“She was in her hut, I swear it!” The young thatcher trembled under Ralf’s fierce look.
Hands on hips, Signy’s eyes glittered with equal fury. “Why should you not believe him?” she retorted, tossing her head at the youth. “Tibia was in great pain, and I asked him to carry her home until Brother Thomas could come. He did so as a mercy. Has kindness now become a crime, Crowner?”
Ralf opened his mouth to reply, then opted for the wiser choice and shut it.
“There is no cause to disbelieve him,” Thomas suggested gently.
“I did not say he had lied,” the crowner growled, attempting to retain a semblance of control in this discussion.
Gaining courage from so much support, the young man bravely turned indignant. “When I laid old Tibia on her pallet, she sent me away, telling me her son would come to care for her.”
“Her son is dead,” Ralf countered.
“When her mind wanders with pain or age, she often thinks I am he,” Thomas explained.
“In any case, she is gone.” Ralf gestured at the miserable hovel. “Where did she go? Did someone come for her? Where are witnesses?”
Signy’s expression shifted to one of concern. “What could have happened to her? I have rarely seen anyone in such pain. How could she have walked anywhere?”
“Her agony ebbed and flowed. When it did ease, she moved well enough for an aged woman with such a bent back,” the monk said.
“That has been true enough, but the severity and frequency did increase of late.” Signy shook her head. “And with so much evil about, I cannot be the only one to fear the worst!”
Thomas glanced at the king’s man. “How I wish you and I had thought to speak together sooner. Now we don’t know where she has gone or why…”
“Perhaps you should find her, Crowner,” Signy snapped. “Or are you the only person in the village to have forgotten we have a murderer amongst us? We tremble while you do nothing.”
Ralf winced. “My men and I are not ignoring the danger,” he replied, and then turned to Thomas. “Your prioress did not say what we should do if we did not find the herb woman. If her theory is correct, we had best seek Hob or…”
“What new crime now rattles the wits of our valiant crowner?” Hob sauntered toward the group clustered around the old woman’s hut, his dog trotting close behind.
“At least that is one less person we have to worry about,” Thomas whispered to his companion.
“Depends on whether we find another corpse and whose it is,” Ralf replied softly, then moved apart from the group and gestured for the blacksmith to follow him. “I would speak to you at some distance away, Hob.”
“So you can shackle me and take me off for hanging?” Hob stepped back. “I think not!”
“I give you my word that he wishes only to ask you a question,” Thomas said.
Hob did not move. His dog began to bark.
“”S Blood! A man of God has sworn an oath to my intentions, and you dare to doubt it?” Ralf stepped forward. “I am no boy that spends the day playing games. Come with me as ordered or I shall…”
Hob clenched his fist.
“I share your misgivings about the king’s man,” Signy called out, casting a dark look in the crowner’s direction, “but Brother Thomas has earned the trust of the village. I’d take his word on this.”
The monk put a restraining hand on his friend’s arm. “If it will save time, let me ask the question. We have little enough to spare if another life may be lost.”
Ralf retreated a short distance.
Thomas walked slowly toward the blacksmith, avoiding the now growling cur’s eyes. “Tell your dog that I mean you no harm,” he said softly.
Hob turned to pet the creature. “He’ll not bite, Brother. Let him sniff and he’ll stay, unless I tell him otherwise.”
The dog calmed, Thomas put a hand on the man’s shoulder and directed him some few steps away. “We must find old Tibia,” he said after a moment.
“Since you ask, I assume she’s not in that hut. Why should I know where she’s wandered off? I’ve been working hard at the forge like any honest man to earn my bread, Brother. Now that my brother is gone, I labor for two.”
“Where is Will?”
Hob tensed. “Why do you ask?”
“He may be in danger.”
The blacksmith shook off the monk’s hand. “From the crowner, aye!”
“I swear not on my hope of heaven. Whatever your reason to dislike the king’s man, in this matter he is on your side.”
The man hesitated, then bent his head. “Brother, may God strike me if I lie to you. I do not know where Will has gone. I told the Crowner this. When my brother left, he said he’d return when the killer was found. Nothing more.”
“Would he have gone far from here?”
“I doubt it. He believed dragons lived outside Tyndal village and only the priory kept them away.”
“If you do not know his hiding place, tell me who might? Surely someone must. How else could he learn when it was safe to come home?”
Now sweating with panic, Hob gestured helplessly.
“Do you have any suspicion, no matter how vague? If not you, might he tell the innkeeper, the thatcher, some woman, a…” Thomas was counting off guesses on his fingers.
“I do not know and didn’t think to ask! It just wasn’t me.”
“Where did you hide as boys?” Thomas asked, desperation evident in his voice. “I am not from here. I would not know these things.”
“We had many places, Brother. I don’t know which are still here or if he would have chosen any of them.”
“When the stream near the village swells with rain, it carves out hollows and caves in the banks. Might he be in one of those?”
“And the stream just as often destroys those things the next year. I swear to you that I don’t know where he might have hidden!”
“Help us find all the places, then,” Thomas said, gesturing for Ralf to join them. “Cuthbert will search as well. With four of us, we can each look in a different spot.”
“If Will’s life is in danger, why not call the whole village out to find him? Someone may even know where he hides.” Suspicion warred with panic in Hob’s eyes. “Or do you want to keep secret what blows you will rain down on my brother if you catch him?”
Ralf shook his head. “The person who knows your brother’s hiding spot will not be here, Hob. As for calling out more men, that would take time to organize efficiently. I think the four of us will find your brother faster if we start now.” The crowner pointed to the path leading to the stream. “You go in that direction, and I will send Cuthbert over there.”
“Why not send out others?” Thomas asked in a low voice. “It would not take that long…”
“I want justice, monk,” Ralf replied. “As Signy has suggested, the village is frightened. Frightened men hang first, then ask if they did the right thing. As for Will’s safety, we may have naught to worry about.”