The Riverwoman’s Dragon
- Автор: Робб Кэндис
- Серия: Owen Archer #13
- Год: 2021
- Язык: английский
- Год: Severn House
- ISBN: 978-1-4483-0563-6
- Жанр: Исторические детективы
Электронная книга - «The Riverwoman’s Dragon». Краткое содержание книги:
When the wise woman Magda Digby is suspected of murder, Owen Archer sets out to prove her innocence in this intricately plotted medieval mystery.
May, 1375. Owen Archer returns from London to find York in chaos. While the citizens are living in terror of the pestilence which is spreading throughout the land, a new physician has arrived, whipping up fear and suspicion against traditional healers and midwives. With the backing of the new archbishop, he is especially hostile towards Magda Digby, the wise woman who has helped and healed the people of York for many years. At the same time, Magda is uneasy about the arrival of two long-lost kinsfolk. Though they say they are seeking her help, she senses a hidden agenda.
Magda’s troubles deepen when she discovers a body in the river near her home – and finds herself under suspicion of murder. Days later, fire rips through a warehouse in the city. Amongst the charred debris lies the body of a man – not burned, but stabbed in the back. Could there be a connection to the corpse in the river?
Determined to prove Magda’s innocence, Owen sets out to find answers – but the more he uncovers, the deeper the mystery becomes…
Helen’s drink prepared, Magda was tidying the shelf on which she had worked when she sensed Tess standing behind her.
‘Will I have a sister?’
Magda bent to lift the child, so light for her age. She smelled the woodland and the aromatic smoke in her hair. ‘Thou hast offered up thy wish for a sister?’ she kept her voice low, as if sharing secrets.
‘I did, and father said it was wrong. I should love my family and not want it different. I do love them all! But a sister–’
‘She would whisper her secrets to thee and thou wouldst promise to keep them safe. Thou couldst be her elder, teach her about the world.’
‘You understand.’
‘Magda does.’ She kissed Tess on the cheek and set her down. ‘Soon thou shalt see whether thy prayers are answered.’ She put a finger to her lips.
A short time later, Helen cried out as the first twin slithered from her. As Magda held up the girl so that all could see, she felt a shiver throughout the sanctuary and a sense of the ground heaving and settling. The others were too caught up in the birth to notice her gasp.
‘A sister!’ Tess cried.
Magda reached out with her mind, finding the source downriver, near her rock. Torches on the riverbank, Einar standing on the rock. Open thine eye, Owen. She imagined Bird-eye glancing up, sensing the trouble. No time for more. Wiping the blood and secretions from the baby’s face she blew in her mouth. A weak cry strengthened into a healthy wail.
A fine daughter, she told Helen, then called to Tess to take up one of the small blankets she had cut from an old, frayed one and wrap her sister up and hold her until her mother was ready to do so. The little girl performed her task with delight and pride.
Magda encouraged Helen to push through her weariness to birth the second baby. As the labor dragged on Lettice grew agitated. Magda handed her the bowl of brandywine she had poured earlier.
‘A baby arrives when ready.’
Revived, the woman took up her place supporting Helen, who drooped now with weariness yet pushed with each contraction. In a little while the head appeared and the second, smaller girl slipped out. Her cry, when it finally came, was feeble compared to that of her older, stronger sister. When Helen was cleaned and settled with her babies in her arms, their elder sister proudly beside her ready to take a baby if need be, Magda welcomed the men into the room.
‘Two daughters!’ Fergus exclaimed, beaming. ‘You will have all the sisters you wished for, my sweet.’ He ruffled Tess’s head, then negotiated his way to the other side of the bed to sit by his wife, kissing her tenderly.
Magda stepped outside, lifting her face to an evening breeze, breathing in the green, loamy scent of the woodland. She thought of Einar, Asa, Beatrice, Celia, so many others who would suffer before the manqualm fled at the first hard frost. Many would die, not all from the pestilence. A few would join Sam Toller, victims of violence unleashed by the feckless crows.
