The room exploded in protests and arguments.
“We can’t stand against the bishop! He is the church!”
“Think of God’s wrath!”
“I have a family!”
She watched the exchange, as if from afar. Arguing, shouting. She would not give Eoos up. “He escaped,” she whispered.
The room quieted. Walter looked at her. Abbey stared at her, mouth agape.
“What did you say?” Simon demanded.
“He escaped,” she said in a louder voice. “The night Walter brought him to my barn. You had beaten him so badly I didn’t think he could move. I didn’t bind him. I didn’t think he would have the strength to leave. When I checked in the morning, he was gone.”
“We should look for him,” Thomas said. “If we can find him soon, perhaps we could exchange him for Luke.”
Abbey scowled fiercely at Mercy.
Mercy retook her seat, quietly.
“Bart,” Simon called. “You were the one to recognize him. Tell them what the knight looks like so we can go after him.”
Bartholomew rubbed his stomach. “He is tall, taller than anyone in this room. He has long brown hair, a beard, and icy blue eyes. He can wield a sword savagely.”
“That’s the man we fought in the inn,” Simon nodded in recollection. “Remember how he fought back? Remember it took all of us to overpower him?”
Mercy locked eyes with Abbey. She couldn’t give him up. He would help them, he must! She had already disguised him so the village men wouldn’t find him. She wanted to run home to make sure he was safe. But she knew if she left now, it would be as good as admitting guilt.
“He is called the brute because he is,” Bartholomew continued. “He takes what he wants because he can. He doesn’t care for or have any compassion for anyone but himself.”
She scowled in confusion. “That’s not what I saw when I found you attacking him. You had him on the floor, beating him. He wasn’t fighting back,” Mercy said. She looked at Bartholomew. Maybe they had the wrong man. “Are you sure the man you beat that night was the brute?”
Bart nodded. “I saw him once when I was in Essex. I know him.”
“We need to find him,” Simon grumbled. “Beaten like that, he couldn’t have gotten far.”
Bart agreed with a nod. “He is a danger to the village. We should tell the bishop what happened.”
“It doesn’t matter now. He’s gone.”
“It might bring more of the bishop’s wrath down on the village if he knew we had the brute and he got away,” Thomas commented.
“But we should warn the bishop,” someone said.
“Pah. The bishop is well protected. The village is not. I think –”
The conversation faded into the background as Mercy thought of Eoos, the brute. He was no danger to them. She had to convince him to help them. Somehow. She swiveled her stare to Abbey. Abbey stared hard at her. There was a scowl of displeasure and disagreement on her brow.
“We’ll search for the knight,” Simon said. “We have a day to find him. If we do, we can exchange him for Luke.”
“It won’t work,” Mercy whispered. But no one heard her.
The men began making plans to search for a man that was hidden in Mercy’s barn. For a man too weak to fight back. They didn’t even know if giving him to the bishop in exchange for Luke would work!
She looked at Abbey. She was visibly shaking. Hot, angry desperation filled her; she was slowly shaking her head.
As the meeting ended, the men stood and filed toward the exit, nodding in approval and satisfaction at their plan. Simon crossed through the men to stop before Abbey.
“We’ll find that knight and save your boy,” he said.
Mercy cast a glance at Abbey. The bishop was coming to take Luke in one day. One day. She wasn’t certain that Abbey had the strength to stand up to the bishop. She didn’t have confidence in their plan. They needed more.
