Time After Time

Kate was back in the bedroom. Lizzie came in carrying a tray with a bowl of porridge and a cup of water. She placed the tray on a table beside the bed without looking at Kate and turned to leave the room.

“I know what you did.”

Kate’s statement hung in the air between them.

“I spoke to James.”

Lizzie turned to face Kate; her face was white and her eyes swollen.

“You don’t understand. You aren’t from here.”

“Why did you do it?”

Lizzie shook her head.

“You don’t know what they’re like.”

“They? Who do you mean?”

Lizzie was about to confide something but there were footsteps on the stairs. John appeared at the door and Lizzie hurried out of the room.

Kate awoke to the sound of rowdy laughter and cheering. Leaping from the bed, she rushed to the window. Soldiers filled the fields around the house but they were not the chaotic shambles of the rebel army. They were the well-fed, well-equipped forces of Lancaster. Her mind raced with panic over every worst-case scenario as she pulled on the dress provided by Mabel.

Drunken men packed the great hall. As Kate pushed through one of them tried to grab her. She swung out her foot and kicked the leering man in the shins. He screamed in anger but she ducked low and shoved her way through the dense crowd towards the door.

There was no sign of Mabel and Lancaster. The servants looked tired and beaten as they served the rest of their food to the enemy. The soldiers mocked them but there did not appear to any looting or violence.

Kate stumbled outside, shielding her eyes from the bright sun, dazzled after days shut-up in a dim bedroom. There was a chill in the air, and goose-bumps on her bare arms. This was a much larger group of men than on Lancaster’s last visit. Even outside the house, there was a jostling packed crowd.

Kate saw Holland lecturing some of the men on appropriate sexual behaviour. She was glad of his intervention. His insistence on propriety would save some of the female staff. Kate continued to wander through the crowd, unable to spot anyone else she recognised.

She walked around the side of the house. Here the crowd thinned out until she was at the rear of the building. Turning the corner, she spotted Mabel and Lancaster speaking alone yards away. Kate stopped and slipped back around the corner. Pushing her spine against the wall, she listened. They were talking about her.

“I am glad our night wanderer has made a miraculous recovery. She can come with us to Pontefract. The last thing we needed was another death. You must keep a more careful eye on your wards my lady.”

“You should have taken them with you last time; I am not your babysitter. They believe you have the boy’s sister.”

“Let them think so. It is useful to me.”

“What do you want with them? Why do you insist on allowing them their freedom?”

“In the case of her husband I can no longer allow a long leash. Loyal friends are hard to come by and their deaths cannot go un-avenged.”

“Did the boy really kill Thurstan? He seemed such a coward.”

“My Deputy was a witness. If anyone else had told me I wouldn’t have believed them, but it seems the lad is an impressive marksman.”

“Well I’ll be glad to see the back of Norley, the repulsive creature.”

“Careful. Mabel. I may be grateful for your help, but gratitude has its limits. In other villages, I have allowed the men to take what they want, but we have treated your people with kindness. I will despatch some men to Charnock Richard to capture your husband and the rest. You had better not be playing one of your games. Is there anything else we need to know?”

“According to my source there are six of them. So you shouldn’t have much trouble, as long as you watch out for the boy and his crossbow. Who is the man you brought with you today?”

“Sir Peter de Livesey, the proud new tenant of this house.”

“Over my dead body.”

“I would not hesitate Mabel. We leave within the hour. Ensure the girl is ready.”

Kate turned and ran. Tom could not have killed anyone. Of all the boys she knew, Tom would be the last to do such a thing. She had to get to Charnock Richard before Lancaster’s men. Kate pushed her way through the crowds back into the house. The man who had lunged at her five minutes ago shouted and tried grab her again. She swung a fist, hitting him square on the nose.

She ran up the stairs and into Mabel’s room. One of William’s cloaks hung in the corner. She pulled this over her head. Rummaging through a chest, she found a solid pair of boots. They were too big but would have to do for now.

Running back to the hall, she spotted Lancaster entering the house. He chatted with one of his knights, an arm thrown over the man’s shoulder. Kate ducked into the crowd and pulled her hood tighter.

Kate found her way to the chapel. The room was empty. She closed the door, leant against it, and looked around for something heavy. She grabbed the bench and dragged it in front of the entrance.

She rushed to the front of the chapel and pushed the altar. It would not budge. There must be some kind of mechanism. She kneeled and examined the seamless join with the floor. She lifted a rug near the spot where Mabel had been praying and found a tiny wooden trap door, under which was a wheel. She turned the wheel half a turn anti-clockwise until it stopped. Had Mabel been praying at all?

Someone tried the door.

Kate leapt to her feet, kicked the trap door closed, replaced the rug and pushed the altar. It slid to one side. She heaved a sigh of relief. She had not been certain it was real or part of her fever dream. She grabbed a candlestick and hurried down a flight of stone steps into the darkness of the tunnel below. Above her head was a handle hanging from the base of the altar. She pulled this and the altar slid back, locking into place with a click. She gave a tug in the opposite direction but it would not move. Whatever happened now, she would not be able to get out the same way.