Heartstone (37 page)

Chapter Twenty

A
FTER LUNCH
Barak and I fetched two of the horses we had hired in Kingston, and set out to look at the woodland. I took Oddleg, the strong, placid horse that had brought me from London. The pall of grey cloud had thickened, and the air was uncomfortably heavy. We took the Portsmouth road south; Hobbey had told us that in that direction trees were being cut on both Hugh's estate and his.

To the right one of the communal village fields sloped gently away, its strips of different crops a riot of colour. Villagers working there glanced up, some staring at us. As we rode on the woodland to our left gave way to the cleared area, stretching back a good half-mile to where the forest remained untouched, a line of unbroken green. Thin young trees were thrusting up from the undergrowth, mostly pollarded so that the trunks would divide into two trees.

We stopped. 'This area was felled some time ago,' Barak observed.

'They felled everything, not just the mature trees. It will be decades before the forest returns here. That is Hugh's land. How much the timber fetches depends on the type of tree. Prime oak, or elm or ash?' I shook my head. 'Fraud is so easy.'

Behind us a trumpet sounded suddenly. We pulled in to the side as a company of soldiers tramped by, raising clouds of dust. The men looked tired and weary, many footsore. A whiffler walked up and down the line, calling on laggards to raise their feet. The baggage train rumbled past and the company disappeared round a bend. I wondered how Leacon was faring in Portsmouth.

We rode on a further mile or two. To the left the cleared area gave way again to dense forest. There was woodland to the right, too, which from the plan was the village woodland Hobbey wanted. The road sloped gently upwards, and now we could see the line of a high hill in the distance; Portsdown Hill, with the sea on the other side. Then we came on an area where men were felling trees. Almost all had been cut, back to a distance of a hundred yards. One group of men was sawing up a felled oak, another stripping leaves from branches piled on the ground. Long sections of trunk were being loaded onto an ox cart.

'Let's talk to them,' I said. We rode carefully past the stumps, most still gleaming raw and yellow, and halted a little distance from the work. A man came across to us, a tall stringy fellow. He removed his cap and bowed.

'Good afternoon, gentlemen.'

'I am Master Shardlake, lawyer to Hugh Curteys that owns this land. I am staying with Master Hobbey at Hoyland Priory.'

'Master Fulstowe said you might be coming,' the man answered. 'As you see, we are working hard. I am Peter Drury, the foreman.' He had watchful little button eyes.

'You seem to be cutting a great swathe here. What trees are you felling?'

'Everything, sir. Some oak, but the cleared part was mostly ash and elm. The oak goes to Portsmouth, the branches to the charcoal burners.'

'It will be years before there are trees worth cutting here again.'

'It may be long before prices rise so high again, sir. So Master Hobbey says.'

'You are contracted to him, then?'

'Ay. He has the lad's wardship, has he not?' A touch of truculence entered his voice.

'So he does. Are your men local, from Hoyland perhaps?'

Drury laughed. 'Those hogs wouldn't work here. When some of my men went on to their village woods they made great complaint. No, my lads are from up beyond Horndean.' Beyond the reach of local loyalties, I thought. I thanked him, and we rode back to the road.

We continued south, to an area the felling had not yet reached. I saw a narrow path leading into the forest. 'Come,' I said, 'let's see what types of trees these are. There seems to be more oak than that fellow suggested.'

Barak looked up dubiously at the darkening sky. 'It looks like rain.'

'Then we'll get wet.'

We began riding into the forest, picking our way in single file along the narrow path. The air seemed even heavier among the trees.

'Do you still wear that old Jewish symbol round your neck?' I asked over my shoulder.

'The old mezuzah my father left me? Yes, why do you ask?'

'I have Emma Curteys' little cross around mine. I will give it to Hugh, but not in front of the Hobbeys. Did you know he wears some piece of bone from the heart of a deer round his neck?'

'The heartstone? Yes, I talked to Master Avery last night, the huntmaster. He seemed a decent fellow.'

I glanced round. 'Did he say anything about the family?'

'He closed up when I asked. Under orders from Fulstowe, I would guess.' He halted suddenly, raising a hand.

'What is it?'

'I thought I heard hoofbeats, back on the road. Then they stopped.'

'I can't hear anything.' There was nothing but the buzz of insects, little rustlings in the undergrowth as small animals fled from us. 'Maybe you imagined it.'

'I don't imagine things.' Barak frowned. 'Let's get this over with before we get soaked.'

The path narrowed to little more than a track winding through the trees. This was true ancient forest, some of the trees gigantic, hundreds of years old. They grew in profusion and great variety, but oaks with wide spreading branches dominated. The undergrowth was heavy, nettles and brambles and small bushes. The earth, where it could be seen, was dark, soft-looking, a pretty contrast to the bright summer green.

'How far does the Curteys land extend?' Barak asked.

'Three miles here according to the plan. We'll follow the path another half mile or so, then come back. This is mainly oak, and that fetches twice what the other trees will. That foreman was lying, and I think Hobbey's accounts have been doctored.'

'Different types of trees can grow in different places.'

'That is what makes anything difficult to prove.'

We rode on. I was bewitched by the silence among the great trees. According to the Romans, all England looked like this once. I remembered a boyhood visit to the Forest of Arden, riding with my father along a similar path, the one time he took me hunting.

