Chapter Seventeen
Whitchurch
Because of the incident with the soldier, and in knowing his body would be found at some point, Caius, Emelisse, and William rode swiftly northward to the small village of Whitchurch.
As Emelisse had indicated, their destination was quite close and took them under an hour.
After the snowstorm the night before, the roads were muddy with big, dirty snowdrifts at the road’s edge.
Even so, the roads weren’t completely impassable, and they were able to make good time as they entered the village through the southern end.
They were met with more dirty snowdrifts that were piled up against the houses.
People were out and about, going about their business, as mothers yelled at their children to scoop the snow away so the doorways would be clear.
As they watched with some amusement, boys would get their ears boxed when they refused to obey their mothers.
They would rather play in the snow than sweep it away.
Whitchurch was surprisingly large for a village and they passed through a big residential district with timber-framed homes and wattle walls before they managed to make it into the center of the city where there were several merchant stalls open for business.
The first thing they came to was a man selling meatballs on a stick.
He cooked them over an open flame and the tantalizing smells filled the air.
When Caius saw Emelisse and William looking at the cooking meat longingly, he reined the horses to a halt and dismounted.
“De Wolfe,” he said. “Take the horses and find a livery. Hide them well should Winterhold men come to town. We will not be long, but I do not want to take any chances. Tuck them away and return to me. I will be at that large church over there.”
He was pointing northward, where a red-stoned church rose up out of the ground, big and fortress-looking and imposing. William nodded and gathered the horses, but not before passing another wistful glance at the roasting meatballs.
Realizing the lad was hungry, and also in need of a reward since saving the lady from the Winterhold soldier, Caius went to the vendor, paid him a pence, and got two sticks of meatballs for the squire, who gratefully wolfed them down as he walked away with the horses.
He watched him go before turning to Emelisse.
“And for you, my lady?” he said. “Meatballs?”
She nodded firmly. “Meatballs.”
As it turned out, she was famished. Caius paid for five sticks of meatballs, three for him and two for her.
She very nearly finished one before they’d even left the stall, so he purchased a meat pie she could hold in her hand, and as they walked across the avenue to the church on the other side, she stuffed the rest of the meatballs into her mouth and went to work on the pie.
It was beef in cinnamon gravy and by the time they reached the doors of the church, the entire thing was in her mouth.
Caius fought off a grin.
“Mind that it does not all come back up again,” he said. “Do you want to sit down and let your food settle before we proceed?”
Her mouth was so full that she could hardly chew and he started laughing.
She was trying very hard not to laugh because the food in her mouth might come dribbling out all over.
She finally had to turn away from him as he chuckled, chewing her food and swallowing what was in her mouth.
She ended up wiping her lips with the corner of her sleeve because she had nothing else to wipe it with.
“I am sorry,” she said. “I have not eaten since yesterday and you seem to be in such a hurry. I thought I should eat it all immediately.”
“Poor woman,” he said, taking her by the arm and turning her for the church door. “It appears as if you have been starving to death and I had no idea.”
She laughed softly, her white teeth flashing.
“I was not starving,” she said. “But I was hungry. I have become accustomed to it over the past three years, not eating so my brother and father could. They were the ones doing the fighting, after all. Unfortunately, my manners have suffered because I tend to eat very quickly. Thank you for the meal, however. It was delicious.”
He pulled open the door of the church. “Let us get through this and I shall take you to an inn and feed you until you cannot hold anything more,” he said, his voice suddenly quiet because they were entering the church. “Your days of fear and starvation are over, Emelisse, I swear it.”
She looked at him, his declaration meaning something to her.
She’d gone the past three years eating when she could, and what she could, so that the thought of plentiful food was something of a dream to her.
That’s why she ate so fast. She was always afraid that she would perhaps have to share it, or afraid someone would take it away from her entirely.
She had learned to eat quickly, as she’d told him.
He must have seen the awe and bewilderment in her eyes, for he simply winked at her.
It was a most reassuring wink.
They entered the domain of St. Alkmund’s Church.
For being in a relatively small village, the church was quite large.
The red stone that it was built with was evidenced all over the inside, with great red pillars supporting the pitched roof.
The floor was dirt, and uneven in places, and the entire sanctuary smelled of earth and mildew.
As they entered further into the sanctuary, they could see in places along the wall where water had pooled, possibly from the melting snow outside.
It was the water giving the place such a moldy smell.
Where the water was in places, the foundation had settled a bit and there were cracks along the wall.
The church also had the distinction of having glass windows, at least on the windows at the altar.
There were three of them, overlooking the church, and white beams of sunlight streamed in through the thick panes.
Some churches had designs in glass in their windows, but these windows had no designs.
No images of saints. They were simple, like the town around them.
There was something pure in the simplicity.
“My mother was buried here,” Emelisse said softly. “Now you can see where I would like my father and brother buried. Before we depart, would it be possible to visit my mother’s grave? She is in the churchyard outside.”
Caius nodded. “Of course,” he said. “But we must find a priest first. Do you know where one might be?”
She pointed to the east side of the church, where there was a small, heavy door.
“The cloister is through there,” she said.
“We have not attended mass since de Wrenville started his attacks. Papa was afraid to leave the fortress for fear of what would happen when we were gone, so I fear that I do not know who the priests are now. Sometimes, they change.”
Caius understood. Taking her hand in his, he went on the hunt, looking for a priest. The door leading to the cloisters was locked, or so he thought, until he realized that the door was simply improperly hung and jammed.
Letting go of Emelisse’s hand, he put both hands on the door and lifted it, a considerable task for even a man of his superior strength, pushing it into place as he opened it up.
A small, covered arbor was beyond the door and he could see small outbuildings that were more than likely residences for the priests. He took a step outside, pulling Emelisse with him, and had no sooner stepped underneath the arbor when he heard someone calling to him.
A big, bearded, and rather young priest was coming towards him, looking at him with disapproval.
“Is there something you require, my lord?” he asked, but looked to Emelisse before Caius could answer. “Women are not allowed here.”
Emelisse was already rushing back into the sanctuary as Caius faced off against the surprisingly large and virile priest.
“My lady and I wish to be married,” he said steadily. “I am prepared to pay handsomely for it. Will you do this?”
The priest’s eyes narrowed at him, peering at him strangely, but Caius dug into his coin purse and pulled out several pence which, for a poor parish, was a good deal of money.
The lure of coinage was enough to stop his scorn and his reluctance.
He turned to see Emelisse standing just inside the door in the sanctuary before returning his focus to Caius.
“And you have her family’s permission?” he asked.
“She has no family.”
The priest hesitated. Caius produced another coin.
The priest hesitated no more.
*
William was just heading up the road towards the red stone church when he saw Caius and Emelisse emerging from the church yard. As he watched, Caius took Emelisse’s hand and led her out into the muddy road beneath the bright but cold sunshine.
William ran towards them to catch up.
“Forgive me for the delay, my lord,” he said. “I could not find a suitable livery, so I had to take the horses to the other end of town and stable them there.”
Caius paused, shielding his eyes from the sunlight as he looked north. “Where?”
William pointed. “Up that road,” he said. “A farmer has a big, white barn and the horses are inside. I promised him that he would be well-paid to feed and shelter them.”
“Good,” Caius said. “And he shall. While my lady wife and I retreat to the inn next to the church, I would have you do a few things for me.”
William grinned, looking between Caius and Emelisse. “You have married already?”
As Emelisse nodded, flushing, Caius answered. “We have,” he said. “A short ceremony with three priests present. I asked that they record it in their book along with births and deaths, and it was. We have proof should de Wrenville contest it.”