09 Three Score and Ten by Joyce Lionarons

Author:Joyce Lionarons [Lionarons, Joyce]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Tags: Mystery & Detective - Middle Ages
Publisher: Amazon Digital Services, Inc.
Published: 2019-10-18T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter 14

Sweat dripped down Thomas’s forehead where he sat at the long trestle table in the Porrocks’ front chamber. The room was stifling hot, less from the fire burning low at the back than from the number of folk crowded into the chamber both at the table itself and on benches along the walls, all eating and drinking the food and wine provided by Saint Martin’s parishioners. Mistress Porrock sat at the head of the table with a grim-faced Father Edward, pushing the food on her plate around with her eating knife, speaking only when spoken to, smiling at her guests as she blinked back tears. As the wine flowed, the sound of conversation and laughter rose ever higher, until Thomas could hear nothing his neighbors at the table said. With a nod and a smile to either side, he pushed his plate away and stood, then edged his way to the kitchen door.

If anything, the kitchen was hotter than the front chamber, although the door to the back garden stood open to the cold air outside. Agytha stood over a low table filled with plates piled with spiced wafers, her wimple askew, a stained apron tied over her fine woolen gown. “Thomas!” she exclaimed. “You were meant to help, not eat with the guests!”

“Aye, I know,” Thomas replied. “I thought to save a seat for the Master, but he never came in. Then the food came, and Master Rickard began asking me about the fair in Cornwall. Twould have been rude to leave.”

“Are they ready for the wafers?”

“Aye, I think so. But the serving plates will have to be cleared first or there will be no room.”

“Cate!” Agytha shouted. “You and Britt clear the serving platters and have Alisoun pour out the rest of the wine. Then serve the wafers!”

Thomas stepped around the scurrying maidservants and walked into the snowy garden, taking a deep breath of the cold air. A snuffling sound caught his attention, and he turned to see Hugh Porrock leaning against the back of the house. “Aren’t you cold?” he asked.

The boy shrugged, then his eyes narrowed in accusation. “Why aren’t you with Master Cordwainer? You’re still his manservant, but you act like you’re a mercer. Do you think you’re too good for him now?”

The words hit Thomas like a blow. He had tried to deny the guilt he felt over leaving Cordwainer to manage on his own while he took his place as Adam’s partner in the family wool trade, but with Hugh’s words it surged into his throat so that he could not speak. He did not even know where his Master was or what he was doing. When Cordwainer had faced the leather workers in the street, twas Hugh who had been at his side while he ran for the bridge guard and then skulked in the house like a coward. And when twas over, he had eaten and drunk with the merchants instead of helping Cordwainer with an injured and possibly dying man.

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