, and you appear to be one of the rougher ones. Your surcoat is stained with blood, and your armour has clearly seen too much use to be respectable.’
Geoffrey stared at him. ‘I am a soldier — of course it has seen plenty of use. And these stains are not blood, but rust. Bale left my shield lying on top of it.’
‘I think you are very handsome,’ said Philippa, sidling up to him. ‘You have beautiful eyes and you are not badly scarred like many warriors. All you need is a good wash and some clean clothes, and you will be an Adonis.’
Ulfrith’s eyes narrowed. ‘Who is Adonis? And where do you know him from?’
‘If you accept payment for that sort of commission, you will be a common mercenary,’ said Roger, conveniently forgetting that he often sold his talents to anyone who had enough gold. ‘And is it so much to ask that you let me take these women to the abbey?’
Fortunately, Juhel began to chat to the women about the perfumes Adonis was alleged to have used, so Geoffrey took the opportunity to haul Roger away. There was no point in trying to reason with the big knight while Edith had him fixed with great, piteous eyes.
‘We cannot, Roger. Their fathers and brothers will assume we abducted them — and I am a married man. They must stay here, where women of their own status are willing to look after them.’
‘I could look after them,’ said Roger with a meaningful wink.
‘Quite, and it will not do. Besides, what happens if we arrive at this abbey and find it has no facilities for women? It is a community of Benedictine monks, so there is no reason to suppose they can accommodate females. You may be obliged to take them as far as Dover.’
‘I would not mind.’
‘You would, because then you will be forced to stay there until their relatives decide to fetch them. You could be waiting months, and it will be expensive to feed and house them.’
‘Are you ready?’ bawled Roger to the squires, thoughts of extra costs quickly bringing him in line with Geoffrey’s position. He made a perfunctory bow to the women. ‘I am sorry, ladies: my friend is right. We cannot expose you to unnecessary danger.’
He strode out of the bailey, his possessions wrapped in one of the castle’s blankets and slung over his shoulder. Magnus shot after him, determined to walk next to the man he considered his protector. With considerable reluctance, Ulfrith followed, Bale murmuring sympathetically in his ear. Geoffrey went last with Juhel at his side, chicken swinging in the cage next to him.
Juhel chattered incessantly, and since his monologue did not require much response, Geoffrey’s mind wandered. He was brought back to the present when Ulfrith suddenly stopped at an oddly shaped tree that had grown twisted in the coastal winds.
‘This is where Philippa came ashore,’ he said. ‘We should make sure the tide has not washed Vitalis out of his grave. It is a small service, but she may be grateful when she learns I suggested it.’
‘No, we should press on,’ argued Magnus. ‘We do not have time for the dead.’
‘I agree,’ said Juhel. ‘Those black clouds are coming up fast. Can you not feel the tingle in the air as thunder gathers?’
‘No,’ said Ulfrith shortly. ‘But I can manage alone. You go ahead. I will catch up.’
‘I will stay with him,’ said Geoffrey to Roger, suspecting that the lad might take the opportunity to return to Philippa if he was allowed to linger on his own.
‘You want to claim the credit for a good deed that was my idea,’ said Ulfrith accusingly.
Geoffrey fought down his irritation. ‘I am offering to help you, boy. I am not interested in your lady. I am married, remember?’
‘But only to big old Hilde Baderon,’ Ulfrith muttered in a sufficiently low voice that Geoffrey could not be absolutely certain he had heard him right. He decided to overlook the remark in the interests of harmony, hoping Ulfrith would soon forget about Philippa and be back to his normal ebullient self.
‘Come,’ he said shortly. ‘We will not have so far to run if we hurry.’
Ulfrith followed him down the beach, Bale trailing behind.
‘I see no grave,’ said Ulfrith, looking around with his hands on his hips.
Geoffrey pointed to a knot of squawking, flapping gulls a short distance away. ‘I imagine it is over there.
Ulfrith gaped. ‘What are they doing?’
‘I thought you grew up near the sea,’ said Geoffrey, advancing cautiously. The birds took to the air, although they did not go far. ‘You must have seen this sort of thing before.’
‘You mean they are eating him?’ exclaimed Ulfrith, appalled. ‘But he was a man!’
Geoffrey did not reply but stared at the body in the sand. Vitalis’s wives had made a poor job of burying him. They had interred him below the high-water mark, so the next tide had scoured him out. Their hole had been too shallow, and they had not protected the grave with stones. Moreover, the birds were not the only ones to have ravaged Vitalis; it appeared that the villagers had been at him, too.
Geoffrey indicated that Bale was to help him carry the corpse to the boggy meadow behind the beach. He then set the squires to scooping out a decent hole with pieces of driftwood, while he gathered rocks to make a cairn. Fortunately, the soil was soft, and it was not long before they were able to roll Vitalis into his new final resting place.
‘He has a nice cloak,’ said Bale, fingering it. ‘And I like that ring.’
‘No,’ said Geoffrey sharply. He and Bale had had this discussion before. ‘We do not steal from the dead. Besides, clothes harvested from cadavers carry diseases.’
‘Only after they begin to rot, sir,’ countered Bale. ‘Vitalis is relatively fresh. And the ring-’
‘The ring belongs to Vitalis,’ said Geoffrey firmly. ‘And with Vitalis it will stay.’
‘But he will not be needing it where he is going,’ reasoned Bale. ‘And you are about to embark for the Holy Land without so much as a spare shirt. The ring would mean you would not have to borrow funds from Sir Roger. Besides, if we do not take it, those greedy villagers will.’
‘That is why we are burying him deep,’ replied Geoffrey. He looked around uneasily, suddenly assailed with the sense that they might be being watched. ‘Put the ring back, Bale. We are not corpse robbers.’
Bale looked sorry but did as he was told. Geoffrey gazed out to sea, wondering what it was about corpses that Bale so liked. He was one of the least greedy men Geoffrey had ever known, but he seemed unable to resist items belonging to the dead.
‘You should say something, sir,’ said Ulfrith. He was pale, and Geoffrey supposed he had not buried many men who had been half-eaten by birds. ‘We cannot just leave. It would not be right.’
‘Say something in Latin,’ suggested Bale helpfully. ‘That always sounds nice.’
‘Oh, yes!’ agreed Ulfrith keenly, removing his hat in anticipation. ‘Like a priest. Lady Philippa will like that when I tell her.’
‘I wish my horse had not died in this wretched place,’ said Geoffrey in Latin, staring down at the dead, sand-brushed features of the old knight but thinking of the animal he had lost. ‘Should I have listened to Roger about the omens? But that is odd! What is that line on Vitalis’s neck?’
‘Amen,’ said Ulfrith and Bale in unison as Geoffrey dropped to one knee to inspect the mark more closely. It lay under Vitalis’s cloak, which Bale’s rummaging had disturbed.