Then I saw a brown shape move ahead, and raised a hand. I saw we were by a little clearing where a deer, a fallow doe, stood cropping the grass, two little fauns at her side. She looked up as we appeared, then turned and in a moment all three had fled into the trees in a rapid, fluid movement. A crashing of undergrowth, then silence.

'So that's a wild deer,' Barak said.

'You've never seen one?'

'I'm a London boy. But even I can see this track is fading out.' He was right, the pathway was becoming mossy and hard to follow.

'A little further.'

Barak sighed. We rode past the trunk of an enormous old oak. Then a sudden ruffle of wind set the leaves waving, and a large raindrop landed on my hand. A moment later the heavens opened and a sheet of rain fell down, soaking us in an instant.

'Shit!' Barak exclaimed. 'I said this would happen!'

We turned back to the enormous old oak, making the horses push through the undergrowth so we could gain shelter by the trunk. We sat there as the rain pelted down, the wind that had come with it making the whole forest seem to shiver.

'That path'll be just mud when we ride back,' Barak said.

'Hard rain soon passes. And these are good horses.'

'If I get congestion of the lungs, can I charge that up to Master costs--'

He broke off at a sudden, reverberating thud. We both turned. An arrow projected from the trunk above our heads, the white-feathered tip still trembling.

'Ride!' Barak yelled.

He gave his horse a prick of the spurs. We crashed out onto the path, which was slippery now. Every second I expected to feel an arrow in my back or see Barak fall, for on the path we were hardly less easy targets than under the tree. But nothing happened. After ten minutes' desperate and difficult riding we stopped in a clearing.

'We've outrun him now,' Barak said. Even so we both stared wide-eyed through the pelting rain at the trees, aware of just how helpless we were against a concealed archer.

'Come on,' Barak said.

It was with relief that we reached the highway again. The rain was easing now. We stopped, staring back the way we had come.

'Who was it?' Barak asked, almost shouting.

'Someone scaring us off? That was a warning; under that tree a bowman with any skill could have killed us both easily.'

'Another warning? Like the corner boys? Remember I heard those hoofbeats on the road? Someone rode after us, someone who knows these woods.'

'We'll have to tell Hobbey, report it to the magistrate.'

'What's he going to do? I tell you, the sooner we're out of here the better. God damn it!'

We rode back to Hoyland Priory. Once Barak would have dashed recklessly in pursuit of that archer, I thought. But now he has Tamasin and the coming child to consider.

W
E ARRIVED
back at the house. The rain had stopped, though there was still a breeze freshening the air. Old Ursula was in the great hall, polishing the table, and I asked her to fetch Hobbey.

'He's out, sir. Gone to the village with Master Dyrick. Mistress Hobbey is unwell again. She's in bed with that dog,' she added with a disgusted grimace.

'Then please fetch the steward.'

Moments later Fulstowe strode into the hall. He looked at us curiously as I told him what had happened in the wood. 'A poacher, without doubt,' he said when I had finished. 'Perhaps a deserter from the army, they say some are living wild in the forests. We have a forester to patrol Master Hugh's woods but he is a lazy fellow. He will be sorry for this.'

'Why should a poacher draw attention to himself?' Barak asked sharply.

'You said you disturbed some deer. Maybe he was stalking them. They would be a great prize for a deserter, or one of those hogs from the village. Maybe he shot to send you out of the woods.' He frowned. 'But it is a serious matter, the magistrate should be told. A pity you did not see him. If we could get one of those Hoyland churls hanged, it would be a lesson to all of them.'

'Barak thought he heard hoofbeats on the road.'

'They stopped just where we had entered the wood.' Barak looked hard at Fulstowe. I could see he was wondering, as I had, whether the archer had come from the house.

Fulstowe shook his head. 'A poacher would not be on a horse.'

'No,' I agreed. 'He would not.'

'I will have you informed as soon as Master Hobbey returns. I regret this should happen while you are his guest.' He bowed and left us.

'I am sorry I brought you to peril after all,' I said quietly to Barak. 'After what I promised Tamasin.'

He sighed heavily. 'If I weren't here, I'd be in the army. And you're right, we weren't in danger. He shot that arrow to miss.' He looked at me. 'Are you still going to ride to Rolfswood tomorrow?'

'This may be my only opportunity.'

'I'll come if you like.'

'No,' I replied firmly. 'I want you to stay here, work on the servants. See if you can learn anything from Ursula. Maybe visit the village again.'

'All right,' he agreed reluctantly. I turned and went upstairs, feeling his concerned eyes on my back.

I
LOOKED OVER
my copies of the depositions in my room. Then I went over to the window, drawn by the sound of voices. Hugh and David were by the butts. Fulstowe was with them, Barak and Feaveryear too. I went downstairs to join them. The sun had come out again, making the wet grass sparkle prettily as I walked up to the group. There was still a little wind, high white clouds scudding across the sky. Hugh was instructing Feaveryear in pulling a bow, while David stood watching with Barak. Fulstowe looked on with an indulgent smile. Arrows had been stuck in the grass, their white-feathered tips reminding me of what had happened in the forest.

Feaveryear had put on a long, thick shooting glove and held a beautiful bow, a little shorter and thinner than those I had seen the soldiers use, the outer side golden and the inner creamy white, polished to bright smoothness. Decorated horn nocks were carved into teardrop shapes at each end. Feaveryear had fitted a steel-tipped arrow to the bow, and was pulling with all his strength. His thin arms trembled, but he could only pull the hempen string back a few inches. His face was red and sweating.