Border Fire (5 page)

Judging by that light, it was the third morning since his arrival, which meant that it was Saturday. He had slept sporadically, for his stomach growled constantly, and he had drunk sparingly of his water. Knowing that it would not last much longer, even so, he wondered if Sir Hugh Graham meant to reduce him to a thirst-crazed skeleton before hanging him on Wednesday.

“Great love they bare to Fairly Fair

Their sister soft and dear….”

J
ANET BIDED HER TIME
, employing subtle rather than direct means to learn where the prisoner was housed and trying to disguise her quest as part and parcel of her usual duties. Her brother had said “the dungeon,” but Brackengill featured more than one such disagreeable lodging.

One was an oubliette, the grated opening to which lay in the center of a small flagstone courtyard on the south side of the keep. No one guarded it. However, no guard was necessary, because the grate had a cunning lock, the hole itself was nearly twenty feet deep, and its stone walls dripped with slime even in winter.

She visited the courtyard, but peering down the hole, she could see only blackness. No voice responded when she called down to ask if anyone was there. Hardly proof that no one was, she knew, since the prisoner might be unconscious or too weak to reply. Still, the likelihood was small.

She next visited the cellars beneath the castle kitchen but found no guard there either, and no prisoner. That left the most likely spot, the oldest dungeon in the castle, deep beneath the stable’s stone floor; however, that one was also the least accessible, since it lay in an area that she rarely frequented. She doubted that her brother’s men would allow her to see the prisoner, let alone visit him, if she simply asked them to do so. Nor were they likely to let the slightest display of curiosity pass without telling Hugh that she had expressed unnatural interest in his prisoner.

Therefore she waited patiently until Saturday morning, when Sir Hugh rode out early with a party of his men. As usual, he did not inform her of his destination or tell her when he meant to return, but experience assured her that he would not do so for at least three or four hours. Thus, the coast would remain clear long enough to confirm her suspicion and perhaps even to gain a look at the captive.

Accordingly, she went to the kitchen and asked a kitchen maid to prepare a tray with two mugs of ale and generous helpings of sliced bread and ham. Carrying the tray to the stable, Janet approached the entrance to the dungeon steps, where a man-at-arms stood guard. His expression brightened, and he smiled at her.

“Good morning, Mistress Janet. I tell ye that tray be mighty welcome.”

She smiled. “I brought just the two mugs, Geordie, so I hope you are the only one presently standing guard over our captive. Sir Hugh did not tell me how many guards he’d set when he asked me to provide a meal for the villain.”

“The tray’s for him?” The guard sounded both surprised and disappointed.

“Aye, it is,” Janet said, instilling her voice with weary resignation underscored by a touch of anger. “Sir Hugh wants him to suffer, he said, but he does not want the man to grow too weak to appreciate his punishment.”

The guard’s eyes gleamed with humor. “Aye, that sounds like the master, that does. I’ll take it on down to him, then.” He held out his hands.

Janet had expected this, however, and she shook her head, smiling. “Nay, Geordie. In truth, I want a look at the rogue. You can take the time to enjoy your ale whilst I whisk this down to him. He is locked up behind bars, is he not?”

“Aye, but—”

“Then he cannot harm me, and I may never again have a chance to see a fellow so dastardly and dangerous that Sir Hugh means to hang him without trial. First help yourself to some bread and ham, and then open that door for me.”

“But, mistress, I—”

“Open the door, Geordie,” she said firmly, looking him in the eye.

“Aye, mistress.” Snatching a handful of meat and a thick slice of bread, he unlocked the door, leaving it ajar so that she would have light. “Have a care now.”

“Aye, I will.” She descended cautiously because her body blocked most of the light, making it difficult to see the uneven steps below. At the bottom, iron bars glinted. When she reached them, she said quietly, “Are you awake?”

The reply came instantly. “I am, indeed, but ’tis as mucky as a morass in here, and it isna fit for a man of taste, let alone for entertaining feminine company.”

His deep voice surprised her, for although it bore the familiar and, to her ear, easily detectable accent of the Scottish side of the line, it had a musical hit that she found particularly pleasant. He did not sound at all like the rogue she had imagined.

“Are you hungry?”

