"(Bell tolls)" "Veni, Sancte Spiritus" "Mentes tuorum visita" "Amen" "(Wind howls)" "I can't go on, Brother Oswin." "You can!" "You must!" "Here, take my cloak, Sister Hilaria." "OSWIN:" "Praise God" "Look, Sister!" "Look!" "Shelter!" "(Sister Hilaria gasps for breath)" "You are cold, Brother." "Hold me close for warmth." "We must huddle together or perish." "(Bell tolls)" "Where are you, Oswin?" "Where are you, boy?" "(Distressed panting)" "Oh, God." "Oh, God, Father forgive me." "I meant no evil." "I-I meant no evil." "A fine evening, Brother." "Deus in adiutorium meum intende" "Domine ad adiuvandum me festina" "Gloria Patri, et Filio" "Et Spiritui Sancto" "Sicut erat in principio et nunc et semper" "Et in saecula saeculorum" "Amen" "Go with God." "Jesu Redemptor omnium" "Intende votis supplicum" "Qui daemonis ne fraudibus" "Periret orbis impetu" "(Hum of conversations and coughing)" "(Coughing)" "My Lord Beringar." "We received word today from Sub-Prior Herward of Worcester." "Brother Prior?" "He asks after two children." "They're orphans lately in his keeping." "It appears, after the town was attacked by the Empress Maud, he sent them to find shelter here." "Many refugees have come to us seeking a haven from the civil war" "But not this pair." "No." "Brother Cadfael, you enquired among the wounded in the infirmary?" "Oh, yes, Father." "And among the more recent arrivals, but there's been no report of them anywhere on the road." " Who are these children?" " A brother and sister of noble birth, my Lord." "Er, an Yves and Ermina Hugonin." "Their uncle begs your leave to enter Shropshire, that he may search for them." "Why should he need my leave?" "Because he supports the Empress Maud in her claim to the throne." "Abbot Radulfus, I was appointed Undersheriff here by King Stephen to keep his lands free of the Empress' troops." "He gives his word that he'll pursue no other end than to look for the children." "This man is a... a knight, my Lord." "A crusader, lately returned from the Holy Land." "Crusader or not, I cannot allow His Grace's enemies to roam this shire." "Come quickly!" "Brother Oswin has been found!" "He's dying!" "RADULFUS:" "Where did you come upon him?" " Found him just after first light." "By Clee Forest." "I had out affer a lost sheep Otherwise" "He needs warmth or he'll never wake." "Brother Hospitaller, heat some stones on the kitchen hob." " Wrap them in flannel!" " Yes, Brother." "We must get him to the infirmary." "Quickly!" "Quickly!" "(Child crying and coughing)" "I tried him with wine, but his mouth is broken." "Oh, no, no, no, no, no." "His wits have been battered into confusion but, by God's grace, his head is whole." "Perhaps he should be bled?" "He's bled enough as it is." "This here, this knife wound, was meant to finish him." "But it turned against his ribs." "They didn't wait to be certain he was dead." " "They," Brother?" " At least three." "Two of them held his arms." "Here and here." "And then the third stabbed him." "What was he doing so far from home?" "He was delivering medicine to one of the Abbey holdings." "The Druels' farm." "Then he took a strange route." "He shouldn't have been anywhere near Clee Forest." "That such a thing should happen so close upon the Christmas feast." "Do what you can for him, Brother." "The Brethren are at your disposal" "Come, let us pray for Brother Oswin's deliverance." "Clover?" "Brother Jerome?" "What are you doing?" "I'm praying for our dear Brother." "When we have cleaned and dressed his wounds, then you may pray." " And not before!" " (Oswin gasps)" "Oswin." "Oswin, easy, easy!" "You're home now!" "You're safe." "Father, forgive me!" "Hilaria!" "To kiss, to kiss her lips." "I" "She was so warm, so warm." "I meant no evil." "So young." "So... beautiful." "You will pay no heed to anything he says while he's in this condition" "He spoke of lips, Brother!" "Of kisses." "Of holding a woman in his arms." "Such intimacies are forbidden to our Order." "I have told you... he's not himself." "Now be content." "Will he live?" "I've done all I can." "But if his will is broken..." "Christ God, Cadfael." "What kind of man would do such a thing?" "The kind that kills for sport or pleasure." "What if they should happen upon our two young orphans..." "lost on the road?" "They left Worcester alone?" "No, there was a young nun with them." "Sister Hilaria." "She was tutor to the girl." "Well, she'll be best recognised by her habit." " What of the others?" " Well, the boy..." "Yves is 1 2 and of middle height for his age." "The sister, Ermina, is 1 5, and fair like her brother." "The Sub-Prior wrote that she could be reckoned very beautiful." "Even sub-priors know beauty when they see it." "You must let their uncle look for them." "I will not admit the Empress' knight to land I administer for the King." "But they're children, Hugh!" "Are they to be just left out there, unlooked for?" "Did I say that?" "We leave at dawn." "We?" "Well, you know this land better than any other man, even under snow." "SOLDIER:" "My Lord!" "(Bird caws)" "Been dead some days." "Two more here." "Killed by the bandits that attacked Brother Oswin, would you think?" "Well, he could have passed by this way, certainly." "Druel's farm lies only a few miles