Noble Hearts 03 - The Courageous Heart (19 page)

Madeline’s smile turned downright wicked. “You said that you found Aubrey’s Bandit disguise in the trunk that has your clothes?”

A twist of wary excitement shot through her. “My lady, no. I couldn’t.”

“Why not?”

“Aside from the fact that those clothes belong to my mistress, they’re not exactly appropriate for London streets.”

“Nonsense.” M
adeline rose from her chair and reached for Meg.
“From what I’ve seen out the inn’s windows there are so many people in the streets that no one would bother to look twice at you. And some of those people are far more strange than the Bandit disguise would make you look.”

Joanna wavered. She needed to get out of the inn, but disguising herself as the Derbywood Bandit strayed outside of what she considered
reasonable
.

“I’d rather try to make a break for it dressed as I am.
I’ll only consider donning Lady Aubrey’s disguise if I can’t get out any other way.
”

“
Fair enough.
So let’s get this escape started, shall we?
”
Madeline declared.

“But you’re still recovering. I can’t ask you to strain yourself.”

“You’re not asking, I’m offering.” Madeline put her foot down. “Now as I see it,
you’re not going to be able to get out the back way. That stable hand is too watchful. You’ll need to go straight through the common room where
David
is keeping watch
. He’s as
careful
of you as Simon is of me.”

“
He’ll suspect me, my lady
,” Joanna lamented.
“Every time I set foot in the common room he follows me around like I’m a child on leading strings.”

“I’m sorry,” Madeline sighed. “I haven’t been much help
in that respect
.
”

“You’ve been ill, my lady.”

“Well I’m not
ill
now.”
It was just the kind of wild optimism Joanna needed to hear.
Madeline cradled Meg in her arms and bit her lip in thought.
“
With enough distraction
to occupy David
you could walk right out the front door.”

“What kind of distraction did you have in mind, my lady?”

Madeline turned to Wulfric. “Wulfric, dear. Would you like a sweet?”

Wulfric’s young eyes brightened at the prospect. “Yes!”

“Put down your chalk.” Madeline was a natural with children. Wulfric left his drawing and jumped down off his chair. She reached over him for the slate he had been drawing on. “Now go into the common room and show this to David. Be sure to tell him all about it.
Every detail.
”

Wulfric nodded. He took the slate and scurried out of the room. Joanna managed to smile at the ploy.

“
I’ll give him thirty seconds, then I’m going in. God save me, but I’ll give Meg a good pinch and set her crying. I think between his guests, Wulfric, a screaming Meg, and one faint lady
,
David wouldn’t notice if you marched through the room with a band of minstrels.”

“Thank you, my lady!” Joanna hugged her.

Madeline
hugged her back
as best she could with Meg in her arms.
Then she gave Joanna a wink and walked out of the room.

Joanna tiptoed after her into the hallway leading to the common room where she could watch without being seen.
Wulfric was hard at work showing David and his guests his drawing.
The precocious boy was e
asily the center of attention.

Madeline put her plan into action
moments later
.
She strolled up to the group of men, pretending to be interested in Wulfric.
When Meg suddenly began to wail, D
avid stood with an, “Oh dear.”

No sooner had David taken the baby from Madeline’s arms when
Madeline
pre
ssed a hand to her forehead and sank into an empty chair
.
David turned to
Madeline
and away from the hallway.

“My dear, are you alright?
Let me fetch one of the maids,
”
David panicked.

“I’m fine,” Madeline breathed, drawing his attention. “I just need to sit.”

Joanna grabbed her chance. As casually as she could she strode across the common room towards the front door. David didn’t see her. Madeline had reached out to hold his free hand as he juggled Meg in his other arm. Joanna slipped out the front door without her protector being any the wiser. At last she was free to get something done.

Joanna could hardly believe she had spent the last
two weeks
feet away from the bustling streets full of strangers. The sudden freedom of being outdoors filled her with awe and anxiety. The shops and houses around her were tall, casting long shadows across the narrow streets. The noise of dozens of people talking, merchants hawking their wares and London wives calling to each other from second-story windows was confusing.

In spite of her worry, the Tower wasn’t hard to find. It loomed above the tops of the city buildings. She could see it at crossroads and as she spilled out onto the wide thoroughfare leading down towards the Thames. The shops along the way seemed more familiar the longer she walked. If she was lucky she might even be able to find her way back.

It was a relief to find the Tower gate open. She followed the stream of people walking
across the short bridge over the moat
, joining the queue as guards questioned everyone trying to get in. She tried not to look up at the rotting heads on their spikes around the wall.

“State your business,” the guard asked when she reached the front of the line. It wasn’t the same guard she had spoken to before.

“I’m here to see Lady Aubrey, Countess of Derby. I’m her maid.” She held her head high and acted like she belonged there.

The guard wasn’t impressed. “Move along.” He pointed for her to leave.

“Not before I see my mistress,” she argued.

“No.” The guard glanced behind her to the next person in line.

Before he could question the man behind her
,
Joanna demanded, “Then I wish to see Sir Ethan of Windale.” It was a last resort she hadn’t wanted to use. Ethan was no help to her or anyone, no matter how close he was to the king. Just thinking of him made her blood boil
and her heart bleed
.

The guard frowned at her. “Who the hell is that?”

