satisfied. Annet came in demurely, and laughed
at her father’s grumbling, no way in awe of him. “I left you in the best of
company, and I knew you’d be the better for an hour or so without me, and so
would I for an hour without you, such an old bear as you’re become! Why should
I hurry back, on such a fine evening? You know Brother Cadfael has taken good
care of you, don’t grudge me a breath of air.” But by the look of her she had
enjoyed something more potent than a mere breath of air. There was a brightness
and a quivering aliveness about her, as if after strong wine. Her brown hair,
always so smoothly banded, had shaken loose a few strands on her shoulders,
Cadfael noted, as though she had wound her way through low branches that caught
at the braids, and the colour in her cheeks was rosy and roused, to match the
brilliance of her eyes. She had brought in a few of the month’s lost leaves on
her shoes. True, the byre lay just within the trees at the edge of the
clearing, but there were no well-grown oaks there. “Well, now that you’re back,
and I shan’t be leaving him to complain without a listener,” said Cadfael, “I’d
best be getting back before it’s full dark. Keep him off his feet for a few
days yet, lass, and I’ll let him up on crutches soon if he behaves himself. At
least he’s taken no harm from lying fast in the water, that’s a mercy.”
“Thanks
to Cuthred’s boy Hyacinth,” Annet reminded them. She flicked a swift glance at
her father, and was pleased when he responded heartily: “And that’s truth if
ever there was! He was as good as a son to me that day, and I don’t forget it.”
And
was it fancy, or did Annet’s cheeks warm into a deeper rose? As good as a son
to a man who had no son to be his right hand, but only this bright, confident,
discreet and loving daughter?
“Possess
your soul in patience,” advised Cadfael, rising, “and we’ll have you as sound
as before. It’s worth waiting for. And don’t fret about the coppice, for Annet
here will tell you they’ve made a good job of clearing the brook and shaved off
the overhang of the bank. It will hold.” He made fast his scrip to his girdle,
and turned to the door.
“I’ll
see you to the gate,” said Annet, and came out with him into the deep twilight
of the clearing, where his horse was placidly pulling at the turf.
“Girl,”
said Cadfael with his foot in the stirrup, “you blossom like a rose tonight.”
She
was just taking up the loose tresses in her hands, and smoothing them back into
neatness with the rest. She turned and smiled at him. “But I seem to have been
through a thorn bush,” she said.
Cadfael
leaned from the saddle and delicately picked a sear oak leaf out of her hair.
She looked up to see him twirling it gently between his fingers by the stem,
and wonderfully she smiled. That was how he left her, roused and braced, and
surely having made up her mind to go, undaunted, through all the thorny
thickets that might be in the path between her and what she wanted. She was not
ready yet to confide even in her father, but it troubled her not at all that
Cadfael should guess at what was in the wind, nor had she any fear of a twisted
ending. Which did not preclude the possibility that others might have good
reason to fear on her account.
Cadfael
rode without haste through the darkening wood. The moon was already up, and
bright where it could penetrate the thickness of the trees. Compline must be
long over by now, and the brothers making ready for sleep. The boys would be in
their beds long ago. It was cool and fresh in the green-scented forest,
pleasant to ride alone and at leisure, and have time to think of timeless
things that could not be accommodated in the bustle of the day, sometimes not
even during the holy office or the quiet times of prayer, where by rights they
belonged. There was more room for them here under this night sky still
at her father’s grumbling, no way in awe of him. “I left you in the best of
company, and I knew you’d be the better for an hour or so without me, and so
would I for an hour without you, such an old bear as you’re become! Why should
I hurry back, on such a fine evening? You know Brother Cadfael has taken good
care of you, don’t grudge me a breath of air.” But by the look of her she had
enjoyed something more potent than a mere breath of air. There was a brightness
and a quivering aliveness about her, as if after strong wine. Her brown hair,
always so smoothly banded, had shaken loose a few strands on her shoulders,
Cadfael noted, as though she had wound her way through low branches that caught
at the braids, and the colour in her cheeks was rosy and roused, to match the
brilliance of her eyes. She had brought in a few of the month’s lost leaves on
her shoes. True, the byre lay just within the trees at the edge of the
clearing, but there were no well-grown oaks there. “Well, now that you’re back,
and I shan’t be leaving him to complain without a listener,” said Cadfael, “I’d
best be getting back before it’s full dark. Keep him off his feet for a few
days yet, lass, and I’ll let him up on crutches soon if he behaves himself. At
least he’s taken no harm from lying fast in the water, that’s a mercy.”
“Thanks
to Cuthred’s boy Hyacinth,” Annet reminded them. She flicked a swift glance at
her father, and was pleased when he responded heartily: “And that’s truth if
ever there was! He was as good as a son to me that day, and I don’t forget it.”
And
was it fancy, or did Annet’s cheeks warm into a deeper rose? As good as a son
to a man who had no son to be his right hand, but only this bright, confident,
discreet and loving daughter?
“Possess
your soul in patience,” advised Cadfael, rising, “and we’ll have you as sound
as before. It’s worth waiting for. And don’t fret about the coppice, for Annet
here will tell you they’ve made a good job of clearing the brook and shaved off
the overhang of the bank. It will hold.” He made fast his scrip to his girdle,
and turned to the door.
“I’ll
see you to the gate,” said Annet, and came out with him into the deep twilight
of the clearing, where his horse was placidly pulling at the turf.
“Girl,”
said Cadfael with his foot in the stirrup, “you blossom like a rose tonight.”
She
was just taking up the loose tresses in her hands, and smoothing them back into
neatness with the rest. She turned and smiled at him. “But I seem to have been
through a thorn bush,” she said.
Cadfael
leaned from the saddle and delicately picked a sear oak leaf out of her hair.
She looked up to see him twirling it gently between his fingers by the stem,
and wonderfully she smiled. That was how he left her, roused and braced, and
surely having made up her mind to go, undaunted, through all the thorny
thickets that might be in the path between her and what she wanted. She was not
ready yet to confide even in her father, but it troubled her not at all that
Cadfael should guess at what was in the wind, nor had she any fear of a twisted
ending. Which did not preclude the possibility that others might have good
reason to fear on her account.
Cadfael
rode without haste through the darkening wood. The moon was already up, and
bright where it could penetrate the thickness of the trees. Compline must be
long over by now, and the brothers making ready for sleep. The boys would be in
their beds long ago. It was cool and fresh in the green-scented forest,
pleasant to ride alone and at leisure, and have time to think of timeless
things that could not be accommodated in the bustle of the day, sometimes not
even during the holy office or the quiet times of prayer, where by rights they
belonged. There was more room for them here under this night sky still
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