A presence joined her, his scent, both earthy and animal, familiar though it had been such a long while since she woke to find him gone. Thou hast a great-grandson, Sten. She spoke of Einar, how she had known him. She told Sten of the young man’s complexities, a seeker, yet secretive, uncertain of himself, undecided about whether to befriend Magda or destroy her. She felt Sten’s hand on her shoulder, reassuring. But she doubted he could see what lay ahead for Einar. The young man must find his own way. Must choose his path.
‘Dame Magda! It’s mother! She’s bleeding again!’ Tess cried.
As twilight darkened the streets, Owen bobbed his head to Janet Fuller.
‘Captain Archer. How might I help you?’
He cleared his throat and glanced toward a woman lingering on the street, watching them. ‘My wife sends greetings, and something for Cilla.’ Her invalid daughter.
‘Bless Mistress Wilton. Do come in.’ As she closed the door she called out, ‘We have a visitor, Cilla.’
The young woman, for she was now surely Alisoun’s age though so frail, sat in a high-backed chair by the fire circle, her legs propped on a stool and wrapped in skins. In the past Janet had frequented the apothecary regarding her daughter’s frail health. Her husband was master of a small trading ship commissioned by the Graas and their partners between York and the Lowlands. She greeted him with a soft smile and a blessing.
‘Would you care for–’ Dame Janet began, but Owen shook his head.
‘Forgive my intrusion. I do not mean to stay.’
‘I pray that Mistress Wilton has not sent you across town in such times to ask after my Cilla. I regret that I have not been to the shop in so long. But my lodger–’
‘I do have this for Mistress Cilla.’ He handed Janet a jar. ‘A salve for her legs, to keep the blood up. But my main purpose is to ask about your lodger – the leech Bernard, is it not?’
A nervous nod. ‘Yes. But he is not in. I believe you might find him at St Denys’.’
‘Ah. Then I shall disturb you no more.’
‘Do come again soon, Captain,’ Cilla said.
‘I will do that,’ he said with a smile, and took his leave.
Owen found Bernard pacing before the altar in St Denys’, fingering paternoster beads. Stepping into the shadows, Owen watched him, getting a sense of the man when he thought himself alone. Lit by candles arrayed on the altar and a table to one side, the leech appeared broader in the shoulders than he had in St George’s Field. Was it simply that he now stood straighter than he had yesterday? As Owen watched, Bernard began talking to himself, a low murmur, the words unclear, but the tone sharp, and he stabbed a finger as if accusing his unseen audience. Owen slipped back out, then returned, pushing open the door with such force the candles danced, letting it slam behind him as he strode across the nave into the light.
Bernard spun round on his heels. ‘Captain Archer. You interrupt my prayers.’ He kept his voice low, affable, with a slight taste of disdain.
‘I am here on official business.’
Lowering his head as if to mask his glance round while he tucked the paternoster beads in his belt, Bernard took a few steps away from Owen, in direct line with one of the doors. ‘I cannot think what official business you might have with me.’
‘You have made a name for yourself in the city as the righteous savior of those who had fallen under the influence of Dame Magda Digby.’
‘I meant to do no such thing, Captain. The cooper made much of a passing comment.’ A slight smile, as if pleased with himself for blaming Edwin Cooper for the state of the city. ‘I had heard much of it reported by Gavin Wolcott.’
‘I doubt that.’
The man bristled. ‘Are you here to order me to apologize to the old midwife?’
‘I have come to ask about her daughter, Dame Asa. She was beaten today for her connection with Dame Magda. I was told you might know where she is lodging.’
‘Dame Asa, you said? I do not know the name, so I cannot think why someone would tell you that.’
Oh, but he did, Owen was sure of it, no doubt from Edwin Cooper. ‘Gray hair, an injury has her walking with a cane.’ The leech shook his head. ‘She was seen at your lodgings. Perhaps she is your landlady’s friend?’
‘Did Dame Janet tell you I would be here?’ When Owen did not respond, Bernard smirked. ‘You say she is the daughter of the pagan healer?’