off." "So what were they doing here?" "BERINGAR:" "Cadfael." "A crusader's tabard, my Lord?" "Abbot Radulfus said the children's uncle was a crusader newly returned from Jerusalem." "It would seem he sent a rescue party, after all." "Would you have done less if they were of your blood?" "They came here with good cause, Hugh." "And they have paid." "The children's uncle will be too recent in the crusades to be known to you?" "It's 26 years since I sailed from St Symeon and left the Holy Land behind." "Everything there will be changed now." "Everything?" "Even Antioch, where a certain young widow lived?" "In the street of the Sailmakers, hmm?" "Mariam?" "Mariam was a lifetime ago." "Do you know, I was 1 8 when I first came there." "A boy." "And a seasoned soldier of 30 when you returned." "As I remember, she graced both your arrival and departure." "So she did." "So she did." "(Cadfael sniffs)" "What would a good farmer like Master Druel be burning at this time of year?" "This was Brother Oswin's destination." "No dead to find here." "Except the dogs." "Bandits living wild wouldn't bother with captives." "Oh, they'd kill, yes." "But they'd not take prisoners." "Not of this simple sort." "My Lord." "Who comes upon us in arms?" "Hugh Beringar, Undersheriff of this shire." "These are my men." "And Brother Cadfael of Shrewsbury." "John Druel, my Lord, at your service." "Forgive the welcome I took you for outlaws" "When did they come?" "Four nights ago." "A dozen of them, maybe more." "We could not stand... only run." "They took my stock." "But we escaped with our lives, praise God and hounds." "You've no notion who these bandits may be, or from where?" "None." "But it seemed to me they were dressed as soldiers of the Cross." "Master Druel, did my novice, Brother Oswin, come by this way?" "He did." "The day after the attack." "He delivered the medicine and then was on his way again, quick as he could go." "Oh, he left for Shrewsbury?" "No, Brother." "Having seen what we'd suffered, he was anxious for some people he said he ran into on the way." "A party in flight from Worcester" "Worcester?" "You're certain?" "He had urged them to come here with him so he could guide them to Shrewsbury." "But they would push on for a manor they knew." "Brother Oswin said nothing of who was in this company?" "Er, nothing of a boy and a girl travelling with a nun?" "He didn't, no." "But a stranger came by yesterday, asking after just such a party." " What was he like, this stranger?" " Not so much as 30." "Nearer five or six and twenty, I'd say." "Shorter than your Lordship, and dark-skinned." "If you hear any more news of him or of these missing children, send word to me at Shrewsbury." "My Lord." "I can tell you one thing more about the dark man." "He called himself a woodsman" "He kept his cloak about him - in this cold, no marvel - but as he went, I saw how the folds hung at his side." "Woodsman or no, he wore a sword." "(Horse neighs)" "CADFAEL:" "To make the most of the light we should search alone" "No." "If there are bandits..." "Well, then, they're such as hunt by night." "If by some miracle the children have escaped them, we cannot wait." "If we separate we can cover twice the ground" "BERINGAR:" "Mmm" "Come on go on" "ROBERT:" "Are you certain of this, Brother?" "JEROME:" "Not certain." "But Brother Oswin has called out her name." "Has spoken of her lying in his arms." "Of mortal sin." "Oh, ravings." "They could be nothing more than the result of his fever." "Indeed they could be." "But what if they aren't?" "Well, what else could they be?" "Remembrances." "Tell no-one else of this at the present." "But keep close watch on him, Brother." "Steady, boy." "Yves!" "It's all right." "It's all right." "I'm Brother Cadfael of Shrewsbury." "I'm no threat to you or to any." "How do you know me?" "You're being sought throughout the shire, boy." "Where's your sister and her tutor?" "Lost." "I don't know." "We..." "We came safe to Richard's manor but... the bandits attacked." "And I tried to follow but got lost." "Here, you take my cloak." "There." "Let's get you back to Shrewsbury." "YVES: 'Mina." "We must find Ermina." "No, we must get you home." "With any luck, Hugh Beringar will have found your sister." "Now, this should hold us well enough - as long as we go carefully." "(Whistles to horse)" "(lce strains and crunches)" "Whoa, whoa." "Wait here for me, boy." " Is anything wrong?" " No." "No, no, nothing." "I thought I saw a sheep caught in the ice." "I was mistaken." "Come on." "Where was he?" "Lost in Clee Forest." "And his sister?" "(lce strains)" "Now, what where you strike." "(Water trickling)" "Sub-Prior Herbert was right." "Lady Ermina was beautiful." "Nunc Sancte nobis Spiritus" "Unum Patri cum Filio" "Dignare promptus ingeri" "Nostro refusus pectori" "Os lingua mens sensus vigor" "Confessionem personent" "Flammescat igne caritas" "Accendat ardor proximos" "Praesta Pater piisime" "Patrique compar Unice" "Cum Spiritu Paraclito" "Regnans per omne saeculum" "Amen" "Straw." "And clover." " Stabbed?" " Mm?" "No, there's no wound." "It's likely she fought him off... or them." "Such vermin hunt happiest in packs." "Perhaps she drew blood, clawed face or hand as she tried to force him away." "BERINGAR:" "She