Liars and Thieves (A Company of Liars short story) by Karen Maitland Read Free Book Online Page B

taken the stone, not even guilt would cause them to cry out. But it would at least ensure Narigorm could do no more harm.
    Osmond spent a long time selecting exactly the right piece of charred wood from the fire and even longer drawing an eye on the grey-white stones of the ruined wall, taking as much care as if he was drawing the eye of God on a church wall. His face took on a faraway look and I sensed it had been so many moons since he’d had the joy of drawing anything that he couldn’t bear to stop. Pecker hunted for an iron horseshoe nail among his stolen treasures and a rock with which to hammer it in.
    When Osmond was finally satisfied his honour as an artist had been upheld, he turned back to us, holding his hand out for the nail, but Pecker grasped it tightly.
    ‘You’re as likely to be the thief as any here.’ He jerked the nail towards Adela. ‘You get back there with your wife and all of you turn about.’
    Adela clutched Osmond’s hand. She looked terrified and the awful thought struck me that perhaps Osmond was guilty and she knew it. I was afraid Adela was so tense and scared she’d cry out herself. I glanced at the others. Rodrigo’s expression gave nothing away, but Jofre too looked anxious and his hand kept straying to his eyes, as if he was trying to defend himself from a blow. Silence descended on the group. We listened, hearing only the wind in the branches and the drip, drip of water falling from twigs into the puddles below.
    The ring of iron hitting stone shattered the silence, but at the same instant there was a sharp cry. We all turned. Dye was bending over, her hand pressed to the right side of her face, covering her eye. The nail and rock fell from Pecker’s hand with a clatter onto the stones. In one bound he was behind her, twisting her arm up her back and grabbing her around the throat with the other hand.
    ‘The brat said
treachery
,’ he growled. ‘I thought she was telling me what you’d done, but she was warning me what you would do.’
    Dye was choking, scarlet in the face as his fingers tightened about her slender neck. She was struggling to speak, but no one could make out her words. All of us were too stunned to move. Pecker began pushing her away from the camp. Our little band gaped at one another.
    ‘We have to go after them,’ I urged. ‘He’ll kill her!’
    My words surprised even me. Why should I care what became of an outlaw? But I’d seen the pain in Dye’s eyes when she’d spoken of her lost child and knew she was only what others had made her, as were we all.
    ‘It’s between them,’ Osmond said. He had his arm around Adela, holding her close and trying to stop her shaking. ‘They’re thieves, leave them to it. If they’re busy killing each other, it gives us a chance to get away from them, find the wagon and the others.’
    ‘You go,’ Rodrigo said. ‘Get Adela to the wagon. I will go after Dye. Camelot is right. She is a woman. She cannot fight him.’
    ‘From what I’ve seen,’ a voice said coldly, ‘that woman can fight better than most men and kill too. If he murders her, it will be nothing less than she deserves.’
    Zophiel emerged from behind the wall, dirty and dishevelled, but he had managed to free himself from his bonds.
    ‘Where have you been hiding?’ Osmond demanded.
    ‘Not
hiding
,’ Zophiel spat. ‘Merely keeping out of sight until the opportunity presented itself to rescue you. Though why I should bother, I don’t know, since you could all have easily slipped away last night.’
    ‘If Adela had fallen in the dark—’
    ‘Ah yes, once again we must all risk our lives for that woman and her unborn brat. If you ask me, it would be as well for the child if it
did
die in the womb. At least then it would be spared the tender mercies of its half-witted parents.’
    ‘No one is asking you,’ Osmond said, taking a step towards him, scarlet with rage, but Adela, hanging on his arm, held him back.
    A shriek of fear rang out