“Art mad, lass? Of course, I am hungry. These villains havena fed me in nigh onto three days. Nor ha’ I bathed or brushed these rags o’ mine. I’d eat the rats, but they are all the company I’ve had, and eating them would seem uncivil.”

She shivered. “Are there truly rats in there with you?”

“Aye, of course, there are. I’d no be surprised if they ha’ fleas, too. Take care the wee creatures dinna run up your skirts.”

She kept listening after he fell silent, and she heard nothing. “I do not believe you,” she said. “I do not hear any rats.”

“Likely they’re trained no to speak when a lass is present,” he said amiably. “To what do I owe the pleasure of your visit to this filthy hole?”

“I’ve brought food, that’s all.”

“It is enough. Must I perform a service before I receive it?”

Suppressing an unexpected bubble of amusement, she said, “Forgive me. I am not versed in the correct way to serve dungeon meals. I did promise not to put myself in danger, however, so I must trust you to take things politely from my tray.”

“I’d never harm a lass, and certainly never one so bonny as yourself, sweetheart. Where did ye learn to speak so prettily?”

He spoke rather prettily himself, she thought as she balanced the tray with one hand. Holding the mug of ale toward him with the other, she said, “Do not be impertinent, sir. Will you take this mug politely, or shall I just set it on the floor?”

“For the love of heaven, lass, dinna set it down! The rats would have it in a trice. I promise I’ll no harm ye. Just hand it gently through the bars.”

He stepped forward then, and she saw him for the first time, albeit only as a figure of shadows. Still, she could see that beneath his shaggy beard his face was that of a young man, and even in the dim light his eyes seemed expressive. She could not discern their color, but she did detect a glint of humor.

Carefully she handed the mug through the bars, and when his fingers touched hers, their warmth surprised her. They looked ordinary, yet there was something about their touch that stirred unfamiliar feelings. It was, she told herself, nothing more than the thrill of touching a notorious outlaw. Nonetheless, it was all she could do to keep her hand steady until he took the mug.

The tray tilted on her other hand, and she reached swiftly to steady it. Hoping that he had not noticed her nervousness, she held out the tray and said, “I have ham and bread, sir, if—” She broke off, realizing that it was the second time she had called him “sir.” She would not make more of the error by speaking of it, though. Doubtless he had taken her for a castle servant, rather better spoken than most, but still a servant. He would not think it odd that she called him so.

“Hold it nearer, lassie. My mouth fair waters at the smell of that ham. ’Tis cruel to hold it so temptingly where I carina reach it.”

“Forgive me,” she said. “I told you, I have not done this before.”

“And I asked before, lass, why ye’re doing it now. Ye dinna belong in this filthy place, and I doubt that Sir Hugh ordered this. He’d rather I starve.”

“Aye, he would,” she agreed. “I thought you should eat, though.”

“Well, I’m grateful, but if he catches you doing this, what will he do?”

“I don’t know,” she replied, ignoring a shiver. “My coming here is not without risk, however. Sir Hugh is not always kind to…to his servants.”

“You are no servant, lass.”

She had begun to enjoy the role that she had created for herself, but his words stopped her cold. “How do you know that? I mean, what makes you think—” She stopped when he laughed. Laughter was wholly out of place in that hole, yet his was so infectious that she nearly joined him before she realized that the upper door was still open and Geordie would hear them. “Please, stop laughing,” she begged urgently. “If Geordie hears…”

“So the guard up there thinks that Sir Hugh sent you, does he?”

“Aye, he does.”

“Who are you, lass?” His voice took on a distinct note of command.

She hesitated but then decided that his knowing would change nothing. Geordie would tell Hugh that she had visited him, and whatever happened then would be her own fault and no one else’s.

“My name is Janet Graham,” she said.

“And in a land that’s littered with Grahams, Janet Graham is…”

Again she hesitated.

He did not speak. In the silence she could hear him chewing.

“I am Sir Hugh’s sister,” she said at last.

“Holy Mary,” he exclaimed, choking. “Have you gone quite mad?”

“I did not expect to be holding conversation with you,” she pointed out. “I thought only to bring food to a hungry prisoner.”

“The prisoner is grateful, mistress,” he said. “He hopes, however, that Sir Hugh does not hang us both with the same rope.”

