it was also clear to me that he had other motivations beyond this, and these I determined to discover.
My thoughts distracted me, and my muscles had grown tired and aching from my long travail. It was now, as I followed Aelfric down an uneven slope from an islet onto the marsh, that I lost my footing and tripped, then lurched to one side, stumbling away from our path. The ground there looked firm, and no different to me from where I had walked before, but as I stepped onto it my legs sank instantly down to my knees in soft viscous mud. I shifted my weight and fell onto my backside to stop myself from sinking further, then slipped and scrabbled as I tried to free myself, but my hands found nothing solid to grip beneath me, and a sense of panic came over me as I realised I was hopelessly stuck.
‘Keep still!’ Aelfric called out, as he began to approach me, making his way forward with infinite care. Then he lay down flat on his stomach, stretching out across the ground behind me to spread his weight there evenly, and reached out his arm towards me. Slowly I twisted around to clutch at his outstretched hand, but my own fingers were slippery with mud and at first I could not gain a firm grip. Finally we managed to grasp each other about our wrists, then I clung to him with both hands as he began to crawl backwards, pulling me with him while I squirmed and kicked, my body sweating with fear and exertion until slowly I felt myself torn loose from the mire’s deadly grip. Then a loud squelching noise came out from the mud, as if it protested to be robbed of its prey.
As I clambered to my feet, Aelfric stood before me, his look at once growing hard and stern as he told me:
‘You must be watchful. The marsh is always hungry for those who are not wary. This time you are lucky, but next time…’ and at once his face broke into its customary grin as he slapped my arm ‘…you might lose your boots!’
‘Indeed we must be vigilant!’ Cadroc spoke to me now, his voice like gravel in his throat and his eyes sharp with warning. ‘Death surrounds us on every side. It is truly said that the right path that leads to life is narrow and hard, yet many and wide are the wrong paths that lead to suffering and darkness.’
‘I will be careful, I promise,’ I said, feeling a stab of fear as I nodded to show him that I understood his meaning: of things deeper and more terrible still than the black quagmires of the Fens. But now it occurred to me how absurdly ill-matched my two companions were: one forever smiling and good-humoured, the other so relentlessly grim, as if between them they stood to represent the opposite extremes of human nature. In other circumstances their partnership might have seemed almost comical. Yet upon that journey, as I studied Aelfric in unguarded moments when his thoughts were silent and his face grew still, I began to sense that perhaps his good-nature was an affectation which served him as a mask, or as a defence against the world, and I wondered if a different man existed beneath it.
Now that my misadventure had roused Cadroc from his silent musings, I took the opportunity to speak with him.
‘I thank you again,’ I said respectfully, ‘for allowing me to join you. May I ask what it was that changed your mind?’
‘I have been debating that matter to myself,’ he replied. ‘Your words outside your hermitage have remained in my thoughts. I find myself wondering if there is any truth in what you say, and whether indeed some divine purpose might accompany you. But I may come to decide otherwise’ – his brow grew furrowed for a moment – ‘in which case I will arrange to send you back. For the time being your show of great determination has impressed me.’
‘I remember your own words,’ I said, ‘which implied some secret knowledge of the enemy’s true nature. Will you tell me this story?’
He considered for a moment, then nodded.
‘Indeed I will tell you both. It is well you should
My thoughts distracted me, and my muscles had grown tired and aching from my long travail. It was now, as I followed Aelfric down an uneven slope from an islet onto the marsh, that I lost my footing and tripped, then lurched to one side, stumbling away from our path. The ground there looked firm, and no different to me from where I had walked before, but as I stepped onto it my legs sank instantly down to my knees in soft viscous mud. I shifted my weight and fell onto my backside to stop myself from sinking further, then slipped and scrabbled as I tried to free myself, but my hands found nothing solid to grip beneath me, and a sense of panic came over me as I realised I was hopelessly stuck.
‘Keep still!’ Aelfric called out, as he began to approach me, making his way forward with infinite care. Then he lay down flat on his stomach, stretching out across the ground behind me to spread his weight there evenly, and reached out his arm towards me. Slowly I twisted around to clutch at his outstretched hand, but my own fingers were slippery with mud and at first I could not gain a firm grip. Finally we managed to grasp each other about our wrists, then I clung to him with both hands as he began to crawl backwards, pulling me with him while I squirmed and kicked, my body sweating with fear and exertion until slowly I felt myself torn loose from the mire’s deadly grip. Then a loud squelching noise came out from the mud, as if it protested to be robbed of its prey.
As I clambered to my feet, Aelfric stood before me, his look at once growing hard and stern as he told me:
‘You must be watchful. The marsh is always hungry for those who are not wary. This time you are lucky, but next time…’ and at once his face broke into its customary grin as he slapped my arm ‘…you might lose your boots!’
‘Indeed we must be vigilant!’ Cadroc spoke to me now, his voice like gravel in his throat and his eyes sharp with warning. ‘Death surrounds us on every side. It is truly said that the right path that leads to life is narrow and hard, yet many and wide are the wrong paths that lead to suffering and darkness.’
‘I will be careful, I promise,’ I said, feeling a stab of fear as I nodded to show him that I understood his meaning: of things deeper and more terrible still than the black quagmires of the Fens. But now it occurred to me how absurdly ill-matched my two companions were: one forever smiling and good-humoured, the other so relentlessly grim, as if between them they stood to represent the opposite extremes of human nature. In other circumstances their partnership might have seemed almost comical. Yet upon that journey, as I studied Aelfric in unguarded moments when his thoughts were silent and his face grew still, I began to sense that perhaps his good-nature was an affectation which served him as a mask, or as a defence against the world, and I wondered if a different man existed beneath it.
Now that my misadventure had roused Cadroc from his silent musings, I took the opportunity to speak with him.
‘I thank you again,’ I said respectfully, ‘for allowing me to join you. May I ask what it was that changed your mind?’
‘I have been debating that matter to myself,’ he replied. ‘Your words outside your hermitage have remained in my thoughts. I find myself wondering if there is any truth in what you say, and whether indeed some divine purpose might accompany you. But I may come to decide otherwise’ – his brow grew furrowed for a moment – ‘in which case I will arrange to send you back. For the time being your show of great determination has impressed me.’
‘I remember your own words,’ I said, ‘which implied some secret knowledge of the enemy’s true nature. Will you tell me this story?’
He considered for a moment, then nodded.
‘Indeed I will tell you both. It is well you should
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