The Salbine Sisters (31 page)

“That’s what I’m wanting to talk to you about, Sister,” he said quietly. He put down the glass, leaned over the bar, and pointed. Emmey sat at a table in the corner, her head bent over a bowl. “One of the boys was mucking out the stables when she came wandering in, wanting to say good-bye to your horses. He didn’t think you’d want her running off, so he brought her back here. She seems determined to be on her way, but I convinced her to have a bowl of porridge first. I was going to send Dick up to knock on your door when she finished.”

“Thank you,” Maddy said, feeling almost dizzy with relief.

“Got one of my own, her age,” the man said. “Wouldn’t want her running off. Do you mind if I ask you a question?”

Despite wanting to join Emmey, she said no.

“What’s a girl like her doing with two sisters?”

He wasn’t the first to ask. She answered with the proverbial short version of a long story. “We’re trying to find her somewhere to live.”

“Oh.” He nodded. “Lots of orphans around.”

She understood the unspoken question: what was special about Emmey? “Emmey saved a sister’s life,” she said, speaking the simple truth. Without Emmey, she would have suffered much more in prison and not endured her captivity as well. But again, that wasn’t the whole story, only the part everyone would easily understand.

He looked over at Emmey, renewed interest in his eyes. Maddy thanked him again and agreed that a bowl of porridge would hit the spot, then strolled over to the table and casually pulled out a chair. “Good morning.”

“Morning, Miss,” Emmey mumbled, her head still over the bowl.

“You’re up early.”

Emmey shrugged.

“Lillian and I had a chat about you last night,” she said, deciding to put Emmey’s attempted flight aside for now. “We were wondering if you’d like to go with us to Merrin.” When Emmey didn’t respond, Maddy carried on. “We have to go back to the monastery. You can’t live at the monastery, but we’ll try to find you somewhere to live in Merrin.”

“Is Merrin close to the monastery?” Emmey asked, finally lifting her head.

“Merrin’s a bit confusing, because there’s County Merrin and the town of Merrin. The monastery is just outside the town of Merrin, up on a hill.”

“Like the prison?”

Maddy nodded. “And the town of Merrin is in the county of Merrin. We’ll enter the county in a few days, but we won’t reach the town for a couple of weeks. If you come with us, we’ll try to find you somewhere to live in the town of Merrin.”

Emmey perked up. “If I’m in the town, you could visit me.”

“That’s what we thought too,” Maddy said.

“I could visit you too!”

“Well, the thing is, there are no children at the monastery.” She leaned back as her porridge arrived. “Thank you,” she murmured, then stirred the porridge and shifted her attention back to Emmey. “We’re hoping you’ll be allowed to stay at the monastery until we find you somewhere to live. But I want you to listen to me very closely. You might not be allowed to stay, all right?”

“Is it big?”

“The monastery? Very big. It’s almost a town itself. It’s surrounded by tall walls, and it has its own roads and crops and stables, even its own catacombs. We live in buildings called towers. Not all of them are towers, but we call them that.” She spooned porridge into her mouth. Its warmth spread to her belly when she swallowed it. “Some sisters hardly ever leave it. Like Lillian.”

“She left it for you.”

An act of love Maddy never would have expected from her. “And here she is,” she said, spotting Lillian coming down the stairs. She met Lillian’s eyes. “Emmey decided to have an early breakfast.”

Fortunately Lillian caught on. “That porridge looks good. I wouldn’t mind a bowl of that myself.” She sauntered away.

“If the monastery’s so big, why won’t there be room for me?” Emmey asked.

“It’s not a matter of there not being room. You have to be at least sixteen to live at the monastery.” And marked and called by Salbine, sworn to defend the sisters, or in the employ of the monastery, details Emmey didn’t need to know. “So if you decide to come with us, you have to understand that you can’t live at the monastery. Even if you’re allowed in when we arrive, you won’t be able to stay there forever. You’ll only stay there until we find you somewhere else to live. Do you understand?”

“I’ll live somewhere else.” Emmey lowered her head. “Not with you.”

Maddy’s breath caught in her throat. “That’s right.” And she’d make every effort to ensure that Emmey didn’t live in the alleys. “I know Pinewood is your home, but there’s nobody here to look out for you.”

“I got nobody,” Emmey agreed mournfully.

“That’s not true. You have me and Lillian. If you go with us to Merrin, we’ll do everything we can to make sure you’re all right. I promise you that.”

