the scholar's sweethaert 14

 

Chapter 14

 

 Jasper, waiting for Crowy to give up searching for Shuri, reviewed in his memory the layout of the cottage and all points of potential exit. There was another window on the end, into what was essentially a parlour or living room as well as the window on the front; which could probably be wedged with a sliver of wood in the hinges. The front door opened into the kitchen with a door to the left into the living room, and the chimney beyond it on the wall between. The stairs must be in the parlour, and considering the window outside, had a window on the minute landing since there had not been a second window at the front in Crowy’s room, nor stairs, and therefore there must be a landing of sorts. Jasper did not much care how that was configured but suspected that the stairs crossed the chimney breast. There was no door into the stable from the kitchen. There was no other door into the chalk besides the larder. That meant there really was only one way out. The cart had been left by the stable, not in it. By the fact that the roof was the same height, there was probably a hay loft above it.

Jasper firmed his jaw. Crowy Heron had said that he had pinned down the tent flap so that Mother Lementina would burn to death in her tent. And his mother had been sharing a tent with Lementina. Jasper knew what fire could do, and that hot pitch from the tarpaulins that made the tents would drip onto skin and cling. Crowy had intended Lementina’s death, and at her age, he had probably succeeded. But with the tent cramped for holding two women, not one, the realisation that his mother had also almost certainly perished or been at best horribly wounded so that she would not want to live came crashing down on him. Jasper crushed his hands into his mouth and bit down on them to muffle the howl of anguish and fury which wanted to rip out of his soul via his mouth.

“Crowy Heron, if you love fire, you shall die by fire,” Jasper vowed, licking the blood from his knuckes where his sharp white teeth had penetrated the skin in his distress, as a blood pact with himself. He thought of the distress to Woodlock, and to Cornelius, either of whom would also die to save Shuri and Lementina. And doubtless Crowy expected Woodlock at least to die in the attempt to save the tribe herb wife. It would be easier to assume the leadership of a broken, leaderless tribe.

“Crowy Heron, you are a murderer. You are anathema to me. It is my right to avenge myself. You will die at my hand for the murder of my mother and for the two men who mean more to me than any but Papa,” he said out loud. “This I swear, and as I swear, so shall it be.”

And then he cast himself down on his front and sobbed, all the emotion of the last few days released in silent, heartrending tears.

He heard the cottage door bang again, as Crowy returned, and he sat up to plan, with cold, efficient intensity. And part of that planning was to whittle wedges to thrust into hinges of the old casement windows.

 

oOoOo

 

Having got back on track, Evelyn and Evergreen headed back for the inn where the trail had been lost, but the day was well advanced and traffic up and down the street spread the pungent odour of horse and cattle dung, as carts came and went, and a drover drove his herd.

Bess ran about, casting around to find a scent, but lay down suddenly, and sighed.

“Poor old girl,” said Evelyn. “She’s all in. As I see it, we have two choices.”

“Oh, please don’t shoot her!” cried Evergreen.

“Shoot her? Why on earth would I do that?” asked Evelyn, in horror.

“Because she ain’t no good to you no more,” said Evergreen.

“Well, I’d never even consider such a wicked idea unless she was hurt too badly to heal,” said Evelyn. “The two choices I came up with – and you might have others – were either to leave Bess here and pay for her keep whilst you and I press on; or that we stay here with her, and set out after a long rest tonight.”

“Can we be sure they’d treat her right?” asked Evergreen.

“They’d better, or I’ll see the landlord out on the street,” said Evelyn, his brows coming together.

“I sort of forget you’re a marquis until you do that ‘someone is going to hurt,’ look,” said Evergreen. “It makes you suddenly scary.”

“I don’t want to scare you, but being scary means, usually, that I don’t have to hurt anyone,” said Evelyn. “But I do take your point. I’m not sure I trust any man I don’t know with an animal. Then, unless you have a better idea, we stay here, and set off tonight for these here woods. If Bess were smaller she could ride with one of us, but although Phebe has been known to take her mop on a horse, I can’t see Bess being amenable.”

“She’s used to follow the tribe carts,” said Evergreen. “A good rest and a meal and plenty to drink, and she’ll be like new. He sighed. “I thought we’d be back by now,” he said. “Ain’t it eating you up inside?”

