The Summer of the Danes Read online

  “Things are quiet enough up there,” Hugh agreed. “In any event, Madog, whatever else he may be, is a pious soul where churchmen are concerned, however he may treat the English laity. And for the moment he has all the lesser lads of Powys Fadog on a tight rein. Yes, you’ll be safe enough that way, and it’s your quickest way, though you’ll find some rough upland riding between Dee and Clwyd.”

  By the brightness and speculation of Mark’s grey eyes he was looking forward to his adventure. It is a great thing to be trusted with an important errand when you are the latest and least of your lord’s servants, and for all his awareness that his humble status was meant to temper the compliment, he was also aware how much depended on the address with which he discharged his task. He was meant not to flatter, not to exalt, but nevertheless to present in his person the real and formidable solidarity of bishop with bishop.

  “Are there things I should know,” he asked, “about affairs in Gwynedd? The politics of the Church must reckon with the politics of state, and I am ignorant about things Welsh. I need to know on what subjects to keep my mouth shut, and when to speak, and what it would be wise to say. All the more as I am to go on to Bangor. What if the court should be there? I may have to account for myself to Owain’s officers. Even to Owain himself!”

  “True enough,” said Hugh, “for he usually contrives to know of every stranger who enters his territory. You’ll find him approachable enough if you do encounter him. For that matter, you may give him my greetings and compliments. And Cadfael has met him, twice at least. A large man, every way! Just say no word of brothers! It may still be a sore point with him.”

  “Brothers have been the ruin of Welsh princedoms through all ages,” Cadfael observed ruefully. “Welsh princes should have only one son apiece. The father builds up a sound principality and a strong rule, and after his death his three or four or five sons, in and out of wedlock, all demand by right equal shares, and the law says they should have them. Then one picks off another, to enlarge his portion, and it would take more than law to stop the killing. I wonder, sometimes, what will happen when Owain’s gone. He has sons already, and time enough before him to get more. Are they, I wonder, going to undo everything he’s done?”

  “Please God,” said Hugh fervently, “Owain’s going may not be for thirty years or more. He’s barely past forty. I can deal with Owain, he keeps his word and he keeps his balance. If Cadwaladr had been the elder and got the dominance we should have had border war along this frontier year in, year out.”

  “This Cadwaladr is the brother it’s best not to mention?” Mark asked. “What has he done that makes him anathema?”

  “A number of things over the years. Owain must love him, or he would have let someone rid him of the pest long ago. But this time, murder. Some months ago, in the autumn of last year, a party of his closest men ambushed the prince of Deheubarth and killed him. God knows for what mad reason! The young fellow was in close alliance with him, and betrothed to Owain’s daughter, there was no manner of sense in such an act. And for all Cadwaladr did not appear himself in the deed, Owain for one was in no doubt it was done on his orders. None of them would have dared, not of their own doing.”

  Cadfael recalled the shock of the murder, and the swift and thorough retribution. Owain Gwynedd in outraged justice had sent his son Hywel to drive Cadwaladr bodily out of every furlong of land he held in Ceredigion, and burn his castle of Llanbadarn, and the young man, barely past twenty, had accomplished his task with relish and efficiency. Doubtless Cadwaladr had friends and adherents who would give him at least the shelter of a roof, but he remained landless and outcast. Cadfael could not but wonder, not only where the offender was lurking now, but whether he might not end, like Geoffrey of Mandeville in the Fens, gathering the scum of North Wales about him, criminals, malcontents, natural outlaws, and preying on all law-abiding people.

  “What became of this Cadwaladr?” asked Mark with understandable curiosity.

  “Dispossession. Owain drove him out of every piece of land he had to his name. Not a toehold left to him in Wales.”

  “But he’s still at large, somewhere,” Cadfael observed, with some concern, “and by no means the man to take his penalty tamely. There could be mischief yet to pay. I see you’re bound into a perilous labyrinth. I think you should not be going alone.”

  Hugh was studying Mark’s face, outwardly impassive, but with a secretive sparkle of fun in the eyes that watched Cadfael so assiduously. “As I recall,” said Hugh mildly, “he said: ‘Not quite alone!’”

