Page 29 of Peregrine's Call
The man grinned and switched to English, though his own accent was Welsh. “Ah, so it’s Greek that works! That’s all I remember from my seafaring days.Greetingsandwhich way to the drinks. Knew how to say them in ten tongues. Enough to get by.” He gestured to their odd collection. “What brings you here, sir? And with such odds and ends?”
Just then, one of the townsfolk recognized the young girl. “You’re Beatrix’s girl. What happened to bring you here with two strangers?”
On hearing the short version, the man immediately sent his son running to the carpenter’s, where Ada’s half brother was an apprentice, and then led Ada and her two escorts to the inn.
A crowd quickly gathered, since any break from the ordinary was welcome. A stable boy took the horses from Octavian and Robin, and the innkeeper offered refreshment, wishing to keep the interesting newcomers at his own establishment.
Ada’s half brother arrived soon after. His eyes went wide on hearing of Beatrix’s death, and he promised to do what he could to save the family farm, saying, “Oh, I am sorry you had to endure that all alone, Ada.”
“I wasn’t alone in the end!” She then related the whole story, from the death of her mother to the rampaging boar, the lonely days and dark nights, to the unexpected but prayed for arrival of help in the form of Sir Octavian and Brother Robin.
“Praise Mary, for looking after little children,” one spectator said, crossing herself.
Ada told her story well, never hinting that the silent, hooded monk was anything other than what “he” appeared to be. The listeners, from the innkeeper to the village priest, were sympathetic, and a plan was hatched to send word to Ada’s older sister and to keep the girl safely housed until then. A woman who lived in town and worked as a seamstress said she had a spare bed, since her own daughter went away, and could take Ada.
“She’s a little thing, but she can help me by running errands. I’ll keep her out of trouble till her family sends for her!” The matronly woman had round cheeks and bright blue eyes that almost disappeared when she laughed. Robin watched the crowd carefully. Everyone was at ease when the woman talked. She’d be a good guardian for Ada.
Ada said she could pay for her board, but Octavian gave the seamstress a few coins from his own supply. “This should cover her food and other needs for a month.”
“Her needs and mine! You’re generous, sir knight.” She put the coins away in a leather purse at her waist. “She’ll not starve, for certain. And I’ll see that her clothing is all repaired and patched.”
Robin guessed that Ada would end up with an entirely new gown, from the way that the seamstress was smiling at her.
At that moment, the sound of hoofbeats drew everyone to the front doors of the inn. The building lay at one end of the town’s main street, and from the south, a group of riders emerged from the woods.
Instead of slowing down on reaching civilization, however, they shouted to clear the street and kept coming at a furious pace. The crowd all turned to watch the horsemen thunder by, and a moment later, only a cloud of dust floated in the air to mark their passing.
A low murmur broke out among the people.Another attack. The sheriff. Who? Who was it this time?
Robin desperately wanted to ask what was going on, but she couldn’t without breaking her character as the holy monk. She elbowed Tav rather sharply in the side to get his attention.
“Ow,” he muttered. In a louder voice, he said, “What’s happening?”
“There’s been a group of men raiding farms and homesteads in the area,” a resident said. “That was some of the sheriff’s men who just rode by. They’ll track the men, but it’s dangerous work. Even if they find a trail to follow, who knows how long it’s been? It can take a day or even a week to hear of an attack, so it’s usually too late.”
“Not to mention that if they find the thieves, they’ll have to fight them,” Octavian said.
“Aye, sir knight. No one wants to attack if they don’t know how many men the enemy has got. Meanwhile, these thieves continue to steal from good, honest people and go back to their den to gloat and indulge in who knows what sort of evil.”
“Have they taken any people?” Tav asked.
“No. Killed more than a few, but they don’t kidnap. They only want the livestock and the chattel, and any wealth or weapons they can get their filthy hands on.”
Robin glanced to Octavian, who looked thoughtful.
She coughed, gesturing for Tav to lean toward her, which he did in the guise of asking if she needed water.
“Ask if there’s any lord to the west who might send aid,” Robin whispered as softly as she could.
He asked, and the answer came back swiftly. “No lords or barons at all until you reach Wales, andtheywon’t help us—they want all the English to suffer.”
“It’s a wide stretch of land to be without any sort of oversight,” Tav said.
An older man said, “Oh, kings have tried to tame the Ardenwood before. The Conqueror sent armies to build castle after castle, anywhere they found a hill or a bend of river to defend. But they didn’t last. Last one to fall was Willesden. Kept the roads safe when I was a boy, but it hasn’t been used since the old lord died during the Battle of the Standard against King David. Castles are worth nothing if they’re empty.”
“Where is it?” Tav asked the man.
“Northwest of here. Wise folk steer clear of the whole region. It’s a godforsaken place, far out of reach of the king’s justice or any other help.”
