Death at the Mint by Christine Hancock

Author:Christine Hancock [Hancock, Christine]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2021-06-30T22:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

“May we come in?” The door to the kitchen was wide open, and sunlight shone through large windows, burning golden paths through the clouds of flour dust. The woman crouched over the grinding stone looked up.

“Help yourself to some ale.” She gestured towards a covered jug in the corner of the room. “You look like you need it.”

Wulfstan nodded to Siward. “I’m sorry about earlier. I didn’t realise you were Abonel’s daughter. I’m sorry for your loss.”

“Don’t be; he was no loss to me.” She stared down at the pile of finely ground flour and brushed it into a bowl. “I’ve had enough of this for now. Pour me some ale.”

She stood, and now Wulfstan knew she was Eoferwine’s sister; he could see the likeness. She was a tall woman, taller than him, with the same large hands as her brother. Her sleeves were rolled up to her elbows, exposing thickly muscled arms. The tendrils of golden-brown hair that escaped from her cap were damp with perspiration, and warm brown eyes returned his frank assessment. She must have been pretty when she was young before hard work and disappointment had coarsened her features.

“How is my brother? I tried to visit, but they wouldn’t let me see him.”

“He is well. A bit hungry, I don’t think they’ve been feeding him. I hope I’ve sorted that out.”

“Poor lad. I’ve tried to look after him since our mother died, but he’s stubborn like his father, the only thing in which they were alike. If only he’d bent, everything would have been well.”

“Do you think he killed your father?”

“Certainly not. Does anyone seriously think that?”

“Reeve Engelric does,” said Wulfstan. “The trial will be in three days, and Eoferwine seems resigned to his fate. I’m afraid they’ll find him guilty.”

“Can you stop it?”

“I’ll do my best. What can you tell us about that day?”

Eoferhild sipped her ale then wiped her mouth with the back of her hand. “It was the Friday before Palm Sunday. Father is usually regular with his travels, and we expected him back that day, although we were not worried when he didn’t arrive.”

“Your brother said he left early to escape the cleaning and preparations.”

“That’s right. I had to go down to the docks to fetch some fish, and he doesn’t like to be alone in the house with our stepmother.”

“Why is that?” Wulfstan leaned forward.

“You know the plan was for Godgyth to marry him?”

“Yes. Was Eoferwine upset to lose his bride? She is very beautiful.”

“He accepted it. His father had told him that he was a failure so often, I think he believed it.”

“He wasn’t jealous?”

“No, the problem was that Godgyth wanted both of them. My father was getting on in years. My mother died many years ago, and he had never felt the need for another wife. He had me to do all the work, keep the house and raise Eoferwine. If he needed what I could not give him, he was very discrete, and I knew nothing about that.

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