Free Lilies for Love by Felicity Pulman Page A

forward, and was listening carefully. Once she appeared to be patting the bailiff's arm although, even as Janna suppressed a smile at the sight of it, she snatched her hand away and covered the scar on her cheek instead. Janna wished that she was a fly, that she could buzz around them and listen in.
    'You're not really a lay sister, are you?' Mus's voice made Janna jump. She tossed her head and didn't reply.
    'So why are you hiding in the abbey?' he persisted.
    'I'm not hiding!' Janna glared at him.
    'A pretty young girl like you?' He smiled, but his eyes stayed cold and assessing. 'Don't you have any admirers?'
    'No,' Janna said firmly.
    'I can do something about that.' Mus stepped closer and slipped an arm around her waist. Outraged, Janna gave him a hard push and retreated further out of his way.
    'Playing hard to get?' he murmured.
    'Don't even think about it.'
    His eyes narrowed. 'I know a quiet place we could go, somewhere we won't be seen, if that's what's worrying you. We could have fun together, you and me.'
    'Try anything, and I'll cripple you,' Janna warned.
    His eyes gleamed. 'I like a challenge,' he said, and bent to tie up a sheaf of wheat.
    The hayward's horn was a welcome reprieve for Janna. Even though the wheat field was crowded and she was sure Mus wouldn't risk any move that might be observed, still she felt uneasy in his presence. She left the field and hurried over to where her friend still sat under the tree. 'Are you all right to walk back to the abbey?' she asked anxiously.
    'Of course. I would have come back to work, but Master Will wouldn't hear of it.' Agnes's eyes lit up with mischief. 'I could almost ask him to carry me all the way back to the abbey just to see Sister Martha's face!'
    Janna laughed, relieved to see her friend in such good spirits. 'Stay where you are. I'll fetch us some dinner,' she said, and went off to collect some meat pasties, fruit and a jug of ale. She sat down beside Agnes, and began to munch hungrily. It was some time before she realised that Agnes wasn't really listening to her chatter.
    'I saw the devil last night.' Janna licked the last crumbs of the pie from her fingers. 'He had fangs for teeth and snakes for hair.'
    'Good. That's good.' Agnes continued to watch the bailiff, who had not yet sat down to eat, so busy was he with supervising the last of the sheaves of wheat to be loaded onto a wagon.
    Janna followed her glance, and nudged Agnes to get her full attention. 'He seems like a very kind man,' she said.
    'Indeed he is. I've known him ever since I was old enough to come out and work in the fields. Poor man.' Agnes's face softened in sympathy. 'His wife died last year. He was telling me that his youngest child still calls for her mother in the night. There are times when he cannot console her.'
    'Does he have no other family to help him?'
    'A sister, he says, but he doesn't often see her. His oldest child is but ten. Wat, he's called. That's him over there.' Agnes pointed at a young lad, one of several who had quickly stuffed themselves with food and were now kicking around a pig's bladder filled with straw, scuffling each other to gain possession of it. It wasn't often that the children had time free to play. She looked up then as the bailiff approached.
    'Thank you for your care, Master Will. I . . . I regret the trouble I have caused you. As I am of no use to you, I will not come out tomorrow. I don't want to be a burden.'
    Janna knew how much Agnes's sacrifice meant to her and felt deeply sorry, yet she was at a loss to suggest a way out of the problem.
    'Never think you are a burden, Sister Agnes,' the bailiff protested firmly. 'I would not have you toil in the fields any more, for I have seen how difficult it is for you, but . . .' He looked around, seeming momentarily at a loss for words. His face suddenly brightened. 'But I have just the task for you,' he said cheerfully, and beckoned one of the children forward. 'As you know, the abbey takes a tithe of