starts to bruise." " Mmm." "No, her neck is unmarked so she wasn't strangled." "But you see here?" "Do you see this discolouration round her lips and her chin?" "Smothered, surely... as she was defiled." "Defiled, Brother?" "There are signs." "Brother Cadfael?" "Brother Cadfael will come out to you in a short while." " Go back to the guest house and wait for him." " No, Father." "Let him come." " He must not." " He's a sensible boy." "There's no need to pretend to him that violence and cruelty do not exist." "Yves." "Now, we have here a dead body." "Not known to any of us." "Now, will you look and see if you know this face?" "Brother Cadfael!" "For shame..." "There is nothing to fear" "YVES:" "How can she be here?" "And dead?" "She went with Brother Oswin." "This is Sister Hilaria who came with us from Worcester." "Then where is your sister Ermina?" "(Horses galloping closer)" "(Gasps)" "(Urgent shouting)" "Shh." "(Baby cries)" "YVES:" "We ran into Brother Oswin on the road to Shrewsbury" "He was bound for Druel's farm and said we could travel with him, and that he would bring us on here after." "Why did you not accept his offer?" "Well, I wanted to and so did Sister Hilaria, but Ermina was determined to press on to Richard's manor." " Richard?" " Richard Boterel, Father." "The Lady Ermina's intended husband" "YVES:" "It was what she wanted all along and she only agreed to leave Worcester so she could go to him." "She said we would be safe there." "Safe!" "And what happened?" "We reached his manor and there was much celebration." "At Ermina's urging, Richard sent out his steward to fetch a priest so as they could be married the next day." "All was well at this time?" "It was, Father." "But about an hour later, we were woken by a hammering on the door." " Brother Oswin?" " Heaven knows how he found us in the storm." "He came to warn us." "Praise God he did, for within minutes the bandits attacked." "Did you see what became of your sister?" "Richard, I think, got her away but it was the fire and fighting." "I ran." "We all ran but we became lost from each other." "And Sister Hilaria?" "Last I saw, she was heading for the trees with Brother Oswin." "YVES:" "I prayed that Hilaria and Brother Oswin had escaped" "There's no shame in tears when they're worth the shedding." "There's none of us have not grieved for him." "Oswin is the gentlest of souls." "No threat, no harm to any." "Has he said what happened?" "He hasn't woken yet." "But his wounds are healing and he strengthens daily." "Come... you've seen him now." "This plague needs burning before it spreads, Cadfael." "We must find their hiding place." "It's wild country." "There are hiding places enough for a thousand bandits." "But let's see." "I drew this map to locate the position of various herbs in the area, but... hopefully it'll serve our purpose." "Here is Druel's holding." "Boterel's manor." "The field where we found the rescue party." "Clee Forest, where Oswin was found." "And here I found Sister Hilaria." "It's a fair distance between the frozen brook and Clee Forest where Oswin was found." " Why should that be so if they ran together?" " Oh, Hilaria wasn't killed where she was found." "She died elsewhere." "Somewhere where there was a stack of straw and clover." "Somewhere out of the blizzard would have been better suited for their vile sport." "CADFAEL:" "I think we may yet face worse news at Boterel's manor" "(Dogs bark in distance)" "My Lord Boterel." "My Lord Boterel the King's officer Hugh Beringar" "Come from Shrewsbury" "And a monk." "Brother Cadfael, my Lord." "You are most welcome." "God knows we have need of you in these parts." "BERINGAR:" "So I see" "I am afraid that you find us in some disarray." "I have been in a fever these past few days." "My Lord Boterel, ever since the Sub-Prior of Worcester sent word that they were lost, we have been in search of Lady Ermina Hugonin and her companions." "Her brother, Yves, we've found." " Alive?" " Oh yes" "Praise God." "And Sister Hilaria?" "Sister Hilaria is dead." "Defiled and murdered." "Most likely by the same outlaws that attacked your manor" "Dead?" "Oh, God, no." "I..." "I thought she'd got away with Brother Oswin" "Where is the Lady Ermina?" "Yves said you escaped together." "She is not here." "Nor do I know where she is" "The bandit chief will be smarting from the nick I gave him." "But in the end... he had the better of me." "Now, how does that feel now?" "Much better, Brother." "You have a healing touch." "I..." "I could do no more." "I had Ermina to save." "I took her and rode away, deep into the woods." " How is it you came to lose her?" " You..." "You cannot charge me more bitterly than I have accused myself." "She was frantic with tears for her brother and went back to look for him." " You let her go alone?" " No" "I went after her but lost her in the darkness." "I rode some miles until I fainted through my wounds and fell from the horse" "Praise God my steward found me, else..." "Well... we must continue our search." "If you hear word of her, send for us at Shrewsbury." "I will, my Lord." "At least now I have my legs again." "I shall go on looking until she is found." "I think you should rest your injuries a day or two longer." "Yes?" "And your