“The fear for my son is ripping my guts out,” said Evelyn. “But I won’t help him if I have nothing left to give, and I won’t find him without Bess. And a good gypsy tracker like you, who, moreover, knows how Jasper thinks.”

Evergreen nodded, sagely.

“A hunter who knows intimately what he’s tracking does better than a better hunter who doesn’t know his quarry.”

“So I thought. And we both know Jasper.  We don’t know if Crowy has penetrated his disguise, but when we catch up, we shall have to be ready to play along if Jasper has managed, somehow, to continue to pull off the imposture. Or to negotiate if he does know he has Jasper.”

“If you offer him money, he’ll change the deal.”

“I had already worked that out. But it buys us time to rescue Jasper – if, indeed, he has not already rescued himself.”

Evergreen grinned.

“I back Jasper to wriggle out of any trap,” he said.

They left their horses with the groom, a solitary hand, at the back of the ‘White Swan,’ and Evelyn strode in.

“Back again? Did you find him? That ain’t your son, surely?” said the barkeeper.

“Crowy pulled a trick on me and doubled back,” said Evelyn. “But my dog’s exhausted, and so is the lad who is helping me. I’ll take two rooms if you have them or one if I must, and an early dinner for us in a private parlour, and I’ll pay for the night, though I dare say I’ll be leaving much earlier.”

“I’ve only the one room, milord,” said the barkeeper.

“Ah? Then that will have to do,” said Evelyn.  “Hot water please, for washing; I won’t ask you to stretch to a bath, nor washing linen.”

“I can have your linen washed and ironed dry in three hours, milord, and the boy’s,” said the innkeeper.

He did not turn down the extra two guineas Evelyn offered for this service, and brought Evelyn a jug of coffee and two mugs himself when he came to collect Evelyn’s drawers, shirt, and neckcloth.  Evergreen had kicked off his boots, curled up on the bed and fell asleep.

“You’re a lifesaver,” said Evelyn, and added, soberly, “Possibly literally if I can rest well and be after Crowy Heron.”

He drank the coffee, but was soon asleep himself.

 

oOoOo

 

 Cornelius awoke with little hands slapping his hands away from his head.

“Phebe?” he was surprised.

“I’m in charge while Mama and Mrs. Hudson have a rest,” said Phebe. “I know it’s sore and itchy but keep your hands off it.”

“Yes, nurse,” said Cornelius, meekly. “How are the other patients?”

“Lementina woke up long enough to swear with words I don’t know, and demanded that I make a concoction I didn’t know, so I did so, under her eye, and she took it and bade me give it to anyone else with bad burns, and I know she’s a herb wife so here’s yours,” said Phebe, handing him a glass.

Cornelius sniffed it suspiciously, mentally shrugged, and tossed it off. The he shuddered and gagged.

“That’s... noxious,” he wheezed.

“Lementina said you’ll need to be ready to shift to the necessary shortly so be warned,” said Phebe. “It’s got willow bark in it, but it’s also a blood cleanser and body cleanser. Once she’d used the Jordan, she looked a lot better, but she’s sleeping again. And I think Shuri is stirring, so be sure and finish in the Bramah closet before she needs it.”

“Yes, ma’am,” said Cornelius. “I... oh, yes, right, I’ll be back.”

“Wash your hands thoroughly,” said Phebe.

Cornelius fled without retort, and after a most unpleasant ten minutes, he had to admit that although he was as weak as a kitten, he felt better in himself.

He got back to his bed as Shuri was getting up, and Phebe helped her to the Bramah closet. The maid, Mary, brought Cornelius a bowl of what smelled like chicken soup and a buttered roll.

“Thank you,” said Cornelius.

“They ain’t so bad, the gypsies,” said Mary. “I was taken in by the other Mr. Reckitt to think so.”

“My brother is sick in the head, I fear,” said Cornelius. “I hope he can be helped, but it was pure wickedness to involve you.”

“The old woman looked at me, an’ she said ‘You’re having trouble with your courses,’ and she told me to take Fennel tea. Ooh that has helped! It felt bad at first, but it’s a most awful relief now. Not that a man knowns anyfink about such things,” she added, going red.

“I know in theory,” said Cornelius. “I fancy Mother Lementina’s cures make things briefly worse and then better in the long term.”

“That’s generally how it works,” said Shuri, returning on Phebe’s arm. “I saw myself in the mirror in the necessary; if either you or Woodlock still love the freak I am at the moment, I am blessed.”

