Company of Liars by Maitland Karen

Author:Maitland, Karen [Maitland, Karen]
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Publisher: Penguin
Published: 2009-02-25T23:00:00+00:00

17. The Stew

Rodrigo and Cygnus searched for Jofre until well after dark, but it was futile to keep looking when he evidently did not want to be found. He could have run a mile or more in any direction or he could be sulking just a few yards away in the dark, ignoring their shouts. All we could do was wait for him to return whenever he was ready.

Jofre did return, but not until the small hours of the morning. Zophiel had, of course, insisted on barring the chapel door as soon as it got dark, but Cygnus, Rodrigo and I had elected to sleep upstairs in the chapel, so were all awoken by his urgent hammering on the door.

‘Wake… up, wake the master of the house, I’m come a-wassailing,’ he sang out in a childish falsetto.

Zophiel shouted to him that he wouldn’t be allowed into the chapel until he had sobered up and that a night in the cold would serve him right. But drunks seldom go away on being told to and Jofre continued to bang and sing until Rodrigo finally pushed Zophiel aside and unbarred the door. When he opened it, Jofre, who had evidently been leaning against it for support, tumbled straight into Rodrigo’s arms and thence to the floor where he lay giggling. A small barrel rolled out of his arms, making a loud rumble on the stone floor. Zophiel stopped it with his foot, took out the stopper and sniffed the contents.

‘Wine.’ He tipped a few drops of the red liquid into his cupped hand and tasted it. ‘Strong too. Where did he get this?’

Rodrigo grabbed Jofre by the front of his shirt and dragged him to his feet. Jofre swayed unsteadily. ‘You heard him, ragazzo, where did you get this?’

Jofre hiccuped. ‘My friend gave it… to me.’

‘What friend?’ Rodrigo shook him.

Jofre flung his arms wide. ‘I have lots of friends… lots and lots. A dragon and knights and big, big Saracens with curved swords. There were lots of swords… and a dragon. Did I tell you about the dragon?’ He sank to his knees and closed his eyes, swaying.

‘Mummers,’ I said. ‘He must have run into a crowd of mummers and gone drinking with them. If there’s a drop of strong drink to be found anywhere in a town, you can be sure the mummers will sniff it out. Likely some of the taverns have been holding back a few barrels for the Christmas celebrations.’

Rodrigo released his grasp on Jofre’s shirt and the lad crumpled on to the floor, curled up like a baby and instantly fell asleep.

Rodrigo turned away in disgust and strode over to the window, looking out down into the dark, swirling river.

He slapped the wall and turned back to face us, a mixture of anger and bewilderment on his face. ‘Why does he do this? He was behaving better these last few weeks. I thought he had learned his lesson.’

‘You can’t blame any young lad for getting drunk at Christmas,’ I told him.

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