and placed a foot in his cupped hands. He took a firm grip and hoisted me into the air. I scrabbled at the wall and a moment later was lying spreadeagled on top, looking down into Sir
Edwin's garden. The effort had brought me out in a sweat. I blinked water from my eyes, looking rapidly around. Beyond the lawn and the trellised flower beds the rear of the house was as dark as the front, all the windows closed. The round structure of the well was only fifteen feet away.
'Everything quiet?' Barak whispered from below.
'Seems to be. All the lights are out.'
'No dogs?'
'I can't see any.' I had not thought of that, but it was quite likely a wealthy house like this would be guarded by dogs at night.
'Throw a couple of pebbles before you go over. Here.' I felt some small stones being pressed into my hand. So that was why he had wanted them. I managed to sit upright on the wall and threw one into the garden. It bounced off the well cap with a clunk that would have brought any dog running and barking, but everything remained quiet and still.
'It's all right,' I whispered.
'Get down, then, and I'll follow.'
I put the other stones back in my pocket, took a deep breath and jumped onto the lawn, jarring my spine uncomfortably. I leaned against the wall, conscious that I was trapped there now. If something happened I doubted I could climb up again on my own. There was a scrabbling sound and Barak dropped down beside me. He stood looking round, watchful as a cat.
'You keep watch,' he breathed. 'I'll get that well open.'
He loped quickly across the grass. He dropped his knapsack to the ground and there was a faint clink as he pulled out a couple of tools. I made for the cover of the big oak and sat on the bench underneath, trying to calm my rapidly beating heart, watching the still dark house. Barak seemed to know what he was doing, frowning a little as he inserted a narrow metal rod like a jeweller's tool into a padlock. I wondered how many locks he had picked before on Cromwell's orders. The padlock came free. He tossed it to the ground and started on the other. I glanced at the silent house again, thought of the old woman asleep, the two girls, Sir Edwin, the steward Needler. What had happened in the garden that day? This was the bench where Sabine and Avice said Elizabeth had been sitting when they came out after hearing Ralph yell. Elizabeth had told me that if I went to the well, what I saw would shake my faith. I shivered.
Barak grunted as the other padlock came off, and gestured me over. 'You'll have to help me with this. It's heavy.'
'All right.' I felt strangely reluctant to grasp the wooden cap, remembering the dreadful stink I had smelt before, but I helped him slide it off. We propped it against the side of the well and looked down. A few rows of bricks were visible and, below that, darkness. I felt a draught of cold air and caught again the miasma of decay.
'Still smells, then,' Barak whispered beside me.
'It seems less strong than before.'
He leaned over and dropped a pebble down the well. I waited to hear it splash into water or clatter on stone, but there was no sound at all. Barak looked at me. 'Seems to have landed on something soft.' He took a deep breath. 'I'd hoped to get some idea how deep it was. Well, just have to hope the ladder's long enough.' He pulled the rope ladder from his knapsack and quickly secured it to a metal rod in the brickwork where the well bucket must once have hung. He let the ladder go and it unfurled into the darkness. Barak took a deep breath, squared his shoulders and looked at me seriously. I realized he was daunted by the prospect of that descent.
'Give me a shout if anyone stirs. I wouldn't want to be caught down there.'
'I will.'
'I've candles and a tinderbox for when I get to the bottom,' he said. 'Wish me luck.'
'Good luck. And thank you.'
He lifted a hand to his shirt and, loosening a button, put his hand inside to finger his little Jewish symbol. Then he clambered over the side of the well. He found the ladder with his feet and began climbing down. The top of his head vanished into darkness, giving me the strange feeling the well had swallowed him up.
I leaned over. 'Are you all right?' I asked in a loud whisper.
His voice came back, hollow and echoing. 'Ay. That smell's stronger.'
I glanced at the house again. All was still silent.
'I've touched bottom.' Barak's voice echoed with a ringing hollowness. I guessed the well must be deep, perhaps thirty feet. 'I'm on something soft.' He called. 'Cloth. And something else, like fur. Ugh. I'm going to light the candle.'
I heard a scrape, caught a tiny spark far below in the darkness and then another. 'The arsehole won't catch! Wait, there it is – oh, hell!' I jumped back as a startled yell echoed from the pit. At the same moment a sudden flicker of light appeared at a first-floor window in the house.
I grasped the side of the well and leaned in, regardless of the stench. Barak's candle had gone out again. 'There's a light in the house!' I called out. 'Get up, now!'
There was a frantic scrabbling as he hauled himself up. I glanced at the house again. The light had moved to the next window. Someone was walking around with a candle. Had they seen or heard us, or was it just someone going to the privy? The end of the rope ladder trembled as Barak climbed rapidly. I reached in and thrust a hand into the darkness. 'Here!'
A hard hand grasped my own. My back screamed in pain as I helped Barak up. He scrambled out as though the devil were behind him and stood panting beside me, looking over at the house. His eyes were wide and there was a rotten, meaty smell on him. The candlelight was still there, but no longer moving, flickering at one of the windows. Was someone looking out? We were a good distance from the house and partly shaded by the tree, but the moonlight was bright.
'Here, come!' Barak whispered urgently. He had grasped the well cap. 'They may not have seen us. If someone comes out, run!'
We slid the cap back into place and Barak scrabbled for the padlocks he had laid on the lawn. He put them back in place, moving with smooth, practised speed.
'The light's gone out!' I whispered.
'Right, nearly done.' He shut the second padlock with a click and stepped away. Just then I heard the creak of a door opening, and a voice I recognized as Needler's called out, 'Hey! Who's that!'
Barak turned and ran for the wall. I followed; he had already bent and made a stirrup of his hands. I glanced back: it was hard to make anything out across the lawn and flower beds but there seemed to be dark shapes in the open doorway. Then I heard an angry bark.
'Dogs,' I hissed.
'Get up, for Jesu's sake!'
I grasped the wall, put my feet in Barak's hands, and again he hauled me up. I almost overbalanced but managed to sit astride the wall. I looked back fearfully to see two large black dogs loping across the flower beds, not barking now but running towards Barak in deadly, intent silence.
'Hurry!'
He grabbed the top of the wall and, setting his feet against the bricks, began hauling himself up. The dogs were almost on him. Behind them I heard footsteps. Needler was following. Then Barak cried out. One of the dogs, a big mongrel, had his shoe and was holding on, growling evilly. The other dog leaped up at me. I almost overbalanced but managed to hold on. Fortunately the wall was too high and the creature fell back. It stood, paws against the wall, barking angrily up at me.
'Help me, for Christ's sake!' Barak hissed. For a second I could not think what to do, then remembered the pebbles in my pocket. I pulled out the largest and threw it straight at the eyes of the dog that held his foot.
It yelped and jumped back, startled. It only lost its grip for a second but that was enough for Barak to haul his leg up and we both half-dropped, half-fell into the long grass of the orchard, just as Needler's voice shouted again from the other side of the wall. 'Who's that? Stop!'
We lurched back into the cover of the trees, half-expecting the steward's face to appear over the wall, but he remained on the other side, where the dogs were barking frantically. No doubt he was afraid to pursue us on his
