‘Your mother would understand if she knew the truth,’ she said gently.
‘I keep hoping so,’ the woman said. ‘I torment myself with the thought that my mother and my dear father believe me to be an impulsive ingrate who abandoned them without a backward glance.’
‘If you love them and they you, then they will feel in their hearts that cannot be true.’ Helewise squeezed the hand and the young woman squeezed back; her grip was surprisingly strong. ‘They have known you all the years of your life. Their understanding of you will have told them what you are and I believe they will be well aware that whatever made you run away, you had no choice.’
There was a short silence. Then: ‘Thank you, my lady. Your words console me.’
Helewise returned to her chair, moving slowly and giving the young woman time to recover herself. When once more she was seated, she considered what she was about to say. Then, meeting the young woman’s eyes, she began, ‘I do not suppose that you are aware of it, but there are two Hospitallers lying in the infirmary here. They are the surviving members of the group that followed your Brother Ralf all the way from the desert outside Margat. One thing puzzles me: if Brother Ralf was not an avowed monk in their Order, why should they have gone to such lengths to try to catch him and punish him? Did they not know that he had not taken his vows?’
The young woman’s green eyes were steady and she did not look away. She said, ‘Thibault of Margat knew all about Brother Ralf. He was well aware that in fleeing Outremer Ralf had committed no crime against the Knights Hospitaller.’ She leaned forward, her expression intense. ‘My lady, it is not Brother Ralf that the Knights Hospitaller want so desperately to get their hands on. It is what he carries with him.’
Eighteen
‘ So just who is it,’ Josse demanded, ‘these Frankish mercenaries whom you fear so much wish to find?’
John Damianos looked into his eyes. ‘She is the daughter of Gerome’s kinswoman Aurelie and her husband, Count Hugo of Tripoli. She was betrothed to a man who regarded her already as his wife and whose men, if they find us, will kill me and take her back to Outremer and to the very worst sort of captivity.’ He paused, then added softly, ‘Her name is Paradisa.’
Several pieces of the puzzle fell into place. Josse said, ‘So, in addition to the other reason for your flight from Outremer — to take your prisoner to safety and deliver up the treasure to whoever you thought should receive it — you also had to ensure that this Paradisa escaped from her would-be husband.’
‘Correct,’ said John Damianos. ‘I love her,’ he added.
Josse grinned. ‘So I imagine.’ Then — for this was no time for levity — ‘Where is she?’
‘There is an abandoned house deep in the Great Forest,’ John replied. ‘We came across it when we were making for Hawkenlye Abbey, where I had to go because — where I was hoping to have my wound treated.’ Josse was sure he had been on the point of saying something else but he did not press the matter. ‘We found a key and let ourselves into the undercroft. We knew we were doing wrong and had no business living in someone else’s house, even in the undercroft, but we were careful and we kept it very clean and tidy. We intend to-’
‘When did you last see Paradisa there?’ Josse interrupted.
‘Three days ago,’ John replied. ‘I left her while I sought another hiding place — this place — and I told her I’d return as soon as I had found somewhere.’ There was sudden anxiety in his eyes. ‘Why do you ask?’
‘I have been to the house in the woods,’ Josse said. ‘I followed Akhbir there early in the morning the day before yesterday.’
John Damianos shot to his feet and grasped Josse by the collar. ‘You let Akhbir escape? How could you be so careless? Dear God, but I must get to her-’ He lunged out of the shelter but Josse grabbed his arm and held him tight.
‘Wait, John!’ he cried. ‘Listen. Akhbir knew where the house was. Either he followed your tracks or he had already discovered it. Anyway, he was striding up to it when he was shot and killed by a bolt from a crossbow.’
John had subsided. He looked at Josse, his eyes wary. ‘He’s dead? You are absolutely sure?’
‘Aye, I swear it’s true. I returned the next day and discovered someone had buried his body in the woods. I too found the key but the undercroft was empty. The hearthstones were still warm so whoever had been there cannot have long gone.’
John said nothing.
‘John, you must tell me what has happened!’ Josse cried, exasperated. ‘Who shot the crossbow bolt? I am quite prepared to believe it was in self-defence, or rather in defence of Paradisa, but who is it that’s such a deadly shot? He was confident enough in his skills to fire a couple of warning shots that landed far too close to me for comfort.’ Still John did not speak. ‘Tell me! Who is guarding Paradisa while you are away?’
John raised his face and looked straight at Josse. ‘Nobody. It’s just the two of us, as it has been all the way from Constantinople.’
‘Then who fired the shots?’
‘Paradisa.’
‘But she — she’s a woman!’
John smiled suddenly. ‘Indeed she is,’ he murmured.
‘Women can’t fire crossbows! It’s unheard of!’
‘You might not have heard of it, Sir Josse. Paradisa was born into a family that longed for sons and she was encouraged in activities traditionally reserved for boys. Her father bought her a falcon and she was taught how to fly it. She also wields a knife very effectively and a foot soldier who came out with the crusaders was employed to teach her how to use the crossbow.’
Josse was shaking his head in disbelief. ‘She killed Akhbir,’ he muttered. ‘Killed him stone dead with a bolt through the heart!’
‘Good for her.’ John Damianos’s tone was rough. ‘He would have killed her, had she not fired the first shot.’
‘Aye, I realize that,’ Josse said hurriedly. ‘I do not question the action, John. It is merely that I am staggered to learn whose hands performed it.’
‘She is strong,’ John said, his tense face relaxing into a smile. ‘In many ways any man’s equal. But we must find her, Josse!’ He leapt off in the direction of the horses. ‘She is probably back at the house,’ he called back, ‘but I have been away from her much too long. Come!’
As they rode, Josse turned over in his mind where this woman with the romantic name might have gone if — as he strongly suspected — they did not find her at the house in the woods. She will have fled, he thought, because she’ll reason that if Akhbir managed to find her there, then others — specifically, the Frankish mercenaries so dreaded by John Damianos — might do so as well. She may have made her way to Hawkenlye Abbey, he thought hopefully, encouraging Horace to a fast canter as he pounded behind John Damianos. She’d have known of its existence because John obviously did: he went there to have his wound treated. What terrible conflict caused that frightful burn? Josse had no idea. Had there been an attack by one of the pursuing parties? He could not imagine how such a wound could be inflicted…
Paradisa would know she would be safe at the Abbey. Even if she had learned that the Knights Hospitaller were in the infirmary, surely she had nothing to fear from them? It was their runaway monk they were concerned with, not her. Anyway, she would be aware of the rules of sanctuary. If she hid in the Abbey church then the Abbess and the Hawkenlye community would uphold her right not to be taken away.
So she might have gone to the Abbey. But there was another possibility: on her way there, Paradisa might have encountered the forest people. They would have been aware of her — they always knew when Outworlders were in the forest — and might have offered to help her and take her in. Josse was trying not to be specific about just which forest dweller it might have been who had acted so kindly. He was all too aware that such an action was typical of Joanna.
They reached the forest fringes and rode in under the trees. John Damianos appeared to know a different route to the old house. It was the slightest of paths, heavily overgrown, and Josse, following him, had to lie right down against Horace’s neck to avoid being clawed out of the saddle by low branches.
They reached the clearing and rode up the rise to the house. John swiftly dismounted and ran to the
