Sir Hugh Corbett 11 - The Demon Archer

told me?’
    ‘Tell me.’ Corbett tapped the verderer on the knee. ‘When you fled did you go back home?’
    ‘Well, no I wouldn’t.’ Verlian forced a smile. ‘I. ., I mean...’
    ‘You were frightened of Lord Henry’s retainers capturing you?’
    ‘Yes, yes, that was it.’
    ‘No, it wasn’t,’ Corbett retorted. ‘It would take some time for the news of their lord’s death to reach the manor. You didn’t go back home to Alicia because Alicia wasn’t there, was she?’ Corbett ignored Ranulf’s quick intake of breath. ‘You left the hunting lodge early that morning,’ Corbett continued, ‘and hurried back to your house. You expected to find Alicia there but she wasn’t. You cast about, anxious, wondering where she had gone. After all, that was the day of the hunt. The last place Alicia should be was wandering the forest.
    ‘By the time you returned, the hunters and verderers were too far ahead of you and, because they lacked your skill, your discipline, the deer were driven too fast into Savernake Dell. When you reached the dell you realised something terrible had happened. You knew you could be accused, as indeed, Sir William did, so you fled.’ Corbett paused. ‘Not home, because you knew Alicia wasn’t there and what was the use of putting yourself in danger? So you fled into the forest, didn’t you?’
    ‘You are in God’s house,’ Brother Cosmas’ harsh voice commanded. ‘And in his sanctuary.’ He pointed to the silver pyx. ‘Beneath the appearance of bread, the Lord Jesus dwells among us. I have given you sanctuary, taken you as a guest.’ His voice became softer. ‘Not because of the law of the church, Robert, but because I believe you. Where was Alicia?’
    Ranulf was now walking up and down like a man taken by shock.
    ‘Where was your daughter? Had she taken a horse?’
    Verlian just blinked. He was now staring at Ranulf.
    ‘Had she taken a bow and arrow?’ Corbett added. ‘Alicia is the daughter of the verderer. She can draw and loose. Hadn’t she once threatened Lord Henry with that?’
    Verlian opened his mouth to reply.
    ‘Don’t lie,’ Corbett warned him. ‘If you lie , Robert, I cannot help you or your daughter. So, don’t say you didn’t know where she was. Alicia has visited you here. You must have asked her and she must have told you.’
    ‘Tell them, Father!’
    Alicia, shrouded in a brown cloak, stood at the entrance in the rood screen; in her hand she carried a linen bundle tied with a piece of string. She pulled back her hood and glanced quickly at Ranulf, who blushed and looked away.
    ‘I’ve brought you some oatmeal cakes, Father.’ She thrust these into the Franciscan’s hand. ‘You can share them with whoever you wish.’ She went and crouched beside her father, put a protective arm round his shoulders and stared defiantly at Corbett. ‘You are a dangerous man, Sir Hugh. You know they are talking about you at the Devil-in-the-Woods. How you sit and brood like a cat.’
    Corbett smiled. ‘In which case, mistress, you have nothing to fear from me. I am the King’s cat. I only hunt those who disturb his barns.’
    ‘My father is frightened. He’s a verderer, Sir Hugh, and a good one.’ She gently stroked her father’s hair. ‘He’s used to the forest. The people who live there; the animals, their tracks, their secret pathways. And then, in what must have been the twinkling of an eye, his lord turns to lechery and that lord is killed.’
    Verlian raised his head, his cheeks soaked in tears.
    ‘What could I do?’ he pleaded. ‘If I was turned out where could I go? I was born in these parts, sir! Ashdown is my world, my life.’
    ‘And you know that, master clerk, don’t you?’ Alicia demanded. ‘You are a cat, you sit and you think.’
    ‘So, you’ve visited the Devil-in-the-Woods tavern again?’ Corbett asked.
    ‘I did this morning.’ Alicia didn’t look at Ranulf. ‘I wanted to see someone but he’d already left. One of the pot boys, however, said that he woke long before dawn. It’s his job to kindle the fire. You, Sir Hugh, were already in the taproom, wrapped in a cloak, contemplating the white ash in the grate as if you had been there all night.’
    ‘I need little sleep.’ Corbett held her gaze. ‘I came down and read some letters. I studied a Book of Hours but I could make little sense of it. I sat and brooded about Lord Henry’s death and your father, whom I now wish to question. I wondered why the hunt