Free Cross of Vengeance by Cora Harrison Page B

would be able to buy a new piece of the true cross and then all would be well, she thought cynically. ‘Just tell me now that you plead guilty,’ she said aloud, and when he made no response she added, ‘and then your fellow pilgrims can all go to one of Blad’s suppers and to their beds and ride off for the ferry to Aran tomorrow. You, I think, will have to return to England – I don’t really want you to commit any more outrages on my king’s territory.’ She gave him a friendly smile and he responded with an attractive grin.
    ‘Back to Wexford?’ he queried.
    ‘Back to Wexford,’ she said firmly. And then could not resist adding, ‘You could always go to Walsingham and view the vial of the Virgin Mary’s milk. It should be an interesting experience.’
    ‘What will the fine be?’ There was a cautious note in his voice, but his very blue eyes sparkled.
    ‘I’m not sure,’ said Mara frankly. ‘I will have to look up my law books. Not more than you can pay, I should imagine.’
    He took a deep breath. ‘I’ll do it,’ he assured her with a nod. ‘I’ll plead guilty.’
    ‘Good,’ she said. ‘Now, do you wish to ride back with me?’ She turned and beckoned. ‘Perhaps, Ardal,’ she said as he approached, ‘you would be kind enough to give Herr Kaufmann a bed for the night and make sure that he attends the hearing at Poulnabrone tomorrow.’ No need, she thought, to spell it out to Ardal that the man should be kept under close watch so that he did, indeed, attend the hearing on the following day. Justice, in Brehon law, always had to be seen to be done.
    ‘No,’ said Hans Kaufmann. His reply was swift and his eyes went towards the Spanish priest, a look of apprehension in their very blue depths. The threat of the mighty Inquisition was a potent one. Even here in the remote west of Ireland tales were told about the burning of those who disagreed with the Roman doctrine. ‘No,’ he repeated. ‘I have claimed sanctuary and let him burn in hell whosoever breaks it.’
    ‘Very well,’ said Mara. Brehon law did not countenance violence and after all the man was, in theory, innocent until sentence was passed at Poulnabrone. ‘I’ll leave you now and make sure that you have everything that you need for the night. No need to go supperless to bed. Our Brehon law is concerned with compensation, not with revenge. Make full admittance and confession tomorrow and be prepared to pay the fine that is demanded of you, and then you can leave – but go east, not west, or the long arm of my law will pluck you from the remotest hiding place.’
    ‘I will go east,’ he said with a nod. ‘My work is only beginning.’
    Mara got to her feet feeling happy and satisfied with herself. An interesting fellow, this pilgrim! In some ways she would have liked to stay and to debate matters with him, but her consciousness of her position as Brehon of the Burren, and of being the representative of the king forbade her to indulge in a moment’s fancy. Her duty now was to clear up this affair and to make sure that there were no repercussions. She gave him a nod and returned to the group.
    ‘Hans Kaufmann, the pilgrim from Germany, has made a full and frank confession,’ she said. ‘He has agreed to be taken from here tomorrow morning to the judgement place at Poulnabrone and there to be sentenced according to the law of this country. In the meantime,’ her eyes wandered over the little group of pilgrims and the men from her own kingdom, ‘he prefers to remain here under sanctuary of the holy church. I have promised that he will be well treated and that supper and other necessities will be supplied to him.’
    ‘What happens if that man escapes in the night?’ Father Miguel, the Dominican priest, seemed to be the only one who seemed to be concerned about this. Grace, the scarred sister, had retired to the darkness at the western end of the church. Mara thought she overheard a sob and the sound of Bess talking in a