The Devil's Domain

Pike. They are just noddle-pates.’ Cranston played with the ring on his small finger. ’But the Great Community of the Realm, now Brother, they are different. I sympathise with them. Many of the peasants are driven to desperation but, when they invade London , they’ll be traitors, rebels against the King. They’ll have no compassion on people like me and the Lady Maude. It’s a war, Athelstan. No pardon will be given and none asked.’ He breathed in noisily. ’And the same goes for you, Brother. If you are not with them you are against them.’
    ’As you would say, Sir John, I couldn’t give a fig! I don’t care if they’ve got the solemn blessing of the Holy Father in Avignon ! They don’t use my cemetery as a place of war!’
    He paused at a knock on the door. Watkin and Pike shuffled in, their boots caked with mud, their faces grimy and sweating.
    ’You sent for us, Brother?’ Watkin licked his lips nervously.
    ’Yes I did. Close the door. Lock it behind you!’
    Pike did so quickly. Athelstan took the small wooden cross which hung on a cord round his neck and held it up. His face was pale and tight as he glared at these two rogues of the parish.
    ’I am going to ask you questions,’ he began. ’And, if you tell me one lie, I never wish to see you again this side of heaven!’

CHAPTER 15

    Watkin and Pike did not take long to confess. They stood, hang-dog expressions on their faces, mumbling and muttering. Eventually the truth came out.
    ’It’s like this,’ Watkin said lugubriously. ’Everyone in Southwark knows the Great Community of the Realm. It’s like autumn, everyone sees it coming. One day the rebels will march on London .’ He spread his hands. ’What can we do? If we refuse to co-operate we will all die.’
    ’Co-operate?’ Athelstan intervened. ’Do you know what it means?’ He’d caught the stumble in Watkin’s voice.
    ’That’s what the Great Community of the Realm told us: co-operate or die.’
    ’They are bully boys,’ Sir John broke in. ’ And they used you two noddle-pates to store arrows in a churchyard. I suppose there are plots all over Southwark just like this. And, when the graveyard was full, I suspect you’d start storing them elsewhere.’
    ’Not in our houses,’ Pike warned. ’You can’t hide quivers of arrows in the hovels of Southwark.’
    ’Do you realise you could be hanged out of hand?’ Sir John barked. ’Do you realise that, my buckoes? I could take you out, put a rope round that sycamore tree and hang you out of hand as rebels!’
    ’But my lord...’
    ’My lord coroner won’t!’ Athelstan said.
    ’They are coming back, aren’t they?’ Sir John continued. ’There was a storm last night so I suspect these envoys from the Great Community stayed at home. Now the soil is soft, they’ll return tonight, won’t they?’
    ’We don’t know,’ Pike mumbled. ’All they said was to dig the trench.’
    ’But you knew what they were hiding there?’ Athelstan demanded.
    Watkin nodded and dried his sweaty hands on his leather jacket.
    ’We dug the trench then we’d always leave it open. When we came back, we’d fill a part in and continue along.’
    ’Did you ever examine the arrows?’
    ’I did,’ Watkin replied. ’I took a sack out one morning when you were saying Mass, Brother. I opened the rope at the top and shook them out.’
    ’That’s how we discovered it,’ Athelstan told them.
    Both men were now shuffling their feet, wiping their hands and licking their lips.
    ’I want to pee,’ Pike muttered. ’I am sorry, but...’
    ’Go outside,’ Athelstan ordered. ’And, when you are finished, both go into the church and stay there. What time will these men return?’
    ’We don’t know, Brother! After dark. One night Pike and I, well, we hid outside the cemetery and watched. There were two of them with sumpter ponies. They call themselves Valerian and Domitian. Yes, that’s their names, or so they say.’
    ’Educated men.’ Athelstan scratched his chin.
    ’What will happen to us?’
    ’Well.’ Athelstan rubbed his hands. ’You two have helped the coroner with his enquiries. We will not betray you to the Great Community.’ He glanced quickly at Sir John who nodded. ’Nor will we hand you over to the authorities. Nevertheless, you betrayed my trust. In the church you’ll find some brooms and a little oil. They’re kept in the basement of the tower. I’ll lock you in and you’ll clean the church till this