Satan in St Mary

and spat.
    Corbett shrugged. "So, let it be. Hang if you wish!"
    "Wait!" Corbett turned back. "I am sorry, " the boy's face was suddenly young and frightened. "But what do you want?"
    "I need your help, " Corbett replied. "I need you to lead me through the sewers of this city, and I am not talking about those that run beneath our feet. " Corbett looked around; "But those we stand in. "
    Ranulf grinned. "Then I am your man. "
    "Good!" Corbett turned to the gaoler who was hovering nervously behind him. "There, " Corbett said, handing him the document that Burnell had drawn up. "Fill in the blank space. This is a pardon for all crimes past and present of Ranulf… " Corbett stared questioningly at the boy.
    "Just Ranulf, " the youth replied.
    "Ranulf atte Newgate" – Corbett concluded. The keeper nodded and barked a few commands which soon had the boy released from his chains and the rope removed from his neck.
    Corbett immediately seized the boy by the shoulder, put his arm around him and almost ran him out of the prison yard. He hurried his new-found assistant into the street, then turned into a dark alleyway strewn with offal and reeking of stale blood from the nearby slaughterhouses. Here, Corbett put Ranulf up against the urine-stained wall and, drawing his dagger, held it so close to the boy's throat that a small jewel-pinprick of blood appeared on his skin. Corbett watched the surly arrogance be replaced by fear, then spoke softly and slowly:
    "Master Ranulf, I have just saved you from hanging for what?"
    "Theft, housebreaking, " the boy croaked. "It was the third time. "
    "Then, " Corbett said, "it will be the last. Stay with me. Help me and you will be a free man. Betray me and I will see you die very slowly. Do you understand?"
    The boy nodded, his eyes mesmerized by the long steel blade of the dagger so close to the neck he too thought he had just saved. Corbett smiled, released his grip and walked back into the main street, his faithful shadow sidling behind him.
    Corbett spent the rest of the morning and the early afternoon ensuring that Ranulf was clean and tidy to sit with. He look him into the same tavern where he had earlier stabled his horse, made him strip off his dirty rags, wash himself down in a tub of water purchased from a bemused landlord and then left him there wrapped in a blanket, hungrily eating while he went out and bought him clothes, a plain tunic with a green capuchon, hose, boots, a belt, purse and a small evil-looking dagger in a leather sheath.
    When he returned, he found Ranulf gone, only to find him in one of the outhouses of the tavern, completely naked enjoying the plump body of one of the tavern maids whose squeals of delight led to Corbett's discovery. The clerk was tempted to abruptly end his minion's fornication but sighed, realized the youth was celebrating his new-found freedom and returned to wait in the tavern. A short while later Ranulf, wrapped in his cloak, sheepishly entered to receive a sharp lecture from Corbett which he promptly forgot in the pleasure of trying on the new clothes Corbett hurled at him.
    Once Ranulf was dressed, they both left the tavern and made their way down Cheapside. It was late in the day, the crowds were beginning to dwindle and a cold evening wind was blowing away the first weak signs of spring. Peasants in their brown smocks and wooden clogs were leaving for the countryside, merchants with their sumpter ponies and empty carts trying to get out of the city before the curfew was imposed, the pedlars and journeymen busily concluding their business for the day. Corbett led Ranulf into The Mitre, urging the boy to keep close as he peered through the fading light for Alice.
    "She's gone. Mistress Alice is not here today. " The giant, Peter, suddenly blocked the way, his small red-rimmed eyes glittering with malice.
    "Will she be back this evening?" Corbett asked anxiously, wondering where Alice could be, his disappointment at not meeting her mingled with concern for her safety. The man pursed his lips and shook his head.
    "She's gone. She'll be back tomorrow. But she's gone now, as you must be, Clerk, or I will call the watch. The curfew begins soon. "
    Corbett, swearing softly to himself, turned and left. He found Ranulf outside, a short distance from the tavern. "Why did you leave so quickly?" Corbett asked sharply. Ranulf hunched his shoulders.
    "You may not recognize him, Master Clerk, but mat Peter is an executioner. He used to top people,