mind, too." "We're all in the same quest." "Between us... we shall find Ermina." "It's a fine man sits home nursing his cuts and grazes when his bride is lost." "Oh, don't be over-harsh on him, Hugh." "He's suffered much." "So where do we look now?" "Well, I fear we must break off the search for today." "There's a storm coming from the east." "A storm?" "With hardly a breath of wind to stir this mist?" "(Bell tolls)" "Well, I must be getting to vespers." "Prior Robert and Brother Jerome already have most of my faults by heart." "It wouldn't do to give them lateness to office as well." "Come back to us, Oswin." "I miss you, boy." "I'll sacrifice a thousand pots to your clumsiness, only come back." " You should be in bed." " I don't want to sleep." "Let me watch over him for you until after vespers." "Has he said anything to help?" " He doesn't remember us?" " No, not yet." "But he may." "All right, you sit with him if you will." "Deus in adiutorium meum intende" "Domine ad adiuvandum me festina" "Gloria Patri, et Filio" "Et Spiritui Sancto" "Sicut erat in principio et nunc et semper" "You are not of this house." "But I feel I should know you." "Oh, you have known me for a short time." "My name's Yves Hugonin." "You came to warn us at Boterel's manor" "Snow was threatening." "I had medicine to deliver." "H-How did..." "Brother Cadfael found me and brought me here." "But Ermina, my sister, is still lost." "There was a third." "A nun." "Sister Hilaria" "Hilaria." "(Gasps)" "Hilaria!" "Where is she?" "She's here, Brother." "Most reverently tended and coffined." "Awaiting her sisters" "She was found ravished and murdered." "Dead?" "No." "It is forbidden to wish her back, Brother." "She is with God now." "(Repressed scream)" "Dead!" "God forgive me." "What have I done?" "Forgive me Sister" "Forgive my weakness, my mortal sin." "I have been your death!" "You must not vex yourself so." "Lie down." "You're too week to rise." "She clung to me." "She had no fear of being with me." "So warm and confiding in my arms." "Oh God forgive me!" "Stay with him." "I will fetch help." "What have I done?" "What have I done?" "(Wind howls)" "Oswin!" "Deus, et filius, et spiritus sanctus." "Father Abbot!" "Come quickly!" "Brother Oswin is gone mad" "Cadfael!" "It's no good!" "We'll never find them in this." " We must." " We can't!" "It's hopeless." "Whatever tracks they made are long gone." "We'll try again when it's light." "Come on!" "Come with me." "Come on." "Come on." "Come on." "Did he say, "I killed Sister Hilaria," or is that the meaning you've given it?" "Give us his own words, Brother Jerome." "He said, "Forgive me, Sister." "Forgive my weakness, my mortal sin." "I have been your death!"" "Why else should Brother Oswin run out into the night, but that he is guilty of something?" "His guilt or innocence is for the law to decide." "It's not enough to say a thing is so just because one fragment fits." "Even so clear a fragment as a confession, my Lord?" "Listen to yourselves." "What are you saying?" "The violation and murder of a young nun?" "For my own part, I cannot believe Brother Oswin capable of such a deed." "Cadfael?" "I..." "I don't want to believe it but I..." "can't deny they were together." "There." "You see?" "Even Brother Cadfael will not defend him, and Brother Oswin is his favourite." "That will do, Brother Jerome." "So he may have run with Sister Hilaria from the sacking of Boterel's manor, but that does not mean he did what you suggest!" "There was blood on our dear sister's shift and Brother Oswin was wounded." "You think he was able to attack her after taking such a beating?" "He might have done it before." "The wounds he received from the bandits might have covered those from Sister Hilaria." "Well, you might equally suggest that the earth moves around the sun with as little proof." "An answer to a matter of life and death must be an answer that explains all!" "And if it's the wrong answer?" "Truth... is never a wrong answer." "Brother Oswin!" "Turn back." "You'll die out here." "You're ill." "You should be in your bed!" "BERINGAR:" "Yves!" "SERGEANT WARDEN:" "Oswin!" "CADFAEL:" "Oswin!" "BERINGAR:" "Yves!" "Yves!" "Oswin!" "BERINGAR:" "Yves!" "Yves!" "(Horse whinnies)" "(Whispers) Oswin!" "Oswin, they've come for us." "Hey!" "Over here!" "Over here!" "Praise God, I thought you'd never find us." "Well, well, what have we here?" "An orphan of the storm?" "Let go!" "How dare you?" "Tell your men to loose hold of me!" "Guarin, hand me up that toy he wears at his belt." "Silver." "With precious pebbles set at their hilt." "Very fine." "One of a pair, maybe." "Where is the other?" "With your sister, perhaps?" "With Ermina?" "(Chuckles)" "Oh, yes, my Lord Hugonin." "I know who you are." "I think your uncle will pay handsomely to have you back." "Bring him!" "Alive!" "(Gasps)" "Good day, my Lady Ermina." "What happened to you, child?" "Where have you been till now?" "In a shelter with a kind woodsman, and his wife." "They..." "They came upon me lost in the forest, after the attack on Richard's manor." "You were making your own way here, then, when Brother Cadfael found you?" "The woodsman told me the way." "I fear you have made a poor exchange, gaining me and losing Yves." "Daughter, we are