  “So he did!” Cadfael stared into the young face that confronted him so solemnly, but for that betraying gleam in the eyes. “What is it, boy, that you have not told us? Out with it! Who goes with you?”

  “But I did tell you,” said Mark, “that I am going on to Bangor. Bishop Gilbert is Norman, and speaks both French and English, but Bishop Meurig is Welsh, and he and many of his people speak no English, and my Latin would serve me only among the clerics. So I am allowed an interpreter. Bishop Roger has no competent Welsh speaker close to him or in his confidence. I offered a name, one he had not forgotten.” The sparkle had grown into a radiance that lit his face, and reflected not only light but enlightenment back into Cadfael’s dazzled eyes. “I have been keeping the best till last,” said Mark, glowing. “I got leave to win my man, if Abbot Radulfus would sanction his absence. I have as good as promised him the loan will be for only ten days or so at the most. So how can I possibly miscarry,” asked Mark reasonably, “if you are coming with me?”

  *

  It was a matter of principle, or perhaps of honour, with Brother Cadfael, when a door opened before him suddenly and unexpectedly, to accept the offer and walk through it. He did so with even more alacrity if the door opened on a prospect of Wales; it might even be said that he broke into a trot, in case the door slammed again on that enchanting view. Not merely a brief sally over the border into Powis, this time, but several days of riding, in the very fellowship he would have chosen, right across the coastal regions of Gwynedd, from Saint Asaph to Carnarvon, past Aber of the princes, under the tremendous shoulders of Moel Wnion. Time to talk over every day of the time they had been apart, time to reach the companionable silences when all that needed to be said was said. And all this the gift of Brother Mark. Wonderful what riches a man can bestow who by choice and vocation possesses nothing! The world is full of small, beneficent miracles.

  “Son,” said Cadfael heartily, “for such refreshment I’ll be your groom along the way, as well as your interpreter. There’s no way you or any man could have given me more pleasure. And did Radulfus really say I’m free to go?”

  “He did,” Mark assured him, “and the choice of a horse from the stables is yours. And you have today and tomorrow to make your preparations with Edmund and Winfrid for the days you’re absent, and to keep the hours of the Office so strictly that even your errant soul shall go protected to Bangor and back.”

  “I am wholly virtuous and regenerate,” said Cadfael with immense content. “Has not heaven just shown it by letting me loose into Wales? Do you think I am going to risk disapprobation now?”

  *

  Since at least the first part of Mark’s mission was meant to be public and demonstrative, there was no reason why every soul in the enclave should not take an avid interest in it, and there was no lack of gratuitous advice available from all sides as to how it could best be performed, especially from old Brother Dafydd in the infirmary, who had not seen his native cantref of Duffryn Clwyd for forty years, but was still convinced he knew it like the palm of his ancient hand. His pleasure in the revival of the diocese was somewhat soured by the appointment of a Norman, but the mild excitement had given him a new interest in life, and he reverted happily to his own language, and was voluble in counsel when Cadfael visited him. Abbot Radulfus, by contrast, contributed nothing but his blessing. The mission belonged to Mark, and must be left scrupulously in his hands. Prior Robert forebore from comment, th
ough his silence bore a certain overtone of disapproval. An envoy of his dignity and presence would have been more appropriate in the courts of bishops.

  Brother Cadfael reviewed his medical supplies, committed his garden confidently to Brother Winfrid, and paid a precautionary visit to Saint Giles to ensure that the hospital cupboards were properly provided, and Brother Oswin in serene command of his flock, before he repaired to the stables to indulge in the pleasure of selecting his mount for the journey. It was there that Hugh found him early in the afternoon, contemplating with pleasure an elegant light roan with a cream-coloured mane, that leaned complacently to his caressing hand.

  “Too tall for you,” said Hugh over his shoulder. “You’d need a lift into the saddle, and Mark could never hoist you.”

  “I am not yet grown so heavy nor so shrunken with age that I cannot scramble on to a horse,” said Cadfael with dignity. “What brings you here again and looking for me?”