“You are your own sweet self with a bit of damage,” said Cornelius.

“Stop flirting and eat your soup,” said Phebe. “Mary will get one for Shuri, there’s a stockpot keeping warm for when people need it.”

Cornelius turned obediently to his meal. He had noticed that his own looks were somewhat impaired but had been lucky not to have any damage to his face. He currently looked like a medieval monk, with a bald pate and a ring of curls around it. Shuri was a mess. Her hair had burned off on one side with pitch in it and the burn had extended onto her cheek. It had not, fortunately, touched her eyes.

“Mother Lementina made me write down what to do for a salve, and I’ve been making it,” said Phebe. “I’m quite capable if told what to do, so when you have eaten, I am going to take off your dressings and put salves on. I did Mother Lementina’s and it’s drawing out the fluids, so you will need to have dressings on to soak it up, and live with looking silly.”

“I think we can handle that,” said Cornelius. “I am trying not to rip into my arms.”

“Good, continue to not,” said Phebe.

When he had finished eating, she put salve on his head, and on his back, making Cornelius blush as she just pulled up his nightgown to remove the dressing, slather his back with salve, and re-cover it, and then did his arms. It was mostly the backs of his forearms, and soon he felt more comfortable.  Shuri was treated likewise; apart from her head, face, and neck, it was mostly the forearm for her, too.

“You need to drink plenty, and keep going to the closet,” said Phebe. “I’ve made up some honey water for you both, with a nip of cider vinegar in it. And when I come back, I want to see your carafes empty.”

She brought each of them a carafe and glass.

Cornelius managed to wait until Phebe had left the room to dissolve into laughter.

“She is bossy, isn’t she?” said Shuri. “Takes after Imogen.”

“Yes, you can see Imogen’s influence. I’m glad; Phebe was very cowed when she first came here,” said Cornelius.

“And how do you really feel about my looks?”

“Beautiful, because your lovely eyes are alive, sparkling, and vibrant, not staring unseeing and dead,” said Cornelius. “I... I feared I had lost you, but I knew you would be the first to urge me to take Lementina to safety.”

“Well, you’re right there. By the sound of it, doing so has saved her life, and I thank you. She has been my mother in all ways.”

“Then if it is I whom you choose, she shall be mine, also, and when she wishes to rest, she shall live with us.”

“Thank you.”

“And what’s more, if you choose Woodlock, I will be a good son to Lementina anyway,” said Cornelius, “And I will have a cottage to live with her and care for her.”

“Don’t let him get away,” said Lementina’s voice, wispy and thin, but clear. “Woodlock is a brother to you, girl, and he’ll find a good woman.”

“Can I get you anything, Lementina?” asked Cornelius.

“Some of that honey water, please,” said Lementina. Cornelius went in search of some more and was shooed back to bed by Phebe who brought the drink to Lementina.

“Papa has been gone a long time with Evergreen,” she said.

Cornelius exchanged a look with Shuri.

“What’s going on?” asked Shuri.

“Crowy took Jasper, wrapped up in your tent, we think, believing him to be you,” said Cornelius.

Shuri drew a long, shuddering gasp, and her eyes were wide.

“Crowy Heron has a hideout in Grovely Wood,” said Shuri. “He boasted of it to Fowk. I wonder if we should go and see if Evelyn is on the right trail. And maybe go ourselves...”

“I think Mama would say, ‘no,’” said Phebe.

“Please ask if she will come,” said Cornelius. “She knows something of how Shuri feels.”

 

Imogen bustled in.

“I’m worried too,” she said. “But Evelyn has enough on him to identify himself, if anything had happened to him and Evergreen, I expect we should have heard. I wonder if Crowy doesn’t know some tricks about doubling back and setting false trails.”

“He does,” said Shuri. “Imogen, Jasper is my baby....”

“If they don’t arrive overnight, you can go in a carriage,” said Imogen. “With a coachman so Cornelius does not rip the skin off his arms, and with plenty of quilts. And I’ll let Woodlock know, if he wants to go too.”

“He will; Evergreen is his brother,” said Cornelius.

“Fine. I will give you each a small drop of laudanum to sleep deeply, so you are rested and healing. I don’t like it, but I know it will only fret you more not to be doing something,” said Imogen.