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‘What do you know about it?’
‘Ask me no questions, dearest cousin.’ Hilda waved a dismissive hand. ‘I’m simply pleased that others want to fight back. It was a warning to all the Norsemen that they may control the land, but ultimately we will prevail.’
‘Petty tricks are not fighting back,’ Edith retorted sharply. ‘They can come back to haunt you. Or, worse still, hurt innocents who might be caught up. Have a care, Hilda.’
‘You treat me like a child, cousin. As if I would do something so foolish!’
‘Only when you act like one.’ Edith put her finger to her mouth. ‘Brand Bjornson is in a fearsome temper over this little incident.’
‘You haven’t done anything foolish, have you?’ Hilda’s eyes grew wide and she clutched the shawl tighter. ‘You were wrong to try. This whole adventure has been a mistake from start to finish. You should have been keeping him sweet.’
‘I hope not,’ Edith whispered back and her stomach knotted worse than ever. She had cast her dice and now she had to hope for the best. ‘I told him that it could not be someone from my household. We made a bargain.’
‘What did you promise him, cousin?’
‘Shall we begin, Lady Edith?’ Brand’s voice cut through her panic.
‘Yes, of course.’ Her voice sounded far calmer than she considered possible. ‘Like you, I wish to get to the bottom of this. I dislike mysteries.’
‘Lady Edith and I discovered a straw man hanging from a tree,’ Brand thundered. Somehow his shoulders broadened and he seemed to grow in height and ferocity. ‘Who put him there? Who seeks to mock me and my men? Confess this instant! We are not criminals who deserve to be hanged but the rightful lords and masters of this place. We acquired this land with the might of our swords and we will keep this land!’
He lifted his sword and planted it in the ground.
The entire yard fell silent, far more silent than she thought a crowd could be. Edith bit her bottom lip. She didn’t blame them. With Brand looking like that, was it any wonder?
Somewhere in the crowd a baby let out a thin wail, swiftly followed by a mother’s hushing. But still no one spoke.
‘No one?’ Brand raised his eyebrow after the silence seemed to last for a lifetime. ‘You are saying that the straw man just appeared. Conjured out of thin air?’
There was a mumbling and shuffling of feet.
‘It might be one of the rebels returned!’ someone shouted.
Brand put his hand to his ear. ‘I have trouble hearing you. Someone is responsible for this. In the end, I will discover who has done this. I am a peaceful man, but it does not do to rouse my anger. If any of you harbours this person or any of the rebels, it will go ill for you.’
Again there was silence, but Edith could see the resentment growing in the Northumbrian faces.
‘If none will speak, all will be punished.’
‘What are you going to do, punish everyone including the children?’ Edith asked in an undertone. ‘The innocent and the guilty alike? None has returned. I am willing to swear an oath on this. It will not be one of the men who left here with Egbert who did this. The person who did this is standing in this yard.’
‘What do you suggest, Lady Edith?’ His voice was carved from chipped ice. ‘I will find the guilty party. Trust me on this. The longer it takes, the worse it will be...for everyone. Are you sure you didn’t see anything?’
‘And you remain convinced that it was a Northumbrian?’ Edith resolutely kept her gaze from Hilda. The longer it went on, the less sure she was that Hilda had anything to do with it. Hilda would never put others in jeopardy like that. She had a kind heart.
Brand made a sweeping gesture. ‘As you can see, my men had nothing to do with it. They would have answered swiftly and truthfully. It is part of the felag’s code. If a man cannot trust others in the felag, it cannot hold. If someone had been misguided enough to do this, he would have confessed. It is part of our code.’
‘You trust your men.’
‘With my life.’
‘I feel the same about my people.’ Edith crossed her arms. ‘They’re not warriors, but they do know what warriors can do. They fear you!’
‘What do you suggest? This calling together of everyone has not given the result you declared it would.’
‘If you must punish someone, punish me,’ Edith said in a steady voice as she made a sudden decision. She had to take the punishment, rather than have innocents suffer. It couldn’t be worse than what she’d suffered with Egbert.
