Vagabond

‘Let Sir Geoffrey up,’ the newcomer commanded Thomas, ‘and I shall read the letter.’

‘Tell him to let my woman go,’ Thomas snarled.

The horseman looked surprised at being given an order by a mere archer, but he did not protest. Instead he urged his horse towards Beggar. ‘Let her go,’ he said and, when the big man did not obey, he half drew his sword. ‘You want me to crop your ears, Beggar? Is that it? Two ears gone? Then your nose, then your cock, is that what you want, Beggar? You want to be shorn like a summer ewe? Trimmed down like an elf?’

‘Let her go, Beggar,’ Sir Geoffrey said sullenly.

Beggar obeyed and stepped back and the horseman leaned down from his saddle to take the letter from Father Hobbe. ‘Let Sir Geoffrey go,’ the newcomer ordered Thomas, ‘for we shall have peace between Englishmen today, at least for a day.’

The horseman was an old man, at least fifty years old, with a great shock of white hair that looked as though it had never been close to a brush or comb. He was a large man, tall and big-bellied, on a sturdy horse that had no trapper, but only a tattered saddle cloth. The man’s full-length mail coat was sadly rusted in places and torn in others, while over the coat he had a breastplate that had lost two of its straps. A long sword hung at his right thigh. He looked to Thomas like a yeoman farmer who had ridden to war with whatever equipment his neighbours could lend him, but he had been recognized by Sir Geoffrey’s archers who had snatched off their hats and helmets when he appeared and who now treated him with deference. Even Sir Geoffrey seemed cowed by the white-haired man who frowned as he read the letter. ‘Thesaurus, eh?’ He was speaking to himself. ‘And a fine kettle of fish that is! A thesaurus indeed!’ Thesaurus was Latin, but the rest of his words were spoken in Norman French and he was evidently confident that no archer would understand him.

‘Mention of treasure’ – Thomas used the same language, which had been taught to him by his father – ‘makes men excited. Over-excited.’

‘Good Lord above, good Lord indeed, you speak French! Miracles never cease. Thesaurus, it does mean treasure, doesn’t it? My Latin is not what it was when I was young. I had it flogged into me by a priest and it seems to have mostly leaked out since. A treasure, eh? And you speak French!’ The horseman showed genial surprise that Thomas spoke the language of aristocrats, though Sir Geoffrey, who did not speak French, looked alarmed for it suggested Thomas might be a good deal better born than he had thought. The horseman gave the letter back to Father Hobbe, then spurred to Sir Geoffrey. ‘You were picking a squabble with an Englishman, Sir Geoffrey, a messenger, no less, from our lord the King. How do you explain that?’

‘I don’t have to explain anything,’ Sir Geoffrey said, ‘my lord.’ The last two words were added reluctantly.

‘I should fillet you now,’ his lordship said mildly, ‘then have you stuffed and mounted on a pole to scare the crows away from my newly born lambs. I could show you at Skipton Fair, Sir Geoffrey, as an example to other sinners.’ He seemed to consider that idea for a few heartbeats, then shook his head. ‘Just get on your horse,’ he said, ‘and fight the Scots today instead of quarrelling with your fellow Englishman.’ He turned in his saddle and raised his voice so all the archers and men-at-arms could hear him. ‘All of you, back down the ridge! And quick, before the Scots come and drive you off! You want to join those rascals in the fire?’ He pointed to the three Scottish prisoners who were now nothing but dark shrivelled shapes in the bright flames, then he beckoned Thomas and changed his language to French. ‘You’ve really come from France?’

‘Yes, my lord.’

‘Then do me the courtesy, my dear fellow, of speaking with me.’

They went south, leaving a broken stone cross, burned men and arrow-struck corpses in a thinning mist, where the army of Scotland had come to Durham.

Bernard de Taillebourg took the crucifix from about his neck and kissed the writhing figure of Christ that was pinned to the small wooden cross. ‘God be with you, my brother,’ he murmured to the old man lying on the stone bench cushioned by a palliasse of straw and a folded blanket. A second blanket, just as thin, covered the old man whose hair was white and wispy.

‘It is cold,’ Brother Hugh Collimore said feebly, ‘so cold.’ He spoke in French, though to de Taillebourg the old monk’s accent was barbarous for it was the French of Normandy and of England’s Norman rulers.

