Falconer and the Face of God by Ian Morson

Author:Ian Morson [Morson, Ian]
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub, pdf
Tags: Reference
ISBN: 9781906288648
Publisher: Ostara Publishing
Published: 2011-11-13T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Ten

GOD: Amongst all the angels there was none, as you know,

That sat so closely to my Majesty.

I charge you fall till I say ‘No’

In the pit of Hell evermore to be.

The Fall of Lucifer

With only a few days to the start of the Christmas celebrations and the presentation of the plays cycle by Stefano de Askeles's troupe, Oxford was filling with peasants from the surrounding countryside. At this time of year they actually had some time to spare from the normal agrarian grind, and the possibility that another murder might be played out before their eyes added an extra spice to coming to see the plays. It was some disappointment therefore when the milling crowds discovered that the town constable had arrested the murderer. But there was still the hope that the new holy relic of St Eldad might produce a miracle, and the general excitement was increased by the numerous side-shows that now filled the narrow streets of the town.

Edward Petysance felt a new confidence in his ability to draw the crowds to his church, and strolled around observing the mummers and acrobats sweating to earn their money despite the chill that hung in the afternoon air. Fish Street was the most popular spot to perform as it ran from north to south, and the low sun shone down its length casting giant shadows. Near the South Gate, a crowd garnered round the shambling figure of a performing bear, then reeled back in a body when the trainer holding its lead caused it to lunge at those standing closest. Everyone gasped, then giggled nervously to reassert their bravado. Truth to tell the bear was old, and its fur hung lank and dull from its shrunken haunches. But when it reared up on its back legs, and blew its noxious breath through yellowed teeth at master and peasant alike, it seemed a fearsome creature.

Further along there were several bastaxi - puppeteers - retelling familiar stories through the mannequins they manipulated. Some were crude, stiff figures carved as soldiers and fixed to the ends of rods that the puppeteers pushed together from opposite ends of a table set up in the street. The swords at the ends of the outstretched arms rattled together as the bastaxi retold stories of Crusader victories. They attracted the uneducated and gullible, but Petysance far preferred the animated puppets that enacted domestic scenes on top of an upright cloth booth that hid the puppeteer from sight. There was one close to St Aldate's Church and he lingered at the back of the crowd to watch. The booth was the height of a man, and had a tiny stage atop it like the full-size stage in front of St Frideswide's. Magical figures manipulated from below by the hidden puppeteer played out a quarrel between a lascivious wife and a cuckolded husband. The audience before the booth roared with laughter at some reference to the husband's lack of prowess, just as a voice behind Petysance spoke into his ear.

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