“Should be nigh at any moment, I reckon,” the man said, pouring what looked like ale from a decorative jug into an equally decorative ceramic beaker. He drank up without hesitation as Crispin eyed the doorway. At length, a woman stepped through and Crispin straightened.
“Bert!” The potter wiped his mouth and set the beaker aside. The woman entered and stared suspiciously at Crispin.
“Dickon. What mischief is here?” She was carrying a heavy bundle and set it down by the smoky fire ring. When she rose she brushed back a lock of brown hair. Her face was plain, drawn. A small nose perched above chapped lips. Her squinting eyes, what Crispin could see of them, were light in color.
“This man is from the guild, Berthildus, and he would like to talk about that knave who bought your clay.”
Her head snapped up but her face did not lose its suspicious glint. When she crossed her arms over her chest and clutched her elbows, Crispin could see the dark clay imbedded under her nails. So this woman must be “Bert” the Potter.
“Damosel,” said Crispin, dipping his head in a slight bow, “I am investigating whether certain men are bypassing the guild to make and sell their own wares. Can you tell me what this man looked like?”
Slowly, she bent to her sack and withdrew her shopping; a stringy-looking pullet, some eggs, and a bundle of onions tied together by their dried stems. She set them into a basket under her cot. Wiping her hands on her skirt, she looked from Dickon to Crispin. She had a shrewd look in her eye. More so than the gullible Dickon.
“ ’Bout time our guild fees showed for something,” she said with a nod. “Aye, I recall him right enough. He was a short man, birdlike. Very young. A gentleman. All golden. And foreign.”
Crispin’s breath caught. He certainly knew this man. “And so. He wanted a quantity of clay?”
“Indeed he did. Six bucketsful. And he paid well for it.”
“Did he say what it was for?”
“Alas, no. I was suspicious at the time, but what is a poor widow to do?”
“Indeed. What did he pay for this bounty?”
“Two shillings. I wish I had those shillings still. Business is poor.”
“Did you, by any chance, catch his name?”
“He did not offer it and I did not ask it. It is rare indeed that a gentleman comes down to the potter’s row to buy anything at all. When I discovered he wanted clay and not pots, I wasn’t keen on it. But coin is coin.”
“Coin is coin,” echoed Crispin. How well he knew that particular chant. “How did he transport this clay? Surely he did not carry it himself. Did he have servants?”
“No servants. I sent my boy after him.”
“And where did your boy deliver these buckets?”
“To Westminster Palace. The boy had a lot to say about it, he did. Took him three trips.”
“Where is the boy now? I would speak with him.”
Berthildus gave a proud smile and her hard face softened. “Hugh, that’s my boy, he was told that he had promise. A gentleman of the court, taking him on as a page to teach him to read and write? I could scarce believe it. I gave my consent at once. You never saw a boy more excited than my Hugh.”
Her words settled in and a chill of realization rippled slowly up Crispin’s flanks. God’s blood! Was it as easy as that? Rather than snatched, were these boys lured away with the promise of a better life right under their parents’ noses? By all the saints! How diabolical! They would never be reported missing. They had been given away! And these simple folk could not expect a letter they could not read. Nor any other message from so far away. These boys were gone, never to be seen again. But for all their parents knew, they were simply in a better place. Little did these trusting parents know that that better place was Heaven.
Crispin glanced at Jack to see if he had caught on, but apparently he didn’t. Crispin licked dry lips. Should he tell her? Could he dash her hopes and bring the roof down upon her? On any parent?
“Master?” Jack was at his elbow, touching his sleeve. His voice was soft. “Master, what is amiss? You are pale.”
“Nothing,” he said hastily. He raised his head and nodded to the woman, saying slowly, “Life as a page is difficult. He will have much to learn but it will be rewarding. He. . he will have little time to communicate with you. There is the possibility that you will see him no more. . ”
She nodded and wiped at her eye. “Aye. But it’s a small price to pay for a better life, I say.”
Crispin gritted his teeth and couldn’t help but offer a bow. “I thank you for your time.” He thought of offering her a coin and wondered if it might seem more like blood money. In the end, he could not leave her without offering something. He dug out two farthings and handed one each to both potters. “For your time,” he said lamely and staggered out of the hovel. He walked quickly over the clay-slick lane. Jack ran raggedly behind to catch up.
The boy seemed to sense his mood and said nothing until they were well away and on the Bank, hurrying back to where they could catch the ferry across. When they reached the wharf they had just missed it and had to wait for its return.
“Master,” said Jack soberly. “You know something, don’t you?”
“Yes, Jack.” With a sigh, he leaned against the damp pier jutting up from the wharf. “Did you not hear what she said? She gave her boy away, thinking it was for the good of him.”
It took only a moment. “Oh! Oh my God!” Jack began to tremble and Crispin almost wrapped an arm around him. Jack was not an infant. He was nearly a man, having lived as a man for some years. He could deal with this knowledge as a man.
“You don’t think-” Jack struggled with the notion. “Why did you not tell her, sir?”
The sick feeling would not leave him. “What would be the use in it? Her child was gone. Dead. Worse than merely dead. It could not help her to know the truth. It might even destroy her.”
“ ’Slud! That’s a sore, sore thing.” He chewed on his fingers and stared out onto the gray water. Perhaps Jack was thinking the same thing as him: that had Jack consorted with the wrong man instead of Crispin, then he, too, might have been found floating in the Thames.
“Do you know who did it?” he said after a long pause. His voice was roughened by anger.
“Yes. It is Julian.” The satisfaction that he had not been wrong settled in his chest.
“Aye.” There was recognition in the one word. “That was his description right enough. What are you going to do now?”
“I’m going to haul him to Newgate before I do something.”
Jack made an affirming sound. They said nothing more as they waited for the ferryman slowly making his way across the choppy river.
Crispin did not allow Jack to accompany him. He didn’t want Jack anywhere near Julian. It was nearly Sext when he reached the gates of Westminster. He still wore his livery from Lancaster over his cotehardie but his hood was drawn low over his face, as always. A light dusting of snow helped to disguise him. He joined a group of pages filing in through the great hall like a pack of sheep.
Westminster Hall was nearly as grand as a cathedral. It was as wide as a row of infantry lined up shoulder to shoulder. The roof reached upwards on columns into a ceiling of wooden beams and trusses. A remarkable space, to be sure, and one that Crispin had enjoyed at many a feast when he was still in the good graces of the old king, Edward of Windsor.
Crispin kept his head down, well acquainted with the high ceilings and hanging banners and shields. He recalled all too well the last time he had been in this hall facing King Richard. It was an event he did not willingly wish to repeat.