The Sins of the Father by C. B. Hanley

Author:C. B. Hanley [Hanley, C. B.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780752482552
Publisher: The History Press
Published: 2012-04-10T04:00:00+00:00

‘What do you mean, gone?’

‘I mean he isn’t there.’

Edwin and Martin had waited for Simon in William Steward’s small office behind the great hall. The boy had looked very thoughtful as he arrived, and, crucially, he wasn’t accompanied by Father Ignatius. Now he confessed to his failure in the task. Edwin noticed how downcast the little figure was, and searched around for something to cheer him. Simon normally liked it whenever he came in here, for it smelled of the spices which were kept locked away in great kists around the walls. Edwin’s eye fell on something which hadn’t yet been put away. ‘Look, William has just had some new cones of sugar delivered. He might let you break the tip off one if you ask.’

‘I don’t want any.’

Martin gaped. Edwin thought he must have heard wrongly. ‘Did you just say …’

‘I told you, I don’t want any.’ The piping voice was firm. ‘I’m not hungry.’

Edwin blinked, and thought to himself that the boy’s failure to find the priest must have affected him more than he’d thought. He tried to offer some comfort. ‘Never mind. Father Ignatius has probably gone out to see some parishioner in need – a sick man, perhaps, or a poor family. We’ll find him later.’ Simon looked marginally brighter. Edwin sighed. He might have succeeded in cheering Simon up, but the task loomed ever more impossible. A rising tide of panic threatened to engulf him, but he fought it back, determined to tackle the problem logically. Somebody had crept up the stairs of the keep, onto the roof, and murdered a man in cold blood. The same person had then stabbed an innocent man in the back, in the middle of the day in a crowded outer ward.

He thought again of Berold’s death, as he had again and again since he’d been summoned to the body. The weight of the guilt threatened to crush him, added to the other worries and cares already piled on his sagging shoulders. Could he have stopped it, would he have prevented it if he’d only made Berold stay and tell him what was on his mind? Perhaps if Berold had unburdened himself, made public what he knew, he wouldn’t be dead. But this just circled around to the same question again – who had killed him? And who had killed the visiting earl? The same person, surely, but it could be anyone.

Actually, that wasn’t the case: it had to be someone who was within the wider castle that day, but it was also someone who had been within the inner walls after the gates were closed. Well, that was a start. ‘We’ll make a list of everyone who was in the inner ward after nightfall.’ He went to a kist in the corner and took out parchment, pen and ink, and returned to sit at the table. He sighed. ‘Come on then.’

It was some while later when Edwin sat back to look at the ink-stained parchment in front of him.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.