overjoyed to find you whole and well." "If there is anything I can do to help in the search." "There is but one way you can help us all." "You can remain here." "Not take a step outside these walls till we can find and bring your brother here to join you" "My Lord Beringar, I can rely on you to get word of this happy news to Lord Boterel?" "Richard survived?" "BERINGAR:" "He did." "Small thanks to you" "You acted very foolishly, my Lady." "Rather than scolding me, my Lord, your energies would be better spent looking for Yves, and my tutor, Sister Hilaria." "I take it there is no word of her or you would have said." " This is my work." " No, it's nothing of the kind." "A man did this and he, and he alone, must answer for it." "If I'd not set my heart on marrying Richard if I'd consented to go with Brother Oswin Sister Hilaria would be living now." "There's no profit in "ifs", child." "We go from where we stand." "We answer for our own evil, and we leave the rest to God." "And where was God when she was violated and murdered?" "He was taking note of all." "And making a place for her beside Him." "Do you wish her back from such a place?" "(Sobs) How is it I could do so much harm?" "I mean none." "There you are." "Now, my Lady, I have some questions for you..." "and I expect some straight answers." "Hm?" "Who was this woodsman who brought you so near to us yet wouldn't show himself?" "I was not with any woodsman" "I told you I found my own way here" "The truth now." "I found footprints in the forest much too large to be yours." "Brother Cadfael..." "Mm?" "What would happen to any of my uncle's men found here and taken in search of us?" "They would be held as prisoners of war" "That is the Undersheriff's duty." "But it is not mine." "You would not betray such a man?" "I take no sides here." "And I'm sure Hugh Beringar wouldn't expect me to go his way in every particular." "But I ought to tell you that he already has knowledge of a stranger in these parts." "A dark man... who wears a sword beneath his cloak" "His name is Olivier De Bretagne." "Oh, he's French?" "Syrian." "His mother was of that country." "And his father was a knight of the Crusade." "But he leant towards his father's faith and made his way to Jerusalem where he took service with my uncle." "And he wasn't afraid to come here, into these stormy regions?" "He fears nothing." "He is... bravery itself." "If you saw him just once you would hold him in great affection." "Very well, your champion is quite safe with me." "I shall do nothing to uncover him." "Now tell me about Lord Boterel." "I thought I loved him but..." "It was a childish fancy." "By my folly, I have brought my brother into danger." "I never thought to hear myself say it before, but Yves... means more to me than Richard ever could." "Strange how it's often the threat of loss that makes us realise what we value most." "Hm." "Right, you go back to the guesthouse and take your rest." "BANDIT: (Shouts) Here comes Le Gaucher." "Must you go?" "Yes, Father, I must." "Ever since Brother Oswin first came to our house, he's been as a son to me." "I should never have left him alone with Yves." "Now my foolishness has lost them both." "I must put it right." "And if I order against it?" "Then go with my blessing." "Thank you, Father." "So... tell me." "Where is your sister?" "Bitten out your tongue on the way, have you?" "I speak when I have something to say." "Where is she?" "Argh!" "When I ask, boy, wise men answer." "Do you think I'd betray her into your hands?" "So she can end up the same way as Sister Hilaria?" "I've seen what you did, you pig!" "Pig, am I?" "Then I'd better teach you how to squeal." "Guarin." "Get him to tell you where his sister is." "Break what you have to but no lasting hurt" "His uncle won't pay if the goods are damaged beyond repair." "Yeah, Oswin lay just here, Brother." "I almost missed him in the snow." "And the brook where Sister Hilaria was found?" "That's... how far away from here?" "A mile?" "About that." "Tell me, Master Dutton, are there any places hereabouts used for storing fodder?" "There's a hut or two we shepherds use." "Where's the nearest?" "(Door creaks)" "I think I have the better of you, Brother." "And I think we should both have died." "You're quick... for an old man." "And you're over-careless for a young one." "You must always beware of the unexpected stroke." "Olivier." "You know my name?" "From Ermina, of course." "You're also hunting for Yves." "And another." "I heard you call his name in the forest." "Oswin." "A Brother of my house." "He fell victim to the outlaws hereabouts." "I think they were both here last night." "There are two sets of tracks leading from the hut outside." "I found this... rolled in the straw." "It's Oswin's travelling cloak." "But he wasn't wearing this when he left the Abbey." "Clover." "(Rustling)" "A nun's habit and a wimple." "Blood." "What does it mean?" "Well, didn't Ermina tell you about her tutor, Sister Hilaria?" "No." "These belong to her." "She was raped and murdered here." "And then her body was discarded in a brook not half a mile away." "She was with your Brother Oswin?" "Yes." "Well, come." "Let's see where these tracks lead to." "(Wind howls)" "CADFAEL:" "These are last night's tracks" "Many