The Silver Falcon by Katia Fox Read Free Book Online Page A

your mother will be very proud of you, as will I.”
    A short-lived smile flitted across William’s face at those words as he gripped the little wooden bird in his fist. Isaac was on his side, after all.
    “When the king’s messenger comes, tell him where I am,” he asked his stepfather in a whisper, and Isaac nodded confidently. William was not ready to give up hope.
    He went over to Graybeard and embraced him one last time. The dog was already old, older than William. Would he still be alive when next William came home?
    “Let’s be on our way, son,” Ellenweore suggested with surprising gentleness.
    William let go of the dog with a heavy heart, stood up without looking at her, and took the reins from Jean. He mounted his horse in silence, trying to remain dignified and not weep. His mother must not think she could break his will.

Orford, May 1185
    A rthur, the tenant of the smithy that Ellenweore had inherited from her father, and his wife, Elfreda, welcomed William with open arms. Ellenweore had reached an agreement with Arthur without difficulty and was on her way back to Saint Edmundsbury the following day. Despite his anger, her departure had been hard on William.
    More than a month had gone by since then, and William had realized that it was possible to be very happy in Orford, even if he missed Rose’s gentle ways and even occasionally longed for his mother’s dry directness. For Elfreda was a cheerful, warmhearted woman who could cook almost as well as Rose, and Arthur, the blacksmith, was patient and friendly.
    Nevertheless, it seemed to William that every day he spent here took him further away from his dream. One night, he decided it was time to take control of his own happiness. All he had to do was wait for a suitable moment to turn his back on Orford, provided the endless rain stopped one of these days.
    At last, the May sun slowly dried out the marshy land. Impatience bubbled in William’s stomach, like cider on the palate. To be sure, it took a hefty dose of courage to go off alone into the unknown, but the thought of one day being a falconer helped him put all his fears aside. He had not let the previous weeks go to waste: he had kept his ears open wherever he went, but still he knew far too little about his surroundings. William had also resisted asking too many questions, so as not to arouse Arthur’s suspicions. Soon he would simply run away and go from onefalconer’s establishment to the next, looking for work. Although he did not know where he might find falconers or what he would live on during his wanderings, he refused to believe that his enterprise might be doomed to failure. Every night, he prayed ardently to the Lord for his help.
    One day, he decided to set out on Whitsunday, immediately after mass. He had two days to get ready for his clandestine departure. He collected provisions by secretly pilfering them from the table and laid out some tinder and a flint so that he could light a fire, in case he had to spend the hours of darkness alone. He wrapped his few belongings in a bundle and hid it in a hollow tree on the edge of the forest, along with his wool cloak and the knife that his mother had given him.
    On the morning of Whitsunday, William was decidedly anxious. He had to take his leave without anyone noticing. Now that he had come to a decision, the thought of going weighed surprisingly heavily. Elfreda and Arthur would worry about him when he did not come to the table at supper time. The thought of disappointing them, when they had been so good to him, sat uneasily. But if he did not want to spend his life as a blacksmith, the sooner he acted the better.
    During mass he pulled himself together, praying to the Lord for his blessing and for forgiveness for his disobedience. Just before the end of the service, he slipped out of the church. The sun was already quite warm. Up in the sky, which was almost unnaturally blue, seagulls cawed as they wheeled around in their endless