A Grain of Truth by McGraw. C. P

Author:McGraw. C. P. [McGraw, C. P.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: BookBaby

Chapter 23

The 7th of August, 1365

“. . . and now Sir Odo and his men are recuperating at the castle. You could have knocked me over with a feather when I found out you had come to their aid during the attack, Henri. Well done,” Father Robert wiped some drops of butter that had escaped as he ate a hot roll at the table in Matthias’s kitchen. The priest had arrived this morning full of information to tell the old baker and Henri about his meeting with the prince as well as the disaster that had befallen Sir Odo and his people on the road yesterday.

Matthias focused on the one person he knew in Sir Odo’s party and expressed disgust. “That nasty baggage, Brigitte! She lied to me, to me, her employer for these three years. I thought she was off doing good, helping her family, when instead she was up at the castle offering herself for sale! I am well rid of her!!”

Father Robert considered speaking up in the young woman’s defense and then thought better of it. At the work counter, Jean-Pierre smiled and began to hum a sprightly tune.

Henri grinned. As a matter of fact, he’d been on the receiving end of Brigitte’s sharp comments many times in the past year. No matter how beautiful she looked, he knew how bad-tempered Brigitte always was to everyone in the neighborhood when she worked for Matthias. Hardly anyone would miss her at the bakery. Yesterday, she was most like the Brigitte he knew when she broke that outlaw’s nose. It had been quite a sight, though. “What do you think you’ll do in her absence, M. Matthias?” Henri asked.

“Besides rejoicing, you mean?” Matthias felt cantankerous. He stood and walked away from the table. “I’ll be back.” Events of the last four days had been a trial to deal with, and the young woman’s duplicity was the last straw. The old baker stumped out the back door, kicked a wooden bucket aside, and glowered at the sky.

Inside, Father Robert and Henri continued talking. Henri explained the part he had played during the attack and made an observation, “There was something odd about it, like the outlaws wanted to do damage and make the ambush as deadly as possible. But if they were really after money and loot, they should have captured Sir Odo and held him for ransom instead of nearly killing him.”

“That’s what the prince, Sir Richard, and I thought, too,” responded the priest. “It’s one more odd event that’s happened in the past few months. But right now, I want to know more about the man you think killed Alphonse,”

Henri showed him the sketch Catherine had drawn of the mysterious stranger and added details to flesh out the description. “I came so close yesterday. Now that I’ve seen the way he moves and acts, I think I’d know him however he’s dressed.”

Though Father Robert had traveled widely and possessed a near-perfect memory for names and places, he did not recall encountering the man.

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