men and horses as far as I can see." "And something aboard that dripped blood." "Slaughtered sheep, perhaps." "Not unless they had red wine running through their veins." "You track well... for a monk." " Huh." " But I can follow from here." " Yves is my charge." " And mine." "And Oswin, too." "There was a shadow cast over him the night of Hilaria's death." "It troubles him still." "(Bandits chatter)" "(Laughter)" "CADFAEL:" "Well I can see no sign of Yves or Oswin" "Le Gaucher." "I should have known" "CADFAEL:" "You know the man?" "Ah, yes, Brother, I know him." "(Bandits laugh)" "We were all sent together into these lands to search for Yves and Ermina by their uncle." "I came as squire to Captain Renard." "Oh, wait a minute." "You're telling me these bandits started out as the rescue party?" "What happened?" "Once out of their Lord's sight, Le Gaucher and the rest mutinied and struck out for themselves." "Only myself and two others remained loyal." "They attacked us as we slept." "And how did you escape?" "Le Gaucher's parting gift." " But you're wounded." " Mm." " The others were not so fortunate." " And what happened to your captain?" "The first to die." "Your wound troubles you?" "Have you used anything on it?" " You have wisdom in such matters?" " A little." "An unguent of my own making." "Centaury and the mild yellow nettle." "I doubt I could do better than that." "You know your herbs." "It was... my mother's art." "Tell me, Olivier, this er... captain of yours, did he too wear the... tabard of the Cross?" "Oh, yes." "He led us in the Holy Land." " You found him?" " Yes." "Le Gaucher takes no trouble to conceal his evil." "But tonight we shall strike a blow to even the score." "(Approaching footsteps)" "Argh!" "Brat!" "You are more trouble than you are worth." "I'll give you something... to remember me by." "(Muffled cry)" "My Lord Hugonin, Olivier De Bretagne at your service." "Be easy boy" "Olivier is squire to your uncle." " Brother Cadfael." "How did..." " I'll explain all when we're clear of this place." " Where's Oswin?" " He brought us to a hut last night." "I left him there." "Come, we must hurry." "Get him away." "I'll buy you what time I can." "For my honour, get him clear." "Come on." "(Distant voices)" "BANDIT:" "He needs to see nothing" "(Cries out)" "(Bandits chatter and laugh)" " (Bandit shouts)" " Run, boy!" "Quickly!" "(Confused shouting)" "Stand back!" "Stand off!" "If any man so much as draws bow... he dies!" "Do as he says!" "Stay back!" "No!" "Leave him be!" "I have come for him!" "He is my friend." "You!" "Oh, Lord God, I thought I'd dealt with you the first time." "CADFAEL:" "Run boy!" "Go with God, monk!" "If you're done with boys and Holy Brothers, fight with a man." "I'll feast on your heart, half-breed." "(Chuckles)" "(Gasps)" "Always beware the unexpected stroke." "(Groans)" "(Weapons clatter)" "I should have liked to have known him better, your saviour." "Who is he, Cadfael, this paladin?" "He's the er... woodsman who sheltered Ermina." "They seem to breed a remarkable woodsman in these parts." "What do you want done with these animals, my Lord?" "Hm, take them back to Shrewsbury." "And send word to all those who suffered losses to come and reclaim their own." "It's over, then?" "Well, the banditry's over, yes." "Le Gaucher's paid for his crimes." "But he must not pay for someone else's." "He can never now speak in his own defence, and say," ""This, this and this I did, but the rape and murder of a young nun this deed is none of mine."" "And you doubt it?" "Well, apart from the fatal wound, his body is unmarked." "Then... it cannot be his blood that soiled Hilaria's shift?" "No." "More than that, these bandits leave their victims where they fall." "They care nothing to hide them." "Hilaria's murderer tried to cover his crime, no doubt horrified by what he'd done." "If I hadn't come across her when I did, she might have lain in that frozen water till the spring thaw." "You're certain she was moved?" "Oh, certain." "I came across a shepherd's hut... quite a way from the place where I found her." "The shepherds use it to store their fodder." "Straw, clover such as I prised from her dead fingers." "Her habit and her wimple were hidden there along with Oswin's cloak." "ERMINA:" "Yves!" "YVES:" "Oh!" "A fine dance you've led everyone, running off into the night." "I could say the same thing of you, madam." "Yes, I'm sure you both have much to say to each other but, for now, Yves needs his bed." " But, Brother..." " No arguments." "As your physician, I order it." "(Hushed muttering)" "MONK:" "Here we are, boy." "Come on now." "My Lord, a word." "Prior Robert wishes to speak to my Lord Beringar alone, Brother." "If they're discussing Brother Oswin, I should be there." "You are not considered to be impartial in the matter." "Not impartial?" "You're not the only one among us has eyes, Brother." "I saw you take clover from Brother Oswin's hair when he was brought in." "There was clover in Sister Hilaria's hand and you said nothing." "Brother Jerome..." "I've told you!" "You are not wanted." "Now... be content." "(Door is bolted shut)" "(Door opens)" "Lord Beringar tells us that there are doubts that Sister Hilaria died at the hands of the