A Murdered Peace
- Автор: Робб Кэндис
- Серия: A Kate Clifford Mystery #3
- Год: 2018
- Язык: английский
- Год: Pegasus Books
- ISBN: 9781681779270
- Жанр: Исторические детективы
Электронная книга - «A Murdered Peace». Краткое содержание книги:
England still in tumult at the start of the fifteenth century, as Kate Clifford finds herself working to prove the innocence of her longtime confidante.
It is deep winter in York, 1400, the ground frozen, the short days dimmed with the smoke from countless fires, the sun, when it shines, low in the sky. It is rumored that the Epiphany Uprising, meant to relieve the realm of the Henry the usurper and return King Richard to the throne has, instead, spelled his doom. As long as Richard lives, he is a threat to Henry. So, too, the nobles behind the plot. The ringleaders have been caught, some slaughtered as they fled west by folk loyal to Henry, and the king's men now search the towns for survivors.
A perilous time, made worse for Kate Clifford by the disappearance of Berend, her cook and confidante, shortly after Christmas. Her niece saw his departure in a dream – he said he was honor bound to leave. Honor bound – to a former lord? One of the nobles who led the uprising? Is he alive? She is hardly consoled when Berend reappears, wounded, secretive, denying any connection to the uprising, but refusing to explain himself. When he is accused of brutally murdering a spice seller in the city, Kate discovers a chest of jewels in his possession. Some of the jewels belong to her old friend Lady Margery, wanted by the king for her husband’s part in the uprising. For the sake of their long friendship, and the love she and her wards bear for him, Kate wants to believe his innocence. So, too, does Sir Elric. And he has the powerful backing of the Earl of Westmoreland. All she need do is confide in him. If only she trusted her heart.
He moaned and tried to double over, but she held him upright.
“Petra, what’s on the other side of this alley?” Kate asked.
“An old shed,” she said without hesitation. “I once slept in it.” The child spoke of her time on the streets without emotion. It was fact, it had happened. The truth was, the girl took pride in what she had learned in that hard life before Kate even knew of her existence.
“We’ll go there to talk.”
Yanking Skulker by the shoulder, Kate pushed him ahead of her, Petra staying well ahead. As they stepped out into what seemed an abandoned yard between two dilapidated houses, the blade of a knife glinted in the girl’s hand. God help her, the girl carried a dagger to school?
Inside the shed was an old bucket missing a slat. Petra turned it over and Kate shoved Skulker toward it.
“Sit.”
The boy rubbed his crotch, then sat down, gingerly, holding a hand to his mouth. As he sucked, a drop of blood rolled down his chin.
“Where are Parr and Sawyer?”
He dropped his hand to his lap. “Don’t know ’em.”
“You led them to the warehouse on Castlegate yesterday.”
“Oh, them.” A shrug. “I don’t know where they’d be.”
“You were spying on me for them.”
He spit just to her left. “Not today.”
She took hold of his shirt and shook him. Not hard. “The men in that warehouse want you dead, do you know that? They are looking for you.”
“Well, they won’t catch me, eh?”
“My niece did.”
Another spit. “Girls’ luck.”
Kate glanced at Petra. The child grinned but said nothing.
“You are going to take me to Parr and Sawyer.”
“And then hand me over to those what mean to kill me? Hah.” He scratched his crotch.
“Is there anything in here we could use to tie him up?” Kate asked Petra.
“I’ll look.” The child began to search through the debris.
“I don’t want tying up,” said Skulker, hiding his hands behind him.
“What you want means nothing to me,” said Kate. “Unless you’re ready to talk.”
“Why do you want them?” He sounded sullen, but tired. His tough façade was cracking, and she was keenly aware of the patched clothes and mismatched boots stuffed with hay for warmth.
“I believe they are guilty of murder, and I know the king’s men will be interested in them.” They were Salisbury’s retainers, she would tell Sir Peter, and they might know much about the plot against the king. That should entice him.
“What do you give me?”
“Safe passage out of York?”
“Never been nowhere else.”
Of course he had not. He stayed where he knew his way, knew whom to fear, whom to trust. “If you’re very helpful, I’ll find a place where you can work for your keep.”