  “Why, a good notion Aline had, when I told her what you and Mark are up to. May is on the doorstep already, and in a week or two at the most I should be packing her and Giles off to Maesbury for the summer. He has the run of the manor there, and it’s better for him out of the town.” It was his usual custom to leave his family there until after the wool clip had been taken and the fields gleaned, while he divided his time between home and the business of the shire. Cadfael was familiar with the routine. “She says, why should we not hasten the move by a week, and ride with you tomorrow, to set you on your way as far as Oswestry? The rest of the household can follow later, and we could have one day, at least, of your company, and you could bide the night over with us at Maesbury if you choose. What do you say?”

  Cadfael said yes, very heartily, and so, when it was put to him, did Mark, though he declined, with regret, the offer of a night’s lodging. He was bent on reaching Llanelwy in two days, and arriving at a civilised time, at the latest by midafternoon, to allow time for the niceties of hospitality before the evening meal, so he preferred to go beyond Oswestry and well into Wales before halting for the night, to leave an easy stage for the second day. If they could reach the valley of the Dee, they could find lodging with one of the churches there, and cross the river in the early morning.

  So it seemed that everything was already accounted for, and there remained nothing to be done but go reverently to Vespers and Compline, and commit this enterprise like all others to the will of God, but perhaps also with a gentle reminder to Saint Winifred that they were bound into her country, and if she felt inclined to let her delicate hand cover them along the way, the gesture would be very much appreciated.

  The morning of departure found a little cavalcade of six horses and a pack-pony winding its way over the westward bridge and out of the town, on the road to Oswestry. There was Hugh, on his favourite self-willed grey, with his son on his saddle-bow, Aline, unruffled by the haste of her preparations for leaving town, on her white jennet, her maid and friend Constance pillion behind a groom, a second groom following with the pack-pony on a leading rein, and the two pilgrims to Saint Asaph merrily escorted by this family party. It was the last of April, a morning all green and silver. Cadfael and Mark had left before Prime, to join Hugh and his party in the town. A shower, so fine as to be almost imperceptible in the air, had followed them over the bridge, where the Severn ran full but peaceful, and before they had assembled in Hugh’s courtyard the sun had come out fully, sparkling on the leaves and grasses. The river was gilded in every ripple with capricious, scintillating light. A good day to be setting out, and no great matter why or where.

  The sun was high, and the pearly mist of morning all dissolved when they crossed the river at Mont ford. The road was good, some stretches of it with wide grass verges where the going was comfortable and fast, and Giles demanded an occasional canter. He was much too proud to share a mount with anyone but his father. Once established at Maesbury the little pack-pony, sedate and goodhumoured, would become his riding pony for the summer, and the groom who led it his discreet guardian on his forays, for like most children who have never seen cause to be afraid, he was fearless on horseback—Aline said foolhardy, but hesitated to issue warnings, perhaps for fear of shaking his confidence, or perhaps out of the certainty that they would not be heeded.

  They halted at noon under the hill at Ness, where there was a tenant of Hugh’s installed, to rest the horses and take refreshment. Before mid-afternoon they reached Felton, and there Aline and the escort turned aside to take the nearest way home, but Hugh elected to ride on with his friends to the outskirts of Oswestry. Giles was transferred, protesting but obedient, to his mother’s arms.

  “Go safely, and return safely!” said Aline, her primrose head pale and bright as the child’s, the gloss of spring on her face and the burnish of sunlight in her smile. And she signed a little cross on the air between them before she wheeled her jennet into the lefthand track.

  Delivered of the baggage and the womenfolk, they rode on at a brisker pace the few miles to Whittington, where they halted under the walls of the small timber keep. Oswestry itself lay to their left, on Hugh’s route homeward. Mark and Cadfael must go on northward still, but here they were on the very borderland, country which had been alternately Welsh and English for centuries before ever the Normans came, where the names of hamlets and of men were more likely to be Welsh than English. Hugh lived between the two great dykes the princes of Mercia had constructed long ago, to mark where their holding and writ began, so that no force should easily encroach, and no man who crossed from one side to the other should be in any doubt under which law he stood. The lower barrier lay just to the east of the manor, much battered and levelled now; the greater one had been raised to the west, when Mercian power had been able to thrust further into Wales.

