A Conspiracy of Wolves

‘More light,’ she implored. There were no lights in the Fenton house. The family were away in the country for the harvest.

Jasper opened the shutter on the lantern without argument, illuminating a hedge and beyond it an untended garden, redolent of rotting fruit and moist earth.

‘Something’s not right.’ Alisoun fought down bile and the urge to touch him for comfort. ‘I smell blood. On the ground just by the far gate. This side.’

He stopped suddenly, holding out his arm in a warning to stay back. ‘It’s a man. Beaten.’

She pushed past him. Bartolf Swann lay slumped against the gate. Blood had bubbled out of his mouth with his last breaths. He was still now, released from the pain of a knife in the heart, the clubbing that had caved in one side of his head. She knelt to him, whispering his name.

Jasper crouched beside her, shining the lantern on the battered body. ‘Are you certain it’s him?’

‘Yes.’

‘We need to fetch the captain and the bailiff from the York. Come.’ He rose and held out his hand.

‘I don’t like to leave him,’ said Alisoun.

‘He’s dead. There’s nothing you can do. And how do we know his attacker is gone?’

‘I don’t sense anyone here. I’ll be safe.’

‘If you’re wrong, I’ll be blamed. You’re coming with me.’ Jasper took her hand and tugged.

She did not resist, but as soon as she was standing she tried to free her arm. ‘I need to pray for his soul’s passing, as Archdeacon Jehannes taught me to do in the birthing room.’

Jasper held tight as he hurried her away from the body, not stopping when she faltered. She had never known him to be so rough.

And then they were in the tavern yard. She blinked in the sudden light as they approached the open doorway. Jasper handed her the lantern and ordered her to wait while he went in to fetch Captain Archer.

Owen was on his feet the moment his son appeared. Even from across the room he noticed the blood on Jasper’s linen sleeve, saw with what agitation he shook his head at Bess’s flood of questions. And was that Alisoun he’d glimpsed holding a lantern? She’d disappeared before he was halfway across the room.

‘Is it Muriel Swann?’ Bess was asking when Owen reached them. ‘Is the babe come betimes? Bartolf has already left. Did you not cross paths?’

Jasper shook his head as he turned to address Owen. Ghostly pale, he was.

‘It’s Bartolf Swann, Da. Stabbed in the heart, his head bashed in. By the gate into his yard from the Fenton garden.’

‘Dead?’ Owen asked, though he knew the answer by how Jasper’s voice broke as he described the injuries. The lad nodded, then crossed himself.

‘God help us,’ said Hempe.

Geoffrey was right behind him.

Tom already waited at the doorway with the lantern.

‘Where’s Alisoun?’ Jasper impatiently pushed the hair from his forehead. ‘I told her to stay.’

Owen put his hand on Jasper’s shoulder. ‘How did you find him?’

‘Alisoun was visiting and I was walking her back to the Swann house.’ His voice shook. ‘If she’s returned to him, I’ll–’

‘Did you hear anything?’

‘Nothing.’

‘Fetch a priest, son.’ St Helen’s was near. ‘Prayers must be said over the body before the soul departs.’

Jasper nodded and headed back through the yard.

Alisoun stood by the gate leading to the Swann yard, her lantern illuminating a woman on the other side.

‘For the love of God, Mistress Alisoun, he is my father.’ Olyf Tirwhit’s voice rang out. Hoban’s sister, she had married Adam Tirwhit, her brother’s good friend.

But Alisoun stood firm. ‘You must not move him until Captain Archer and the bailiff see how he fell.’

‘Dame Muriel is desperate to come to him,’ said Olyf. ‘You know how weak she is, you of all people. We must carry him into the house now.’ Two men stood behind Olyf, only partially visible in the light. ‘You do not want to draw her out into the night in her condition.’

‘That’s all we need is a Tirwhit meddling,’ said Hempe. ‘They go to law almost as often as the Braithwaites.’

‘It is her father on the ground,’ Owen noted. He stepped into the light. ‘Alisoun is right, Dame Olyf. It is important for us to see how your father fell. As soon as we have examined the area we’ll bring him to the house, I promise you.’

‘Thank you, Captain Archer.’

‘My son is fetching a priest.’

‘I’ve already sent for one.’ The woman bowed her head. ‘I did not mean to meddle,’ she said softly as she turned and departed with the two men.

Jasper returned, breathlessly announcing that the priest was on his way. And then he and Alisoun began to argue.

‘I’ll see to the lad,’ Geoffrey told Owen, slipping over, resting a hand on Jasper’s shoulder and having a quiet word.

Alisoun joined Owen. ‘I did not want to leave him here alone, with no one to pray over him.’

‘Pay Jasper no heed. We all express our grief in different ways.’

‘This puts me in mind of Hoban, such brutality,’ Hempe noted. ‘We need to find their common enemy.’