“Don’t know how to do nothing.”
“You are cunning. You’ve kept yourself alive. It takes far less skill to clean out stables, but you would need to be honest and obey orders.” She imagined Bess Merchet’s laugh.
A shrug. The child’s stomach grumbled.
“Hungry?”
“Always.”
“Where are Parr and Sawyer?”
“You’ll help me?”
“I told you, I will help you if you help me.”
He gave an impish laugh. “Your knight, Sir Elric – his men have ’em.”
Kate felt a frisson of excitement. Yet another surprise. “How do you know?”
“Saw them being pulled from baker Trimlow’s shed back of his house.”
“Their hiding place?”
A nod.
“You were with them?”
“They let me sleep there some days, didn’t they? So’s I would spy round while they slept.”
“So why were you sneaking through the alley near Dame Jocasta’s?”
Petra returned from her search with several lengths of rope, filthy and frayed but still strong, enough to tie up the skinny lad.
The boy shot up, ready to bolt.
Kate caught him and pushed him down on the overturned bucket.
He whined about she-devils and having rights, but he sat quietly. “I don’t want tying up.”
“Did Parr and Sawyer have other helpers besides you?”
“Two others. Younger. Squeaks, I call ’em, peepers. Just seeing who’s going where.”
“Did any of you see what happened to Merek?”
“The spice man?” He shrugged. “Those two you’re after, they found him stumbling along the Shambles, roughed him a bit and he fought back, but they ran when they heard someone.”
“They did not slit his throat?”
Skulker shook his head.
“Who did?”
“Don’t know. I followed them.”
“Why?”
“I had a bad feeling about what was going to happen.”
Jennet said the children who learned to respect such feelings were the ones who survived on the streets.
“Did you see who was approaching Merek?”
A shrug. “Might have.”
“Who?”
“Dressed like a lord.”
“Jon Horner the scrivener?” Was it that simple?
“Don’t know ’im. I only saw a red jacket with shiny buttons when he passed a lit up window.”
Kate thought back to Horner lying on his bed in a soiled crimson jacket with the shiny buttons to mark him as a man of means. She turned to Petra. “Go to Jennet. Tell her I need some clothes to disguise him. Then we’ll take him – somewhere. I need to think.” Where could he stay until one of the sheriffs’ men got his statement? Certainly not Jocasta’s.
As Petra hurried off, Kate asked, “Why were you sneaking round the Sharp house?”
“Of a sudden I couldn’t get close last night, could I? What’s she guarding in there? I’m thinking the king’s men would like to know.”
Had he been watching the guesthouse? Saw Margery moved last night? “Too late. I’ve decided to take you off the streets.”
“You’ll feed me?”
“I will.” Or someone would. Her mother’s Martha House might be too far. “What about a man who was traveling with my cook Berend? Did Parr and Sawyer take him?”
“Bald man?”
“Yes.”
“Took him off the street a night or two before the spice man was killed. Searched his pack and it was a woman’s things. Clothes. ‘Where are the jewels? Where’s the lady?’ They shook him and punched him and stomped on his hand and he never said a word. So they slit his throat and left him in the ditch right there outside Micklegate Bar.”
“What were they doing there?”
“They were hiding there a while. Old plague hut. I didn’t tell ’em what it was.” A snicker. “Then they found the baker. Didn’t want to be around when the dead man was found.”
Jennet shook her head. “If I knew where she’d gone I would tell you, but I don’t. Last I knew she was headed to the York Tavern.”
Elric cursed. “I don’t think anyone else can convince him to eat.” Kevin had reported that Berend was fasting. Penance. Said God was punishing him through all this and innocents were suffering for it. Not good. If Elric wanted to sneak Berend out of the castle he needed him sharp, limber.
“Dame Jocasta’s?”
“I went there. She’d gone.” He looked down at Lille and Ghent, napping by the fire. “I don’t like that she’s out there without them.”
“She is armed, sir, you can be sure of that.”
He turned round as a whirlwind rushed through the door, pushing him aside, stomping her foot at Jennet.
“Where is she? Where’s Petra?”
“At school. Where you should be, Marie. What is this about?”