![[Roger the Chapman 06] - The Wicked Winter](https://fs.collectorofbookboyfriends.com/617064/thumbs/152x264/roger-the-chapman-06-the-wicked-winter.jpg)
own interest was also aroused and I turned back to speak to him.
'Your friend seems in a mighty rush,' I said. 'Where's he come from?'
The groom started a little at the sound of my voice.
'Where's Hamon been?' I repeated.
Jasper hesitated, then shrugged. 'I know where he's supposed to have been; to Cederwell Manor with a present for Sir Hugh. He was sent there by my lady just on the dinner hour. At least that was the excuse.'
'What do you mean, the excuse?' I asked him.
Jasper blinked once or twice in confusion before again lifting his shoulders.
'I meant nothing by it. I was just talking for talking's sake, the way you do sometimes.' He looked me up and down. 'Hadn't you best be going? It'll be dusk pretty soon.' I agreed, but reluctantly. My nose, like Dame Judith's, was twitching with the desire to know more, but there was no way that I could reasonably stay. And then suddenly I realised that the answer to the mystery might well lie at Cederwell Manor, if that was indeed where Hamon had been ... But of course that was where he had been! Ursula Lynom had sent him after Sir Hugh with the silver and mother-of-pearl buttons. They were a gift for him, just as her mother-in-law had predicted they would be. I bade my companion a cheery 'God be with ye!' and set out once more on my way.
Leafless trees, like so many hobgoblins, crouched against the leaden-grey sky and every now and again a snowflake floated down, to lie for a moment before gradually dissolving into the iron-hard ground. But soon they would begin to pitch.
The snowstorm which had threatened for the past few days was now upon us and I must get into shelter before the hours of darkness. I quickened my step, my pack considerably lighter than when I set out from Bristol two weeks earlier.
I reached the end of the Woodspring road and the junction with the main pack-horse track almost before I realised it, my mind busy with the events of the day since leaving Ulnoth's dwelling that same morning. And, upon that thought, I found myself once again drawing abreast of the boulder house. On impulse, I stooped and went inside, calling out, 'Ulnoth!'
For a few seconds, standing there blinking in the gloom, I could not see him, and had just decided that he must have gone to attend to his snares when a slight shuffling noise sounded from the furthest corner.
'Ulnoth!' I repeated.
He crawled forward. 'Chapman,' he said with such a note of relief in his voice that I immediately grew suspicious.
'Who did you think it was? Have you had another visitor?'
He shook his head a little too vigorously. 'No. No. Ulnoth frightened.'
'Why? If no one's been here, who or what is there to be scared of? Have you seen something from your doorway?'
'No, no! Nothing.'
I suspected him of lying. Clearly something or someone had upset him, but however hard I probed, he refused to say any more. I did what I could to calm him, settling him in the farthest recess of the house, in the embrasure cut into the bank, and gave him some water. When he stopped trembling I offered, 'I'll stay with you if you wish. Spend the night here.'
But he did not want this, giving me a shove which almost caused me to lose my balance. For the second time I realised that he was stronger than he looked.
'Go. You go,' he muttered.
'Very well, I shall. I must be on my way at once if I'm to reach Cederwell Manor before dark.'
Suddenly, he started to moan, rocking backwards and forwards and muttering to himself, 'Death. Death. Death.'
'What about death?' I demanded. And then, when he did not answer, 'Whose death, Ulnoth? What are you trying to tell me?'
But not another word could I prise from him however long and patiently I tried. At last, when he turned his back to me, hunching in on himself, I realised that I could ill afford to waste more time. I squeezed his thin shoulder and gently called his name, but still getting no response I left.
Straightening to my full height outside the entrance I paused
'Your friend seems in a mighty rush,' I said. 'Where's he come from?'
The groom started a little at the sound of my voice.
'Where's Hamon been?' I repeated.
Jasper hesitated, then shrugged. 'I know where he's supposed to have been; to Cederwell Manor with a present for Sir Hugh. He was sent there by my lady just on the dinner hour. At least that was the excuse.'
'What do you mean, the excuse?' I asked him.
Jasper blinked once or twice in confusion before again lifting his shoulders.
'I meant nothing by it. I was just talking for talking's sake, the way you do sometimes.' He looked me up and down. 'Hadn't you best be going? It'll be dusk pretty soon.' I agreed, but reluctantly. My nose, like Dame Judith's, was twitching with the desire to know more, but there was no way that I could reasonably stay. And then suddenly I realised that the answer to the mystery might well lie at Cederwell Manor, if that was indeed where Hamon had been ... But of course that was where he had been! Ursula Lynom had sent him after Sir Hugh with the silver and mother-of-pearl buttons. They were a gift for him, just as her mother-in-law had predicted they would be. I bade my companion a cheery 'God be with ye!' and set out once more on my way.
Leafless trees, like so many hobgoblins, crouched against the leaden-grey sky and every now and again a snowflake floated down, to lie for a moment before gradually dissolving into the iron-hard ground. But soon they would begin to pitch.
The snowstorm which had threatened for the past few days was now upon us and I must get into shelter before the hours of darkness. I quickened my step, my pack considerably lighter than when I set out from Bristol two weeks earlier.
I reached the end of the Woodspring road and the junction with the main pack-horse track almost before I realised it, my mind busy with the events of the day since leaving Ulnoth's dwelling that same morning. And, upon that thought, I found myself once again drawing abreast of the boulder house. On impulse, I stooped and went inside, calling out, 'Ulnoth!'
For a few seconds, standing there blinking in the gloom, I could not see him, and had just decided that he must have gone to attend to his snares when a slight shuffling noise sounded from the furthest corner.
'Ulnoth!' I repeated.
He crawled forward. 'Chapman,' he said with such a note of relief in his voice that I immediately grew suspicious.
'Who did you think it was? Have you had another visitor?'
He shook his head a little too vigorously. 'No. No. Ulnoth frightened.'
'Why? If no one's been here, who or what is there to be scared of? Have you seen something from your doorway?'
'No, no! Nothing.'
I suspected him of lying. Clearly something or someone had upset him, but however hard I probed, he refused to say any more. I did what I could to calm him, settling him in the farthest recess of the house, in the embrasure cut into the bank, and gave him some water. When he stopped trembling I offered, 'I'll stay with you if you wish. Spend the night here.'
But he did not want this, giving me a shove which almost caused me to lose my balance. For the second time I realised that he was stronger than he looked.
'Go. You go,' he muttered.
'Very well, I shall. I must be on my way at once if I'm to reach Cederwell Manor before dark.'
Suddenly, he started to moan, rocking backwards and forwards and muttering to himself, 'Death. Death. Death.'
'What about death?' I demanded. And then, when he did not answer, 'Whose death, Ulnoth? What are you trying to tell me?'
But not another word could I prise from him however long and patiently I tried. At last, when he turned his back to me, hunching in on himself, I realised that I could ill afford to waste more time. I squeezed his thin shoulder and gently called his name, but still getting no response I left.
Straightening to my full height outside the entrance I paused
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