Free [Roger the Chapman 04] - The Holy Innocents by Kate Sedley Page B

there was no sign of either pig or cow. Both sty and field were empty and I felt a stab of alarm. Had the outlaws indeed returned to rob her further? Or had she had the wit to leave the beasts with her friends?
    I must either have made some sound or she sensed my presence for she straightened suddenly, staring in my direction and shielding her eyes with her hand against the morning sun. When she saw who it was, her wide, generous mouth split into a welcoming grin.
    'Chapman! What brings you back this way again?'  
    'I need to talk to you. But first tell me, where are the animals?'
    'Safe with my friends on their holding near Ashprington. I went there last night, as you advised me to do, taking Betsy and Snouter with me to be locked in their barn - a good, stout building which would make any robber think twice before trying to break in. And there they will stay, for a day or two at least, until I get weary of trudging to and fro carrying milk pails.'
    'And nothing was disturbed when you returned this morning?'
    'Everything was exactly as I left it. And I came back very early, before sunrise, in order to avoid the hockers.' She smiled impudently. 'I thought you might have been out with your fellow men, getting your revenge for yesterday.'  
    I shook my head and reverted to the original subject.
    'I'd leave the beasts where they are for as long as your friends are willing to house them. The town's full of rumours this morning that the outlaws were abroad again last night, across the fiver, towards Berry Pomeroy. They could return here yet. The Mayor's sent word again to Exeter, I understand, to the Sheriff, and there should be a posse riding south by tomorrow. But these men, as well as being dangerous, are cunning. I doubt they'll be caught without a stroke of luck, but they may well tire and move on to different ground that offers them fresh pickings. They've been in these parts a long time now. Be patient a while, and they may just vanish.'
    Grizelda smiled and invited me into the cottage. 'Have you eaten?' she asked, as I followed her indoors.
    'Yes, and heartily,' I answered. 'Boiled bacon, a mess of eggs, oatcakes and honey, provided for me by my friend, the innkeeper of the ale-house near the castle.'
    'Jacinta! I know her. Well-meaning enough, but inclined to push her nose into everybody's business.' Grizelda looked surprised. 'You stayed the night in Totnes, then? Somehow, I thought you would be out of there and on the open road before yesterevening.' She frowned suddenly. 'You aren't carrying your pack! What's happened?'
    I sat down on one of the benches, my back resting against the wall, while she poured me a beaker of her excellent ale, brewed to a rich, dark colour, and given its sharp and tangy taste by the germander I had noticed growing in her garden.
    'I spent the night in Eudo Colet's house,' I said, reaching out to take the beaker from her.
    She jumped, spilling some of the ale, and the brown eyes widened in horror.
    'What were you doing there?' she demanded.
    I told her; of my meeting with Mistress Cozin and her daughters; of my visit to the house; of the offer made to me by Oliver Cozin to play caretaker for the night; of his subsequent suggestion that I might like to remain there longer; and of my conversation with the landlady of the ale-house near the castle. 'Named by you as Jacinta,' I added, 'though she never told me how she was called.'
    'And so you have come to hear the full story,' Grizelda said, sitting down beside me, on the bench. She was quick on the uptake: there was no need to explain the reasons for my actions.
    'If you are willing to tell it,' I answered.
    She thought for a moment, her face serious, brooding almost, and I wondered what was going through her mind.
    Then she shrugged.
    'Yes, I'm willing, if you're interested enough to listen. But I warn you that I can shed no light on the central mystery; what happened to Andrew and Mary after I left the house that dreadful morning" Her lips