Willows for Weeping by Felicity Pulman Read Free Book Online

pilgrim and came to rest on Janna.
    'No!' she cried, outraged at the prospect of having to undress in front of everyone. She looked about for Winifred to join her protest, and her gaze fell on Juliana.
    'No,' Juliana agreed. ''Tis not seemly for any man to search a woman. However, to serve the abbey's interests, I am prepared to undergo your search. I am no longer of an age where such a thing matters to me. Once you are satisfied that I am innocent, I will undertake to search the women, and their belongings, in private .' She stressed the last two words, making sure that her meaning was plain.
    Janna nodded her thanks. She turned her attention to the guard, hopeful that he would agree to the compromise. To her relief, he said curtly, 'Very well then, old woman. I'll make a start with you.' He took a step towards her, but was interrupted by Bernard, who belatedly introduced himself as the leader of the pilgrim group.
    'This is my mother,' he went on, indicating Juliana. 'On my honour, I will undertake to watch all the other members of our band while you conduct your search privately, behind that thicket of bushes over there. We shall all watch each other.'
    The guard thought it over for a few moments, before murmuring a reluctant agreement. He walked towards the bushy screen, keeping several paces behind Juliana, who stalked ahead of him. Winifred materialised beside Janna, breathing hard. 'Is he going to search us all?' she whispered.
    'Yes.'
    'I have never undressed before a man! And I don't intend to start now!'
    'You don't have to. Juliana offered to prove her innocence first, and she's going to search all the women afterwards.' Janna wondered where Winifred had gone that she hadn't heard what had transpired.
    'Thanks be to God for that!'
    'You should rather thank Juliana for her generosity.' Janna already knew the search would prove futile. Not only that, it was going to waste several hours, hours of daylight when they could be walking on to their destination. She wondered if, after all, she should say something. But how could Brutus have come by the saint's hand in the first place?
    She had no pack to dump, but the rest of the group had dutifully set their packs out in a line, and were now busy watching one another. The guard rejoined them and com-menced his search, pulling everything out of each pack and exposing it to the view of the pilgrims.
    'Careful! There are precious relics in there!' Ulf's shout stopped the guard momentarily. He straightened and scrutinised Ulf.
    'A relic seller, are you?' He bent to Ulf's unwieldy pack and eagerly began to extract bundles wrapped in linen along with a number of small, wooden boxes. The bundles were unrolled, the boxes opened, and the pilgrims crowded round to view the contents: scraps of fabric, teeth, fingers and other body parts, engraved stone runes, several precious gems. To the obvious disappointment of the guard, there was no hand among them. Ulf growled in protest at seeing his treasures thus exposed, and his dog growled louder, but there was little Ulf could do to prevent the search. The guard, visibly annoyed, moved on with his search, leaving Ulf to secure his precious relics and return them to his pack.
    Juliana flounced out from the concealing bushes, red-faced and discomforted. She beckoned Janna to come to her. Once Janna had stripped, Juliana insisted on viewing the contents of the purse she kept hidden under her gown. The old woman's eyes widened as she swiftly calculated the value of the silver coins Janna carried, and grew ever wider as she noticed the brooch, ring and letter also secreted there.
    She reached out a hand to pick them up for a more careful inspection, but Janna swept them back into her purse, deter-mined that Juliana would not learn her mother's secrets. Instead, she showed her the last treasure from her purse: a small statue of a mother tenderly clasping a child. 'Look, I found this out in the forest near where I used to live,' she