bandits." " Brother?" " Grave doubts." "He also says that you found Brother Oswin's cloak, at the scene of her death stained with blood!" "Over the heart, yes." "As it was upon Sister Hilaria's habit and shift." "It could only have come there if Brother Oswin had lain upon her seeking to satisfy carnal thoughts!" "It gives no pleasure to say these things, Brother." "But the sanctity of our house must be preserved!" "What if his sinful desires should contaminate us?" "Do you not fear eternal damnation?" "Our souls are in peril!" "And what of Brother Oswin's soul!" "(Breaks beaker, clatters on floor)" "Or is that not worth saving?" "I fear Brother Oswin is lost to us already." "Condemned out of his own mouth." "Brother Prior, how can you judge a man so sick in mind and body?" "Our only salvation lies in strict obedience to the rule!" "Without the rule there is no order." "Would you have our house consumed by the chaos that rages beyond these walls?" "If the price of order is an innocent soul, that is a cost altogether too high!" "Brother, you have cut yourself in your ill temper." "I will tend it." "Thank you, Brother." "It's my right hand I cut." " Brother Prior..." " It is the left that is bleeding." "But it's the right hand that was holding the beaker." "If you wish to be any use as a healer, you might start by learning your left from your right!" "And so might I." "I've been to your hut." "You remember the hut where you and Sister Hilaria sought refuge from the snowstorm?" "It was so cold, Brother." "Indeed." "And two poor souls caught out in such cold must lie warm in each other's arms to survive." "I wanted to lie with her." "Brother, I thought such things." "I must have done for she is... violated and dead." "Her body was hidden in shame." "Oswin... thoughts are not deeds." "And in the space between lies your innocence." "(Sniffs)" "I... am innocent?" "Oh, beyond all doubt." "Your cloak and her habit were both stained with blood, but on the same side." "Now... if you had lain upon her you would have left her habit stained with blood on the opposite side." "Oh, God that I ever left her." "By that I am guilty of her death." "I should have been... strong enough to bear the temptation and stay by her." "You must not condemn yourself beyond your due." "All you did was out of care for her." "What else was required?" "Courage." "Courage?" "What was it, then, that moved you to challenge Le Gaucher?" "You saved Yves' life there at the bandits' camp." "Now wasn't that courage?" "I knew her only a few hours and yet..." "Forgive me, Brother." "I am unworthy." "Oswin... you are the best of us." "But you ask too much of yourself." "And you undervalue what you do give." "DRUEL:" "A happy day, Brother." "I never thought to see my Pippin again." "With our... animals stolen, it could have proved a lean winter." "Indeed, Master Dutton." "Good day, my Lord." " Ah, you've come to reclaim your own." " Aye, Brother." "It seems we are in your debt, all of us." "Oh, this fine fellow, at least, escaped the raiders." "Indeed." "He's the same that carried Ermina and me safe from the attack." "I'll er... see him stabled for you." "Thank you, Brother." "My Lord Boterel." "I trust I find you fully restored and in good health?" "I am mending if... not yet fully mended." " You were well enough to ride at least" " My body heals my Lord" "Whoa, whoa, whoa!" "Until Ermina is found..." "I will never be whole." "Forgive me, I've been meaning to ride out to your manor." " Do you have word of her?" " No!" "But do not despair, my Lord." "Your prayers once brought her safely to you." "Come into the Abbey with me now." "Hm?" "We shall pray for her together." "Gladly, Brother." "Daughter... you have a visitor." "Ermina, my love, why..." "Why have you not sent me word?" "I've been looking for you." "CADFAEL:" "And great mercy it is you did not find her" "Or she might well have shared the same fate as her dearest friend and tutor - coffined here." "My Lord Boterel I accuse you ...and name you murderer of Sister Hilaria." "Brother, wh-wh-what is this madness?" "I..." " I know nothing of this." " Nothing?" "Nothing of a hut by Clee Forest?" "Nothing of a young nun who took shelter there against the blizzard... only to fall victim to your lust?" "Nothing of a freezing brook on your way home?" "But Sister Hilaria was murdered by the same bandits who attacked my manor." "Oh, yes, of course, your manor." "That was where you first came by your wound, wasn't it, my Lord?" "Except you never drew sword in gallant defence of your manor and men." "Did he, my Lady?" "Ermina, what..." "What have you said?" "She has said nothing." "Having chosen a coward for a husband, she could not admit her folly to the world." "I protected my people as best I could!" "You left them to be slaughtered!" "All of them." "Including my brother." "And forced me to go with you into the safety of the woods." "You were not stabbed in any combat by a bandit chief, as you claimed, my Lord." "I saw Le Gaucher fighting." "He was right-handed." "A right-handed man would stab for the heart as Brother Oswin's wounds bore witness." " I will listen to no more of this." " My Lord, you will!" "But you see, the blood that stained Sister Hilaria's clothes was all on the heart side, the