The Rose Demon

I have been.’ He coughed. ‘I have done ill, great evil.’

    ‘The man you condemned, the hermit, was innocent.’

    ‘Oh yes, oh yes, but I am confused.’

    Rahere shrugged and glanced at Baron Sanguis.

    ‘What say ye?’

    The Baron turned to the jurors.

    ‘Guilty!’ they chorused.

    ‘And the sentence?’ Rahere asked.

    ‘To be hanged on the common gallows!’ Baron Sanguis snapped. ‘Let his body be gibbeted as a warning to others who think they can come here and usurp my power!’

    The villagers clapped and cheered.

    ‘Sentence to be carried out immediately!’ Baron Sanguis added.

    The Preacher’s head went down. He started to sob. The jurors stood up, congratulating themselves. Matthias, squatting in the front, watched Rahere crouch down and drag back the Preacher’s head. He pushed his face only a few inches from that of the prisoner. Perhaps only Matthias heard the word ‘YOU!’ come from the Preacher’s lips before he dropped on all fours, head down like a dog.

    Baron Sanguis’ bailiffs came forward. The prisoner was dragged out through the cemetery. A horse was waiting with a leather-covered sledge attached by wooden shafts. The Preacher was forced to lie on this. He was stripped naked except for his linen breeches, and the horse, its bridle held by Rahere, made its slow journey up the high street towards the waiting gallows. Parson Osbert stayed in the Lady Chapel, face in his hands.

    Matthias decided to follow the crowd. They were throwing rubbish, dung and dirt at the Preacher stretched out on the makeshift sledge. The rutted tracks of the highroad scarred his back and made him scream in pain. At the Hungry Man Matthias stopped. He did not wish to go any further. Instead he stood on a table outside the tavern. The crowd reached the gallows. The Preacher was released, his hands lashed behind his back. The bailiffs pushed him up on to the horse. A noose was fitted round his neck.

    ‘Let it be done!’ Rahere’s voice broke the stillness. ‘Let the King’s justice be done!’

    The horse was led away. The Preacher danced, jerking like a doll at the end of the rope, twisting and turning, his legs kicking. Matthias fled inside the Hungry Man and sat in the darkened taproom. He was still there when the men returned from the gallows. He was about to slip away when a hand caught at his shoulder. He glanced up. Rahere was smiling down at him.

    ‘It had to be done, boy,’ he murmured. ‘It had to be done.’ He leant down. ‘Enough of royal justice,’ he whispered. ‘Will you show me the woods?’

    ‘Tomorrow.’ Matthias stepped back. He felt weak, slightly sick. ‘Tomorrow morning,’ he promised. ‘But my father needs me.’

    Rahere tapped him on the shoulder. ‘An obedient son,’ he murmured, ‘brings pleasure to all!’

    Matthias left the Hungry Man and ran up the highroad. Matthias found his father in the kitchen at home, sitting before the hearth, staring into the ashes. He was already on his second goblet of wine. Matthias tried to talk to him but his father just shook his head. Matthias stole up the stairs. The door to his parents’ bedchamber was open. He went inside. It was dark and stale. He narrowed his eyes. His mother was lying on the bed. She had her back to him. He went across.

    ‘Mother, Mother, it’s Matthias.’ He tapped again but she didn’t stir. ‘Mother, it’s Matthias. Are you well?’

    Again no reply. He tiptoed out and went up the stairs to his own little garret. He lay down on the bed. Images flitted through his mind. The hermit, arms extended; the Preacher, dancing at the end of the rope; Rahere smiling down at him. Matthias drifted into sleep. He was awoken violently: his mother, grasping him by the shoulders, was shaking him up and down, banging his head against the feather-filled bolster. Matthias stared in horror. Christina’s face was white as a sheet, a blueish tinge high in her cheeks. Her eyes were red-rimmed and dark circled. She was glaring sightlessly at him, lips moving.

    ‘Mother!’ Matthias moaned. ‘Mother, what is wrong? You are hurting!’

    Christina had a madcap, vacant look. Her nails were digging deep into his shoulder. Matthias closed his eyes and started to cry. He heard a pounding on the stairs and his father was dragging Christina away, arms locked tightly round her. Christina struggled. She began to cry and then went limp. Osbert let her slip gently to the floor, placing her back against the wall.