Oathbreaker (The King's Hounds series) by Martin Jensen

Author:Martin Jensen [Jensen, Martin]
Language: eng
Format: azw3, epub
Publisher: AmazonCrossingEnglish
Published: 2014-03-04T05:00:00+00:00

Chapter 18

Winston was displeased. No, that was an understatement. He was as sour as last year’s ale. I had scarcely stepped through the gate when he popped up from where he’d been waiting, watching for my return. He had spent an inordinate amount of time looking for me, he insisted tersely, while I’d been traipsing around out there.

“Picking up girls, I suppose,” he grumbled.

I had intended to yield to his anger. Instead I laughed out loud.

Ebba hadn’t shown up. No, of course not. She was off with her sheep. Elvina and I had walked back through the village, until darn that lass if she didn’t dart behind a wattle-fenced pigpen just as we reached the largest farm in the village.

I got my explanation when I saw a woman step out from between the wings of the farmhouse. She had blonde hair like her daughter, and a stern-looking mouth, and sharp eyes that didn’t miss a thing. The woman walked over to the pigsty fence, and I wasn’t even halfway to the gate before girlish squeals of protest told me that Elvina’s mother had pounced on her.

“What is so funny?” Winston seethed with exasperation. “That I worry while you traipse around, unarmed, among people who may know that we’re the king’s men?”

I held up a conciliatory hand. As I explained myself, his face softened somewhat, but he was still indignant enough that when I paused, he hissed that I could at least have let him know I was going to continue my investigations outside the palisade.

“The guards could have told you that I’d gone out, couldn’t they?” I pointed out.

He nodded sullenly. So he wasn’t really angry because he’d been afraid something might happen to me. He felt left out.

“And what good was this lass?” Winston asked petulantly.

I explained what Elvina had observed.

“So Ælfgar didn’t go out to exercise his horse,” I concluded. “He went because he had an appointment. We’ll have to ask him what the meeting was about when he sees fit to come back.”

“Not necessarily,” Winston said, shaking his head. “He’ll just claim it’s none of our business or that the meeting wasn’t planned, that they just happened to run into each other. And, besides, he could just lie. Better to keep it to ourselves for a while longer.”

Winston had made up his mind, so I shrugged my consent and asked if he’d spent the time we were apart doing anything besides wallowing in discontent. He looked annoyed.

“A man needs us to solve this murder, and we will accomplish that best if we cooperate.”

“I thought the shire reeve was going to give us however much time we needed.”

“The shire reeve?” Winston said. “What do I care about him? I’m talking about Godfrid. His behavior was repugnant, but even the most loathsome man deserves to have his murder solved.”

“Have you learned anything that might help us do so?” I asked.

“Not much. The gate guards swear no one entered overnight. So we still have to assume that the murderer was someone who was inside the palisade last night.

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