Emmey lifted her head. “And you keep your promises, don’t you, Miss!”

“Yes, I do. So it’s settled, then? You’ll stay with us?”

Her head bobbed vigorously.

“Good, I’m pleased. Now, how are you feeling? It must have been disappointing, finding out your ma is gone.”

Lillian returned and plunked a bowl of porridge onto the table.

“I was just saying to Emmey that it must have been disappointing, finding her ma gone,” Maddy said as Lillian settled into a chair.

“I wasn’t happy, Miss,” Emmey said.

“At home?”

Emmey nodded. “My ma didn’t like me.”

“I’m sure she did.”

“No. She wanted me to do things I didn’t want to do, but my brothers and sisters, they’d do it, so my ma would be cross with me. I never should have nicked that purse. I didn’t want to nick it, but she told me not to come home with nothing. Then I saw that fat purse.”

“On an equally fat noble, I’d imagine,” Lillian said, making Emmey giggle.

“And he caught you trying to steal it?” Maddy said. Poor Emmey probably hadn’t known how to take a purse unnoticed; she’d just wanted to appease her ma.

“My ma said she never wanted to see me again. She gave me to that man, so I thought when she saw me with you, she’d give me to you, and then you’d have to take care of me.”

Maddy marvelled at Emmey’s simplistic, yet endearing, view of the world. Her pa always said that naivety and optimism often spent time together, something she could imagine Lillian saying. “Emmey, you know you can’t live with me,” she said primarily for Lillian’s benefit.

“I know, Miss.”

“We’ll find a nice family for you, and I’ll visit whenever I can.” She turned to Lillian. “Emmey’s agreed to go to Merrin with us. And we’re both glad about that, aren’t we?”

“Yes, we are,” Lillian said, managing to sound as if she meant it.

E
lizabeth smiled at Sophia. “This was a nice surprise, you suggesting a walk in the middle of the afternoon. You’re usually shut away in your study, or meeting with a sister or Thomas or someone.”

“I felt like a walk.” Sophia slipped her arm through Elizabeth’s. “I can’t sit still these days.”

“You’re not sleeping well, either.” Elizabeth’s voice softened. “They’ll be back soon.”

“They should have been back already! They had to go to Garryglen, find out what happened to Maddy, and return. That’s it. At this point, I’d say they’re a few weeks overdue.”

“If Maddy wasn’t hanged, perhaps negotiations for her release are holding things up.”

Sophia shook her head. “Nobody in their right mind would drag out negotiations when presented with evidence that they’d wrongly accused and convicted a sister. Where are they, Elizabeth?” She released a loud sigh and moved closer to her consort.

“Try not to fret too much. You’ll only make yourself ill. Easier said than done, I know. You’re almost a ma to Lillian.”

Sophia chuckled. “Don’t say that within her hearing. She wouldn’t take too kindly to it.” Even though it was true. “I should never have let her go.”

“How could you have denied her?”

Sophia’s silence answered the question.

Elizabeth squeezed Sophia’s arm. “I’m sure they’re fine. With Lillian’s power and Barnabus’s skills, I doubt very much they ran into a situation they couldn’t handle.”

“Then where are they?”

“Abbess!” came a shout from behind them. They turned as one of Thomas’s men ran up to them and bowed. “Master Barnabus has returned.”

Sophia’s heart pounded. “And Mistress Lillian?”

“No, Abbess. He’s alone. He’s gone to your study.”

He’s alone.
She couldn’t speak.

“How did Barnabus seem?” Elizabeth asked.

“In good spirits, Mistress. Nothing like Master Jonathan when he rode in.”

“That’s promising,” Elizabeth said, squeezing Sophia’s arm again. “Thank you, Oliver.” He nodded and left them.

Sophia swallowed. “I don’t think I can bear this.”

“We don’t know what’s happened. Let’s go see Barnabus and find out.”

Her mind in a whirl, Sophia relied on Elizabeth to guide her back to the study, oblivious to her surroundings.

Barnabus was waiting outside. He bowed, then met her eyes. “The mistress is fine.”

Thank Salbine.
Sophia led the way into her study. “Where is she, then? Why isn’t she with you?” She sank into her chair and rested her shaking hands on her lap. “Forgive me, Barnabus. Please sit down. I’m pleased you’ve returned safely, but I had a bit of a turn when Oliver said you were alone.” There was no point lying to Barnabus; he knew her too well.