‘Winter comes,’ de Taillebourg said. ‘You can smell it on the wind.’

‘I am dying’ – Brother Collimore turned his red-rimmed eyes on his visitor – ‘and can smell nothing. Who are you?’

‘Take this,’ de Taillebourg said and gave his crucifix to the old monk, then he stoked up the wood fire, put two more logs on the revived blaze and sniffed a jug of mulled wine that sat in the hearth. It was not too rank and so he poured some into a horn cup. ‘At least you have a fire,’ he said, stooping to peer through the small window, no bigger than an arrow slit, that faced west across the encircling Wear. The monks’ hospital was on the slope of Durham’s hill, beneath the cathedral, and de Taillebourg could see the Scottish men-at-arms carrying their lances through the straggling remnants of mist on the skyline. Few of the mail-clad men had horses, he noticed, suggesting that the Scots planned to fight on foot.

Brother Collimore, his face pale and his voice frail, gripped the small cross. ‘The dying are allowed a fire,’ he said, as though he had been accused of indulging himself in luxury. ‘Who are you?’

‘I come from Cardinal Bessières,’ de Taillebourg said, ‘in Paris, and he sends you his greetings. Drink this, it will warm you.’ He held the mulled wine towards the old man.

Collimore refused the wine. His eyes were cautious. ‘Cardinal Bessières?’ he asked, his tone implying that the name was new to him.

‘The Pope’s legate in France.’ De Taillebourg was surprised that the monk did not recognize the name, but thought perhaps the dying man’s ignorance would be useful. ‘And the Cardinal is a man,’ the Dominican went on, ‘who loves the Church as fiercely as he loves God.’

‘If he loves the Church,’ Collimore said with a surprising force, ‘then he will use his influence to persuade the Holy Father to take the papacy back to Rome.’ The statement exhausted him and he closed his eyes. He had never been a big man, but now, beneath his lice-ridden blanket, he seemed to have shrunk to the size of a ten-year-old and his white hair was thin and fine like a small infant’s. ‘Let him move the papacy to Rome,’ he said again, though feebly, ‘for all our troubles have worsened since it was moved to Avignon.’

‘Cardinal Bessières wants nothing more than to move the Holy Father back to Rome,’ de Taillebourg lied, ‘and perhaps you, brother, can help us achieve that.’

Brother Collimore appeared not to hear the words. He had opened his eyes again, but just lay gazing up at the whitewashed stones of the arched ceiling. The room was low, chill and white. Sometimes, when the summer sun was high, he could see the flicker of reflected water on the white stones. In heaven, he thought, he would be forever within sight of crystal rivers and under a warm sun. ‘I was in Rome once,’ he said wistfully. ‘I remember going down some steps into a church where a choir sang. So beautiful.’

‘The Cardinal wants your help,’ de Taillebourg said.

‘There was a saint there.’ Collimore was frowning, trying to remember. ‘Her bones were yellow.’

‘So the Cardinal sent me to see you, brother,’ de Taillebourg said softly. His servant, dark-eyed and elegant, watched from the door.

‘Cardinal Bessières,’ Brother Collimore said in a whisper.

‘He sends you his greetings in Christ, brother.’

‘What Bessières wants,’ Collimore said, still in a whisper, ‘he takes with whips and scorpions.’

De Taillebourg half smiled. So Collimore did know of Cardinal Bessières after all, and no wonder, but perhaps fear of Bessières would be sufficient to elicit the truth. The monk had closed his eyes again and his lips were moving silently, suggesting he was praying. De Taillebourg did not disturb the prayers, but just gazed through the small window to where the Scots were making their battleline on the far hill. The invaders faced southwards so that the left end of their line was nearest to the city and de Taillebourg could see men jostling for position as they tried to take the places of honour closest to their lords. The Scots had evidently decided to fight on foot so that the English archers could not destroy their men-at-arms by cutting down their horses. There was no sign of those English yet, though from all de Taillebourg had heard they could not have assembled a great force. Their army was in France, outside Calais, not here, so perhaps it was merely a local lord leading his retainers? Yet plainly there were enough men to persuade the Scots to form a battleline, and de Taillebourg did not expect David’s army to be delayed for long. Which meant that if he wanted to hear the old man’s story and be away from Durham before the Scots entered the city then he had best make haste. He looked back at the monk, ‘Cardinal Bessières wants only the glory of the Church and of God. And he wants to know about Father Ralph Vexille.’

