The House of Crows

there, girl, don’t weep!’
    ‘I just thought I’d hide,’ Perline confessed. ‘Wait until Parliament was finished and Harnett had left.’
    ‘Well, he has left,’ Athelstan interrupted. ‘Last night, someone invited Sir Francis Harnett down to the Pyx chamber at Westminster and took his head clean off his shoulders.’
    ‘Oh, sweet Lord, mercy!’ Simplicatas cried.
    Perline leaned against the table, looking as if he had been hit by a rock.
    ‘Here, you had best drink this.’ Cranston pushed across his cup of wine.
    Perline grasped it and raised it shakily to his lips.
    ‘You know what they are going to say?’ Athelstan declared. ‘They might claim, Perline, that you double-crossed Sir Francis: that you not only stole one of the king’s animals but, when it escaped and you were unable to keep your side of the bargain, you decided to kill Harnett.
    ‘But how?’ Perline screeched. He put the cup down on the table, his hands were trembling so much. ‘How could I get into Westminster? It’s closely guarded by soldiers.’
    ‘You had a special letter,’ Cranston declared.
    ‘I tore it up and threw it away.’
    ‘You are also a soldier. You wear the royal livery,’ Athelstan warned. ‘It would be easy to mingle with the rest. Moreover, you are able to carry arms, be it a sword or an axe.’
    ‘But I never left here,’ Perline groaned. ‘Since Monday I have been hiding in the garret.’
    ‘Though eating well!’ Athelstan retorted. ‘For a distraught woman, Simplicatas, you purchased a great deal in the marketplace.’
    ‘I didn’t kill him!’ Perline declared. ‘I never saw, met or heard from Sir Francis since that meeting near the steel yard.’
    ‘You are sure of that?’ Athelstan asked.
    Perline sprang to his feet and walked across to where the cradle stood. He placed his hand on the wooden canopy. ‘I swear,’ he declared flatly. ‘Father, I swear by all that is holy and by the life of my future child that I have spoken the truth!’ His voice trembled and he blinked furiously to keep back the tears. ‘Father, you have got to help me. Sir John, I am sorry.’
    ‘Please! Please!’ Simplicatas grasped Athelstan’s hand. ‘We meant no harm.’
    ‘Sit down,’ Athelstan ordered.
    Perline obeyed.
    ‘How much did Sir Francis give you?’
    ‘Ten pounds sterling, though I have spent one already.’
    ‘Right.’ Athelstan winked at Cranston. ‘Perline, my boy, you are to take the money down to St Erconwald’s church and seek out Benedicta. You know her?’
    Perline nodded quickly.
    ‘Benedicta will summon Watkin, Pike, Ranulf and Tab the tinker. You will offer each of them one pound for the ape to be recaptured. Now I suspect,’ Athelstan continued, trying to keep his voice flat and avoid Cranston’s eye, ‘that the poor creature is terrified and has not wandered far from St Erconwald’s cemetery, that’s the last place it was fed properly and the last place it saw you. You are to put the cage in the death-house, keeping the door open, and spend another pound on fruit in the market. Nothing rotten, nothing that has been thrown away but good, ripe fruit.’ He pointed a finger at Perline. ‘Are you listening to me?’
    The young soldier nodded.
    ‘You are to sleep in that cemetery, day and night, until that poor creature returns... and it will!’
    ‘How do you know, Father?’ Cranston asked curiously.
    ‘Because Bonaventure always comes back for his milk,’ Athelstan replied. ‘And, Sir John, though this may come as a surprise to you, certain human beings can also be found at certain eating or drinking places.’
    Sir John made a rude sound with his lips.
    ‘And you think I’ll recapture it?’ Perline asked hopefully.
    ‘Oh yes. Tell Benedicta that the money is not to be paid to Watkins and the rest until that animal is safely caged.’
    ‘And once it is?’
    ‘Well, you had better take another pound down with you, hire Moleskin the boatman. Tell him you have spoken to me. He will take you and the animal back across the river to the Tower.’
    Simplicatas was now smiling, drying her eyes quickly.
    ‘And there’s the constable?’ Perline asked.
    ‘Give him a pound,’ Athelstan replied. ‘Don’t worry, he’ll look the other way. Say you took the ape out to show it to other parishioners.’
    ‘And what about the remaining money?’ Perline asked hopefully.
    ‘You may keep it,’ Athelstan replied. ‘Not for yourselves,’ he added quickly, ‘but for