The Abbot's Gibbet (42 page)

Authors: Michael Jecks

Tags: #Historical, #Deckare

BOOK: The Abbot's Gibbet

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The bailiff’s wife urged her pony up the hill after her husband and the knight.

The town was quieter now, most of the traders having left as soon as St. Rumon’s fair was over, and the streets were getting back to normal. Margaret saw Elias outside his shop haggling with Will Ruby over a basket of meat, Jordan and Hankin watching on. Elias’

elder brother wore a broad grin which froze on his face when he caught sight of the knight. Jordan seemed to have to remind himself he was free now and no more thought of as a felon. He gave a curt nod, which Margaret saw Baldwin return absentmindedly. Margaret was eaten up with curiosity. Baldwin had told her and her husband nothing of his talks with Jeanne, yet Margaret was sure that she and the knight The Abbot’s Gibbet

381

had reached an understanding. They had spent a great deal of time alone together since Luke’s capture, strolling in the fair or walking in the Abbot’s orchard and private gardens, but both Baldwin and Jeanne had been silent on the subject of their talks.

“I will miss Jeanne,” Margaret said after a few minutes. Baldwin cocked an eyebrow at her. “Oh?”

She pursed her lips with frustration. “Yes, Baldwin. I will miss her, and I would like to see her again soon. Especially since I would like to know whether you and she intend to meet again. Some might think you were enjoying keeping us in suspense.”

“Oh, I hardly think so,” Baldwin said, urging his horse on once more.

“Baldwin, tell me!”

“There is little
to
tell,” he said, but then he cast a glance at Simon before giving Margaret a quick grin.

“But if you truly feel you will miss her, perhaps you should arrange to see her again—and soon. Oh, and it’s surely time you came to visit me at Furnshill—maybe you could bring her with you? Jeanne said she would like to see the place.”

They carried on past the last of the houses. The road began to climb, and near the top of the hill Margaret saw Baldwin frown and stiffen. Following his gaze she saw the dismal clearing where the gibbet stood. Here there was a steady breeze, and the leaves rustled on the trees as the little cavalcade approached. To Margaret’s surprise, Baldwin stopped his horse and pointed at it. “When we first came to this town, I was almost jealous of that gallows. It is so much newer and more solid than the scaffold at Crediton, and I thought it was a symbol of the Abbot’s power and wealth. Now I don’t know.”

382

Michael Jecks

“It’s only a gibbet,” Margaret protested.

“Yes, and as such it is a potent reminder of justice. But if we had not understood the meaning of the clues at the last minute, if Hugo had not been here, or if we had simply been lazy, the wrong man might have been hanged. Then it would have ceased to be a mark of justice and would have become the representation of evil. I loathe the sight of it.”

Simon gazed at the simple wooden frame. “I don’t understand you. There must be thousands of identical ones all over the kingdom. Do you mean you hate this one because Lybbe was nearly hanged here by mistake?”

“Mistake? It would not have been a mistake but a simple travesty of justice. If Lybbe had died here, it would have been because Luke had perjured himself. Fearing retribution from neither God nor any man, Luke swore that Lybbe had been a trail-baston purely for his own revenge. Luke would have made a mockery of justice to see an old enemy hang, and that act would have polluted the whole town.”

“But God let you see the truth, Baldwin,” Margaret pointed out gently.

“God? Perhaps,” he muttered, his attention still fixed on the gibbet. After a few moments he spurred his horse and they passed by the wooden frame. As he rode, Margaret’s words rang in his ears. They carried a serene confidence, proof of her religious faith. But Baldwin could recall the faces of friends who were dead, Knights Templar like himself, men who had died during torture, or been hanged or burned alive. They had been betrayed by politicians who coveted their wealth. The loyal knights had all been unjustly slaughtered, and God had not helped
them,
even though they were dedicated to His glory. The Abbot’s Gibbet

383

Suddenly he felt sick. All those good men were gone now, yet Lybbe had
not
been hanged: why should
he
live when the Templars had suffered so much?

Baldwin did not have the comfort of belief. He could never again trust in God’s justice. As he passed the gallows, he made himself a vow: he would not rest if he thought that his own efforts could save an innocent man.

The gibbet squeaked in the wind. It almost sounded like laughter, and Baldwin shuddered. No matter what his intentions, the Abbot’s gibbet seemed to be reminding him that long after he was buried, it would still be there, ending other lives, whether justly or not. Its very permanence mocked him, and made his resolution futile. But it did not change his decision.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

MICHAEL JECKS
gave up a career in the computer industry when he began writing the internationally successful Templar Series. There are now twenty books starring Sir Baldwin Furnshill and Bailiff Simon Puttock, with more to follow. The series has been translated into all the major European languages and sells worldwide. The Chairman of the Crime Writers’ Association for the year 2004–2005, Michael is a keen supporter of new writing and has helped many new authors through the Debut Dagger Award. He is a founding member of Medieval Murderers, and talks regularly on medieval matters as well as writing. Michael lives in northern Dartmoor with his wife and family. Visit his website at
www.michaeljecks.co.uk.
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“WHAT INDEFATIGABLE SLEUTHS WE HAVE IN

BALDWIN DE FURNSHILL AND

SIMON PUTTOCK.”

North Devon Journal
(UK)

Praise from here and abroad for the

Knights Templar Mysteries

by MICHAEL JECKS

“Michael Jecks has a way of dipping into the past and giving it the immediacy of a present-day newspaper article . . . He writes . . . with such convincing charm that you expect to walk round a corner in Tavistock and meet some of his characters.”

Oxford Times

“Police procedural with a medieval twist.”

Albany Times–Union

“Memorable characters, steadily absorbing period background . . . a commendable achievement.”

Kirkus Reviews

“His research is painstaking down to the smallest detail, his characters leap alive from the page, and his evocation of setting is impressive.”

Book Collector

“Michael Jecks gave up a career in

the computer industry to concentrate

on writing . . . It was a good move.”

Brentwood Gazette

Books by Michael Jecks

THE BUTCHER OF ST. PETERS

THE CHAPEL OF BONES

THE TOLLS OF DEATH

THE OUTLAWS OF ENNOR

THE TEMPLAR’S PENANCE

THE MAD MONK OF GIDLEIGH

THE DEVIL’S ACOLYTE

THE STICKLEPATH STRANGLER

THE TOURNAMENT OF BLOOD

THE BOY-BISHOP’S GLOVEMAKER

THE TRAITOR OF ST GILES

BELLADONNA AT BELSTONE

SQUIRE THROWLEIGH’S HEIR

THE LEPER’S RETURN

THE ABBOT’S GIBBET

THE CREDITON KILLINGS

A MOORLAND HANGING

THE MERCHANT’S PARTNER

THE LAST TEMPLAR

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental. the abbot’s gibbet. Copyright © 1998 by Michael Jecks. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books. Adobe Acrobat eBook Reader August 2006 ISBN 0-06-125635-8

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