‘Dear God,’ Collimore said, and his fingers traced the bone figure on the small crucifix as he opened his eyes and turned his head to stare at the priest. The monk’s expression suggested it was the first time he had really noticed de Taillebourg and he shuddered, recognizing in his visitor a man who believed suffering gave merit. A man, Collimore reflected, who would be as implacable as his master in Paris. ‘Vexille!’ Collimore said, as though he had almost forgotten the name, and then he sighed. ‘It is a long tale,’ he said tiredly.

‘Then I will tell you what I know of it,’ de Taillebourg said. The gaunt Dominican was pacing the room now, turning and turning again in the small space under the highest part of the arched ceiling. ‘You have heard,’ he demanded, ‘that a battle was fought in Picardy in the summer? Edward of England fought his cousin of France and a man came from the south to fight for France and on his banner was the device of a yale holding a cup.’ Collimore blinked, but said nothing. His eyes were fixed on de Taillebourg who, in turn, stopped his pacing to look at the priest. ‘A yale holding a cup,’ he repeated.

‘I know the beast,’ Collimore said sadly. A yale was an heraldic animal, unknown in nature, clawed like a lion, horned like a goat and scaled like a dragon.

‘He came from the south,’ de Taillebourg said, ‘and he thought that by fighting for France he would wash from his family’s crest the ancient stains of heresy and of treason.’ Brother Collimore was far too sick to see that the priest’s servant was now listening intently, almost fiercely, or to notice that the Dominican had raised his voice slightly to make it easier for the servant, who still stood in the doorway, to overhear. ‘This man came from the south, riding in pride, believing his soul to be beyond reproof, but no man is beyond God’s reach. He thought he would ride in victory into the King’s affections, but instead he shared France’s defeat. God will sometimes humble us, brother, before raising us to glory.’ De Taillebourg spoke to the old monk, but his words were for his servant’s ears. ‘And after the battle, brother, when France wept, I found this man and he talked of you.’

Brother Collimore looked startled, but said nothing.

‘He talked of you,’ Father de Taillebourg said, ‘to me. And I am an Inquisitor.’

Brother Collimore’s fingers fluttered in an attempt to make the sign of the cross. ‘The Inquisition,’ he said feebly, ‘has no authority in England.’

‘The Inquisition has authority in heaven and in hell, and you think little England can stand against us?’ The fury in de Taillebourg’s voice echoed in the hospital cell. ‘To root out heresy, brother, we will ride to the ends of the earth.’

The Inquisition, like the Dominican order of friars, was dedicated to the eradication of heresy, and to do it they employed fire and pain. They could not shed blood, for that was against the law of the Church, but any pain inflicted without blood-letting was permitted, and the Inquisition knew well that fire cauterized bleeding and that the rack did not pierce a heretic’s skin and that great weights pressed on a man’s chest burst no veins. In cellars reeking of fire, fear, urine and smoke, in a darkness shot through with flamelight and the screams of heretics, the Inquisition hunted down the enemies of God and, by the application of bloodless pain, brought their souls into a blessed unity with Christ.

‘A man came from the south,’ de Taillebourg said to Collimore again, ‘and the crest on his shield was a yale holding a cup.’

‘A Vexille,’ Collimore said.

‘A Vexille,’ de Taillebourg said, ‘who knew your name. Now why, brother, would a heretic from the southern lands know the name of an English monk in Durham?’

Brother Collimore sighed. ‘They all knew,’ he said tiredly, ‘the whole family knew. They knew because Ralph Vexille was sent to me. The bishop thought I could cure him of madness, but his family feared he would tell me secrets instead. They wanted him dead, but we locked him away in a cell where no one but I could reach him.’

‘And what secrets did he tell you?’ de Taillebourg asked.

‘Madness,’ Brother Collimore said, ‘just madness.’ The servant stood in the doorway and watched him.

‘Tell me of the madness,’ the Dominican ordered.

‘The mad speak of a thousand things,’ Brother Collimore said, ‘they speak of spirits and phantoms, of snow in summer and darkness in the daylight.’

‘But Father Ralph spoke to you of the Grail,’ de Taillebourg said flatly.