  “Here I must leave you,” said Hugh, looking back along the way they had come, and westward towards the town and the castle. “A pity! I could gladly have ridden as far as Saint Asaph with you in such weather, but the king’s officers had best stay out of Church business and avoid the crossfire. I should be loth to tread on Owain’s toes.”

  “You have brought us as far as Bishop Gilbert’s writ, at any rate,” said Brother Mark, smiling. “Both this church and yours of Saint Oswald are now in the see of Saint Asaph. Did you realise that? Lichfield has lost a great swathe of parishes here in the northwest. I think it must be Canterbury policy to spread the diocese both sides the border, so that the line between Welsh and English can count for nothing.”

  “Owain will have something to say to that, too.” Hugh saluted them with a raised hand, and began to wheel his horse towards the road home. “Go with God, and a good journey! We’ll look to see you again in ten days or so.” And he was some yards distant when he looked back over his shoulder and called after them: “Keep him out of mischief! If you can!” But there was no indication to which of them the plea was addressed, or to which of them the misgiving applied. They could share it between them.

  Chapter 2

  “I AM TOO OLD,” Brother Cadfael observed complacently, “to embark on such adventures as this.”

  “I notice,” said Mark, eyeing him sidelong, “you say nothing of the kind until we’re well clear of Shrewsbury, and there’s no one to take you at your word, poor aged soul, and bid you stay at home.”

  “What a fool I should have been!” Cadfael willingly agreed.

  “Whenever you begin pleading your age, I know what I have to deal with. A horse full of oats, just let out of his stall, and with the bit between his teeth. We have to do with bishops and canons,” said Mark severely, “and they can be trouble enough. Pray to be spared any worse encounters.” But he did not sound too convinced. The ride had brought colour to his thin, pale face and a sparkle to his eyes. Mark had been raised with farm horses, slaving for the uncle who grudged him house-room and food, and he still rode farm fashion, inelegant but durable, now that the bishop’s stable had provided him a fine tall gelding in place of a plodding farm drudg
e. The beast was nutbrown, with a lustrous copper sheen to his coat, and buoyantly lively under such a light weight.

  They had halted at the crest of the ridge overlooking the lush green valley of the Dee. The sun was westering, and had mellowed from the noon gold into a softer amber light, gleaming down the stream, where the coils of the river alternately glimmered and vanished among its fringes of woodland. Still an upland river here, dancing over a rocky bed and conjuring rainbows out of its sunlit spray. Somewhere down there they would find a night’s lodging.

  They set off companionably side by side, down the grassy track wide enough for two. “For all that,” said Cadfael, “I never expected, at my age, to be recruited into such an expedition as this. I owe you more than you know. Shrewsbury is home, and I would not leave it for any place on earth, beyond a visit, but every now and then my feet itch. It’s a fine thing to be heading home, but it’s a fine thing also to be setting out from home, with both the going and the return to look forward to. Well for me that Theobald took thought to recruit allies for his new bishop. And what is it Roger de Clinton’s sending him, apart from his ceremonial letter?” He had not had time to feel curiosity on that score until now. Mark’s saddle-roll was too modest to contain anything of bulk.

  “A pectoral cross, blessed at the shrine of Saint Chad. One of the canons made it, he’s a good silversmith.”

  “And the same to Meurig at Bangor, with his brotherly prayers and compliments?”

  “No, Meurig gets a breviary, a very handsome one. Our best illuminator had as good as finished it when the archbishop issued his orders, so he added a special leaf for a picture of Saint Deiniol, Meurig’s founder and patron. I would rather have the book,” said Mark, winding his way down a steep woodland ride and out into the declining sun towards the valley. “But the cross is meant as the more formal tribute. After all, we had our orders. But it shows, do you not think, that Theobald knows that he’s given Gilbert a very awkward place to fill?”