The cat reached out with a paw and tapped her leg.
“One of these days I suppose I should ask Brother John whether there is any sin in a cat sleeping with a nun. And a male cat at that.”
The cat jumped up on the cot.
“Perhaps I will just leave the question be. You’ve earned a soft, warm bed after your good work keeping the vermin at bay who set siege to Tyndal.”
And as Eleanor lay down on her back on the cot and crossed her hands over her chest, the orange cat stretched himself out along her side. In a minute, both weary ones were sound asleep.
***
Eleanor sat straight up.
The orange cat had used her body to hurl himself, hissing and snarling, out of the bed.
She cried out, as though from a bad dream, not yet awake, eyes still shut. The brush of something down her back, the yell of pain not her own, and the sound of running feet against the rushes on her chamber floor did not arise from any dream.
She opened her eyes. In the dim light, she could see the cat standing by her open door, back arched, growling angrily. With heart pounding, Eleanor flew out of bed to the chamber door and heard the footsteps running down the stone steps to the cloister below.
“Help!” she shouted. “Someone has been in my chamber. Stop them!”
Sister Anne ran through the prioress’s private entrance to the chapel. “My lady! What has happened?”
Eleanor grasped the nun hard as if her very sanity depended on the human contact. “I don’t know. Someone was in my room. The door is wide open. I heard footsteps running down the stairs.”
“I will alert the monks, then return to you immediately.” With that, Anne dashed from the room.
Suddenly Eleanor felt chilled. She turned back toward the bed to pull a warming blanket from the chest, then stopped. Her hand covered her mouth in horror.
On her bed lay a knife.
***
Thomas couldn’t sleep. He had tossed and turned since Compline and it was still many hours until Prime. Giving up, he put on his shoes and slipped down the stairs from the dormitory to the cloister. Perhaps some exercise, followed by kneeling on the stone slabs of the chapel, would be sufficient penance and God would grant him a few hours of rest.
As he walked along the outside wall of the refectory, he heard a commotion behind him, coming from the area of the passageway to the outer court. It was a moonless night, and he could see nothing, but curiosity piqued his interest. He turned toward the sound. From the passageway under the dormitory, he saw two dark figures racing toward him.
“Stop him. Stop him! He is a murderer!” The voice sounded like Brother Simeon’s.
Thomas did not hesitate. He ran toward the figure coming at him. The man’s face was turned to look behind him as Thomas dived at his feet and brought him down. The man struggled but Thomas held him pinned to the ground.
As Simeon came up, panting, Thomas forced the captive onto his back. Staring back at him was the face of Brother John.
“He tried to kill Prioress Eleanor,” Simeon puffed.
Chapter Thirty-Three
“Wine for all, please, Gytha. It is no luxury today,” Eleanor said, her voice echoing in her ears with more steadiness than she felt. “Even I will have some, albeit well-watered.” The pallor of her face matched that of the morning light coming through her chamber window, but Eleanor sat with back straight as she looked at Simeon and Thomas, sitting on stools in front of her. Their faces were gray from lack of sleep and from the shadow of beards yet unshaven.
Sister Anne sat in silence next to the prioress, her eyes staring at the floor, her back hunched as if in pain.
Crowner Ralf paced.
“He refuses to confess to anything, my lady.” Ralf took the goblet from Gytha and drank deeply. “He refuses to speak at all.”
Simeon waved away any water for his wine. “This is no longer your concern, Crowner. Brother John falls under the jurisdiction of Church law. This is not a civil matter.”
“It will be my concern until I know whether he was responsible for the deaths of our unknown man and Brother Rupert as well as the attack on Brother Thomas. If he had some special reason for attacking Prioress Eleanor alone, then he is all yours and I still must catch the culprit, or culprits, who did the other deeds.”
“It would be strange indeed if he didn’t commit all the crimes. Why only attack our prioress? Surely this house of God would not have two murderers, even three, in our midst at the same time?” Thomas asked.
“Indeed, good brother. My very point!” Simeon waved his empty goblet at Gytha, who scowled and refilled it without water. “Our prioress would not be his only victim.”
“Good sirs. If you don’t mind, I am still with you. Perhaps you would stop discussing the events of last night as if I were just a corpse placed in your midst to fill a chair.” Eleanor managed a half smile.
The men muttered apologies.
Eleanor nodded at the crowner. “I agree with Ralf that we cannot assume Brother John was responsible for both deaths and the attacks on Brother Thomas and me until we either get a confession or find more evidence.”
“Nonetheless, I saw him running from the direction of the nuns’ quarters, my lady, and I gave chase. He refused to stop when I called out to him to halt. In fact, he ran faster. I say that points to his guilt.” Simeon downed his wine, then scowled at the cup as if it had offended him by being empty. Gytha refilled it without a word.
“You first said that you saw him running from the church, Brother Simeon,” Eleanor said. “Which now is correct? And if the latter, has he said why he might have been in the church? Perhaps our real culprit has disappeared, and Brother John was in the same vicinity for good and legitimate reasons.”
“The man is as guilty as Satan himself or else he would say what he was doing,” Simeon replied.
Ralf shrugged in half-hearted agreement. “’Tis usually the case, my lady.”
Eleanor nodded and turned to the two monks. “Then you and Brother Thomas would not hesitate to tell me why each of you was abroad last night, also contrary to the rules?”
Simeon flushed. “Forgive me, my lady, but I do not appreciate such insinuations. I was the man who chased him and risked my life to do so. Why should I fall under suspicion of breaking priory rules?”
“I did not say you were, good brother. I was merely suggesting that reasons for not being where one is supposed to be might be difficult to give, however satisfactory.”
“Then I shall speak for myself first,” Thomas said. “I was unable to sleep and thought a walk in the cloister and an hour of prayer in the chapel might help. I had just entered the cloister near the refectory when I saw two dark shadows running toward me. One shouted to me to stop the other. And I did.”
“And I do believe you, brother. This time.” Eleanor smiled. “Sadly, your good works did not bring you the desired sleep. For that I am sorry.”
“The reward is but delayed. I am sure that God will be gracious in granting me rest some night in the future.” Thomas smiled back.
Simeon glared at her through puffy eyes. “Very well, my lady. I, too, was troubled with worries over our failure to bring in enough income to feed us with proper fare for the winter months, and sleep evaded me. I rose and walked toward the church.” He raised his chin. “I feel closer to God in my prayers at the high altar than in our small chapel so I go there.” He hesitated but continued when no one spoke. “Before I got to the sacristy door, I thought I’d check to see if the brewery was locked for the night.” He shrugged. “I do not trust the villagers not to damage…”
Eleanor cleared her throat and gestured for him to get on with his story.
“As I began to walk in that direction, I heard a noise behind me. I turned and saw a figure running from the direction of the nuns’ quarters near the sacristy. I immediately called to him, but he ran from me into the monks’ quarters through the passageway door I had foolishly left unlocked…”