“Aye.Ye said ye rode out to visit her this morn?”
“Och aye.”She’d told him that when he’d asked where she was riding.It had been the first thing she’d thought of.But she hated lying.It was unladylike.And there was always a risk of getting caught.“I must have missed her.Maybe she was deliverin’ a bairn somewhere.Or sleepin’.”Then, to throw him off her scent, she asked, “How was your day?”She took another bite of oatcake.
“Good,” he said proudly.“We got the last o’ the cider into barrels today.We’ll be smokin’ eels o’er the next few days.Then ’twill be near time for the cullin’.”
The oatcake abruptly congealed in her throat.She couldn’t seem to swallow it or reply.She could only nod.
“Not a moment too soon,” he added, shaking his head.“The Boyle lads are up to their usual antics, reivin’ cattle.”
Her heart caught.What if the Boyle brothers stole Hamish?“Do ye think they’ll come after ours?”
“Not if what I heard from their da is true.”
“What did ye hear?”
“He said the lads are lookin’ to catch your gaze, Lady Carenza,” he confided.
“Mine?”
Her eyes widened.The Boyle brothers?Gilbert and Herbert Boyle were a pair of dimwitted bullies who had terrorized her since she was a wee lass.Throwing chestnuts at her.Pulling her braids.Chasing away the birds she tried to tame.
“Don’t fret,” he assured her.“Neither o’ them are fit to kiss the ground ye tread on.But as long as their da thinks they have a chance, they’ll leave our cattle alone.”
She forced a conspiratorial grin to her face.Her father was clever.Too clever.She took a measured sip of ale.
“So ye’ll bring the fold to the close soon?”she asked with casual indifference.
“Aye, in a sennight or so, when the grass is gone.”
She nodded and managed to squeak out, “And the cullin’?”
“Sometime betwixt Samhain and Martinmas.”
She gulped.Young John brought the next course, barley pottage in a rye trencher.But she’d suddenly lost her appetite.She ended up sneaking bites to her favorite hound, Troye, under the table.
There was no time to waste.She couldn’t wait until Cainnech drove the cattle to the close.It was too risky.She had to do her work before they were rounded up.
As Hew expected, his gift of ham for the monastery instantly endeared him to the monks.The next day, as the cook sliced it up for their Sabbath supper, only the prior frowned in disapproval at such excess.The abbot, however, allowed it.He was wise enough to realize Hew’s strategy.After all, a man who filled a monk’s belly might gain his confidence.
Indeed, after supper, Hew engaged several of the monks who were clearing tables in the refectory in what appeared to be casual conversation.
From one, he learned that the silver cross had disappeared sometime in the middle of the night, between vespers and compline.
Another told him the gold chalice had gone missing once before from the sacristy, but had been found in the library and returned.The following week, it was gone, this time for good.
A third volunteered his theory that the chalice was in truth the Holy Grail and that a Templar had come secretly to claim it.
The prior, a particularly ascetic fellow, believed the thefts were a sign from God.A lesson to them all to reject the earthly trappings of wealth.He didn’t offer any ideas, however, about who he thought had done God’s work.
More than one said they’d seen the abbot’s key to the coffer of jewels left in the lock, though none of the jewels had gone missing at those times.The key had been immediately returned to the abbot, who hadn’t realized he’d accidentally left it in the coffer lock.
Most knew nothing about the thefts.But after a succulent supper, thanks to Hew, they were willing to offer what help they could.
At Hew’s request, the prior made a detailed list of all deliveries made to the monastery, along with the names of those who delivered them.Hew meant to question each one.
But the more he heard, the more he was convinced the thief was someone close to the monastery.Someone who had both knowledge and access.Perhaps one of the novices who hadn’t yet embraced the Commandment about stealing.
Despite a full day and a full belly, when Hew settled onto his pallet, he couldn’t sleep.After an hour of shivering in the cold, tossing, turning, and staring at the plaster ceiling, he decided to do some investigating around the monastery.