“He’s a friend of King Richard’s, a special guest at court.” And the biggest blockhead she had ever met. She stood on tiptoes to see around the guard on the ma
d hope that he would be there.

“King Richard and his courtiers are off hunting today,” the guard told her as if he’d had to repeat himself a thousand times. “Move along.”

“Hunting?” Joanna settled and crossed her arms. Ethan was supposed to be working for Crispin, Aubrey, and Jack’s release, not traipsing through the woods.

The man in line behind her pushed her aside and took her place. Joanna dropped her arms and was ready to deck the lout until someone behind her called, “Joanna!”

Startled, Joanna
turned
. She searched the crowd around the gate. The dark haired maid Lucy waved at her as she bypassed the line of people.

“I thought that was you,” Lucy said when she reached her. She nodded to the guard. “This lump giving you trouble?”

The spark of hope renewed in Joanna’s chest. “He won’t let me in.”

“Won’t he?” She stepped past Joanna to confront the guard. “Fred, you’re as blind as a bat. Don’t you recognize the Tower staff when you see them?”

Fred the guard glanced from Lucy to Joanna. “Who, her? That’s not
who
she told me
she was
.”

“She’s new.
She doesn’t know what to say yet.
Come on, Joanna.”

Joanna didn’t hesitate when Lucy gestured for her. Lucy hooked her arm in Joanna’s and continued on through the gate. She muttered, “Stupid oaf,” over her shoulder as they passed Fred.

Fred watched them for a moment then shrugged and went back to questioning the people in line.

“Thank you, Lucy! Thank you so much!”
Joanna breathed in relief as they strode away from the gate and started down the row of out-buildings.

Lucy stopped, dropping her arm. “You don’t really work here, do you.” Her statement came with a wicked sparkle in her eyes.

“No, I don’t,” Joanna confessed. “I’m here to see my master and mistress.”

“That’s what I thought.
”
She
nodded
into the yard.
“I hope that’s not your master.”

Joanna turned in time to see a man in a plain shirt and chausses, hands bound, being led up onto the executioners platform. A hulking man with a hood covering his head and a huge axe in his hands waited by a block. The bound man struggled and shouted as the soldier escorting him wrestled him to his knees. A crowd had formed around the platform. Some of them shouted back at the condemned man. One threw an old piece of fruit. The guard forced the man to stretch his neck over the block as the executioner raised his axe.

“Look away,” Lucy said. She grabbed Joanna’s arm when she didn’t move and spun her to face the opposite direction. After a loud thump the crowd cheered. “Ugh, I hate it when the blighters watching enjoy it.” She spit on the ground.

Joanna swallowed, lightheaded. “Who was that man?”

Lucy glanced over her shoulder then whipped her head forward. “Don’t know. It’s been like this for a month.”

“But what did he do?” She pleaded with Lucy, wide eyed, for any sort of an explanation.

“Same thing your master did, in all likelihood. He made the wrong enemies.”

Joanna finally dared to peek over her shoulder to the yard. The crowd was disbursing. Tower servants buzzed around the platform cleaning up. The sight threatened to make Joanna sick.

“That one was quick and simple,” Lucy explained. “The king must not be in the Tower today. He likes a lot more fanfare with his executions.”

It was beyond horrible. “The guard said
the king is
out hunting today.”

Lucy nodded. “That explains it. Well, I need to get to work.”

She moved to walk away but Joanna caught her. “Wait.
Lucy, c
an you help me?”

Lucy turned back with a smile. “Absolutely. I love helping the helpless.”

If only her words were a casual quip.

“I have to
have
my master, Sir Crispin, Earl of Derby, and Lady Aubrey and their friend, Lord John of Kedleridge
released
.”

“Well you don’t ask much, do you?” Lucy laughed. “I don’t know what I can do to help.”

“You’ve been here, you’ve seen things.”

“That I have, and I wish I hadn’t.” The humor left her eyes.

“They don’t execute everyone, do they? They can’t.”

“You’re right, they don’t. Most of the men who stood against the king in his absence are being fined or stripped of their land and sent packing.”

The revelation brought a moment of intense relief to Joanna. “What did those men do that those poor souls didn’t?” She nodded up to the heads on spikes around the Tower walls.

Lucy glanced back to the platform with the block. She swept a look across the yard full of nobles before meeting Joanna’s question with a serious expression.

“
They had
money. Money can buy innocence.”

Joanna’s heart sank. “We don’t have money.”

Lucy frowned and scratched her head. “Then you’ll need someone to speak on your behalf, swear your master and his friend are innocent.”

Joanna winced. She was back where she started. “
I’ve tried without luck so far.
What else?”

A gallows grin twisted Lucy’s lips. “Your only other option is to find favor with Arthur Pennington,” she whispered.

“Pennington?”

Lucy leaned closer. “Don’t ask me how, but Pennington has a way of always getting what he wants. Personally, I think it’s because he’s been tight with the royal family since he was a page in King Henry’s house.”

“Was he?”

“Oh yes. I don’t know about the king, but Pennington’s been chummy with Prince John for as long as I’ve been serving in these walls. Right mates they are.”

“Isn’t King Richard suspicious?”

“Probably,” Lucy shrugged. “But folks that cross Pennington have a way of ending up dead. Even folks that cause the king trouble. A rabid dog might be dangerous, but he sure is useful if you’ve got enemies nearby.”