“He might want to, I suppose,” she admitted, “but he would not dare. We have powerful friends who would strongly protest. Do you want the rest of this?”

“I do, but then you take yourself off, and do not come back.”

Again her amusement bubbled forth. “Do you dare give me orders, reiver?”

“Aye,” he said, moving near the bars to take the rest of the ham and bread from her tray. “You need someone to tell you what to do, lass, for plainly you have no sense of self-preservation. Sir Hugh Graham is a hard man.”

“I must take the mug when I go,” she said evenly.

He nodded, swallowed what was left, and held out the mug, saying, “I am truly grateful, lass, but I meant what I said. Do not attempt to do this again.”

Reaching for the mug, she encountered his fingers again, and when she tried to take it, they wrapped around hers. His grasp was firm but gentle, and when her gaze met his, she found it hard to look away. Slowly, he drew her nearer.

A footstep scraped above, and Geordie called, “Mistress Janet, you’d best hurry along. Someone will be coming soon to take my place.”

“Go, lass,” the prisoner said, releasing her and stepping back, “and know that you go with my thanks.”

Again, she could see no more than his shadowy figure at the back of the cell.

Dangling the mug by its handle and carrying the tray in the same hand, she went slowly back up the uneven stairs, her thoughts frozen, her body overheated.

The prisoner watched her go, thinking that she was a brave but foolish woman to have defied her brother so. Doubtless Sir Hugh would soon learn what she had done and would punish her. He hoped the man would not be too harsh. She had done a kindness, nothing more, and no lass should suffer for a kind heart.

Thinking of what she had risked, he sat on his stone bench and ate the last of his small meal more slowly, savoring every bite. His benefactress deserved no less.

Janet returned the tray and both mugs to the kitchen, stopping long enough to tell Sheila and Matty, two of the kitchen maids, that Sir Hugh would expect his dinner at the usual time.

“If he dines at home, that is,” she added with a smile. “Of course, if he does not return by noon, he still will expect hot food soon after he does return.”

“We know that, Mistress Janet,” plump Sheila said with a smile.

“Yes, I know you do,” she said, “but Sir Hugh’s temper being what it is, one naturally wants to make certain that he will not be displeased.”

“Aye, mistress,” Sheila agreed, nodding fervently.

Turning to Matty, Janet said, “The rushes in the hall must be changed. Gather some lads to clear the old ones out straightaway, and set others to carry fresh ones in from the long garret. We’ve still got rosemary drying in the ceiling rack, and a few other herbs as well, that you can mix in with the rushes. Also, pray ask one of the lads to replace the threshold onto the stairway. Ned Rowan stumbled over it yester-eve and broke off a considerable chunk. We shall soon have rushes scattered up and down the stairs, and someone is bound to slip.”

“Aye, mistress, I’ll see to it,” Matty said.

Busying herself with household chores, Janet tried to keep her mind off the man in the dungeon, but as the morning progressed, her imagination kept presenting her with tantalizing images of him. Fascination vied with anger over his plight, and since her temper was nearly as volatile as Sir Hugh’s, whenever she thought she heard a sound that might herald his return, she hurried to look out the nearest window that gave a view onto the bailey. Soon her patience was spent.

When noon arrived without any sign of him or his party, she ordered dinner put back an hour, declaring that they would dine then whether Sir Hugh and his men had arrived or not. While she waited, she attacked her mending, but although she tried to think of things other than the hapless prisoner, she still could not. Surely, she thought, the entire English Border west of the Cheviots must have heard by now that Hugh had captured Rabbie Redcloak and meant to hang him without trial.

Even Thomas Lord Scrope must have learned of Hugh’s intent. Scrope lived miles away in Carlisle, where he served as keeper of its great castle when he was not in London serving as Cumberland’s Member of Parliament. He might be away now, she knew, although Hugh had received messages from him not long since, complaining that the Scots—meaning Buccleuch of Hermitage, of course—had refused to agree to his latest suggested site or date for the next wardens’ meeting.

The thought of Truce Day was not helpful, for her imagination presented her at once with a mental list of Border lords on both sides of the line who would learn what Hugh had done. When she considered their likely reactions, her anger with her brother increased.