“I understand, Abbess.” He sat down and shifted around until he was comfortable.

Elizabeth leaned over Sophia’s desk and tested the teapot with her hand. “It’s still warm. Would you like a cup?”

“Please.” Sophia silently thanked her. She wouldn’t trust herself to pour tea at the moment. “Barnabus?”

“No, thank you.” He waited while Elizabeth poured Sophia a cup of tea, then continued. “I’m pleased to tell you that Sister Maddy is alive.”

“Oh, that’s wonderful news!” Sophia couldn’t wait to welcome her back. But . . . was that why Lillian wasn’t here? Because Maddy had decided not to return to the monastery and Lillian had foolishly run away with her? “But why isn’t she here? What’s going on, Barnabus?”

“They are coming back, I hope,” Elizabeth said, apparently thinking along the same lines.

Barnabus nodded. “Sister Maddy was imprisoned, not hanged. She shared a cell with a child.”

“A child?” Sophia hadn’t thought they imprisoned children.

“The sister wanted to see the child safely home. The mistress and I suggested hiring men from one of the guilds, but Sister Maddy wanted to do it herself. The girl lives in Pinewood, not far from Leaton. I expect they’ll only be two weeks or so behind me.”

“So the mistress has gone with the sister to take this child home?”

“Yes.”

Dear, dear Lillian. If those two didn’t end up as consorts, Sophia would eat her cassock.

“So you got the child out of prison too?” Elizabeth asked.

“We didn’t have to get anybody out of prison.” Barnabus reached inside his purse and pulled out a folded paper. “The mistress wrote you a letter, Abbess. I’m sure it explains everything.”

Sophia accepted it and broke the seal. She nudged her spectacles up her nose and began to read.

Sophia,

Don’t be cross. Maddy is coming back to the monastery, but she’s grown fond of a girl who was in the prison with her and wants to take her home. I can’t let her go alone. I tried to persuade her to hire men, but the child is important to her. If she doesn’t do it herself, she’ll always wonder if the child arrived home safely. She’s suffered so much, I feel we owe her this one indulgence. As soon as we’ve dropped off the child, we’ll ride for Merrin.

Don’t be cross with Barnabus, either. He opposed our plan. I ordered him back to the monastery.

I hope you and Elizabeth are well. I miss you.

With love,

L

Sophia lowered the letter. “I’m afraid it doesn’t tell me much beyond what you’ve just told me.”

Barnabus frowned. “She didn’t mention the prison fire, or Sister Maddy’s hand?”

“No. What about the sister’s hand?”

He cleared his throat. “We cut it off.”

Sophia stared at him, certain she’d misheard. “Did you just say you cut off Sister Maddy’s hand?”

“And part of her arm. A physician named Crandall did the actual cutting.”

“But why did you do it?”

“The mistress said it was the only way to save the sister’s life.”

So Lillian was behind it, but hadn’t thought it important enough to mention in her letter? What about the events that led up to it? Sophia pulled off her spectacles, rubbed her eyes, and drank her cup of lukewarm tea in one go. “Would you mind boiling more water, Elizabeth? I believe there’s still some in the kettle, if you’d just light the fire.” She put her spectacles back on and rested her elbows on her desk. “Now, Barnabus, I’d like to hear the whole story, from the beginning. What happened when you arrived in Garryglen?”

*****

“Hold the reins for a minute, Emmey,” Maddy murmured. Shivering, she pulled her hood over her head and leaned over poor Emmey, who didn’t have a hood. “I think we should find shelter,” she shouted, taking the reins back and slowing Griffin’s trot to a stop. “More rain is on the way.”

When Lillian stopped Baxter and glanced over her shoulder, Ticky stopped too. “What?”

Maddy pointed toward the sky. “The rain. It’s stopped, but not for long, and we’re soaked. We should find somewhere sheltered to camp.”

“Do you want to carry on for a bit and see if we come across an inn or a farm?” Lillian asked after surveying the sky. “I don’t see anywhere to camp here. The forest is too thick.”

Lillian was right. A wall of trees lined the winding path they’d navigated for the past hour. The path was muddy—Ticky had already stumbled once when he’d rounded a sharp corner—but they had no choice but to continue riding, unless they wanted to spend a chilly, damp night outside without a fire, squeezed between trees. “All right, let’s go on. You all right, Emmey?”