left." "So the man that bled upon her would have been wounded on the right side, as you are." "However, there was one person abroad that night who does favour the left hand, who possessed a knife, and as I have seen for myself, the will to use it." "And that person was the Lady Ermina." "I told him I would never marry a coward." "He'd not touched me till then." "But when he saw he'd lose the lands he stood to gain from my dowry it was another tale." "No uncommon practice to take first and marry after." "I thought I'd killed him." "But he survived, and followed after you, alone, out into the night." "On the way back to your manor, you came across the shepherd's hut, and there you found Sister Hilaria, alone, sleeping in the hay, wrapped against the cold in a good man's cloak." "Brother Oswin's cloak." "No, that is... that is not true!" "So you took your revenge upon her for all that Ermina had done to you and all that you could no longer do to her" "No, I..." "The poor girl's struggles ripped open your wound and you bled afresh" "When you were done you stripped her" "You took her to the brook and you leff her there to be numbered as just one more among the bandits' victims" "You can prove none of this!" "I can prove that a tall, grey horse tore its neck on a nail outside the hut where Sister Hilaria was murdered." "I found these hairs from its mane caught on that nail." "Shall we match them with that fine grey you have stabled outside?" "No." "I only meant to hush her" "Not to kill her." "Oh, God, forgive me." "Oh, dear God, forgive me." "Please forgive me!" "Please!" "Why did it happen to Hilaria?" "The kindest and most innocent of souls." "What had she done?" "Prior Robert would have it that such things are sent to test our faith." "There must be better ways." "(The Abbey bell)" "Brother Oswin is amongst us once again" "Ah." "Welcome home, Brother Oswin." "You've been dearly missed." "Come, join your Brothers in the choir." "There's wine on the table." "And two cups?" "You would not leave your work unfinished." "But how did you know it would be tonight?" "With Hugh Beringar guarding his prisoner in the castle, what better time to get the children away?" "Even Ermina will be here presently." "How can you be sure I'm fit to be trusted?" "You know nothing of me." "I know, perhaps, more than you think." "I know your name." "I know who you serve." "I know you were born in Syria of a Syrian mother and a knight crusader." "I know that Ermina has set her heart on you." "And by that amber stare, that you have set your heart on her." "I fear she has somewhat deceived you." "And herself." "For Ermina every soldier of the Crusade could be nothing less than a noble knight" "My father was a simple man -at-arms of Robert of Normandy's force." "Ah." "And your mother?" "A good woman... of Islam." "I am their bastard got between faiths and peoples." "But for all that, I think myself well mothered and fathered, and the equal of any man living." "Half-humankind matches without ritual blessing, and not necessarily the worse half." "I might imagine you speak of your own knowledge." "Oh..." "I was in the world 40 years before I took this discipline for my cure." "I have been... soldier, sailor, and sinner." " Hm." " Even crusader" "At least that was pure, however the cause fell short of my hopes." "She's dead, your mother?" "I would never have left her otherwise." "She was a a poor widow who had a booth in the market of Antioch" "in the street of the Sailmakers" "What was your father like?" "I never knew him." "They had been lovers long before when he came first to Syria." "But he sailed for England from St Symeon affer their last meeting" "He never knew he had a son" "What was his name?" "She would not tell me." "But she often praised him as brave and kind." "There cannot be much wrong with a mating that left her with such fondness and pride." "My mother bore the same name as your Lady Mary, though in our tongue it would be said..." "Mariam." "Perhaps you met her, if you were in the Holy Land or... or knew my father." "Someone like him, perhaps." "Once, long ago." "But... your mother?" "From what you've told me, I'm certain I should have remembered her..." " We're ready." "...all my life." "Brother, we owe you so much," "Yves, between friends there is no owing." "My son go in peace." "This was an unexpected stroke" "I never thought that so marvellous a creature could be in this world with mine and Mariam's blood in his veins" "Should I have told him?" "No What need has he now of a father?" "But by Your grace I have seen him" "I have sat and talked with him of times past" "I have kissed him I have had cause to be glad of him" "And shall have cause to feel glad lifelong" "What does it matter if these eyes may never see him again?" "And yet they may" "You got your children away, then?" "What else should I have done?" "Their safety was entrusted to Sister Hilaria, and when I found her that responsibility became mine." "I would not have her mission fail." "Well... they'll be with their uncle in good time for Christmas." "My only regret is I never met their guardian, Ermina's woodsman." "Who was he, Cadfael?" "He was..." "He was a son any father would be proud of." "(Bell tolls)" "Mentes tuorum visita" "Amen"