Bad Money (A Stephen Attebrook mystery Book 6) by Jason Vail

Author:Jason Vail [Vail, Jason]
Language: eng
Format: azw3, epub
Publisher: Hawk Publishing
Published: 2016-06-19T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter 15

Stephen struggled to stay awake in the chamber where he had been allotted a bed among the younger knights and squires. It was hard to tell the passage of time in the dark. The air smelled of rain. Now and then a flash of lightning illuminated the cracks in the shutters, and thunder grumbled in the distance.

He drew off the blanket and swung his legs out of bed, the ropes holding up the straw-filled mattress and the frame creaking.

Stephen stood up, tensing for the slightest sign that one of the sleepers had heard. Unlike everyone else, he had gone to bed fully clothed even down to his boots. Although it was the practice to sleep naked, no one had remarked upon this, and he hoped that no one would remember it. He collected his cloak, which he had rolled up and used for a pillow, and, dropping to his hands and knees, felt his way across the floor to the doorway.

A flash of lightning provided enough light that he could see he was headed for a wall. He changed direction, crept between two cots, and reached the doorway without anyone waking up and without upsetting the chamber pot by the door. He rose, lifted the latch, and slipped into the stairway.

Stephen felt his way down the stairs to the tower’s undercroft which was filled with barrels and sacks and smelled musty.

He pulled the cloak over his head and went out to the yard.

The knights’ quarters were across the bailey from the hall, but even with the dark and rain, which had driven the watch to shelter, Stephen did not dare take the direct route. He skirted to the wall of the monastery, passed the cattle pen, tip-toed by the pig-sty so as not to startle the pigs which were prone to a commotion if disturbed, and stopped at the barn, which stood against the south wall. A flash of lightning, followed immediately by a blast of thunder, lit up the bailey such that Stephen could see his own shadow and burned into his eyes the image of puddles across the bailey spattered by raindrops. A voice spoke from above his head: “I’ll be right there.”

Some uncomfortable moments passed with the rain dappling on his hood and no shelter anywhere. Then the barn door opened and Theo slipped out. He had a thick rope coiled around his shoulder. “Lovely evening, isn’t it?”

“Very. I love a good rain. I could do without the lightning, though.”

“We’ll have to make the best of it. Best put these on,” Theo said. He handed Stephen a pair of thick leather gloves while he pulled a pair on his own hands. “Helps protect the hands.”

“From what?”

“The rope can be nasty.”

Theo led the way past the stable and hall to the ditch separating the motte and tower from the bailey. The ditch was deep and steep-sided, V-shaped, and the grass slick so that they nearly lost their footing as they slid to the bottom. They made their way to the gate tower, which stood upon the slope above a wooden drawbridge over the ditch.

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