Low voices on the bank warned of two men approaching. Coroner and bailiff. She was pleased that Crispin Poole had collected the bailiff George Hempe on the way.
Rising to greet them, she gestured toward the body. ‘Sam Toller.’
Both men crossed themselves and bowed their heads for a moment, then Poole bent for a closer look at the body in the willow roots, asking whether she was certain it was Sam.
‘She’s right. I recognize the tunic,’ said Hempe. ‘And the hair.’ Long strands of brown billowed out from the ruined face. Sam had worn his thick brown hair long for a man of the city, a vanity.
‘How did you find him?’ Poole asked.
‘Dost thou see the nest on the far bank? Each year this pair returns to birth their young. They have become friends. Magda walked out to see how they fared in the storm. The body was where thou seest it.’ No need to speak of the dream.
Poole grunted as he straightened. ‘Death by drowning. Looks as if he’s been in the water a few days.’
‘No one has seen him for two days,’ said Hempe. ‘His wife has been worried.’
‘He came to see Magda three evenings ago,’ she said, ‘bringing a gift for seeing his daughter safely through a hard birthing. He did not stay long.’
‘Perhaps in the river ever since then,’ said Poole. ‘Was the tide in when he left you?’
‘Flood tide it was. But Magda watched him cross back to the bank in a coracle steered by one of the lads. It was not yet dark. Does Gemma Toller say he never returned home?’
‘She says he told her in the morning that he would be late returning home,’ said Hempe, ‘and she did not see him again. Ah, here they are,’ Hempe waved to a pair of young men approaching, carrying cloth and ropes.
Ned Cooper greeted Magda with warmth. ‘My mother is safely at St Clement’s. My father could not refuse her wish to give herself up to God for healing. Not after condemning you and Asa for worshipping false gods. My mother and I are grateful to you. But I–’
With the others hovering, Magda patted his arm. ‘Good. That is good.’ She stepped back.
The other young man nodded to her, mumbling something respectful, but clearly eager to see the body. Until he wasn’t. Hand to mouth, he hurried away into the brush to lose his breakfast.
‘I thought it time he was blooded,’ said Hempe with an apologetic wince. ‘Ned, take Peter to find some stout branches so you can carry the body back to town.’
Once they had pulled Sam from the river, Poole declared the cause of death uncertain – the damage to the back of his head was such as to be unlikely to have been caused by drowning. Floating debris in the rushing waters of a tidal swell might do such damage, but unlikely unless he were vertical in the water. Far more likely someone hit him, then threw him into the river. To Magda’s eyes the latter was a certainty. Sam had been murdered.
‘I wish Archer were here,’ said Poole.
‘Thy friend is on the road home,’ said Magda.
‘I am glad to hear it. Close enough to delay the burial?’
‘No. Permit his widow to bury him. Thou canst record what Archer should see.’
‘Peter can sketch the body for him,’ said Hempe. ‘Another reason to include him. I’ve had a bad feeling about Sam’s sudden absence.’
With a nod, Magda took up her basket and set off down the path toward her next visit.
‘Dame Magda.’ Ned caught up with her, drawing her into the trees where they might not be watched. ‘I must tell you about your daughter Asa.’
Remembering Raven’s struggle, she said, ‘She did not depart thy home in peace.’
‘After she had been warned away my father found her at my mother’s bedside. Gossiping about Bernard the leech and Guthlac Wolcott’s decline. Wolcott is a good customer for father’s barrels, and two warehousemen were below fetching some for him. I arrived as father chased Asa down the stairs calling her Satan’s spawn, the Devil’s own, accusing her of spreading rumors about a Godfearing leech and the Wolcotts. He knocked her cane out of her hands. She clutched the banister but started to fall and I rushed to help her. I caught her cane and threatened my father with it if he interfered. I’ve challenged him before. He knew I would not hesitate to carry out the threat. So he kept his distance. Raining curses down on both of us, of course. I helped her out of the yard but she shook me off once out on the street. Preferred to limp off on her own. Later I heard she had been attacked by two men, but onlookers had chased them off. They say she was hurt, falling badly on one leg as she walked away.’
Magda had listened with eyes closed. Now she nodded. ‘Hast thou seen her?’
‘No. Her landlady said she wished to be left in peace.’
‘Hast thou told anyone else of this?’
‘Hempe knows. I told him the whole story when I asked him if he knew where I might stay.’
‘Thy father banished thee?’
‘Again. My sisters will beg him to forgive me. But this time … Now that my mother is safe …’ He gestured as if well away.
Magda knew that Celia Cooper was often the victim of her husband’s temper. ‘What of thy sisters? Will he now turn on them?’
‘Their husbands would not tolerate it, and my elder brother’s wife knows how to appease my father.’
‘Thou hast found lodging?’
‘Dame Lotta insisted I bide with them.’
Hempe’s wife. Magda smiled, patted his shoulder. ‘Good. Many thanks for the news.’
‘Dame Magda, I am worried for you.’
‘Sam Toller was as well. There is no need. Folk will not cross Magda’s dragon.’
‘But what of during the day when you are walking about?’
‘Magda trusts that she will sense danger approaching. Her weapon is her knowledge of Galtres, every path and track, where it is dangerous to tread, the hidden places. See to thine own safety. Now go. Hempe will be looking for thee.’
She set off on her rounds. Asa might appear on her doorstep this night, and she wished to be ready for her. But her work came first.
At sunset, Magda’s guests used the coracle to cross though the water was not yet high. Stepping outside as it touched the rock, Magda saw Raven circling overhead – she who flies against the wind. Against all. So Asa had come. Raven cawed three times and flew off.
Einar helped his gray-haired companion climb out onto the rock. She stumbled against him, then struggled to straighten on her own. She suffered, but she would not bend to it.
‘Welcome. It has been a long while, Asa,’ said Magda.
‘A long while,’ Asa said through her teeth.
‘Thou art injured?’
‘I am old.’ Not a lie. Asa gestured to her companion. ‘You have met my son Einar?’
Though his eyes were unlike Asa’s, and his mouth prone to smiles, the dark hair and long nose were like hers. Still, Magda knew what she knew.
‘Dame Magda.’ Einar bowed.
‘Go within while Magda speaks to the lad who brought thee across.’ She would have need of Twig in the morning. ‘How didst thou fare with the kitten, Twig?’